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Areas of Focus
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Agencies
- Department of Agriculture
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- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Personnel Management
- Small Business Administration
- Social Security Administration
- U.S. Agency for International Development
Agency Snapshot:
Department of Agriculture The Department of Agriculture has a workforce of 109,302 employees and hired 18,291 employees in the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2011. Like other agencies, the Department of Agriculture is streamlining and improving the end-to-end hiring process to create a better experience for applicants, managers, and human resources specialists. The agency is also working to create appropriate training opportunities, promote work-life balance tools, provide appropriate benefits, and recognize excellent performance for its workforce. This website shows the different initiatives underway and progress being made in pursuit of the government-wide human resources agenda.
Applicant Satisfaction with the Application Process
Applicant satisfaction with the application process is about more than the speed of hiring. It also depends on how cumbersome and long the application is, whether the application questions appear relevant, and applicant awareness of their status during the process. To learn more about these factors, the Chief Human Capital Officers developed an applicant survey that asks applicants to assess the application process on a 1-10 point scale. The results of this survey for applicants, by agency, are shown here only for agencies with a minimum of 30 responses in a given quarter. As of the end of Q2 FY11, the applicant satisfaction survey is now being sent to a randomly selected 50 percent sample of USAJOBS applicants who complete and submit their application. This is an increase from a randomly selected 5 percent sample size in previous quarters. As a consequence, agencies should see a significant increase in their number of applicant responses.
Manager Satisfaction with Applicants
While speeding and easing the application process is critical, a well-functioning hiring process needs to find the best match for open positions in the government. To assess the quality of that match, the Chief Human Capital Officers also developed a survey to ask Federal managers how satisfied they are with the applicants referred to fill an opening. The Chief Human Capital Officers’ Managers’ Satisfaction Survey asks about the managers’ experience on a 1-10 point scale of their perception of workforce planning, interaction with and level of support from Human Resources, their involvement with reviewing applications, interviewing applicants and selecting final candidates, applicant quality, and their knowledge and use of hiring flexibilities. The chart presented here shows the average manager satisfaction based on applicants being referred with the skills to perform the job by agency, only for those agencies with a minimum of 30 responses in a given quarter.
Time to Hire
The major drivers for changes in the average T2H data between FY10 and FY11 were tied to the Department’s efforts to establish collaborative working relationships with mission areas, agencies and staff offices to promulgate the department's goals, expectations and performance measures. USDA also facilitated training within agencies for staffers and managers to inform them of expectations to ensure common understanding. Workgroups were established and led by the Department to share best practices, identify obstacles and also mechanisms to overcome those obstacles. USDA has also linked this initiative to the monthly cultural transformation accountability reporting requirement, and publishes a monthly newsletter to highlight successes and challenges for this and other key USDA initiatives to ensure transparency.
Building an Inclusive Workplace
Agencies are continuing to work to recruit people of all backgrounds and create an inclusive environment. Agencies are promoting policies and practices to ensure all segments of society, including people with disabilities and veterans, have an opportunity for employment and advancement. The table here shows information on the agency workforce as well as new hires in the third quarter of FY11.
| No. of Employees in Q3 FY11 | No. of New Hires in Q3 FY11 | % of Employees that are Veterans in Q3 FY11 | % of New Hires that are Veterans in Q1-Q3 FY11 | % of Employees with Disabilities in Q3 FY11 | % of New Hires with Disabilities in Q1-Q3 FY11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 109,302 | 18,291 | 10.5 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 8.2 |
