A Message from the Director
I am pleased to share the OPM 2022 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (OPM FEVS) results. This is an exciting
year: OPM celebrates the 20th anniversary of the OPM FEVS! The 2022 OPM FEVS results demonstrate the ongoing
resilience of our Federal workforce, which continued to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic and other
challenges all while maintaining their unwavering commitment to serving the American people. Most notably,
the results showcase that the federal government wins on mission – the spirit of public service remains important
to people and the work they do.
As one of the largest employee surveys in the country, the 2022 OPM FEVS had more than 550,000 respondents
and a reach of 1.6 million employees. Marking an important milestone, new measures were added to this year’s
OPM FEVS, including resilience, innovation, and customer responsiveness, among others. I am also happy to
announce that we returned the 2022 survey to its traditional late Spring administration.
I start with an important analysis of our Employee Engagement Index (EEI). The EEI stayed steady at 71 percent, the
same mark as 2021, which were two of the highest scores in the past decade. These are strong results considering
the drop in employee engagement in other sectors, including Gallup’s employee engagement survey which dropped
for the rst time in a decade in 2021, and dropped again in 2022 for a 4 percentage point total decline.
The EEI is a strong indicator of organizational performance and Federal workers maintained a positive view of
their agency’s overall performance over the past year. The results show strong agreement that agency oces
met the needs of their customers (87 percent) and adapted to changing priorities (80 percent). Positive perceptions
of agency supervisors were a strong inuence on such optimistic performance assessments, captured by the
high scores (80 percent) on employee evaluations of supervisors in the EEI. Showcasing the widespread spirit
of public service in the workforce, an overwhelming number of respondents (91 percent) agreed it was
important to them that their work contribute to the common good.
Anticipating a “new normal” for some work environments, we modied telework questions to capture the
shifting workplace landscape, including input on remote work. As the Federal workforce navigated changes
in their work arrangements, support from supervisors on health and safety and promoting a positive work
environment were important factors during this period. A large number of employees indicated that they felt
their senior leadership supported policies and procedures to protect their health and safety (74 percent).
This year’s OPM FEVS also introduced a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) index, which was
developed to support Executive Order 14035
and the President’s Management Agenda. The 2022 OPM FEVS
represents an important source of baseline DEIA data for agencies. It also oers opportunities for comparative
benchmarking as agencies advance their DEIA initiatives.
Finally, employee surveys are exceptionally useful when employed by our agency leadership to make
improvements in response to their OPM FEVS feedback. Some of our lowest scores included dissatisfaction with
lack of recognition for a job well done, including recognizing dierences in performance, and employees not being
involved in decisions that impact their work. We also scored relatively low on using the results of this survey
to make our agencies better places to work. There is a direct link between high response rates and follow
through on survey results, so I would like to thank the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S.
Department of Energy, the National Credit Union Administration, the U.S. International Trade Commission and
the Inter-American Foundation for high responses rates in their respective size categories. I encourage leaders
and supervisors at all levels of government to review these critical survey insights and then build and implement
an action plan to improve the employee experience in their agencies.
I want to extend my deep appreciation to respondents across the Federal workforce for their time and honest feedback.
To all federal employees, thank you for the hard work you put in everyday on behalf of the American people.
Kiran Ahuja
.
Director
.
U.S. Oce of Personnel Management