What is the FedView Survey?
What is the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey?
Who Participated in the Survey?
How Was the Survey Sample Designed and Selected?
How Was the Survey Administered?
Website Description
What is the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey?
The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey is a tool that measures employees' perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions that characterize successful organizations are present in their agencies. This survey was administered for the first time in 2002 and then repeated in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, and most recently in April-June of 2012. The survey:
- Provides general indicators of how well the Federal Government is running its human resources management systems.
- Serves as a tool for OPM to assess individual agencies and their progress on strategic management of human capital.
- Gives senior managers critical information to answer the question: What can I do to make my agency work better?
Who Participated in the Survey?
The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey was administered to full-time and part-time, permanent, non-seasonal employees of Departments and/large agencies and the small/independent agencies that accepted an invitation to participate in the survey.
Departments/Large Agencies
- Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)
- Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA)
- Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Department of Commerce (Commerce)
- Department of Defense (DoD)
- Department of the Army (Army)
- Department of the Navy (Navy)
- Department of the Air Force (Air Force)
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
- U.S. Marine Corps (Marines)
- Department of Education (Education)
- Department of Energy (Energy)
- Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- Department of the Interior (Interior)
- Department of Justice (Justice)
- Department of Labor (Labor)
- Department of State (State)
- Department of Transportation (DOT)
- Department of the Treasury (Treasury)
- Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- General Services Administration (GSA)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
- National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
- National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
- Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- Small Business Administration (SBA)
- Social Security Administration (SSA)
- United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Small/Independent Agencies
- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
- African Development Foundation
- American Battle Monuments Commission
- Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
- Commission on Civil Rights
- Committee for Purchase from People who are Blind
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Corporation for National and Community Service
- Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
- Export-Import Bank
- Federal Election Commission
- Federal Housing Finance Agency
- Federal Labor Relations Authority
- Federal Maritime Commission
- Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
- Federal Retirement Thrift Savings Board
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
- Inter-American Foundation
- International Boundary and Water Commission
- Kennedy Center
- Marine Mammal Commission
- Merit Systems Protection Board
- National Capital Planning Commission
- National Council on Disability
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- National Gallery of Art
- National Indian Gaming Commission
- National Mediation Board
- National Transportation Safety Board
- Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board
- Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
- Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation
- Office of U.S. Trade Representative
- Overseas Private Investment Corporation
- Postal Regulatory Commission
- Selective Service System
- Surface Transportation Board
- Trade and Development Agency
- U.S. Access Board
- U.S. International Trade Commission
- U.S. Office of Government Ethics
- U.S. Office of Special Counsel
- Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
These agencies comprise approximately 97 percent of the executive branch workforce.
Of the 1,492,418 employees who received the FEVS, 687,687 completed the survey for a governmentwide response rate of 46.1 percent.
How Was the Survey Sample Designed and Selected?
OPM designed the survey to produce valid results representing Governmentwide Federal employees as well as employees in individual Federal agencies and subagencies. In addition, the sample was designed to produce results by supervisory status (non-supervisor, supervisor, and executive).
The 2012 survey was directed at full-time and part-time, permanent, non-seasonal employees. A total of 82 agencies participated in the survey effort, consisting of 37 Departments/large agencies and 45 small/independent agencies. Nearly all participating agencies chose to have the survey administered as a census, that is, they wanted all of their eligible employees to be invited to take the survey. A total of 1,622,375 employees were invited to participate from 82 agencies. These agencies comprise 97 percent of the executive branch workforce.
Because of the differing response rates among the various demographic groups completing the survey, the data were weighted to further ensure that the results are statistically unbiased. In this way, adjustments to response rates could be made to account for over- and under-represented groups within the sample. For example, the gender, age, and agency of the respondents do not exactly reflect their actual distribution in the Federal workforce. In the case of supervisors and executives, response levels tend to be over-represented.
How Was the Survey Administered?
- The survey was conducted electronically on the Internet, with employees notified by email of their selection for the sample.
- Paper versions of the survey were provided to a limited number of employees who did not have access to the Internet survey (less than one percent).
- Electronic administration facilitated the distribution, completion, and collection of the survey.
- To encourage higher response rates, OPM sent multiple follow-up emails to sample members. OPM also provided agencies with sample communications and helped them develop an internal communication plan. These efforts contributed to an overall high response rate.
- Sampled employees could email the Survey Support Center for assistance if they had any questions about the survey or individual survey items. They also had the option of calling a toll-free number for survey assistance.
- Of the 1,492,418 employees who received the FEVS, 687,687 completed the survey for a governmentwide response rate of 46.1 percent.