Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS)

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) administered the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) to employees of Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia (PSA) beginning in June 2022.  According to overall 2022 FEVS results, PSA ranked among the top 15% out of 432 subcomponent agencies, according to the Partnership for Public Service’s Best Places to Work.

The 2022 FEVS consisted of 99 core questions, fifty-two of which were not included in the 2021 FEVS. An additional seventeen test items were added to capture data on the future of federal employment. Since the development of the OPM FEVS in the early 2000s, workplaces have changed, and new government priorities emerged. The survey was updated in 2022 to reflect those new conditions. For example, response to the pandemic has clearly shown the importance of employee resilience, innovation, and employee involved decision-making voice to agency success. New content relevant to these and other key management topics was added to the 2022 survey.   Responses to the seventeen test items were not included in the Agency’s results.

On the core questions, PSA’s positive responses (strongly agree, agree) in 2022 were higher than or equal to the positive responses in 2021 for about 64% of the questions. In addition, PSA’s positive responses were higher than government-wide responses on about 94% of the questions.  Eighty-four items (82%) were identified as strengths, which are typically defined by OPM as questions with a positive response rate of 65% or higher.  In particular, PSA’s employees report a firm understanding of how their work contributes to the Agency’s goals (93% positive responses) and understand what the organization’s priorities (90%) and their work unit’s goals are (93%).  They are held accountable for achieving results (91%).  Further, employees are confident that the Agency is successful at accomplishing its mission (92%) and that it is important that they themselves contribute to the common good (93%).  Employees also reported that supervisors are committed to a workforce representative of all segments of society (90%), listen to what their employees have to say (91%) and treat their employees with respect (93%).  Supervisors also support employees needs to balance work/life issues (94%) and support employee efforts to stay healthy while working (97%).   

Only one item can be identified as a challenge, which is defined by OPM as questions with a 35% negative response or higher. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of employees noted that changing work priorities made it difficult for them to focus on producing high-quality work. Responses in this area were likely impacted by the on-going pandemic and periodic changes to Agency operations to meet those challenges.  While this was the only area of major concern, in keeping with PSA’s commitment to continuous improvement, the Agency has examined the results to identify the most significant decreases in satisfaction from the 2021 survey responses. This includes employees feeling that their talents were well used in the workplace (from 71% satisfaction in 2021 to 65% satisfaction in 2022), that they contribute positively to the Agency’s performance (96% to 89%), that employees produce high quality work (90% to 84%), and that employees are protected from health and safety hazards on the job (77% to 85%).  The Agency will continue to monitor our responses in these areas. 

OPM also reports data across a series of indices, which are based on the responses to specific questions.  The DEIA index was new to the OPM FEVS in 2022. The index is specifically designed to align with Executive Order (EO) 14035 and features the four components in the EO: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. PSA’s indices show that the Agency is performing well across all indices as compared to the government-wide results.

PSA is encouraged by the results of the 2022 FEVS. While this continues to be a challenging time, PSA has focused efforts on meeting its mission while simultaneously protecting the health and safety of employees. The Agency recognizes the need to continue supporting employees, particularly as it returns to more normal operations. In addition, the Agency is committed to addressing the areas of most concern as it moves forward in 2023 and beyond.