{"id":27648,"date":"2022-03-07T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?p=27648"},"modified":"2022-06-16T10:01:26","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T14:01:26","slug":"do-federal-civil-servants-trust-the-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/do-federal-civil-servants-trust-the-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Do federal civil servants trust the government?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Evidence indicates<\/a> that civil servants\u2019 trust in government is tied to several critical trends in the federal workforce, including employee engagement, productivity and retention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite a long history of tracking public trust in government<\/a>, few researchers have addressed the factors that affect federal employees\u2019 trust in the federal system. Filling this knowledge gap could improve employee well-being and performance and, as a result, help agencies meet their mission and improve government effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Partnership for Public Service, with support from Deloitte, is working to better understand federal workforce trust in government and what agencies and administrations can do to improve it. Focusing on the executive branch, our research aims to show the levels, drivers and effects of civil servants\u2019 trust in career and politically appointed leaders, as well as employees’ trust in civil service institutions\u2014which we define as the laws and regulations that guide and protect civil servants and the entities that enforce and safeguard these rules to ensure fair, ethical and effective federal workplaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we are sharing three key findings about civil servants\u2019 trust in civil service institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These findings come from a December 2021 online survey of 475 current federal employees\u2014ranging from the GS-7 to the Senior Executive Service levels\u2014representing 35 agencies, as well as 20 one-on-one interviews and 2 roundtable discussions with past and present federal leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we found<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First, survey respondents and interviewees indicated only a modest level of familiarity with civil service institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six institutions featured most prominently in our research interviews and roundtable discussions: the Merit Systems Protection Board<\/a>, the Office of Special Counsel<\/a>, the Office of Government Ethics<\/a>, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission<\/a>, inspectors general<\/a>, and federal workforce rules set out in Title 5 of U.S. Code<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survey respondents reported being “a little familiar\u201d to \u201cmoderately familiar\u201d with these institutions on average. Respondents were most familiar with EEOC and inspectors general and least familiar with Title 5\u2014a surprising fact given that this statute governs salary scales, performance management, insurance and retirement benefits, and other aspects of employees\u2019 day-to-day work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Average Responses<\/a>
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Detailed Responses<\/a>
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