U.S. Department of the Treasury

1. interpretation of results:

The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) offers unique insights into federal employees’ perceptions of employee satisfaction, engagement, and workforce management. Treasury values its employees and respects workplace perceptions. The results of the FEVS are analyzed for patterns and themes that help us identify Treasury’s strengths and challenges and are used to guide improvement efforts.

The 2021 core survey included 44 items that measured federal employees’ perceptions about how effectively agencies manage their workforce. The 2021 survey also contained thirteen items specific to the impact of the pandemic on the Federal workforce, eighteen demographic items, and eight Agency Specific Indicators. The 2021 survey included seven topic areas:

• Personal Work Experiences
• Work Unit
• Agency
• Supervisor/Team Leader
• Leadership
• Satisfaction
• Demographics

The 2021 FEVS is the first survey to include a Performance Confidence Index. This new Index measures the extent to which employees believe their organization has an outstanding competitive future, based on innovative, high-quality products and services that are highly regarded by the marketplace. Treasury achieved a result of (82%) in the Performance Confidence Index. This exceeds the overall Very Large Agency  Performance Confidence Index score (79%) by 3%. Also, unlike previous years, in 2021 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) only surveyed a sample of employees. 

The key message of Treasury’s 2021 FEVS is stability. The slight drops seen in some of the individual 2021 FEVS results reflect the on-going impact of the pandemic on the Federal workforce, including Treasury. However, despite these challenges, the 2021 FEVS does include a number of highlights:

• 30 out of 44 core survey items were identified as strengths (65% positive or higher.) The results show an increase of 2 over the previous year.
• As in 2020, there were no survey items identified as challenges in 2021. (35% negative or higher).
• 3 survey items increased and 39 survey questions decreased from 2020, only two of which decreased by more than 3%.
• A 1% increase in the Leaders Lead subindex (66%), as compared to the 2% drop in the overall Very Large Agencies result (59%).

Treasury employees continue to remain committed to their mission, are willing to give extra to get the job done, are proud of the quality of their work, and feel that their supervisors treat them with respect as evidenced by the six items with the highest positive scores shown below:

• 87% Positive- My supervisor supports my need to balance work and other life issues. (Q25). There was a 1% decrease from 2020. (Q19)
• 87% Positive- My supervisor treats me with respect. (Q29). This is a decrease of 1% since 2020. (Q23)
• 87% Positive – I know how my work relates to the agency’s goals (Q7). There was a 1% decrease from 2020. (Q7)
• 85% Positive – The people I work with cooperate to get the job done (Q9). There was a 1% decrease from 2020. (Q9)
• 84% Positive – My supervisor is committed to a workforce representative of all segments of society. This was a 1 % increase from 2020. (Q20)
• 84% Positive – I know what is expected of me on the job (Q4). There was a 2% decrease from 2020. (Q4)

2. how the survey was conducted:

The 2021 FEVS was administered within Treasury between November 1, 2021 and December 3, 2021 via email by the Office of Personnel Management.

3. description of sample:

In 2021 OPM expanded of eligibility to groups previously not considered eligible, including employees classified as non-permanent, seasonal, and not full- or part-time. Therefore the survey was administered to a sample of all full - or part-time, permanent, non-seasonal, non-political employees onboard as of April 30, 2021.

4. SURVEY ITEMS AND RESPONSE CHOICES

All survey items and response choices required by 5 CFR 250.302 were included in the 2021 Survey and are included in the attached 2021 Treasury Survey Results.

5. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES SURVEYED, NUMBER RESPONDED, AND REPRESENTATIVENESS OF RESPONDENTS:

In 2021, the Department of the Treasury achieved a response rate of 38%; Treasury’s 2020 response rate was 56%. This drop in response rate reflects a number of factors, such as: 

• OPM’s decision to survey a sample of the Treasury population
• A reduction in the number of weekly Survey reminders previously sent out by OPM
• A survey period of only 5 weeks, instead of the typical 6
• Survey fatigue
• On-going impact of the Pandemic

^[i] OPM defines a Very Large Agency as having more than 75,000 staff

2021 Annual Employee Survey (AES) Report