Taxpayers could benefit from policymakers who work to increase job satisfaction among federal employees

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Taxpayers could benefit from policymakers working to increase job satisfaction among federal employees, which would likely lead to improvements in productivity, performance and efficiency, a survey has found.

A group of researchers analyzed the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and found that policymakers and managers in federal agencies can take several steps to maximize the value delivered to taxpayers. Their findings are detailed in, “Using organizational science research to address U.S. federal agencies’ management and labor needs,” in the journal Behavioral Science and Policy.

Ellen Ernst Kossek, the Basil S. Turner Professor of Management and research director of the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership, was a co-author of the paper.

The group highlighted ideas that those people in management positions could implement to address employee dissatisfaction, which can breed lackluster performances.

The top recommendations target the goals of improving employee motivation through engagement, empowerment and embeddedness and enhancing the employees’ voice, which can be done through a group of synergistic goals.

Policymakers should redesign jobs so employees use a variety of skills, understand how they contribute to the larger organizational objectives, and have autonomy to determine how to do the work. Employees should also be offered a formal system for suggestions that does not punish them for their ideas, and not be forced to work with poor-performing employees who can bring down the morale of those performing at a high level.

Authors of the research paper are leading professors of management at business schools across the nation. Along with Kossek, they include: Herman Aguinis, Gerald F. Davis, James R. Detert, Mary Ann Glynn, Susan E. Jackson, Tom Kochan, Carrie Leana, Thomas W. Lee, Elizabeth Morrison, Jone Pearce, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Denise Rousseau and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. 

Media contact: Brian Peloza, 765-496-9711, bpeloza@purdue.edu

Source: Ellen Ernst Kossek, Basil S. Turner Professor of Management and research director of the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership.

Note to Journalists: Ellen Kossek is available for media interviews. Any journalist interested in Kossek’s recently published research “Using organizational science research to address U.S. federal agencies’ management and labor needs,” can contact Brian Peloza, Purdue News Service, 765-496-9711, bpeloza@purdue.edu.