**Human Capital Survey**

**December 2005**

**Question 7**

Question: What is a primary way to keep good employees working for NRCS?

Response: open ended

1.  just let them do their jobs.

2.  competitive pay and recognition of achievement, job satisifaction,
    having a good supervisor, mentoring

3.  Provided needed train to obtain agency goals and allow enough time
    to obtain these goals.

4.  Hire the staff needed to complete the job that needs to be done. Pay
    employees for what they are actually doing not their job titles.

5.  Do not overload them with performance goals. Allow them 50% of their
    time to be IN THE FIELD and not in front of a computer.

6.  Flexible work schedules.

7.  Accept diversity (age, gender, background, race, whatever), help
    employees find their niche \-- better support to develop career
    plans and training plans, better supervision

8.  Promote based upon quality of employee. A good employee will go
    where they feel best utilized.

9.  Treat them as if they are the most important resource that NRCS
    manages.

10. stick to the same kind of people that is working with the NRCS now.

11. You need to give them incentives! It can\'t just be a pat on the
    back. It needs to be something thats tangible. They need to know
    that what they do actually is making a difference. It\'s not the
    status quo.

12. Keep pay competitive with the private sector.

13. listening to what the field has to say

14. Support those in the field when they make a decision that is
    technically sound and according to rules and regs. I wanted to leave
    question 5 blank because I don\'t think employees are necessarily
    promoted for any of the reasons listed. Many are political
    appointments to meet quotas.

15. Good management at the next higher level. Being caught between a
    poor manager above and unhappy employees equals no support, no hope
    for a plan to correct things and a recipe for disaster.

16. Better Pay!!

17. to encourage and say well done

18. Acknowledge & support their current abilities by providing them ever
    increasing challenges including giving them the responsibility to
    teach what they know to someone else\...if everyone does this then
    everyone learns

19. Appreciation shown for a job well done

20. Recognition on quality of work, Being professional and respecful,
    professional work environment, opportunities for advancement,
    flexible work schedules for all employees (work at
    home,telecommuting) etc.

21. 1.Pay them comparably with private sector. 2.Allow them to be
    innovative. 3. Be sure the administration\'s programs to give money
    to producers does not conflict with the personnel integrity and
    values of its employees. Most employees care about the customer and
    the quality of the resource.

22. Offer competitive salaries and a clear career track with attainable
    promotion opportunities (instead of being told you have to wait for
    someone to retire to be promoted).

23. Promote the best qualified appplicants.

24. pay

25. Provide high quality complete information on issues that are
    affecting them daily whether technical, policy, or administrative.

26. management support, increased ability to advance at field level, and
    technology that exceeds the private sector

27. Allow them to perform their jobs using personal innovation and
    minimizing the burdens of reports or other tasks that reduce the
    amount of time devoted to increasing conservation being applied to
    the land.

28. Provide a vision that employees can embrace; conduct an operation
    that benefits the American Public.

29. Promote managers based on abilities rather than on frienships and
    provide assignaments to promote self worth and the sense of
    accomplishments.

30. Improve the agency\'s image. Improve offices and equipment. Improve
    information technology!!!

31. Responsiveness to employee concerns.

32. Provide more opportunties for personal and professional development
    at all levels; Recognition of contributions, achievements -
    especially of newer employees

33. Promote them based on their knowledge and abilities to do their job
    and pay better salaries.Don\'t promote solely for EEO or upward
    mobility programs to make you look good in the public eye.Nothing
    does more to lower morale than to promote someone based on gender or
    race.

34. Give the employee the opurtunity to receive training, both through
    the agency or additional schooling, which will allow them to pursue
    an agency carrer in the field of that fits their interest and
    abilities. Also as an agency we must reduce repetative
    paper/computer work and use our employees technical abilities to
    serve the public and get conservation on the ground. We need more
    standard forms and performance tracking methods handled by
    management, so the Field Offices can give the public the service
    they deserve.

35. Cross training of disciplines

36. The good employees seem to have a real connection with the mission
    and vision or NRCS.

37. continue to be family friendly

38. Major, major overhaul of upper management is needed - to the highest
    level. They are completely and totally out of touch with reality.
    Number 5 above needs another choice - none of these.

39. increase pay

40. Offer competitive salaries and job enrichment opportunities.

41. By rewarding them with incentives, example: Step in Grades,
    promotions to the next level, more award incentives/money. More
    detail assignments availability within the agency.

42. Good Pay

43. I don\'t see that there is a problem with attrition? The agency is
    full of employees paid much and in much less demanding jobs than
    they could possible get in non-governmental situations.

44. More Awards recognition Better qualified supervisors and/or manager

45. Proper training.

46. Offer them challenging jobs and give them opportunity to advance.

47. Get rid of the ones that aren\'t performing so that the ones who are
    can have an opportunity to move up in the Agency.

48. Support and reward staff who are doing good work and working hard.
    Reprimand and remove staff who are not doing good work and not
    working hard. When someone is giving 110% and looks over at the
    person in the next cube and sees them giving less than 10% and not
    suffering any consequences for their lack of effort, that really
    causes anger and resentment. We need a private sector mentality (do
    the work or suffer the consequences) instead of an academic
    mentality (if you have tenure, you can do as little as you want).

49. Stop bullying their employees and treating them as if their way is
    the only way. Misuse of their authority and treating people as
    though you are better than them. Provide training for the people who
    want to learn more. Doesn\'t make sense if a person isn\'t busy and
    want to help out in another section they can\'t because their
    supervisor won\'t allow it.

50. Give them opportunities in which to succeed and grow.

51. Establish a firm agency identity and work for employee ownership and
    gelling. Employees need a common identity with the agency and
    coworkers, understand the agency and its long term goals, feel they
    are have active part, and are doing significant things that make a
    difference.

52. recognition of good work

53. Good pay, challanging job, and fair promotion process.

54. By getting rid of the bad employees. It makes the good ones look bad
    when we have employees that get paid a lot of money and don\'t have
    the responsibilities to match the pay they receive.

55. Give them challenging assignments, remove barriers to experiment,
    value their insight and knowledge

56. Pay comparable to private industry.

57. More promotions and increased pay.

58. Reduce distractions from actual job (e.g., required EEO, sexual
    harassment training, paperwork/computer related tasks)

59. Give them opportunity to \'feel\' like they are making a differenec,
    not just rush from one crisis to another.

60. Reward employees who are

61. Implement a personal development program for every employee. This
    should look ahead several years. The program should provide
    opportunities for training and increased responsibility over time.

62. Recognize knowledge and skills of employees and have them do work
    that takes advantage of their abilities. For the past 10 years, I
    have been doing work which does not take advantage of my potential.
    Both the agency and I are loosing because of this.

63. recognition and workplace flexibility

64. Engage them in productive and rewarding work.

65. Fairness in filling positions û filling vacancies with most
    qualified for the job. Recognize management skills and promote
    accordingly.

66. Find the people who are talked of as

67. Acknowledgement

68. Provide atmosphere where employee understands what the real business
    of NRCS is and the opportunity for those individuals to see how they
    are contributing to that business. Currently many individuals in
    Beltsville do not really know what NRCS businss is, they only know
    what revolves around their little world.

69. Insure that they have work that when completed, can give them a
    sense of accomplishment

70. Adequate pay, proper reconignition.

71. Provide worthwhile goals and support for business that will advance
    NRCS.

72. Benefits,Salary

73. create a balance between career and personal family life

74. Increase staffing to match work load.

75. Better health benefits, including dental and vision.

76. keeping them happy

77. Recognition (not only with monetary) sometimes just a thank you
    shows an employee that they are being recognized for good work.
    Also, a change in duty stations is good. Not everyone gets what they
    want or need at the same location and a change in supervisors is
    sometimes worthwhile and can maintain morale.

78. Provide adequate staffing and keep job functions focused. Don\'t
    give technical staff a full adminstrative workload.

79. Fairness, interest in job, employee incentiveness

80. Listen and take appropriate actions. Too often I hear the term

81. Competitive salary and opportunity to advance

82. Pay for Performance, or more timely use of performance awards.
    Agency still holds many awards until the end of the year. Need to
    distribute throughout the year as accomplishments are
    obtained/achieved. Recognition throughout the year, either formal or
    informal, needs to be stessed to managers and supervisors.

83. Give them assistance in the offices (more employees for program
    assistance or for doing specialized areas in the position.) Can\'t
    expect people to be instant experts in performance for areas that
    are totally unknown to them. Training isn\'t the problem. The
    employees in the field especially, have a lot of demands on them.
    They are expected to be accountants, contract managers, computer
    literate when frustration levels are low and changes occurs
    frequently, experts in conservation programs, etc.

84. Allow flexibility for both employee work and personal needs as much
    as possible.

85. Keep the focus on implementing conservation in the field instead of
    counting beans and having everyone becoming computer experts.

86. Constant focus on agency goals. Allow for various ways to achieve
    these.

87. Career advancement if desired with out moving all over the country.
    Telecommuting for positions that permit.

88. Reduce the unnecessary paperwork. Reduce the worload. There is not
    enought time for training. We have become a program oriented Agency
    and do not have time to respond or follow up to basic on the ground
    conservation.

89. Keep them challenged, engaged, and motivated by treating them
    equally, fairly, and as if they are important.

90. They need to feel they are part of something, that their voice
    counts, that that something has a pretty good idea of where is
    heading.

91. Flexible workplace, flexible hours, family friendly. Meaningful work
    and potential for meaningful accomplishments

92. Provide challenging conservation work related to getting
    conservation on the ground not by finding ways to get money to
    farmers.

93. Stop contracting out the very parts of the job that make it
    satisfying and enjoyable. If we are only left with the paperwork and
    bureaucratic drudgery not many skilled people will want to stick
    around.

94. Follow The Mission Of NRCS - Soil Conservationist (457) Spend to
    much time on the computer and not enough time in the field.

95. Recognize, reward and promote those that truly have a conservation
    ethic, do good work and believe in what we do as an organization,
    not those that

96. Visits & recognition from supervisors

97. Be flexible with job descriptions. The job should reflect the needs
    by the public within a given locality. If an SCT is doing SC work
    because that is what is needed, the SCT should be up-graded.

98. better pay (in some cases), better health benefits to include
    dental, vision coverage, more opportunities for advancement, more
    moral boosting activities & contests (such as the poster contests)

99. Promote those that are deserving rather than those that meet a RNSO
    goal.

100. Provide a postive work environment

101. Have clear cut career paths, career training milestones, give
     leadership the ability to select, reassign and advance employees
     outside of formal competitive process

102. Provide the proper level of training and opportunity to advance.
     Provide a good working environment that includes all the tools
     necessary to complete their job responsibilities.

103. Pay

104. satisfying work, good benefits and competitive salary

105. Employees stay due to (1) their temporal proximity to retirement,
     or (2) this is the only job they can find. While many employees
     believe in what they are doing, they are trying to accomplish far
     nore than they are able to effectively. The decimation of the
     SCS/NRCS workforce has and the concentration on programmatic work
     has warped the delivery of the agency\'s mission and compromised on
     the quality fo the work we deliver to America\'s private
     landowners. This agency needs a significant infusion of competent
     employees who can be trained adequately before the potential
     retiring population leaves the agency. We are being asked to
     accomplish far too much with a meager employee base. The end result
     is a lack of quality and a manegment style that is reactionary at
     best.

106. Increase job satisfaction by providing programs that help put
     conservation on the land without too much redtape. Allow individual
     initiative.

107. Have a very strong recognition program and give people the tools
     and training they need to do their job well.

108. Adequate training, diversity of work assignments, decent pay,
     reasonable workload for alloted time, outstate development
     opportunities

109. Providing training and upward mobility

110. Give them the training they need and say

111. Fairness in everything

112. Provide flexible work locations. As people are making there final
     moves they have acquired considerable amount of connection both in
     community and real estate assets. It provides hardships for
     employees and their family to move at this point in their career
     which results in large commutes and temporary housing. Flexible
     work locations will work for some jobs more than others.

113. Positive feedback, awards, more work-life benefits

114. Make their work less flooded with badly developed softwares.
     (ProTracts; Toolkit)

115. Recognize good work. Provide opportunities to advance in their
     careers.

116. The emphasis placed on promotion of minority groups is a
     disincentive to men and women of non-minority status who are more
     qualified, and either apply for jobs and are not chosen, or clearly
     see it happening to others. Yes, there are means to challenge these
     personnel decisions, but most know that it is not worth the effort,
     for several reasons, to do so. Good qualified employees have quit
     after being burned this way since private employers are more
     inclined to promote based purely on merit. Noone is served by this
     practice. The primary way to keep good employees is to treat
     EVERYONE equally and fairly. In Massachusetts, a minority was
     recently moved from CA to fill a position without it even being
     advertised while a qualified non minority was overlooked. This
     employee eventually quit NRCS. These types of obvious personnel
     actions do not go unnoticed by the rest of the state employees.

117. listen and act on employee feedback\...

118. providing employee with sense of accomplishment and appreciation
     for work well done

119. provide appropriate staffing levels so employees are not doing the
     job of more than one person

120. MAke them feel important-allow them input in decionmaking.

121. Put people in decision making position that they know what they are
     talking about and what affect it will have on the field staffs and
     not just the political decision.

122. Improve the leadership, managment, and mission of NRCS

123. Providing a motivations work training.

124. I believe there should be a way to advance in job series other than
     applying for another job outside your state. A clearer
     understanding of the requirements for job advancement. It appears
     that in order to qualify for another job no longer considers the
     lenght of service as a qualification for a job. i.e. An individual
     just graduated with a Batchelors degree and has the required
     courses taken vs. the individual that has a previous degree and
     10 - 20 years experience in the field. It appears that my
     experience is no longer valid.

125. Keep them satisfied with a sufficient workload at all times.

126. Keep decent pay raises each year.

127. Try to stay competitive with private sector in reguard to pay.

128. Don\'t force the older technically experienced staff out with the
     computer savvy newbes who are lacking technical experience.

129. Allow us to do the job we were hired to do, and farm out the
     computer data entry, supply ordering, and other secretarial type
     tasks to the private sector, rather than the other way around.

130. Keep from overwhelming them with excessive non-technical paperwork

131. Education, salary and recognition

132. Provide quality training. Many new employees get totally frustrated
     being thrown into situations without any training.

133. I am not affected by this, but many of my peers can not advance due
     to the federal gov. mis-interpretation of the 457 series education
     requirements.

134. Reward for experience. Stop discouraging good employees that want
     to advance by not recognizing the amount of experience they have
     gained in the years they have served with the agency and sister
     agencies. A collge degree will not teach experience. A recent
     graduate with a four year degree should not be more qualified for a
     position than a person who has been performing the job for 5 years.

135. necessary backround and experience for incoming employees specific
     to their field

136. Reducing STRESS!- from too small a workforce to address the
     continual high workloads! Allowing more Field Office DC freedom.

137. Demonstrate leadership is committed to conservation rather then
     politics and overly complex detail that is negatively impacting
     programs and morale.

138. Treat them with respect. Promote from within based on merit and
     past work history/track record.

139. In my opinion it is crucial for NRCS to consider the path that
     employees themselves wish to take to advance their careers. This
     policy of mobility along with the re-classification of the 457
     series has crippled many employees like myself. I am a 4 year
     employee and was never told when I was hired that I would have to
     work in other Field Offices in order to be promoted. In fact I has
     encouraged to take a college course in Soils so I would qualify for
     the 457 and be prepared for position changes within my current
     Field Office. Know, 4 years later, I find myself having to complete
     a bachelor\'s degree, even though I already have the required
     credits outlined in the old 457 reqirements, move my family,
     forfeit my wife\'s job, and relocate to work in another field
     office in order to move up. This is why I am seeking other
     employment. Everything I was told when I was hired has changed.

140. Streamline the program management criteria and maintain consistency
     from year to year.

141. Give them duties that they enjoy and are responsible for and pay
     them well. Avoid excessive bureaucracy.

142. Balance pay with private sector

143. Better trained managers to lead staff more efficiently

144. Competitive pay especially since we do not have the oppertunity to
     earn time and a half pay or bonuses. They pay stubs may look good
     but the private industry has more perks and better benefits. They
     also have better options in telecommunicating and alternative work
     environments.

145. Salaries commensurate with duties and job performance.

146. Increase Salaries. It has been long been observed that the agency
     promotes on the basis of PIE, 10% perfomance, 45% Image, and 45%
     Exposure. Image and Exposure counting for managerial qualities.
     This is a problem for morale.

147. Empower employees in the decisions that effect the work they
     perform

148. Get the computer system working correctly.

149. It is necessary to have adequate staffing. Currently older
     competent employees are getting tired of working becasue they are
     being asked to do more in the same amount of time.

150. Changing or modifying the rules about advancement from within.
     Counting years of experience for advancement.

151. competitive salaries, flexibility with work schedules,
     opportunities for carear advancement. Eliminating the we are not
     qualified for our jobs edict that came from OPM, unbelievable!!!!

152. give field employees support and assistance from program
     specialists

153. Do away with mandatory mobility.

154. Get rid of mobility agreements and split grade levels eg.9/11 or
     9/11/12

155. Providing them with quality direction and support instead of the
     laissez faire figure it out on your own game playing lip service to
     policy and procedures.

156. hire more competent people to help distribute the increasing
     workload

157. Keep on doing what you\'re doing, however I would like to see some
     more diversity in the New York area. Maybe a program that is set up
     just for that.

158. Employees need to have a sense that they\'ll be listened to.
     Employees should be consulted, in many not all instances, when it
     will directly impact their position. Depending on the management
     depends if this happens. It would also help to fire some of the
     high paid dead weight in the state offices and promote people who
     actually know what the agency is about, who work hard, and are
     devoted. I would be totally thrilled to earn regular overtime for
     the extra hours I so often donate to this agency. Good employees
     need to feel they will have a career ladder to clime, instead of
     screwing them out of promotions by changing your minds as to who
     qualifies for a series (which for your info I am not one who got
     screwed in the 450 series change that a BS is required but many
     qualified current DC\'s were). Often a lack of communication
     between management and the field fosters bitterness in the
     employees. Open communication is imperative to having happy
     employees. I have been fortunte to have supervisor who support my
     need to speak my mind, but I see many who haven\'t. Also, many
     DC\'s were hired as field technicians and are now forced to sit
     behind a computer and sell programs. That is not what they were
     hired to do. They are here to put conservation on the land, to see
     the fruits of their labor implemented, functioning, and providing
     the environmental benefit intended.

159. Allow employees to apply conservation to the land as it is needed,
     not to fulfill a program or target numbers. Secondly, It seems were
     are spending too much time documenting our existance/imortance in
     stead of developing good quality work (plans and practices) and
     spending time with clients to get \'buy-in\' so that they
     incorporate our work in what they do with there natural resources.

160. Continue to provide training and advancement opportunities

161. Abandon the trend of inventing ever-more complex programs which are
     not well defined in goals, scope, or procedure from the national
     level. Also, heaping the responsibilty of

162. Provide flexible work schedules

163. Let them recieve training and offer the ability to move around when
     need. I think we do a good job.

164. Keep wages competetive, recognize of good work, and give clear
     guidance to front line employees.

165. Have the state office personnel provide clear guidance as to
     implementation of programs. Don\'t leave it up to the field offices
     and then second guess their moves.

166. Maintain professional development and technical training as a high
     priority. Promote staff that are deserving, willing, and competent.
     Stop promoting people that are a valueable assest to the agency,
     (promoted to a level of incompetence).

167. overall good benefits job security, decent pay and appropriate
     recognition

168. Improve salary & increase staffing for field staff

169. Honor prior Up. Mobility Prog. qualifications & certification,
     rather than determining that we

170. Less workload, especially paperwork

171. Maintain a good support system for new hires. Terminate the
     mobility agreement for new hires. To maintian employees, merit
     awards are wonderful. As well, open communication between admin and
     the rest of the specific staffs.

172. Treat them well, and have management decisions that make sense for
     ALL levels of the agency, not just the upper levels of mgmt.

173. Increase pay and greater recognition for your hard work.

174. Continued training to better themselves

175. Match people with the jobs that they are good at and get
     fulfillment.

176. Recognize them in an appropriate way for the great work they do. An
     increase in pay will help after they reach as high as they can go.
     I am not sure how I am going to make ends meet for the next 8 years
     at the same salary as everything continues to cost more. I continue
     to receive more responsibility as a technician that I do not mind,
     but cannot receive any higher salary because I only have an
     associate degree. The many years of experience and the work it
     takes to get it on the ground and into the system becomes more
     challenging daily.

177. Reward hard work and competency, allow people to reach their goals.

178. A combination of merit-based pay raises and recognition for
     consistent performance

179. Recognize the successes they achieve. Listen to, and act on, the
     things they have to say about doing things better

180. Pay those who are doing a good job and reward them. Much like
     reward the best and motivate the rest. Also, at what point do years
     of experience start to mean more than having a certain degree out
     of college. In my opinion, someone who has worked with the agency
     and its partners for four years is far better than someone who took
     classes for four years and comes here with large training needs.

181. Surround the good employees with other good employees

182. Good pay supported by strong leadership with the oportunity for
     advancement.

183. Creating team work atmosphere.

184. provide a competetive wage with private sector and base
     promotion/selection on competancy

185. Reward those that are working hard to improve their knowledge and
     abilities and stop rewarding those who do NOT work hard and waste
     gov\'t time and money. My experience is that others get promoted
     who are not the best at the managerial side and then do not do
     their jobs as described. The other coworkers do that work and then
     do not receieve any benefit from their hard work.

186. Not to judge them unjustly

187. Help the employees to be happy, satisfied, and confident, working
     in a friendly environmental where there is mutual respect and
     sharing of knowledge and skills to complete the job.

188. have enthusiastic, COMPETENT, and ORGANIZED supervisors who lead by
     example.

189. Having experienced and knowledgable people to learn from on a day
     to day basis.

190. Cut the amount of Bureaucracy from Washington. Too much
     documentation for too many items needed in too much detail. You
     need to be accountable but that is where management comes in.

191. In order for DCs and soil conservationists to make strong
     connections and relationships with landowners and install sound
     conservation practices on-the-ground, we need to provide
     admininstrative assistants/contract specialists with a fair wage
     and benefits (for each field team) to complete the GIS updates and
     contracting that takes up so much of field personnel time.

192. Finacial

193. Employees will stay at this job if they enjoy what they do and make
     enough money to be comfortable. I love my job because I can see the
     difference our programs (EQIP etc.) make on the ground where it
     counts.

194. Rewarding those that deserve to be rewarded and discipline those
     that are not doing their work.

195. Go to a

196. challenging work environment, need to perform tasks that assist
     desisionmakers with natural resource information-specific to site
     and situation

197. Make the work meaninful and something to be proud of doing. Provide
     better management.

198. Treat employees with respect

199. Give them extensive training and various job oportunities.

200. Allow field office staff to work in the field. We are too attached
     to these computers.

201. pay always appears to be number one but for me, I\'d feel guilty
     receiving the pay if I didn\'t have the responsibility to go along
     with it!

202. fair promotions across the board.

203. Pay us for the work we are doing. My supervisor retired last year,
     he was GS-12, I am GS-9. I am doing all the work he did plus a
     little more (he was an excellent employee) but am not sure if I
     will be promoted. I may have to leave agency, or leave this state
     to move up. That kind of bothers me.

204. Make them feel appreciated.

205. Keep treating the employees well. Reward employees for good work
     when done. Provide trainings to keep employees proficient in all
     aspects of their work.

206. Maintain pay levels and work standards so that employees have pride
     in the jobs they do, rather than work to just achieve

207. simplify program rules and eliminate useless forms deliver programs
     that make sense and are easily implemented (ACP) why kill a program
     that worked for 60 years?

208. Better pay and promotion potential. Better recognition of work
     accomplished.

209. Reward the good and do something about the non-productive
     employees.

210. division of duties

211. Adopt a one program system to address resource concerns. Change is
     good, but constant change and uncertainty is frustrating.

212. pay scale, good support systems and manageable programs

213. Reduce the time spent servicing our internal customers (OMB& other
     bean counters) to a minimun and maximize the time our staff can use
     to serve our public customers and install conservation systems.

214. Stop changing the progress reporting and conservation system
     toolkit technology annually, good employees might actually be able
     to get familiar enough with the system and the technology to make
     the system work for them in the field instead of being an
     unproductive slave to it.

215. Give clear direction , promote people based on competency and be
     willing to admit we have problems that need addressed.

216. Allowing employees to perform on the ground conservation work and
     limit the amount of paperwork and record keeping to very necessary
     items.

217. pay

218. Since I\'m one of those employees that\'s going to be retiring very
     soon I can afford to be honest. I\'ve seen this agency go from one
     that did lots of real conservation work to one that seems to have
     lost its way. ie. I was a Soil Conservation Tech. for 20 yrs. at
     the county level. It was work that was satisfing as well as
     rewarding. However, when I go back to this county that worked in
     and I see the conservation practices gone or destoryed. Fields that
     were once contour stripped are now being farmed in a mono culture,
     and are people calling it a conservation cropping system. Your
     older employees are very frustrated with what they see happening
     especially those of us that are still in field. What we need to do
     is to get back to the basics - good solid Conservation Planning w/
     the tried and true Conservation Practices. There way to much
     emphasis put on computer work. Our new employees were raised w/
     computers and most of them have the skills or can learn the
     computer skills very quickly. What these kids need

219. Have a defined plan for the future of the agency and let them know
     what it is. Show an interest in any plans the employee might have
     for the future and discuss those plans with them. If an employee is
     hoping for something that won\'t happen at least you can get that
     out on the table up front.

220. Reward employees based on their accomplishments.

221. By having good supervisors and administrative personnel that can
     provide guidance and truthful answers (not beating around the bush)
     when dealing with job related issues like promotions, term appt.,
     having to reapply for jobs. So that employees are not getting the
     ran around,they have a straight forward view of were their job
     potential can be. At times employees are getting repetitive
     responses like the promotion is being looked into. The employee
     needs to make numerous attempts to get an answer, when the first
     contact should have been significant.

222. Supervisors and administrative personnel giving straight forward,
     honesty answers to questions on employment/promotions, etc. These
     people also being forth coming with information.

223. Listen to them, provide them the tools to do their job, support
     them and reward them.

224. Salary and benefits are a given, but primarily for me it is
     continued support from managment and flexible schedule/work
     locations.

225. Less stress and paperwork

226. Hire people who are interested in the the work and the results of
     our work instead of just the pay check. Train them and promote them
     according to their ambitions and skill development. Keep the pay
     competetive with the private sector but not necessarily equal or
     more.

227. Do not introduce new software until after the bugs have been
     eliminated. If it don\'t work don\'t roll it out.

228. The complaint I most often hear is that everyone is overloaded with
     responsibilities. We seem to be continuously thrush into new
     arenas, forcing us to deal with complex issues with a minimual
     amount of preparedness. Every task we face has become more
     burdensome to complete. Part of this problem is has been caused by
     the huge effort needed to populate our computer systems with data.
     The other major part is the time consuming documentation which has
     become part of most aspects of our daily business. Examples of this
     would be time spent creating digitized map products, conservation
     worksheets, PNDI and cultural resource investigations and simply
     waiting for web based applications to process. Time spent
     processing bills and administering payments for program
     participants are other new duties which require time imputs. All
     these added tasks create a feeling of never being able to catch up
     or produce the quaility desired. These afore mentioned problems
     have a tremendous impact on the desires of employees to continue
     working.

229. Get away from traditional bureaucracy bog-downs (paper shuffle,
     program complexity/inflexibility, poor upper managment guidance,
     etc..) which lull employees into complacency or apathy over the
     long haul\...instilling a desire to avoid work rather than suffer
     the consequences of trying to do what is right for the resource or
     the landowner only to get resistance along the way. This is very
     disheartening to those who want to work for a long time in the
     agency.

230. freduce workload expected of each employee

231. Keep them motivated and allow them to do there jobs in the field
     and think outside of the box.

232. Let employees know which direction NRCS is heading. We are caught
     right now somewhere between a strong technical agancy and a week
     administrative agency. Many people joined NRCS because of teh
     assistance we provide landowners. With current responsibilites our
     job roles are changing dramatically and that is causing
     dissatisfaction among many.

233. Advancement opportunities and career choice satisfaction

234. enable employees to exercise greater control over their work, base
     awards on performance and customer satisfaction, not favoritism

235. Pay, opportunity for promotions and excellent benefits that can
     compete with the private sector.

236. Increase morale by improving managerial staff relationships toward
     subordinates.

237. Provide them with adequate staff to complete assigned workload.

238. field work

239. Agency should try to lessen increasing computer and paper work.
     There is barely any time left to do field work where our real nitty
     gritty accomplishments are!!!!

240. getting rid of deadwood employees, actively recruiting and
     promoting those employees that try hard to do their best, following
     procedures, and achieving technical, computer, and managerial
     competence. allow employees to do activities outside of their job
     description that they have schooling and training in for the
     benefit of the agency. gaining more environmental benefits from the
     practices we but in. end of year bonuses for those doing a good job
     etc.

241. Acknowlege accomplishments, keep good working relationships in
     offices.

242. Having good management that recognizes and rewards quality work of
     the employees.

243. Offer opportunities for them to use their knowledge and skills and
     recognize their contributions.

244. Good human resources staffing that properly explains benefits,
     hiring good people from the start (that I question is done), and
     promoting people with management mentality and potential.
     Understand I come from private industry as a manager and things
     this agency does I simply don

245. Keep training and providing leadership opportunities. Allow
     employees to practice these skills as they go to new jobsites or on
     short term details.

246. job stability and promotion potential

247. Less stress and more money

248. Having employees working within their job classification and skills
     plus hiring more people to accomplish this.

249. Keep them excited and motivated about conservation and away from
     the political moves programs and other things take them.

250. Provide more oppurtunities for field work across all programs. By
     reducing goal expectations or progress reporting responsibilities
     it would be possible for most employees to increase field time.
     Hiring employees with less technical experience but more
     organizational and computer skills for every field office, in
     addition to the current work force would also increase field time
     as well as program related progress.

251. allow technical people do what they do best instead of doing
     clerical work

252. Better pay and not forcing us to learn a new and complex form of
     technology every year.

253. Making good working relationships with your co-workers. This makes
     your job more enjoyable and makes you want to do a good job because
     you work well together.

254. Give them the tools to do their job\...On-the-Job Training, Formal
     Training, Hands-on training, incentives to attend job related
     education opportunities\...and then constantly supervise them until
     they reach a high standard of proficiency and can carry on whether
     the supervisor is present or not. Once people reach that level, you
     simply have to pay them well enough to keep them and reward them
     with awards or other incentives when they go

255. equal treatment

256. a broader range of potential experiences within their existing job
     and career advancement opportunities

257. Not to burden them with administrative duties. Use their strengths.

258. Have a genuine interest in them and threir ideas.

259. Recognition/Promotion as a reward for hard work

260. Keep them where they enjoy working and where producers are
     comfortable with them. Moving them around every few years does not
     help them or the producers they are working with to be become
     comfortable, thus, not keeping them happy and causing them not to
     be the best employee they could be.

261. Better define duties. Stick to the mission.

262. Select managers that manage. Put rules out ahead of the game to
     avoid redoing things several times.

263. encouraging lower level employees to participate in providing input
     in making agency decisions.

264. Promote and reward employees on actual merit, knowledge, skills and
     quality of work, not because of personal relationships, personnel
     issues, high goal/performance numbers from lower quality work, etc.

265. Provide leaders who aren\'t afraid to make their own decisions and
     stand behind their beliefs. Negativity with current employees stems
     more from not respecting supervisors and leaders than from not
     being satisfied with job.

266. Good flexible management. Agency needs both mobile employees and
     employees that develop long term community ties at all levels of
     expertise.

267. Providing an encouraging work environment

268. Hire emplyees commited to our mission. Promote and pay according to
     contribution to our mission.

269. Allow them to grow by encouraging them to take on responsibilities
     that make their position more effective/efficient.

270. Promote the best, encourage common sense decisions, keep the work
     environment positive and flexible, keep supervisors down-to-earth
     and not over-the-top on each employee pressuring them with
     unreasonable goals, stress high-quality work rather than
     high-quantity output, make sure policies and standards stress doing
     things the right way with honesty

271. Minimize bureaucracy at field level. Ensure new technologies are
     operational prior to rolling out to field. Eliminate mobility
     agreement.

272. Pay them better and give promotions to people who deserve them as
     well as keep positions advertised at the same grade. Too much
     changes from the same position to the grade that person will
     receive depending on who they are and who there supervisor is!!

273. Keep technical leadership. Avoid becoming another bureacuracy. Fire
     the idiots and political appointees who are leading us.

274. Continue training and responsibilities.

275. Good pay and benefits program. Repect the opinions of all employees
     by acting on consenses reccomendations and reward employees that
     actually perform at a higher level.

276. Get back to the basics of what made our agency the best technical
     agency out there and stop taking on so many ridiculous programs
     which are impossible to administer. The local field offices are
     inundated with a multitude of programs with little or no directions
     on how to administer them. We need to get back to basics and keep
     things simple and in the long run we will do more to accomplish our
     intended goal of protecting the environment. These programs are
     complicated, cumbersome, and entirely too costly for the average
     agricultural producer. Even if they are receiving 75% cost share
     (which they only are really getting maybe 55%-65% in actuality)
     their out of pocket costs are well beyond their means which is a
     ticket to disaster.

277. Quit changing priorites, hampering us with technology, making
     technical employees act like accountants (running protracts,
     handling bills, etc.) Get back to where folks capable of doing
     bills (FSA) handle that while we do the technical part.

278. I think that much of the field team is spending excessive amounts
     of time doing computer work, rather than actually spending time
     with the producer out in the field to solve problems with resource
     concerns.

279. Return to helping people in the field not thru computers,fraudulent
     numbers and reports. Hire and promote based on merit not on

280. Promote quality as much as quantity. Too much of our work is based
     on numbers produced and not the quality of our

281. Hire computer oriented personel to get data in toolkit and PRS.
     This would allow the people with technical knowledge to get back
     working in the field (that has been our bread and butter over the
     years, technical assistance, one on one with the landowner).

282. Set goals that are reachable. With new toolkit and other computer
     programs being introduced, it is stressful to learn to use those
     programs and keep up planning goals to satisfy supervisors. Keeping
     on part-time WAE help when they are trained is also an incentive
     for professionals to stay with NRCS. Emphasize quality, not as much
     quantity, while learning the new computer and cost-share programs.

283. Allowing us to do tasks with a sense of accomplishment, reducing
     the amount of paperwork and bureaucracy involved in accomplishing
     our jobs, and allow us to be creative.

284. Let employees do the job they were hired for: i.e. technical work &
     getting conservation

285. Provide better management. Make promotions based on skills and
     abilities, and then promote those with the proper skills and
     abilities.

286. A good job once in a while.

287. Eliminate job stress.

288. Eliminate the vargaries of performance in using CS Toolkit &
     Protracts; Provide access to an online comprehensive library (body
     of knowledge) for policies and procedures in the CREP program.

289. Provide a variety of challenges, and don\'t make the job all about

290. Recognize their effort on a one-to-one basis.

291. Let the employees complete the job they were hired to do which is
     to provide technical assistance to our customers by solving
     complicated environmental problems through conservation planning
     and application. Our reward is seeing conservation on the land.
     Nice maps on a computer will not install conservation on the land!

292. positive motivation

293. Get rid of employees who do nothing so that you don\'t promote even
     the appearance of laziness and just getting by.

294. We have gotten away from line and staff communication. It is
     routine for staff people at higher levels to call my employees and
     ask them to do something without contacting me.

295. Timely advancements Strong benefits

296. Teaching supervisors to supervise and be good managers and make
     choices with input from the field. Management is clueless about
     field issues.

297. Make them permanent employees and promote them faster.

298. Stop promoting the people who screw up and start looking at
     experienced people. Don\'t hire people just because they have a
     certain

299. To do the kind of work that one likes, is very good at doing, has a
     feeling of personal accomplishment, and is recognized for their
     work. Employees must have the knowledge, skill, ability, with
     desire and passion for the position.

300. Less bean counting on the computer and more in the field work
     actually getting something accomplished.

301. Have tools that can be easily understood and used to accomplish the
     objective, unlike RUSLE II and ARC GIS. Have programs that actually
     accomplish some good without the many layers of rules and
     regulations, most of which are only self-serving.

302. One have managers-leaders that have taken leadership training and
     actually implement ideas and methods that reflect the use of that
     knowledge and makes the agency more customer oriented not just
     goal/customer oriented. Two - find out how to keep the new
     employees and improve their job satisfaction as the agency and how
     we produce products and achieve goals is much different than it was
     25 years ago. Todays newer employees are much more easily
     dissatisfied and will leave the agency and look for other more
     satisfying work. We need to show them where the job satisfaction is
     and help them to achieve it. Three - Have more work out in the
     field that is not tied into the perception that the computer is the
     only way to go and produce a product. However if we are to have
     computers out in the field have ones that are easily worked and
     capable of producing a product that will be useful to the customer.
     I think that we produce products that are usable by NRCS but less
     than useful to the producer because we spend much time working on
     the product and know it very well but do not convey that good
     product to the landowner because we do not spend wnough time with
     them going over the product. If someone glosses over something with
     me i probably will not look at it to much as if they did not think
     enough of the product to spend time on it with me why should I even
     look it over.

303. Better, more competant supervisors, better pay for the effort and
     time put forth by employees

304. Job Diversity and wages

305. Reduce the ratio of time spent on accountability over field work.
     Systems like toolkit are not consistantly reliable and slow us
     down, create burnout from frustration. Program reviewer expect a
     higher level of performance then they produce as support people.
     Train support people to understand the FO workings.

306. Provide clearer objectives and goals of the agency and also provide
     a clear plan of how we are to achiveve the goals. I believe the
     greatest frustration in current employees is the constantly
     changing computer software and program policies. Streamlining
     processes for the different programs would help. Differences in
     programs is confusing enough, let alone when rules change within
     programs from year to year. Example - the new EQIP rules for FY2006
     are significantly different, and more confusing and conflicting,
     and from FY2005. Awards at the end of the year are nice, but more
     encouragment and recognition of efforts throughout the year could
     increase morale and motivation. The enouragement and recognition
     could come from co-workers, supervisors, state and national office
     leaders. The encouragement and praise needs to be genuine for field
     office staff to accept it and for it to make a difference. Awards
     should be more specific efforts, and not for general
     accomplishments, ex. reaching goals. If a person is recognized for
     a specific effort, they will be more accepting than if it is a
     general recognition.

307. Good pay and good benefits are essential. However the extreme
     frustation experienced by many with the computer systems is fueling
     their desire to retire as soon as possible. Part of the problem is
     getting proper training to use the computer programs required.
     Another is the ever persistent changing of the software we are
     supposed to use everyday. For example: ArcView and Customer Service
     Toolkit. We finally got where we were very productive with CST and
     then they changed it. They didn\'t just change a few features, they
     changed major aspects of the program including changing the
     functions of many of the buttons. Everyone had to go back to three
     more days of training and we still haven\'t caught up. A lot of
     these

308. Top notch trianing which is coupled with on the job experiences and
     reward for extra effort.

309. Faster ways to promote good employees. Provide more

310. Streamline computer sytems, improve finctioning of computer
     systems, and/or less demanding computer sytems

311. Being treated with respect and friendly manner. Let us not reduce
     or loose the current benefits.

312. Try to attain the highest level of integrity we possibly can in the
     hiring and treatment of employees.

313. competitive pay and benefits with private sector.

314. Recongnize and encorage hard work and technical excellance

315. Recognizing and rewarding them fairly. Also with benefits like flex
     time, which people need on a regular basis.

316. keep a family friendly environment

317. Pay to match private sector, and management that supports them

318. Good employees are interested in getting conservation on the ground
     and our new planning and reporting systems seem to take away from
     conservation. Good employees need to have the proper tools to do
     their jobs and there needs to be more emphasis placed on actual
     conservation and relationship building than on populating our
     reporting system.

319. Good pay

320. Allow a flexible work schedule and compensate employees for the
     actual work that they are doing. Field level employees are being
     asked to administer far to many programs. Minimize office
     responsibilities and allow employees to assist our clientele with a
     minimum amount of computer and paperwork.

321. We\'re all frustrated by government red tape and hoops to jump
     through; reduce this as much as possible to make the job more
     satisfying. Make promotions, recognition and other privileges based
     on merit and fairness. Encourage and continue the attitude of

322. Great Benefits, more diversity, great training opportunities, More
     promotional opportunities.

323. Offer higher wages, treat them with respect-don\'t use politics to
     do business. Promote the employees that perform the best not the
     ones who have been a pain in the \$%#!!

324. Provide training opportunities for employees, give out awards for
     surpassing goals and excellent work, provide affordable health care
     plans, and provide a working atmosphere with good managers, team
     work, and challanges.

325. Let FSA process payments.

326. reduce paperwork which would give them time to do more on the
     ground conservation

327. Do more of helping customers and less paperwork that largely means
     nothing. More action, less bean counting.

328. Listen to your employees! They know what will work.

329. Challenge them with meaningful goals

330. Increase the pay.

331. Decide whether we are to be a technical agency, regulatory agency,
     or program administrators. Once that is defined, you can hire
     people with those interests - instead of pretending that they will
     be doing technical work and then having them shuffle paper and
     handle program regulations and payments.

332. by not changing policies and procedures so often

333. pay and challenge

334. Appropriate training, pay, and more technical and less
     administrative work.

335. Remove some of the bureaucratic obstacles.

336. Be realistic about what the expectations are. We currently have a
     large number of field employees who have spent most of their career
     doing primarily technical work and planing with landowners. Those
     same people are now doing a lot of administrative work with program
     management. The agency hasn\'t done a good job of acknowledging
     their changing role and the expectation continue to be that they
     will remain expert in all things technical while their day-to-day
     job involves a majority of administrative tasks.

337. Recognition of accomplishments. More promotion opportunities.

338. Offering sufficient support to accomplish administrative tasks,
     offering upward mobility opportunities, keeping pay at a comparable
     rate with the private sector, retaining excellent benefits,
     providing opportunities for co-lateral duties that will enhance
     supervisory/managerial skills.

339. Provide strong direction on where the agency is going; listen to
     employee\'s concerns and reduce their stress; reward the good work
     they do; continue to weed out problem employees; show that
     government employment is not a dumping ground for employees who
     perform poorly.

340. Reduce administrative, beauracratic demands on field offices,
     provide proper training, hire necessary administrative support for
     field offices.

341. I don\'t think the problem is with employees leaving except to
     retire. Too many promotions based on personalities and politics so
     I didn\'t answer #5

342. Don\'t hire

343. Encouraging, facilitating temporary details to other
     states/agencies/private sector that will enhance technical skills,
     knowledge of management styles, and communications.

344. Better thought out Agency business processes

345. Consider their work performance needs individually rather than
     treating all employees the same.

346. Good two way communication; open door to problem solving

347. Allow time to do field work, work in areas of expertise, reduce
     programs and administrative duties

348. The way our system works - or doesn\'t work - drives employees with
     good skills away.

349. Encourage educational opportunities - I went to grad school but had
     to take a year unpaid. In fields where there is a low pwercentage
     of women - find out why. Discrimination is still alive and well in
     USDA. Start bringing talented younger folks now - while there is
     time for the older generation to pass on their knowledge.

350. Let us put conservation on the ground and get rid of these
     reporting programs that slow everything down and tie people to the
     computer instead of getting outside where implementation takes
     place.

351. Proper training and decent pay.

352. recognition of a job well done and reward for merits of employee
     doing good work. Look at the work ethic the working enlists, not
     just the education factor. Work ethic should be a major part of a
     good empluee\'s overall toolkit. I don\'t think this is addressed
     as well or frequently as they should be.

353. cut out all the excessive policy or match teh works=force with the
     existing policy

354. Good morale is one of many requirements for keeping good employees.
     Currently morale in the field offices is dismal. Reasons include a
     lack of sufficient staffing to meet required policies, a
     dramatically increased administrative burden involving making
     payments (instead of this being done by FSA), and also
     administrative burden caused by having to assist and facilitate
     Technical Service Providers working with our landowners. Another
     way of keeping good employees would be by providing them with the
     work that they signed up for. Currently the field staff of Soil
     Conservationists and District Conservationists are composed of a
     cadre of people with strong interests in soils, farming, water
     quality, wildlife and more. We did not take these jobs to be
     accountants or contract lawyers. However, that is what these
     positions are becoming. If the agency wants to move away from
     having its workers interacting with the public (and instead hiring
     consultants to do this), then they should be up front with their
     employees about this. Hire paralegals and accountants instead of
     Soil Conservationists. Currently one of the major morale problems
     is that we are understaffed and overwhelmed with administrative
     work. Thus, we are forced to focus on mandated administrative tasks
     and spend less time in the field, working with landowners, and
     actually getting conservation projects installed on the ground.
     This trend needs to reverse if the agency wants to achieve its
     goals and maintain good employees. Pay commensurate with experience
     and education levels is also another important way to keep good
     employees.

355. Job security

356. A better defined system of earning bonuses

357. Opportunities, training, respect

358. Provide tools that work. Streamline processes. Junk payment
     process.

359. If we stick to the mission of putting conservation on the land
     we\'ll keep good employees. I know when I decided to work for the
     agency, thats what I wanted to do. If we keep focusing on
     administration and not implementation we\'ll lose our technical
     people. This is already happening, and the wealth of knowledge
     we\'re losing is sad. If we don\'t turn this around fast we\'ll
     become another incompetent government agency. If that\'s what we
     become, I know I won\'t be to proud to work here.

360. reduce the extreme paperwork and allow them to get out to the field
     and help the farmers!!

361. Provide family-friendly work. Many government jobs require frequent
     mobility, which deters some good people.

362. Recognition for good work.

363. Being as fair and equitable as possible when handing out awards and
     giving promotions.

364. Keep pay competive with non-federal positions, and find a way to
     keep job manageable. There are constantly more responsibilites
     added on, and not enough personnel to accomplish the expectations.
     This leads to a constant pressure and stress, and a feeling of
     never being able to accomplish your job adequately.

365. Tret them with respect.

366. In some parts of the country it\'s entirely a matter of money. In
     the southeast for example, where consulting for wetland
     identification and for septic suitability sites is a lucrative
     business, soil scientists and conservation technicians are leaving
     NRCS to go private. Also, potential NRCS employees are being drawn
     to the private sector because they can earn much more money. In
     general though, keeping good employees is a matter of recognition
     of their efforts in producing quality work. And may I add, plaques
     are nice, but cash awards make a better statement.

367. have merit-based promotions and pay raises instead of just length
     in service

368. Thank employees every cnace you get. Listen actively to employees
     suggestions and act on their suggestion sfor process improvement.
     Do not critisize rather than coach employees when something goes
     wrong on the job. ASK employees to carry out duties rather than use
     words like

369. Facilitate effective working conditions; i.e. reduce unnecessary
     bureaucracy.

370. have more opportunities for advancement, more varied work
     experiences on day to day basis

371. promotion opportunities without having to upend family, move all
     round country

372. better pay and benefits always- but the personal satisfaction of
     the great work we used to do as SCS is gone- We are turning into a
     regulatory agency. We used to be THE BEST at RMS planning- we can
     not even describe what it is now. This has led to a lack of
     satisfaction as well as hopelessness as employees struggle to do
     the tasks required reducing time/effort on what we should really be
     doing- helping landowners apply conservation with TA/FA.

373. career advancement without mandatory relocation

374. promote the people doing the work not because of race or sex

375. Competative salaries

376. Having all program details worked out before presenting the program
     to the public. Keeping updates or changes to a minimum in regard to
     computer software. Often when we get used to a program like
     Toolkit, keeping up with changes or learning

377. stop throwing up admin. roadblocks

378. Recognition and promotions

379. The only way to keep good employees is to have management make
     clear and realistic decisions, promote people who have earned the
     position level they are gaining, and allow field personell to do
     the work they are supposed to do without constantly throwing in
     more administrative work and in office work. The most important
     thing we do with conservation is meet with producers, and without
     that in the field contact, I think a lot of people will leave the
     agency.

380. STOP OFFICE POLITICS

381. definition of job requirements, incentives for superior
     performance, recognition for efforts and feedback on results.

382. Higher pay and appreciation of good workers.

383. Acknowledging hard work, improving medical benefit options.
     Employees are often heistant to pursue opportunities in other
     states if there is a concern that a spouse may have difficulty
     finding a job in the new location. If NRCS had a formalized way of
     assisting in the job search then this would encourage more
     employees to relocate.

384. Raising the pay to compete with the private sector and quicker
     advancement in the GS system

385. Promote based on qualifications instead of continually favoring
     minorities and females.

386. Provide help with general office work; i.e., filing, data entry,
     etc. Technical positions want to be doing technical work.

387. Permitting the employees do the job they were hired to do, instead
     of employees getting bogged down in bureaucratic accountability
     duties that take them away from serving the public.

388. Treat them with repect, provide consistant personnel management,
     reward excellance, use management and people skills as a criteria
     for advancement into supervisory positions.

389. Cut down on red tape as much as possible and let them do their jobs

390. Way - hire folks who do not have an expectation of working out of
     doors.

391. more pay

392. Recognition;oportunity to improve grade level or receive cash
     benefits; training opportunities

393. Job satisfaction and be able to work in the natural resources field
     and not get dragged down by needless bureaucractic rules,
     regulations and constantly changing software

394. Listening to the employees.

395. Pay equivalent to performance.

396. Easing up of administrative requirements to get us back into the
     field.

397. Keep providing the excellent benefits you provide - the excellent
     leave and credit leave, maxiflex schedules etc.

398. If a technician is going to do mainly conservationist work his
     grade should reflect it. The same goes for conservationist doing DC
     work.

399. The people in the field need support from those at the state
     office. We need some direction on priorities and we need more
     administrative help at the field office level to help reduce the
     stress we are experiencing.

400. Pay them what they are worth open DC\'s should be GS-12\'s Soil
     Cons should be able to reach 11\'s and Technicians 9\'s. These
     positions are the backbone of our agency. Other fed agencies seem
     promote to a higher level than NRCS.

401. An awareness of the true workload and assisting employees with
     managing this. Supervisors need to really see what kind of workload
     each employee is responsible for and changes should be made to
     assist employees who are clearly working harder than their equal
     counterparts. There is a very inequitable division of labor for the
     same amount of compensation.

402. Provide more oportunities to improve knowledge and salary. Maybe
     start programs to prepare employees for their next level with the
     agency. This way they can find motivation and work hard to stay not
     to leave. Unfortunatly, the private sector can offer better
     salaries. I know that there are employees frustrated because they
     know they can\'t get higher positions because they are not mobile.

403. Good employees have always worked for NRCS. Look at the past. The
     agency had a specific mission that employees felt good about.

404. A greater opportunity for technical specialists to obtain higher
     grades. NRCS prides itself on being a technical agency but it
     appears that most of the higer grades are filled by those wihtout
     extreme technical expertise.

405. Competitive pay, don\'t over work.

406. For me, extend the Student Loan Repayment Program so that I might
     qualify. I must continue to look for higher grade jobs to make more
     money to pay off student loans, that means looking for jobs outside
     of the agency.

407. keep them \'engaged\'; let them have a say in how things are
     accomplished

408. Training and corrosponding staff support along with pay and
     recgonizion for hardwork, dedication, innovation and outcomes.

409. Ensure salaries match expected job duties.

410. Leaders should understand what training people need and monitor the
     workload of employees. They should also set good examples of work
     ethic and not play favorites at the expense of all other employees.

411. Listen to employee concerns and provide support to address those
     concerns (ie: mobility)

412. Stimulating work

413. Communication, appreciation, acknowledgement, training

414. Respect/trust the work we do. Choose a technology and stick with
     it. Newer/faster isn\'t always better. Balance learning curve with
     efficiency. Make sure the technology works and is tested before
     implimentation. Do you realize the frustration/lack of
     efficiency/cost of program implemention when the learning curve is
     confused with a computer program that doesn\'t work as advertised
     affecting all levels of NRCS.

415. We are locked into a system that prohibits employees who may not
     have soils courses from advancing into higher levels within the
     agency. We must explore and promote those with skills in management
     and leadership!

416. Understand that NRCS can be a career, not just a job.

417. Provide meaningful work. Tweek the system so that employees have
     time to ensure good conservation gets put on the land vs. doing
     lots of program paperwork.

418. Better Pay

419. Comparable pay to the area and challenging job.

420. By giving managerial & field training.

421. Give them good technical tools to work with and pay them
     appropriately.

422. Reinforcement that what they are doing is important.

423. Acknowledgement of a job well done.

424. Recognize employee\'s prior education, especially when a graduate
     degree has already been earned in the employee\'s desired career
     track !

425. Recognize good work and provide the resources needed to do the job.
     Also develop the management skills of leaders from the DC level up
     so they are capable of truly managing employees

426. By providing competative salary

427. pay well, train well, keep focus on mission of NRCS

428. Maintain high quality employees in leadership positions. This will
     ensure a positive work environment and inspire others to advance.

429. Offer them good working conditions (including commuting distance),
     pay and promotional opportunities

430. Cut down on the commuter reqirements for programs,admunistration
     and let FSA make Farm Bill Payments

431. Treat fairly

432. Expect (communicate) of them work tasks which ultimately (directly
     or indirectly) cause conservation treatment to be applied to our
     landscapes. Give them adequate training to do jobs they are
     expected to do. Managers and supervisors MUST be good role models.
     Thank employees when they do a job well. Help them learn from their
     mistakes. Appreciate employees. And be ready to let really poor
     performing employees go.

433. Recognition based on performance and raise up those lower paid
     employees (who do the work) for wages just above

434. be flexible

435. Keep the work challenging. Don\'t reward good performers with more
     work. Reward staff not just the higher ups.

436. Give more on the job training, give appropriate jobs to employees,
     have people responsible for actions/duties/programs

437. Provide them with chalenging work and less red tape

438. treat them with respect

439. do not attempt to micromanage everything in a one size fits all
     manner

440. Appropriate workload distribution, pay comenserate with local area,
     affordable housing, training opportunities, management officials
     who appreciate employees

441. Advancement and better pay

442. Proper acknowledgement of work complexity employee is asked to do
     and affirmation of that by assigning the proper grade and
     compensation that goes with that level of work complexity.

443. Minimize political influence on goals and priorities, exuitable
     distribution of resources, keep good benifit packages, elevate
     importance of public service as an important job, comparible pay to
     private sector

444. Maintain a technical focus on what kinds of work we are going to
     do. Then develop practical, efficient design guides that actually
     work in the real world. Give people time to assimilate this
     material and reward them for doing so.

445. Rewarding employees that deliver products for both internal and
     external customers. Giving direction and supervision is also
     important.

446. Reduce the amount of bureaucracy. There is too much of this and it
     chokes productivity, causing much frustration. There is too much
     emphasis on paperwork, that there isn\'t much time left for actual
     work to be done.

447. Assure better -i.e.

448. Reward good employees and do not reward average or poor employees.

449. Better pay for those in the technical fields and train managers in
     interpersonnel skills and do temporary details of State Office
     managers to the field to remind them of everything that needs to be
     done at the field level.

450. Better Pay

451. Pay the technical staff a better salary. When compared to the
     private sector, NRCS engineering techs make 20-30% less than techs
     in engineering companies and are expected to have a broader
     experience and education base for less money.

452. Lessen the beauricratic demands on staff (ie. Sheild field staff
     from HQ) let them focus on conservation and not bean counting. Keep
     conservation the focus and goal not programs.

453. Recognize technical competence by promotion, and reward levels of
     performance are above that required by their current position.

454. Better leadership that enables employees to do their jobs
     effectively. Leadership is responsible for: the ever-changing
     software, the never-ending changes to the rules, the new programs
     with unrealistic deadlines, the lack of communication and
     last-minute instructions, the perception that technical expertise
     is not rewarded, the advancement of employees that have no
     managerial skills, and the inability to make the tough political
     decisions.

455. Terminate NCRS\' association with the conservation district.
     Conservation district employees resent the fact that NRCS are paid
     better and have better benefits and often work behind the scenes
     against them. They see agency employees as their adversaries. Also,
     the conservation district is one of the most racially segregated
     groups in this nation. No matter were you go in the country, it is
     filled with white persons. Makes a very hard for a so-called person
     of color to advance, not only does he or she have to deal with
     racism within the agency but also at the district level. In
     addition, some districts attitude seems to be one of

456. Recognition

457. Pay comparable to private sector.

458. Adequate pay and fairness in promotions.

459. Competitive salary and benefits

460. Feeling connected to the agency via input/decisions (being heard),
     compensatory salary/benefits.

461. stop trying to make the all the field staff a

462. Ensure that everything is kept fair.

463. Eliminate the

464. Provide professional development opportunities that include
     specific and practical instruction on current job responsibilities,
     as well as enhancement.

465. Stop promoting the difficult employees instead of dealing with the
     issues/problems they present. Provide training instead of cutting
     the budget for it the last two years

466. Provide opportunites to move up without having to move (far) away.

467. Provide local positions for advancements

468. Providing professional development opportunities including
     voluntary detailing to different locations/work, providing flexible
     work schedules when needed, taking advantage of staff skill that
     were acquired outside the agency by giving flexibility with CTA
     work

469. Our training dollars are always the first to get cut during lean
     times, and our state has been in deficit the past 3 years, so I\'ve
     received about half the training I should have received. In
     addition, it\'s quite difficult to get rid of

470. Combination of good pay, recognition and career advancement
     opportunities.

471. Providing high quality training that is needed - when it is needed
     along with highly competent management

472. Promote the right people and give rewards to those doing good work.
     Maintain better lines of communication between state office and
     field office staff.

473. Invest significant time into their training and development. Hire
     enthusiastic and compatent managers and leaders for their
     supervision and assistance.

474. Recognize good employees, treat them with fairness, and reward them
     when appropriate.

475. Employing leaders and employees that have enthusiasm for what they
     do and care about the people they employ.

476. Maintain and if possible, increase our employee benefits package.

477. Trust, Train, Delegate, Motivate and require Accountability Please
     Note: Question 5, Please rate what you think is the basis for why
     employees are promoted\...does not give the correct response, which
     is none of the above.

478. Empower them to do their jobs without a lot of micromamaging from
     their superiors. The state budget is not a black box. Share the
     info with employees- keep them informed. Don\'t give us software
     that only sort-of works! Release dates shouldn\'t be set in stone.
     One semi-functioning program after another is frustrating! Good
     training from people who actually understand the learning process.
     Simplify the application process for some of these programs. We are
     so bureaucratic it\'s embarassing.

479. Provide training to maintain their technical skills. Provide an
     ability for advacement at field office levels when individuals
     movement is restricted (family responsibility).

480. pay scales more in-line with the private sector for similar types
     of work; incentive pay; good training programs

481. salaries that compare with the private sector and positive feedback
     on ones work.

482. Promote highly qualified individuals.

483. Improve benefits, increase pay.

484. Pay in line with private sector. Remove deadweight within
     organization.

485. Improve and modernize management style.

486. Be more flexible - enable flexi-place work arrangements. This state
     has some sort of

487. Keep them informed about issues affecting them, and give them the
     opportunity to provide input.

488. simplify all processes involved in day to day operations. It is
     frustrating for people to spend considerable amounts of their time
     doing complicated procedures to no perceivable effect.

489. Decrease the amount of political appointees in the higher levels of
     the agency and have someone that has moved up through the ranks so
     understands the requirements of each level. Too many people in
     higher levels work to justify their own existence at the expense of
     the people that are on the ground trying to accomplish our goals;
     technology is a tool, not a master. The high amount of
     micromanagement, based on technology, that is coming from
     Washington is alienating the workforce and contributing to poor
     morale. Separate business and contracting from the technical part
     of the job; too much job diversification = less ability to do any
     job well.

490. Keep health benefits affordable

491. Providing opportunties for advancement.

492. Right now NRCS is driven by programs. We need to return to the days
     where we were able to help people who are not in any program. We
     still do it but programs take top priority. Also, field staff were
     hired because for their TECHNICAL capabilities. Feels like we are
     being turned into program administrators without adequate training.
     Either bring on additional administrative staff at the field
     offices or renew the partnership with our sister agency that
     formerly provided those services. That would make everyone at the
     field office level much more happy with their jobs.

493. Offer; opportunities for promotion, mobility throughout the
     organization, opportunities for training to keep up with new
     developments in conservation.

494. Give real awards for merit - not every employee in the state
     deserves an award each year. Need to be more like the private
     sector in that regard.

495. Offer time for training to encourage growth professionally,
     recognize staff for a job well done monetarily and/or grade
     increase and train the managers to be good managers!

496. Equal opportunity for hiring and competetive wages. Staff the field
     offices to handle large work loads if needed.

497. limit beaurocracy

498. Reduce the seemingly endless paperwork, stop changing computer
     programs just after we learn the one(s) we have (ie
     Toolkit/arcview, Progress reporting, etc.), stop putting so many
     demands on field people to be everything to everyone w/in NRCS and
     to the clients (ie; now not only do we have to be the
     technical/design people, we also have to take/process
     applications,complete payment paperwork, etc. extra work w/no extra
     pay), and the list goes on.

499. Provide a sense that they can affect the outcome of their efforts,
     recognition, reasonable financial reward, and provide a balance
     between home and work.

500. Treat them fairly. Understand family issues and accomodate
     employees as much as possible.

501. Fix AND simplify the broken software (e.g. Pro-Tracts), streamline,
     combine the various programs, provide adequate well-designed
     training, hire contract specialists in the field if you are going
     to continue the present confusion and nightmare.

502. Provide adequate pay and benefits, opportunity to advance, maintain
     connection between the conservation mission and the job, provide
     good, job related training, have the necessary tools to do the job,
     and have sufficient number of employees to complete the job

503. Let them reach their potential without making them move around the
     country.

504. Stop allowing the tail to wag the dog. I\'ve been with this agency
     for 20 years. We used to be quite efficient at doing quality work
     on the land and we were appreciated by our clients. Now we are
     driven by programs that we have to outsource to TSP\'s who can\'t
     use the broken software we give them to get certified to perform
     our jobs. We force the field office staff to obligate large sums of
     money year after year but don\'t enable them to actually get the
     practices on the ground because they\'re too busy chasing their
     tails to obligate the funds. We can\'t seem to accurately report to
     congress and those who supply our funds what it is we are actually
     doing because we can\'t get PRS to count it properly. We preach the
     importance of local control but unleash a national EQIP ranking
     sheet for mandatory use in 2007. What kind of message does this
     send to the local partnership we have worked so hard to enlist? We
     have forced our field office staff (especially those in the DC
     position) to become administrators of federal programs. We had a
     very capable partner in FSA - why on earth did we fix what wasn\'t
     broken by forcing a technical agency to take on such an
     administrative burden? As the Soil Conservation Service, we were
     recognized for our technical expertise. As the NRCS, we are now
     compared to the IRS and are recognized only for our bureaucracy.

505. good supervisors who provide on the job training, opportunity to
     train in the field with real life scenarios and less formal
     training especially mandatory boot camp, which is more of a
     hardship for new employees and those who are nominated to attend by
     the state conservationist to seemingly gain

506. Competitive pay. As a new employee starting low in the pay scale is
     difficult, working very hard to get by. With student loans to pay
     off and living expenses going up.

507. Pay increase. benefits

508. good pay and benefits, work place flexibility and less political
     appointments at upper management level and promoting lifetime
     employees to upper management levels to run the agency

509. Reduction in computer time and just letting staff do what they know
     how to do.

510. Need managers who have expertise to recognize good employees and
     reward them.

511. surround them with other good employees and let them work in their
     area of expertise

512. Kep them challenged.Get out of their way

513. Comperable pay and benifits as the private sector

514. Competitive salary and good working environment

515. Monetary rewards. Including all levels in decision making process
     for programs, human mgt, awards, trainings, etc.

516. To advance them without moving and having experience of other field
     offices a requirement.

517. Create a positive work environment and continue to provide
     resources for good training.

518. advancement

519. I think allowing employees the opportunity to experience the many
     job types we have,e.g.engineering,resources,soils,and the workings
     of the state office administration,etc.

520. Implemeting a proper rewards/recognition program and remaining
     competetive in salary and benefits.

521. Give them work that they will feel good doing.

522. Make sure the real goal remains getting conservation on the ground.
     Salaries need to keep up with private sector.

523. Good working environment, encouragement, believe in what we are
     doing, good payment to live comfortable our shelve and our family,
     training opportunitiesà

524. An involved management team that rewards superior performance both
     in action and in monetary means.

525. Rewarding people for their accomplishmentsmonetarily and publicly.

526. Have a comparable salary to private sector.

527. Pay the people at the field level more money\....they are
     underappreciated and underpaid. This is where

528. greater variety of available positions and more competive salaries

529. Maintain a competitive pay rate in relation to the private sector
     and provide training specialized for different tiers (GS-9 vs.
     GS-13) to concentrate on the needs of different levels.

530. Given them a good professional training!!!!

531. Fairness in pay, most field workers have a lower pay than all other
     disciplines including human resources

532. good pay and benefit package. also flexible work schedules are
     nice.

533. Flexibility

534. provide more opportunities that don\'t require relocation

535. If a person is hired in a field position, such as a soil
     conservationist, it would be great if they could get outside more.
     If the job description requires you to do on-farm planning and
     survey work, then having the employee sit at their desk all day,
     checking on forms and filling out spreadsheets for contracts
     becomes quickly fustrating and disheartening.

536. make it easier for employees to work in the geographical location
     of their choice

537. Give them a chance for in place promotions.

538. Pay them what they are worth!

539. Good support from state and Washinton DC levels, not dumping a
     workload on an already overburdened field office staff and basing
     promotion and pay on preformance that cannot be realized with
     inadequate staffing and complicated programs

540. reduce the time spent on paperwork and computers

541. define the mission in detail, provide the resources to realize the
     full potential of the mission, in some cases provide better
     compensation

542. Do a good job recruiting people out of College and offer as many
     student intern positions that the budget will allow.

543. By meeting employee needs and concerns.

544. Include all levels in decision making. Teach managers how to
     empower their employees instead of lording over them. Especially
     the secretarial staff.

545. job satisfaction is more important than pay

546. Reduce job stress by eliminating agency imposed restrictions

547. I believe the agency should be run more like a buisness! If you do
     your job, and you do an exceptional job you get recognized. If you
     do a crappy job then, that also gets recognized, and you have some
     sort of action taken to rectify it.

548. CLEAR path to success\....it is not always obvious how to advance.
     It is not always clear what oppurtunities are out there within the
     angency outside of one\'s series and immediate next step.

549. Promote people with technical competence that lead by example along
     with managerial skills. Unfortunatly the politically correct fair
     best at gaining leadership positions and that leads to poor morale.

550. Reward people for the work they do!!! People are paided and
     promoted based on degree\'s and appearance. They are not
     recoginized for their abilites or their workmenship! Hire competent
     people and pay them what they are worth. I answered question 5 but
     I disagree with all the choices.

551. Establish goals for employees and allow them to accomplish their
     actual workload without having to take on the workload of those who
     only pretend to work.

552. Encourage development by training and opportunities

553. Give them a job that keeps their interest and do not bury them
     under annoying computer problems, micromanagement and changing
     rules.

554. employment satisfaction,feel the need for the job one is doing,
     recognition from outside (public) and inside, salary.

555. Recognition - those who receive awards - management team - write
     there OWN awards-rewards - I refuse to write my own and I KNOW I do
     outstanding work and go above and beyond my job description
     everyday

556. Hire competent people to begin with, and encourage them/make them
     accountable to do quality work. Too many new hires are not
     competent, and don\'t care about the quality of their work.

557. Allow more freedom to bring outside information into the agency to
     improve decision making.

558. You need to decide what the agency is to become and stick with it!!
     You keep changing things and expect everyone to accept it without a
     word. We know how to do our job, but you people keep finding a
     harder way to do it. If its not hard enough, we know you will find
     a way to make it harder!!!

559. Give them the tools they need to do the job they do and keep them
     outside amongst the resources as much as possible

560. promote level headed people with good understanding of pro\'s and
     con\'s of our current system and not just for convienience sake

561. Promote people who you know will do a good job and have the ability
     to perform at a high level. Reward deserving individuals through
     the awards program and/or through promotion. Treat people with
     respect!

562. Administration, managers and supervisors communicating with their
     employees on all aspects\...pay, flexibility with time is
     important, leave when needed and working together as a team.

563. I LOVE the maxi-flex schedule. It really contributes to my
     satisfaction with the job. Any employeer who pays well and supports
     their employees retains them.

564. provide the tools necessary to do the job, not just giving us what
     someone at the top thinks we need. Ask at the level of who will be
     using it, ie. computers and computer programs, field tools,
     equipment.

565. Get rid of the management by directive approach and utilize a true
     management by objective approach

566. Treat all employees fairly - open the lines of communication -
     offer help with training opportunities

567. recognition of achivements and providing challenges for improvement

568. streamline the programs, promote truly experienced folks

569. Listening and responding to employees questions and suggestions.
     Recognizing and rewarding productivity.

570. Minimize the bueracratic hoops that people find very frustrating.

571. Employees need to be involved in the decision making processes that
     affect the direction of NRCS. A top-down process does not promote
     job satisfaction amongst employees.

572. Most families have small children. On site child care would help.
     More vacation and sick time. I know I use most of my time off when
     my daugther is home sick from day care. I haven\'t had a vacation
     since before she was born.

573. Create new jobs in other areas to allow employees to move to a
     desired location. Allow more work to be done from home.

574. More pay

575. Pay them what they\'re worth and hep them do their jobs

576. Promotions based on quantity and quality.

577. Give new employees (willing to move) choices where they would like
     to move if several positions are open. This would be much more
     effective than moving them around like pawns on a chess board and
     virtually saying,

578. Employees must feel their ideas, suggestions and work experience
     reach the proper levels within the agency and that those ideas will
     be adopted or at least considered to make programs and business
     tools work more effectively at reducing our workload. At the field
     level we are being asked to do too much. Employees in spite of good
     benefits and work environment are becoming burned out due to heavy
     program workload and many of the other activities the NRCS has done
     within general Conservation Technical Assistance.

579. Lighten up a bit. Is it really an abuse of a government vehicle,
     while in travel status, after dinner to walk across the restaurant
     parking lot to purchase a personal computer item? Hire more staff
     to deal with the burgeoning workload. Quit looking for ways to mess
     with the employees minds eg. the 457 debacle.

580. Understanding that corporate culture and emotional intelligence
     plays a role in creating a team spirit and that maintaining
     positive inertia is critical. I believe that management and
     employees alike are responsible for the attitudnal component that
     effects us all. Also, promoting from within, there are many people
     that leave, because the opportunity to advance is not available to
     them, so they leave and become TSP or take their talents to another
     agency after NRCS has made a deep investment of money and time. It
     is not cost-effective.

581. Good pay and benefits, job security and less stress.

582. work as a team to promote the conservation that is the agency\'s
     back bone. This means that teams need to be created to work on
     programs across county lines.

583. By having enough staff to perform responsibilities assigned and
     having technology which functions properly, which includes proper
     training,time to learn new process, with sufficient technical
     support to keep tools running properly.

584. Take advantage of their unique talents! If this is ignored too long
     or discouraged, many valuable employees will leave the agency.

585. The easiest way is to increase wages. lots of inflation but little
     or nothing has been done about increasing pay

586. On-the-spot cash awards.

587. security, good retirement and other benefits, recognition and
     appreciation for jobs well done

588. Keep work assignments & goals reasonable, continue to allow
     flexible work schedules, promote people fairly.

589. Develop the skills of new employees; good managers to encourage
     career/personal advancement; progressive leadership, open
     mindedness

590. Stop the nonsense - programs and procedures are too complex for the
     limited staff numbers (in NY). Force the technology guru\'s to
     provide tools that work, and that do not require other programs to
     get the job done. Good, young employees are starting to wonder why
     we went into this field. We\'re good at our jobs because we can do
     the technology end of it, but we spend more time figuring out ways
     to work around the problems with the software than actually
     producing.

591. Do not only consider educational qualifications. Consider knowledge
     gained from work experience

592. wages/benefits

593. By keeping the moral up and not taking our jobs and giving them to
     the outside public.

594. Let them do what they are good at and do not force them to just be
     program administrators sitting behind a desk. Hire at least one
     person to do that kind of stuff that likes to do it in an office.

595. Leadership of the agency must reflect its legacy. Employees who
     have spent years working with landowners to implement conservation
     must be promoted to leadership positions, not political appointees
     with no history with the agency.

596. Recognition for a job well done

597. pay at commensurate grades with private sector.

598. Reduce the amount of red tape required to promote competent
     individual and educate current upper management on the need to
     retain these individuals

599. Give them opportunities in areas that they excel.

600. Farm Bill Program stability. It seems programs are announced before
     we have any guidelines on how they are to be administer. Too many
     programs that are too confusing to the cooperator.

601. Recognize good employees for their accomplishments, and do not
     simply promote the underachiever\'s up but remove the underachiever
     from the agencey

602. Provide more opportunties for field office personnel to be promoted
     within field office without moving across state or country. Raise
     grade/step on field employees to keep good folks in the field where
     they want to work and where the work is located.

603. Recognition

604. pay, education

605. Offer them training both technical (especially database) and
     managerial despite their age. Many of us 50+ year olds will be
     working for the agency another 15+ years. We don\'t have the choice
     of retiring at 55 like those under the old civil service system.

606. Job promotions without relocation of employees

607. flexibility in placement locations.

608. Stop the bickering and vandetta\'s associated with mid-level and
     upper level management toward lower grade employees; and
     supervisors being bias to the point where they actively
     prevent/block awards and citations for outstanding work accompished
     during a FY; just because they want to get even with that
     individual (payback in spades). To me this is a form of
     discrimination. We are suppose to be professionals, why can\'t
     we/they act the part.

609. The pay & benefits are excellent, especially for the majority of us
     who live in rural America. For me & hopefully many others, we need
     to feel part of the decision-making process, to have ownership in
     shaping how NRCS changes for the better in coming years. As a RC&D
     coordinator, I have plenty of oppoortunities to do this, so I feel
     empowered. I feel very good about working for NRCS!!! Some of the
     field people I know well don\'t have that sense of empowerment.
     They sometimes complain that no one listens to their needs, that
     they get dumped on, etc. I\'m very happy that I\'m not working out
     of a field office any longer. I feel for many of my NRCS brothers &
     sisters who don\'t love coming to work every day like I do. This
     can change, but NRCS leadership would have to take it seriously. In
     the late 80s/early 90s NRCS trained many of us in TQM (total
     quality management), but our agency never

610. good pay and less bureaucracy

611. Financial rewards and recognition.

612. Keep the work interesting; salary competitive; and consider the
     amount of programs/work that field offices must deal with when each
     program mgr. believes that program is the only item field personnel
     deal with.

613. Minimize administrative duties at the field office level so that
     personnel can spend more time working face-to-face with landowners.

614. continue cost of living increases and provide better health
     insurance.

615. Advancing pay grade/salary. Promotions. Spot Awards. Health/Life
     Insurance Benefits. Annual/Sick/Comp leave as is. Offer other
     incentives such as ex. \$300 per year for proper clothing (boots,
     coats, gloves, attire - USFS does this so why can\'t NRCS?)

616. good leadership

617. Reward employees that completely satisfy the description of their
     jobs.

618. Equatable and ethical treatment of all employees.

619. Fair pay, promotions that are deserved

620. Provide them with formal and on the job training by qualified
     instructors who want and enjoy teaching. Provide regular details to
     in-state and out-of-state locations to allow them to receive a
     varied learning experience. Make sure that supervisors are trained
     to be supervisors so they may provide the best on-the-job training
     and learning experience.

621. They should always be made to feel that their career is advancing
     and developing. Even though someone is perhaps near the end of
     their career, they should still be given encouragement and guidance
     as to how to advance. Some of us feel our career is stagnant.

622. Better introduction the the agency through timely new employee
     training. Insuring that supervisors are given training on how to
     supervise and are doing a good job. Having more contact between
     employees so that employees feel that they know what is going on.

623. Manage the workload so they can give high quality technical
     service.

624. Don\'t forget who our customers are. Personal career goals are
     important but we need to make sure our clients exist and help
     maintain their existance!!

625. better rewards such as salary and recognition for achievements

626. Acknowledge their accomplishments and let them know that they re
     beneficial to the agency.

627. Reward excellent performance.

628. A quicker movement up the ladder. (pay scale) The private sector
     offers better money with bonuses, but this agency is always crying
     do more wit less. If this is going to be the way of the future. You
     are going to have to pay more or quality people are going to leave.

629. Cut the B.S. Out!!! We need to realize that we are an agricultural
     agency working to enhance agriculture by solving agricultural
     issues (meaning soil and water conservation problems). We have too
     many people in our agency, particulary in higher management, that
     know nothing about farming. These employees come up with some of
     the dumbest rules that make it difficult for the field people to do
     thier jobs. Basically, to keep good employees we need to hire
     people that have a strong agriculture back ground, give them the
     proper training they needed, and do what it takes to keep them
     happy. Good employees are NRCS\'s future!!!

630. Recognize and award employees for a job well done.

631. Reward experience and knowledge, and stop promoting people based on
     time in grade. Allow people to move up without moving al over.
     Allowing an honest answer to question 5 such as most people are
     moved up more on person relationships with people in power than
     abilities.

632. Give then the feeling that what they do is important and that they
     are truely appreciated.

633. Workplace flexibility!

634. Keep the programs (EQIP, CSP, WHIP) from getting so complicated

635. Fair pay and treatment

636. Good supervision

637. Better pay and faster promotions

638. Incentives, valueing their work and not just how the agency is seen
     by Washington bureaucrats.

639. Hire employees that are qualified for the job not people who get
     hired just because they know somebody.

640. Reward them for their efforts. Make these employees feel like they
     are appreciated and important.

641. Expose the employee to as many aspects of upper level supervisory
     and managerial job duties. Include the employee in all duties of
     the survey(s). Allow the employee to venture out and take on

642. Competitive pay and benefits; Multidisciplinary teamwork;
     INNOVATION CREATIVITY

643. Participation in more incentive programs (i.e. college loan
     repayment, Upward mobility, etc.)

644. better pay

645. More incentives (Student Loan Repayment, Performance Bonuses etc)

646. Identify and invest in employees who have demonstrated leadership
     and intiative throughout their career. The biggest disincentive is
     for high levels in the agency to be occupied by known nonperformers
     or noncompetents persons.

647. understand that people on the field level needs more time to
     complete program jobs,(scheduling landowners to meet for ranking,
     designing, writing contracts, signing contracts) and understand
     that the field personnel have to address many different programs in
     a given week..even if there is no funds in the state to address the
     programs and that the field can only show the work they\'re doing
     is to be able to report those numbers without being chastised for
     it. The landowners do not understand why field personel cannot
     address their needs when funds are low or not available, because to
     them the government is paying us anyway to be in the office to help

648. provide pertinent training, keep employees informed, develop some
     empathy for their individual situations

649. I like the idea of how easily it is for a Soil Conservationist to
     move right up. Where I think prejudice is found is in West
     Virginia. The soil technitians are getting paid the same amount as
     the soil cons. Granted the soil cons have experienced more
     schooling, but the techs have more experience. I think a great
     solution would be to allow the techs to reach a GS-9 level here in
     West Virginia. Thanks.

650. Make it a fair environment where everyone has the opportunity to
     advance and not just those who are GS 9 and above.

651. By keeping a human resources department within the states that is
     willing to help its employees, and by making promotions available
     to those who are deserving, not by having particular qualifications

652. Give them the

653. Reduce stressors in the job

654. Have adequate staffing at field offices to compensate for increased
     duties/responsibilities and to prevent job burnout.

655. Increase availability of training/travel funding.

656. Further develop a sense of purpose and utility in the Agency\'s
     priorities

657. Maintain high goals, and terminate employees whom fail to meet
     these standards.

658. Pay

659. 1)Pay skilled people fair wages, while gas and housing prices are
     going up 50-100% federal colas are remaining at \~3%. 2)Make job
     training count, agency formal courses should leave you with actual
     skills, not just reference materials. I found NPEG especially
     guilty of not accomplishing this(I hear it was originally a 4 week
     course)If old NRCS courses took longer amounts of time to complete,
     they probably held an exponentially higher bang for the buck than
     courses cut too short to accomplish the trainees full capabilities.
     Our engineers are relying more and more on outside sourcing for
     lack of manpower and experience in my state, and my generation of
     engineers have no well trained people to look to for training. Some
     days I wonder if my job will be secure because while my senior
     engineers know enough to

660. Don\'t move them every two years and if you do move someone don\'t
     just tell them it will be good for their career. Don\'t expect
     people to be moved and not give them a grade increase and be happy
     about it.

661. Keep employees happy and if needed transfer them when needed such
     as moving because spouse received a job in another state. Also keep
     them where they like to be.

662. First weed out the

663. Fair treatment with regard to promotion opportunities. Promotions
     and placement needs to be based on merit, not on the buddy system.
     Also, the Agency needs to be sensitive to personal situations and
     needs. Younger employees need to feel they are part of the

664. Improve job satisfaction by reducing administrative demands on
     field employees.

665. Provide them satisfaction that they are accomplishing something.

666. Better communication and understanding; better turn around time and
     responses.

667. Recognizing people who are good at what they do and helping them
     meet the criteria for advancement through education and OJT.
     Disciplining, not promoting, people because of their incompetence.

668. Stop promoting problem people. Don\'t give people supervisory roles
     if they can\'t deal with people. Find better ways to reward the
     people that do their job well and not necessarily just the people
     that do one thing that is exceptional. Quit promoting on the basis
     of sex and or race. White males are actually better for a job than
     a minority woman but the woman would be given preferential
     treatment. Quit doing that. And for record I am female and would
     hope I would be promoted on the job I do not the fact I am a woman.
     Do away with Special Emphasis Programs. They are annoying and
     useless and all they do is continually point out differences in
     people. Be sure that employees that have required training are
     forced to take it. Be more family friendly when transferring
     people. This means for men with children as well as women. Don\'t
     do stupid things like come back on employees that have been working
     for the agency for years and tell them they are not qualified to do
     the job they are doing (the whole transcript thing going on right
     now). It makes NHQ and the State Offices lose credibility with the
     personnel under them. HR people in States need to actually LIKE
     dealing with the field staff.

669. Create stability in the workforce.

670. Merit based pay system might help.

671. Recognize the value of their work. Even though I had to mark an
     answer to question 5, none of the answers for question 5 were valid
     in our state. Quite frankly, one has to wonder how and why some
     people reach the position they do. One guy turned in his letter of
     resignation \-\-- next thing you know, they\'ve created a GS-11
     position for him which was never even advertised.

672. Treat all employees in a fair and just manor and provide training
     when needed.

673. Treat them fairly and with respect. Promote on merit, past
     performance and ability to

674. Pay people for what they are worth and maintain a fair and
     equitable promotion system.

675. Provide upward mobility with flexible career paths.

676. Incentives. Leadership and direction. Grade and pay raises
     competitive with similar agencies and private sectors.

677. Recognizing good work, providing/giving promotions or upgrades,
     treating employees equally and respectfully,

678. More formal and complete training. Hiring people with the correct
     cultural(farm or AG) and technical background.

679. Good training

680. Upward mobility. Finding ways to keep needed staff even with budget
     problems. Be fair and cosistent, if you hire 3 people for the same
     job in a given year, hire them all at the same GS level, not 2 at a
     higher level and 1 at a lower level when they all have the same
     years experience.

681. Help them meet their needs and be satisfied with their work

682. better computer programs, more user friendly, if employees are
     required to use only the computer for planning, reporting
     progress,etc.

683. Immediately elevate the importance of true family friendly policies
     instead of rewarding only the extremely mobile individuals. For
     example: 1. Place hiring 1st priority on local communting area vs.
     current apparent policy of hiring from out of state as 1st
     priority. 2. Promote in place vs. require move for promotion. 3.
     NRCS as an Agency should seek out ways to decrease financial strain
     on employees, such as offering convenience moves which would
     decrease commuting distance. First consideration should be given to
     family situations.

684. I THINK WE ONLY PROMOTE THE INCOMPETENT TO TRY AND GET THEM OUT OF
     THE WAY OF PROGRESS. STOP PROMOTING PEOPLE WHO DON\'T KNOW WHAT\'S
     GOING ON.

685. Ensure job security and good salaries. Consider the family needs of
     employees. A happy employee is a productive employee.

686. Provide a pleasant working environment with opportunities for
     career advancement.

687. Recognize and promote those deserving

688. Quit threatening employees with the possibility of outsourcing
     their jobs through competive outsourcing

689. Flexibility in schedules, recognizing merit, treating all employees
     with the same courtesy (no matter what their grade or education),
     allowing telework where possible, and providing the highest-quality
     benefits available.

690. Conscious effort to reward good work. Continue pay increases.
     Competent HR staff.

691. This is a wrong question. The good employees will remain good
     employees because of their work ethic. As long as the first two
     points of question 2 stay positive good workers will continue their
     employment. How about

692. Provide benifits,good pay, remove frustration introduced thru
     constant changing for no apparent reason, stay technical not stay
     as a financial distrubition agency.

693. Reduce administrative overhead. Put our people back on the land and
     not in the office.

694. Treat each one that you supervise the way you would want to be
     treated.

695. ensure job satisfaction and a fair wage and benefits package.

696. Keep focus on resource conservation and service to local
     landowners. Allow employees to provide needed service not just
     national priorities.

697. Reward high achieving employees and those who contribute. on the
     flip side, those who choose not to perform to their abilities
     should be more strongly

698. Fulfillment in work accomplishments

699. training

700. pay, not making them move, more conservation - less programs

701. Provide training

702. Eliminate the advancement or rewarding of some employees for
     reasons other than competency. In regards to question 5, it is not
     worded to allow an answer in a manner other than what the
     questioner wants.

703. Take a look at what the employee is doing in their position and
     rate them on that basis, do not take duties away to keep them
     within their job description but pay them for what they acheive.

704. Train them to be competent in doing their job, trust them to do
     their job and recognize their contributions.

705. Good moral support, recognition for a job well done, innovativation
     and new ideas supported, removal of redunancy in job, create a
     positive open converstation (dialog between employees and upper
     staff), clear definition of our goals, place serving the public and
     public trust first, remove deduancy and improve effectivness while
     increaseing our effiency, have a true accounting of our efforts and
     recongnize that a good quality product comes from prior, proper
     planning and preparation. Don\'t expect e-mails to be the main
     source of communication, talk to your employees, have
     converstations, let them really be part of a team, and listen to
     their input.

706. Cause managers to manage proactively and give them the training
     they need to deal with employee problems. Managers need to be able
     to disipline and fire employees who are not performing or causing
     negative situations at work. One of the biggest blows to morale is
     seeing other employees receiving the same or more pay and doing far
     less. It is also very demoralizing to see inappropriate or even
     illegal actions going unpunished.

707. Leadership by example. Training Mentoring

708. Take care of the good people and don\'t treat them like puppets
     like is often the case!!!!! WE Have lost several good people in WV
     because they were not promoted, instead a budy of the hiring
     officials was promoted or advanced. I did not want to answer
     question 5. People on my level are often promoted because of who
     you know!! that was not an option.

709. Better pay and promotions. Meaningful, satisfying work. Fairness
     toward all employees.

710. Reward the people actually doing the work. Base promotions as much
     on knowledge and experience as education.

711. Slow down the rate of major changes in programs. We are handed
     programs that change during implementation so the info we provide
     to the landuser is not consistent from year to year or even during
     the program year

712. Bonuses

713. Adequate recognition, proper training, opportunities to have
     additional responsibilities

714. To award hard working employees.

715. I believe that NRCS employees should be provided with adequate
     training to carry out the job that management expects. I have
     worked for NRCS for more than 20 years and have seen many changes.
     Most often, these changes are dropped in our laps and we are
     expected to adapt with little or no training. This includes
     computer software packages, technical developments, and supervisory
     skills.

716. Communication, upper levels need to keep the field informed of
     changes and important decisions need to be made in a timely manner.

717. Employee development and training

718. Clear consistent mission and programs. fwere significant
     operational changes.

719. Promote employees that can lead and handle higher levels of
     responsibility and work load. Demote those that prove to be unable
     to handle their jobs. This approach encourages those that can and
     helps eliminate those that get promoted about their competency
     level.

720. keep the agency competitive with the private sector; which it is
     not.

721. Performance awards are very beneficial. Sence the pass & fail
     rating I haven\'t received anything in several years. I also miss
     certificates to go with them (merit & appreciatation)and yearly
     awards ceremonies at Christmas time. It was a great moral booster.

722. Treat them fairly. Better communication, listening to their ideas.

723. Offer more competitive pay. Reward and promote employees based on
     competence not on years in service. Change NRCS\'s focus back to
     technical skill and services not reporting numbers in PRMS.
     Outsourcing and restructuring(downsizing) send bad messages to the
     employees. Actively recuit people from graduate programs and also
     return peace corp volunteers. Folks that are proven to have good
     technical and communication skills.

724. Show appreciation for a job well done. Too often the

725. Improve Working Conditions. Communications on goals and
     expectations.

726. Be fair on promotions, work assignments. Hold poor managers
     accountable. Look at results and not promote or reward on
     favoritism or

727. Recognition for a good job

728. Higher committment to training (never enough budget to keep what is
     needed) and better chances for advacement.

729. Listen to th people doing the work, not higher level managers.

730. Pay employees for the work they do.

731. Don\'t change things so often and don\'t change what is required
     from landowners to complete contracted practices from what the
     standard was when the contract was made.

732. To keep employees in the Field Offices is to reduce the Paper work
     requirements. Employees need to work one on one with load owners.
     This is what Producers are requesting to the Field offices.

733. Reducing employee\'s contribution for health benefits. Salaries are
     at the lower end of the private sector.

734. Give us adequate/accurate information which we can confidently and
     without reservation relay to our farmers. This helps cut down on
     frustrations within the workforce.

735. more opertunity for advancement and more competetive pay

736. Less reporting. More timely getting accurate information out on new
     programs.

737. be competitive with salaries for other lines of work in their
     profession

738. retirement and health insurance

739. Less computer time and more working one on one with the landowner.
     Hire secretaries to do data entry.

740. Better communication and make them feel valued.

741. Employees want to feel that they are being productive and are being
     fairly compensated for their efforts. Reward highly productive
     employees with awards and better pay.

742. Forget the idea that this agency ALWAYS has to be

743. By recognizing and rewarding good work through pay increases or
     spot awards. Favoritism is the way to loose good employees.

744. offering good training and advancement

745. treat them like adults and do not micromanage.

746. A stable job, better management, better planning by the agency,
     employee recognition

747. Focus on Job Satisfaction and do what it takes to create that
     atmosphere.

748. Promote highly qualified dedicated employees.

749. Promote good managers with adequate management skills who know the
     needs of the field offices and are not on thier

750. Fair hiring practices

751. Keep encouraging soil conservationists to work together more with
     the technicians.

752. Keep the agency as a technical leader not just one how processes
     paper.

753. Keep it simple. We need to get conservation on the ground. Some of
     our best people have retired as soon as they are eligible because
     programs are constantly changing and it is becomming more
     complicated to apply simple conservation practices.

754. Stop promoting people to admin posts because of their incompentency
     at the field level. In other words good management.

755. Maintaining good benefits and job security. If it weren\'t for
     these advantages, there would be little reason to stay with the
     government if more money could be made elsewhere.

756. Modify job activities throughout career to keeep it interesting.
     Doing the exact same thing day in day out for 20 years won\'t.

757. Pay them what their job is worth on the outside

758. Listening to there needs. Trying to keep them interested in the
     primary focus of our mission. Rewarding them for a job well done.

759. Job Satisfaction combined with adequate pay scale.

760. Continue to challenge them, and reward them for excellent
     performance. Provide them with an opportunity to get involved in
     special assignments, so they can make a difference.

761. Getting the state-level-and-above staff to recognize and deal
     effectively with field-level realities and provide strong
     leadership, rather than sidestepping tough issues.

762. Promote from within; favoritism should not be tolerated; managers
     should recognize employees that work hard whether they are the GS5
     or the GS12; they mainly recognize the GS12.

763. Initiate a performance based compensation system that will allow
     the government to compete with private industry for high quality
     employees.

764. Hire people with the proper skills to understand natural systems
     and train them in the on-the-job aspects that are unique to NRCS.
     Our program-centric approach to field office management makes this
     practically impossible. New employees are getting very frustrated
     at learning new things at places like boot camp and then coming
     back to the field office and doing a rushed job of planning.

765. Strong leadership at all levels with well defined goals that really
     supports employees by providing competitive pay and benefits, a
     positive and healthy working environment, awards good work based
     based on merit, and a truly fair and equitable workplace.

766. Stop the \'buddy system\' for promotions and pay

767. get rid of the old boy network

768. Keep connected the actual work and why people came to work for the
     NRCS (SCS), helping the land. Not just the mission statement, make
     it real.

769. Keep the avenues of training and advancement open. Budgets have
     severely limited opportunities for implementing state training
     plans.

770. Identifing stagnation in job or job satisfaction of employee. Done
     by supervisor noting employee performance and also performance
     review concerns - acting on them.

771. Ensure that supervisors at all levels are adequately trained, are
     fair, are technically competent and know how to manage and
     supervise people

772. improving employee morale

773. Make the job interesting, provide training and support, and
     equitable pay to private sector in the region.

774. Cut down on the new software systems that are either upgraded or
     replaced before people even have time to understand them. Reduce
     the number of different software systems. Integrate the software
     systems. 2)Stop, mandating new software systems and then not
     implement them.

775. A mission and work results that clearly benefit the people and
     resources we serve. Managers who are true leaders, who honestly
     believe in a worthwhile mission, and who put the mission before
     themselves and their territotrial domains. Fair and equitable
     treatment of employees.

776. Cut the red tape on programs. Provide enough budget \$\$\$ for
     training. Correct budget inequities for states.

777. Tools that work and are user friendly

778. recognition, honest vacancy announcments

779. 1 - Provide adequate training 2 - manageable workload 3 - adequate
     pay with private sector

780. Offer them challenges and the training for the skills needed to
     meet those challenges.

781. Build and maintain a healthy work environment. This comes through
     open communications and clear expectations.

782. Allow easier ways to fire consistent non-performers. Help employees
     succeed. Set the workforce and individuals up for success not
     failure.

783. promotions,training more raises etc.

784. Improve communications throughout the agency. Spend more time on
     putting conservation on the land. Provide more assistance in the
     area of administrative duties for technical personnel.

785. awards/recognition

786. Updating training sections and having very good managements.

787. Keeping them informed. Good procedures to follow.

788. Make it equitable for them to stay by providing better job
     promotional opportunities and rewards for outstanding performance.

789. Switch to pay banding based on a merit system.

790. Provide positive feedback and promotional reward

791. Have a career path that is laid out and straightforward

792. Reward their work and dedication. Implement more family friendly
     policies like telecommuting.

793. provide opportunities for promotion and growth

794. Reward them for good work.

795. Invest in career development for non-mobile employees with the
     logical thought they are (and have been)the true support to the
     growth of this agency. Instead of assuming they are not as
     essential as the mobile.

796. Keeping them happy with great pay and benefits!!!

797. Hire people for their work ability, rather than school grades, and
     personalities.

798. Management needs to stand behind what they say.

799. Provide a progressive work environment along with advancement
     opportunities.

800. Extra benefits both during work and during retirement.

801. Make them feel appreciated. Train them well.

802. If the leadership would consistently remind employees that their
     work is important. It helps recharge the energy of our employees.

803. Offer methods to continuously update skills, e.g., school,
     seminars, certification programs, etc.

804. Provide good leadership. Don\'t compromise technical quality in the
     name of meeting program goals. Help people get conservation on the
     ground. Right now, the goal seems to be completion of conservation
     plans to meet funding goals rather than actual installation of
     practices. The people who actually know how to apply conservation
     practices are in the group that is retiring. The ones that are left
     know how to run the computer.

805. Good leadership. It starts at the top. Everyone being treated the
     same. People, all doing fine job are not treated the same.

806. Job satisfaction and recognition for a job well done.

807. Improve morale- Leadership is passing along especially to field
     level employees unreasonable deadlines with expectations to carry
     out programs without thoroughly developed policy and guidelines and
     a lack of human resources. Many are working beyond their 40 hours
     per week just to meet the workload and not being compensated.

808. Provide them with a position where they are contributing to
     something positive and worthwhile. Reward them according to their
     input and accomplishment.

809. Get more people to help with the oppressive workload.

810. Through position up-grades and promotions.

811. Empowerment

812. Pay consistent with the private sector. Awards/Rewards when
     deserved. Better state leadership.

813. Get the field staff back to technical assistance and get them out
     of the contracting and finacial management business. Give Protracts
     to FSA and let them handle the money and let us do what we do
     best - work on the land, not on the computer.

814. step increases instead of merit pay

815. fair practice and positive morale.

816. Competitive pay and benefits

817. Management needs to be flexible in allowing employees to work at
     alternate locations. Many times spouses make more than NRCS
     employees, and sometimes employees quit rather than move.

818. Praise and allow them additional duties to use their talent -
     either as an instructor or new position. These are the employees
     that we want to offer meaningful bonus and awards.

819. Workplace environment. More Knowledge of what ie happening in other
     depts inside the agency. Fair treatment of employees.

820. Make them part of the solution

821. Promote them when they deserve to be promote and remove the
     barriers that we have in the agency that keeps deserving people
     from being promoted.

822. Better pay for those who work hard and go beyond their job
     descriptions the get the job done;no holding back because their job
     descriptions don\'t cover all the jobs to be done.

823. additional rewards for quality work

824. Promotions and Awards

825. Good employees should be rewarded based on their ability and the
     job they perform not on what degree they hold.

826. As a new employee and not knowing what the timeframe is for WGI I
     have a hard time answering this. I would expect that during my
     tenure as an employee of NRCS WGI would be based on advances in
     knowledge and skills I gain throughout my career. As a motivated
     employee I hope to advance rather quickly, thus keeping me in the
     NRCS workforce.

827. Supply us with the people, tools, training and timely information
     to assist the public.

828. Less politics, more common sense in administering programs to
     actual farmers.

829. performance bonuses and promotions

830. Support from management. Clear instructions. Competetive salaries.

831. Offer more flexibility for schedules, especially for working
     parents (especially moms)!!!

832. Provide the training they need to do quality work, with personnel
     available for assistance when needed.

833. Merit raises and recognition.

834. recognition for good work, keeping salaries in line with private
     sector

835. Keep goals and requirements realistic and within the time allowed.

836. Better pay for those who really do produce a product!

837. Create an environment to attract good employess through additonal
     training paricularly in saftey for field personnel, along with the
     ability for career advancement in a reasonable time frame.

838. raise the pay

839. Continued encouragement & genuine support from State and higher
     levels to Field personnel

840. competetive pay and benefits

841. Give them good support, pay them well, give them attainable goals.

842. Pay and training

843. maintainaing quality benefits, NOT competitive sourcing of
     technical expertise developed in 100+ years of soil survey

844. Being flexible without compromising quality. Emphasizing the
     importance of field work and land evaluations for conservation
     practices needed.

845. Treat all employees the same, fairly, and with respect. Let every
     employee work to attain their highest potential and ability, not to
     their highest degree.

846. concentrating on getting conservation on the ground, not juggling
     performance numbers

847. A good understanding of the NRCS Mission without forcing it to fit
     computer reporting software.

848. Make Federal Benefits more appealing than private industry.

849. salary

850. Provide good background and training, insist on respect, and
     support those qualities. Improve morale.

851. Less paperwork, more working with the producers

852. Provide clear and consistent information with regard to completing
     job duties

853. Agressivley pusue raising postions to higher grades instead of
     trying to keep postions as low as possible.

854. Support your decisions and give pay adjustments as needed.

855. Include more field-work and less dependence on computer programs.

856. Job satisfaction comes from doing something you like without a lot
     of unexpected or irrational changes in a friendly environment
     (people who are easy to work with) at a pay rate considerate of the
     region.

857. Stop threatening them with out-sourcing or changes that de-moralize
     them.

858. Creating a sense of connectiveness with the NRCS community and
     those that are served.

859. Do not overwork them. keep job expectations reasonable.

860. Training twice a year\...

861. Keep the focus on their core responsibilities and reduce the
     paperwork and reporting requirements.

862. Keeping their frustration low and satisfaction high. As you know
     this is increasingly harder to do. Too program and

863. Letting us stay Technical, and doing field work instead of pushing
     papers!

864. Maintaining competative pay. Make clear and accomplishable goals.
     Let employees do thier job and less time justifying it. Listen to
     employees on programic issues.

865. Make planning and reporting progress based on

866. Keepthem happyand not over load them with computers.

867. Pay equal to private sector and positions availabe for promotions.
     This pertains to question five, too many times I\'ve seen
     promotions based on an employee that has problems, they are
     promoted and moved.

868. flexibility

869. By providing them challenging opportunities & recognizing them for
     their accomplishments.

870. fair treatment

871. Recognition of their work in several ways; monetary, awards

872. Relay consistent information to the employees reagarding training,
     technical information, program policy and delivery as well as
     advanced training for employees to grow at other job series. Keep
     moral up.

873. Do not hire on basis of education only. Experience should be
     manatory.

874. I work in an office where I am the only NRCS employee and have two
     counties. I have tremendously increased the work load since
     starting here 5 years ago and see so much more potential. And even
     though I have one of the higher workload in my area my office is at
     the bottom of the list to get another employee. While I love my job
     and would not trade it for another, this constant sense of being so
     far behind and such a heavy workload starts to wear you down. So
     more employees in key workload areas!

875. Reducing the computer problems and complications. Specifically in
     PRS and minor things is other programs.

876. NRCS is a great agency to work for. Recoginize those who do a good
     job and punish those who do not.

877. Better and fair chance of increases in grade, salary, and merits.

878. Give them back up ; Give them on the job training with the idea
     that this is training and not someone looking over there shoulder
     to critize.

879. Having a secure and well trained work force

880. 1\) Help employees find the niche where they can make the most of
     their God-given talents. There should be more flexibility in the
     education and experience requirements for filling certain
     positions. I have plenty of talent and education and experience and
     am currently doing a job that could be done by a high-school
     student because I do not fit the rigid templates for other
     positions. I stay because I hope what I have will eventually lead
     to something better. 2) Have high expectations of all employees.
     There is so much waste because so little is expected.

881. Being

882. Give them proper support and assistance. Women need more support,
     especially if they have children. Boot camps that last 8 straight
     weeks are totally inefficient and make it hard to work for the
     agency, especially for people who have children or elders for whom
     they are caring.

883. Listen to your employee and try to accomandate them when it come
     down to family situations, not being able to relocate for promotion
     and more in house training for leadership skills.

884. Encourage advancement through training and promotion opportunities.
     Reduce computer program time and paperwork. Working directly with
     the public is more rewarding.

885. Being willing to accept family as a reason for leaving or staying
     in an area and

886. Keep the salary in line with other professional

887. Eliminate the requirement of relocation for promotion.

888. Reduce paper work

889. Good training along with competitive pay.

890. Good pay and benifits.

891. Recognizing and rewarding good employees with monitary awards.
     Continuing good leave policy (ie Family Leave etc) Perhaps look
     into Education Leave. Continuing to train technically, keeping our
     jobs interesting.

892. Provide better support services (admin, equipment, etc.).

893. Fair pay. More priority on training. Promotion/rewards based on
     performance.

894. pay

895. We need to reward good efforts, and negatively reinforce poor
     efforts.

896. Pay raises

897. Continue to have a pleasant working environment.

898. Provide adequate opportunity for advancement and maintain a
     competitive pay/benefit package.

899. Treating everyone fairly.

900. Annual pay raises, rewards/hiring based ONLY on qualifications and
     merit, and as responsibilities increase make sure that the pay
     scale is adjusted.

901. Listening to employee concerns, and takeing appropriate action.

902. Start caring about the employees satisfaction with their jobs and
     start LISTENING to the employees concerns.

903. Rewarded for a balenced performance.

904. More focus on technical assistance

905. More time needs to be spent with providing technical service to our
     constituents and less inputting goals and accomplishments. These
     are necessary but not to the extinct presently required. More and
     more good conservation minded people are leaving just because of
     the above mentioned items. We have gone from conservationists to
     computer technicians!!

906. Allow employees to use their tech. skills and not be program
     managers.

907. Keep then trained and awarded for their efforts.

908. Middle and Upper management needs to remember what drives
     NRCS\--the people in the field. They are the ones that implement
     the policies and procedural programs dictated by D.C. & State
     Offices. Too many times folks at the field level have to

909. benefits, job challenges

910. Better pay

911. 1)Promote employees strictly on merit and past accomplishments.2)
     Computer technology certainly has it\'s place in the workforce.
     However, it has reached the point where we are dominated by the
     computer. We can not maintain our agency\'s legacy as providing
     expertise in the field when we have to spend all day in front of a
     computer. We have run off good people because of computer
     domination.

912. hire good employees

913. Training and excellent pay.

914. Promote on work exprience and quality for work being done

915. Make sure government pay is compatible with private sector pay for
     like job!

916. Let them do there job with a sese of self satisfaction. Computers
     were supposed to reduce paperwork. It has added plus you have to do
     several(too many) computer programs to get the job done correctly.
     keep it simple. The agency seems to need computer experts, not
     technical support for the public. Most people we hire want to do
     outside agriculture work. the technical knowledge will be gone.

917. Reasonable expectations for reasonable pay. All employees must be
     treated equitably, fairly and with respect. We are not there yet.

918. Reward employees based on performance

919. Keep the pay for a specialists such as Engineers competitive with
     the private sector. In the past Engineers have not gotten the same

920. keeping them movated

921. Maintain the good benefits, enhance pay (esp. for technicians),
     select people with good

922. Allow them to do more than input data in the computer and get out
     in the field and assist the landowners like we used to do.

923. The agency is becoming more

924. Recognize the good employees! Too often they are the ones dumped on
     while the slackers go happily on.

925. Make the programs and reporting easier to manage and give the
     personel the opportuinity to get out in the field to work with
     people.

926. Do not uproot and move the employees around from county to county
     and state to state. Family ties are the most important aspect of
     peoples lives, moving a family several times accomplishes nothing
     in providing stability or happiness in the employees professional
     or personal life.

927. Allow more time in the field and guide upper level managers in
     nurturing career goals of younger employees irregardless of the
     series that they aspire to be in.

928. Award people for the actual performance or non-performance of their
     job and not for some number that needs to be met to satisfy some
     guideline.

929. Allow them to go to the field instead of sit at a computer. You
     cannot learn the land, or its people, sitting at a computer.

930. If you hire a biologist or agronomist or other resource
     professional that goes to college to be able to work OUTSIDE with
     the land and landusers, DO NOT put them behind a computer 24 hours
     a day and expect job satisfaction. The same goes for existing
     employees who used to work outside with farmers, but now look at a
     screen and four walls. Most cultures would consider that

931. Keep morale up

932. Support from supervisors - supervisors spend time with employees,
     assisting them and not imposing more and new tasks because of the
     supervisor\'s personal preference.

933. To be fair with employees with salary versus work diversity.
     Raising grade levels of lower level supervisors (DC-09\'s -to
     DC-11) without reviewing the DC-11\'s and DC-12\'s seemed a bit
     unfair.

934. Location satisfaction

935. Don\'t require moves in order to move up a pay grade

936. Place them in locations where they receive training by a good
     trainer who will support and encourage them.

937. 1st you have to hire quality employees. 2nd Training and utilizing
     training. 3rd Streamline programs so there not so confusing.

938. Good Workers are kepp by allowing families to b happy. Many times
     with NRCS mangers look at the person in the job, not the family
     behind the person. Moving is a major requirement in moving up in
     NRCS. Moving does not make you a better employee learning makes you
     a better employee. We assume that the two moving and learning are
     one in the same and I do not feel that they are. I also feel that
     NRCS pushes new employees to be move up fast in the agency and then
     they move up fast and then they lose touch with the field office
     and what it takes to really do the work. We need people who love
     working with conservation not people wanting a paycheck.

939. praise

940. promote employees in relation to job skills,not to fill quotas

941. Most employees that are worth their salt have a love for farming
     and the land. The self satisfaction factor is being diminished. I
     used to be extremely satisfied with job now only satisfied

942. slow the process of changes

943. Get rid of the programs-driven emphasis with all the changing
     criteria, cumbersome procedures, unreasonable deadlines, not enough
     people to do the work well.

944. Good training, streamline as many processes & procedures as
     possible, promote the good ones & eliminate the

945. Organize programs more efficiently and allow field people to adopt
     and adapt to changes in a more timely manner.

946. Reduce

947. get in the field and off the computer.

948. Do all that is possible to allow them to advance in their career
     field by allowing them to locate where they would like. Ie, don\'t
     tell them they MUST have out of state experience in order to be
     promoted to a higher level within their locale.

949. Try to address their concerns and eliminate as much of the
     inconsitencies in accountability reporting.

950. Start hiring people who will work and not just the ones with a
     bachelors degree

951. Fair treatment of all employees.

952. Training. A lot of the times it seems that we are given a new
     computer program and basically have to train ourselves.

953. Can\'t say what needs to be said, but management bends over
     backards for some employees and gives them what they want when it
     come to movement and placement. Other employees, they want work
     with and just let them go. They don\'t try to mix the need that the
     employee has with to need the agency has. We have lost a lot of
     very good employees because they want to move them at the wrong
     time or to a location that will just not work for that employee.

954. Pay and Moral

955. Challenge them and keep the paperwork to a minimum.

956. Competitive salaries and benefit with private industry.

957. Treat them like you would like to be treated!

958. JOB SECURITY, is the key to keeping any good employee and make them
     appreciated. Part of those reponsibilities are self-acheived, the
     other part is administrative.

959. Recognizing and making aware of the job at hand, allowing the
     employees to accomplish that job, support employees when

960. challenge them with the mission and allow the lattitude to perform.

961. Recognize and reward good quality/high performing employees. Quite
     promoting bad employees into high positions. Everybody knows that
     the way to get promoted is to mess up. I guess that is easier for
     management to do instead of dealing with the real problem and
     solving those issues.

962. Employees need management they can trust and depend on. Eliminate
     existing management that is now so removed from the field that they
     ignorant of what actually happens at the store front where we deal
     with our customers. Also and this may be the most important, don\'t
     promote just because the person is a minority, reward the
     compentent, fire the incompetent. This agency is very top heavy!
     More pople in the field. I have worked 17 years and the last two
     have been horrible due to management ignorance.

963. Reward technical competence and encourage good management. In the
     same regard technical and managerial incompetence needs to be
     addressed. There also needs to be a sense of longevity to the
     position.

964. Allow them adequate time to serve landowners in the field vs
     requiring so much computer data imput. Provide quality training to
     young employees and promote them based on their demonstrated
     ability to do the job and be honest with them.

965. Better communication. Treat employees fairly. Provide good
     training.

966. Better leaders and management.

967. Promote when deserved and not make promotion based on moving to a
     new location.

968. A. Don\'t let them stagnate. B. Figure out some way the state level
     employees know whats going on at the field level.

969. Quit basing promotions on Gender and Ethnicity. Technical
     competence and Managerial Qualities are most important and we have
     all genders and Ethnicities that are great in these areas. Listen
     to the Field. Managers for the most part were never in the field
     long enough to know what it was really like. The top down approach
     you are now using to mico-manage everything is ridiculous Question
     5 does not describe the State Conservationist in Tennessee or many
     of his selections. He and they show neither naagerial ability or
     technical competence.

970. Keep fieldwork at the forefront

971. Be more prepared in new (and old) conservation programs,
     specifically in the area of IT and software development. Most of
     the time the software is not ready when it is released and this
     causes frustration. This can significantly affect the enthusiasm of
     new (and old) employees. Provide funding for, and organize, area or
     state meetings that are geared toward

972. Give good employees opportunities to excel and reward them for
     excellence in their job performance.

973. Career advancement when appropriate

974. Pay them at the rates comparable to private sector.

975. Advancement/Pay

976. Hire good employees.

977. Keep them happy with- money, praise and recognition.

978. Support with good training and good pay.

979. Hire young smart people with personal ambition

980. Promote employees based on what you not who you know. Give
     employees a good computer and use it for 10 or so years, we might
     needed a new system every 3 years if we worked for NASA, to much
     time spent on imputing info into computer. If I wanted to a
     computer input guru I would have applied to be one.

981. Shoot straight,be honest, be consistent in all policies from
     program delivery to employee management. Stop promoting employees
     who cannot perform. Hire and promote based on skill, performance,
     and job experience instead of basing our staffing on political
     correctness. I have seen co-workers from

982. Keep the ones doing their job and get rid of the ones who don\'t.
     Too mant are just filling a seat!

983. Yearly pay increases and promotions of the right people.

984. provide them support and leadership

985. Continued work schedule flexability.

986. Reduce paper work and time spent in office so work can be done in
     field.

987. Provide more and better training. Reverse the trend of working more
     for management and reporting and less for the local landusers. We
     spend much more time trying to prove we\'ve done something than
     actually helping a landuser solve a resource problem. Good
     employees feel good about helping people not creating numbers.

988. Providing more training after a new program comes out instead of
     before and then something changing about program, more recognition
     and promotional awards when warranted.

989. Stop dealing with outsourcing, which is like businesses going to
     china to get cheap labor. Pay scale is to wide from GS12 TO GS3.

990. Making sure there is openings for advancement!

991. Salary and promotional opportunities

992. Keep the best and fire the rest.

993. Pay based on work

994. Performance driven system

995. Reward good people and weed out the incompetent people

996. TRAIN

997. listen to them, follow through

998. REWARD for doing a excellent job

999. Extra Pay For those who out preform others based on numerical
     accomplishments. Sugestive ratings not based on actual numbers
     should not be considered.

1000. Provide the best training for them during the first 5 years of
      service.

1001. Actually promoting individuals for superior performance based on
      leadership talent and experience. This style of management seems
      to be a thing of the past. Question 5 is a loaded question, the
      program will not let you advance until you answer it. You need at
      least one more choice

1002. Work with employees on an individual basis.

1003. Don\'t overload the employee w/out giving them sufficient man
      power. If they are given an increased work load, which has
      happened to about everyone I know, increase the pay. It will be
      hard to keep the people you already have and to recruit others if
      the private sector is paying alot more for the same work load. For
      instance I\'m over 3 counties and I\'m a GS-11 and the FSA CED is
      a GS-12 with in my opinion alot smaller workload. I have been told
      they won\'t increase the pay grade for my position. I think NRCS
      has to get serious about paying their employees a competitive
      salary with other agencies and the private sector.

1004. Reward and recognize employees for their achievements; with SWAPA
      is our goal, getting conservation practices constructed on the
      land to meet NRCS specifications is becoming very difficult. The
      amount of time required supervising the installization of
      practices, reduces the amount available for the management of the
      field office.

1005. Place new employees with good supervisors and provide all
      employees the help and training they need to grow and be
      successful in their jobs.

1006. good leadership

1007. The opportunity to go back to school on government time
      through-out the employee\'s career and take job or misson-related
      courses at a university or college.

1008. Keeping training up to date.

1009. Increase pay, allow more flexibility in work locations

1010. Raise pay to a competitive status.

1011. Give everyone the same opportunities. Put less emphasis on
      socially engineering the workforce, and more emphasis on
      qualifications and accomplishments.

1012. Good pay & benefits with

1013. It seems management training benefits programs more so than
      properly managing / direct staff. Although government job pay for
      lower ranking employees is appreciated, it does not compensate
      adequately for today\'s cost of living.

1014. Fair pay scale for comparable work with private sector. Better
      insurance packet.

1015. Not to overwork or constantly change goals employees are to
      acchieve.

1016. Pay them decently. Let them work their way up the ladder like we
      used to do several years ago. Stop hiring untrained and
      unqualified people off the street.

1017. competitive pay

1018. Over the past three years my goals have been based on how much
      money I can spend in various programs. This has resulted in the
      abandoment of local conservation needs and water quality
      improvements. I am now looking for practices that require no
      engineering, cost a lot of money to apply, and can be installed
      with a phone call rather than doing good conservation planning.
      The amount of money spent looks good on paper, but does not
      address the local conservation needs. Furthermore, I now do not
      have the time to use my technical expertise to advise clients. I
      spend all my time processing paper work and fighting computer
      systems that do not work.

1019. Stay in sight of our goal, stay focus on our mission.

1020. Better training and equal treatment in the selection process for
      promotions.

1021. Stop promoting incompetent employees in order to maintain gender
      and race parity.

1022. Keeping a good morale going within the Agency. Show them that you
      really appreciate their work

1023. BE FAIR with the employees.

1024. responsible and ethical managers/supervisors, encouraging
      employees to continue training and education, respecting every
      employee

1025. Balance workload among employees.

1026. encourage inovation and personel ownership for responsibilities
      and duties, and that each employees part of the puzzle is
      important, Also my answer to question 5 is not the real answer,
      because \'none of the above\' was not a choice

1027. reward creativity and production

1028. Provide enough help for managers to accomplish goals without
      excessive amount of duties on individual employees.

1029. Employees need to be focused on what interests them for the
      majority of thier time.

1030. Provide a viable career path and promote based on merit.

1031. Communication of critical ideas, decrease politics involved in
      decision making.

1032. Give employees the freedom to make decisions and move forward with
      the agencies mission and goals. There\'s too much looking over
      ones\' shoulder with a told you so support staffer not willing to
      take risk challenges. Our employees need challenged to remain
      technically shape and in touch with the public. Our agency has too
      many complacent managers to let employees show their true
      leadership abilities. Stress self expression and forget the fear
      of retaliation.

1033. Letting them say what is the most important job to do at there
      location. Not being a slave to the computer.

1034. Respect them, reward them,be honest with them about their career
      opportunities .

1035. Recognize hard workers and encourage others to be like those hard
      workers

1036. Provide support in the job and good pay.

1037. Some good employees are mistreated by their supervisor because
      they feel their reputation and skills are threatened by a new
      employee\'s skills and abilities. Eliminate race discrimination,
      and the good friend system.

1038. Recognize people based on performance, deal with non-performers,
      and keep pay and benefits at the right level.

1039. 1\. quit promoting persons whose job performance is poor 2. reward
      those who do excellent jobs 3. remove people who perform poorly
      (we tend to keep these people on for years and years - private
      industry would never tolerate these types of people 4. all of the
      above would boost moral and help those of us who do work to
      perform better

1040. Better communication between management and employees. Management
      has very little knowledge of what employees are going through and
      need and therefore make poor decisions.

1041. Increase the pay and get back to the basics (simplify the
      programs).

1042. Rewarding employee for doing a good job. Stop holding good
      employees down.

1043. Give employees a chance to go to the field and work with clients
      on getting conservation on the ground. Right now we are spending a
      great amount of our time putting conservation on paper.

1044. The managerial and technical support to achieve their goals. Good
      employees feel like they are always against the wall and bad
      employees do not care.

1045. Offer outstanding technical training and opportunities for
      employees to work in a function where their personal talents are
      used.

1046. Increase award amounts, Increase salary amounts where needed to
      stay in step with private sector, Improve benefits (health care
      costs).

1047. Recognition and rewards based on merit not personal preferences.

1048. Keep encouraging good employees and more discipline for poorer
      employees

1049. Improve pay levels up to or hopefully above the private sector and
      encourage

1050. Having respect for every employee that does their job well.
      Recognising EVERYONE not just minorities. Keeping blind ambition
      away from those in a supervisory capacity. Sticking to federal
      policy at the state level.

1051. Pay them what they are actually worth in the private sector.

1052. increase pay is always good and have one job element out of the
      five that is specific to that county( and get credit for it) and
      acknowledge work performed that is not goaled.

1053. Better training,promoted on merit

1054. Pay and fexible work schedules.

1055. Sometimes we feel as if we are spread so thin that we really
      can\'t give things the attention they deserve in order to deliver
      the quality product that we may like.

1056. Recognition to ones who are doing the real work

1057. Good pay and training.

1058. Reduce workload created from levels above and allow employees more
      flexibility in getting conservation work on the ground. Many are
      spending too much time at the computer trying to report work, etc.
      and are not given adequate time to properly plan and install
      conservation work.

1059. Recruit the right kind of employees in the first place. Treat
      employees with respect and show them that they are appreciated.

1060. Better communications and direction. Only send out program
      releases when they are ready to be implemented, and then don\'t
      change.

1061. Recognition awards for work above & beyond the call of duty.
      Adopted suggestions to save the Government money & expenses.
      Competitive salary and benefits. Flex working schedules. Formal
      training to advance & then

1062. Not having to move and relocate so far from their home area. Not
      having them stay at a step in salary for a certian number of years
      before they get a pay raise, ie. if they are doing a good job, let
      their step increases come sooner. Several older supervisors,
      don\'t believe in quality step increase awards, because they never
      got one during their career. It might be better to have have a
      small group to review employees productivity and ability verses
      just the supervisor. Sometimes a supervisor has so many
      responsiblities they don\'t really know which employees are doing
      the best jobs or most of the work. Example, a field office DC may
      get credit for meeting goals when it was a SC that done most of
      the work, or an area Engineer may get credit for doing a lot of
      work in a year but it was really just a couple of employees that
      done most of the work that go reported. Sometimes the DC or Area
      Engineer won\'t pass on the credit when it is do because they feel
      it will make them look bad.

1063. Allow them to do the job they are trained to do that reflects the
      needs of that county or area. There is too much busy work that
      doesn\'t reflect the local workload.

1064. Providing adequate time and funds to carry out job functions and
      assignments. This budgeting of fund and time for T&A by programs
      is not working out in many instances. People are doing more what
      they are forced to do more than what they need to do to adequately
      serve our customers. This also promotes fraud in time charges to
      complete some required tasks. There needs to be more flexibility
      in time charges both to address local needs and to save the time
      it takes to juggle the beans to get the allotted count. We\'re
      spending way too much time on accountability.

1065. Make sure they receive within grade increases, promotions, these
      increases to the next step are sometimes needed before the
      employee has put in the \'standard time\' for promotion

1066. Quit changing everything every two months. Don\'t release computer
      programs that do not work properly. Hire more technicians. Doing
      these things will keep us from burning out. We are not supposed to
      be bankers. We are supposed to be conservationists.

1067. Recognize employees when they do a good job\...promote employees
      within the state instead of going outside state. Give training -
      do better job with budget within state

1068. Extra help in high workload counties.

1069. Listen to the people in the field offices who are closest to the
      customers we serve. They know what it takes to get conservation on
      the ground.

1070. Pay them for the amount of work they do, and not for who they are.

1071. Reduce paperwork for the field offices, it is killing their
      relationship with the farmers. There is very little time to truly
      work one on one with the farmer. Instead you have to hurry back to
      the office and produce volumes of paper to go in a case file that
      does nobody any good.

1072. Get rid of most of the paper work required for contracts. Our job
      is technical not paper pushing.

1073. Provide more support to the field. Field employees have to keep up
      with so many different practices and programs and they cannot be
      experts at all of them. Simplify and reduce changes in programs
      from year to year. We cannot rely on how a program was conducted
      last year when we talk with farmers, because we often have to go
      back and tell them that it has changed since last year. This
      raises our frustration level and that is the biggest complaint I
      hear from employees. We enjoy helping people, but we get
      frustrated with how much is expected from us, not enough time,
      increased paperwork, etc.

1074. Let employees do their jobs. Reduce the influence of Management.
      Do away with political appointees.

1075. pay

1076. training equality

1077. Raise job levels comparable to other Federal Agencies. Also allow
      District Conservations more time

1078. Red tape equates to frustration - frustration typically not
      associated with the private sector. While red tape will never
      disappear we must move our organization to be more streamlined and
      efficient, cutting out as much of the extraneous paper shuffling
      as possible.

1079. Equitable pay, merit-based recognition, and most importantly
      giving people a sense of satisfaction with their jobs.

1080. Preventing burnout caused by increasing workloads and very little
      supporting staff.

1081. very good mentors for young employees.

1082. Spread the workload and make each employee accountable for their
      work.

1083. Keeping the original focus of our agency people working with the
      public to conserve natural resources. Maintaining and improving
      the technical field skills of our personnel is critical.

1084. Higher Pay

1085. Career development plan based on goals and interests

1086. Continue to offer and enhance health and retirement benefits.
      Moreover, supervisors having good leadership skills is a MUST
      have.

1087. Hire and promote on merit, not on what is politically correct at
      the moment.

1088. Keep pay consistent with cost-of-living expenses via geographic
      regions. Offer on the job training so everyone at all levels may
      improve on skills to better support their jobs.

1089. Pay has got to be comparable to Non Federal business.

1090. Provide step increases for excellence

1091. The hiring process needs to be re-evaluated. I took a lower GS
      position than which I could have qualified for. Most jobs open to
      status candidates for which I am qualified through education and
      experience but can not apply for because of the next lower grade 1
      year requirement. I will most likely be leaving federal service in
      order to enter the private sector because I could probably make
      about 20,000 more a year with my qualifications and college
      education. I have 2 degrees and I am currently working on a 3rd
      degree.

1092. Recognition and encouragement of job performance. Reward employees
      for meeting performance indicators and goals. Provide incentives
      for meeting and/or exceeding expectations.

1093. Expand the career ladder so that field people can still be field
      people and be paid well. Add supervisory positions that still
      function within the GS-457 series

1094. Higher pay, better opportunities for advancement.

1095. Recognition, awards, and better training

1096. Better pay and promotion in grade.

1097. more pay

1098. 1.Keep pay competitive with private 2.quit promoting employees
      that don\'t deserve it

1099. Promote within the state or within the conservation partnership.

1100. Simplify the conservation planning process. There is to much
      complicated COMPUTER work involved. If we are going to use
      computers, which is ok, make it user friendly. I have a Masters
      Degree but have a great deal of trouble putting my plans in Arch
      view and even more trouble reporting in PRS. Why does it have to
      be so confusing? We are a field agency, or use to be, but all our
      training is inside, on the computer. And also, much of our
      training is not good\--Where have all the Good NRCS trainers
      gone??

1101. Better pay. Less mundane tasks to perform such as progress and
      accountaibity details.

1102. Fill Vacancies with current qualified NRCS personnel first before
      hiring from other outside agenies or from private sector.

1103. ??

1104. Good training and competitive pay.

1105. Support them. Recruit them as student trainees.

1106. Make sure they have the workforce and the training they need for
      the jobs. Keep the pay scale commencerate with the private sector.

1107. more pay

1108. Promote those who are qualified when applying for certain
      positions. Do not overlook your inside experience employee for
      someone outside (the agency).

1109. Move to a merit based pay system.

1110. Provide the type of work that they enjoy doing!

1111. Open communications. Allow input by employees

1112. Increase the pay and increase the personel to help deal with the
      workload!

1113. The programs change to much.Let DCs go back to the field to
      conduct conservation practices and programs. The changes for 20yr
      plus employees has been overwhelming. Iwould like to get back to
      the true meaning of conservation and not be driven solely on
      programs and computer data. Most of our clients range from 50-65
      yrs old and are not familiar with all this new technology. I think
      each field office needs a computer specialist to just the computer
      demands.

1114. Reduce paperwork, reduce constant change (administrative) but most
      importantly\....PROVIDE MORE TRAINING ONE ON ONE!!!

1115. Moral, Team play and respect for each employee, plus increase in
      income.

1116. keep the agency competitive

1117. branching career ladders so there can be various career ceilings

1118. Equal and fair treatment of all employees and extensive training
      in job related fields that will enhance that employees knowledge
      in various areas.

1119. Treat them with dignity and respect AND not as stepping stones to
      advance the career of their managers

1120. Good Pay and limited micro managing such as webtcas

1121. Look more at qualifications of employee instead of EEO quotas.

1122. Hire with in the agency. Promote with in the agency from all
      employees in all jobs not just fron select positions.

1123. Promote on the basis of merit rather than race. There is a lot of
      REVERSE discrimination that is anti-white male. This gets very
      discouraging to many good employees.

1124. Less program related and more techical and on hands assistance!!!

1125. Placing new employees in offices where they can actually receive
      training from a capapble supervisor. If supervisor is overloaded
      with work, move new employee.

1126. Pay employees on what they produce. Any top private company
      rewards employees. Ex. My office has been the top EQIP program in
      North Carolina for past three years. We are paid the same as the
      bottom producers.

1127. Treat them with respect for what they do instead of treating them
      like they are inadequate.

1128. Reward them for their accomplishments and listen to their ideas
      and proposals.

1129. Let the agency get back to serving the total conservation needs of
      landowners instead of pushing farm bill programs targeted at
      certain landusers.

1130. Good,fair minded leadership with backbone enough to stand up for
      whats right, support their employees first and formost and not
      bend to political correctness, or clients who scream
      discrimination in order to get what they want because they don\'t
      qualify otherwise.

1131. BECOME FLEXIBLE\.... NRCS has got to modernize its workplace
      policies to accomodate the changing employee\...women, people with
      children, breastfeeding mothers. A little encouragement would go
      along way. Really open up possibilities and stop relying on the

1132. Pay them well. Have mangagement give them support and don\'t
      micromanage them. Help them feel they are making a difference in
      the world.

1133. Comparable pay with the private sector.

1134. Hire individuals with an agricultural background and train them
      technically. Get them back to the basics of what made this agency
      what it was in the beginning.

1135. DC\'s - Reduce the accounting and managerial requirements of the
      job.

1136. Pay and opportunity for advancement.

1137. Respect employees

1138. Making sure each office has enough staff to carry out the agency
      goals and objectives.

1139. Rewarding good employees for their efforts through promotions,
      step increases, and awards. Also providing employees with the
      proper training, eqipment, & skills they need to perform their
      jobs. Also provide offices with the necessary \# of employees to
      meet goals/expectations.

1140. increase wages

1141. Hire, maintain, and promote competent employees who do not mind
      working instead of looking for a handout.

1142. motivation with job stablity

1143. Promote the ones that work and do a good job instead of those that
      don\'t. Place good candidates in open spaces.

1144. Keep pay equal to private sector. Keep NRCS family oriented.
      Recognize good work and reward them for it. Provide field offices
      with good technical assistance in order for them to do a good job.

1145. keep employees happy

1146. Reduce workload and better training before a program starts.

1147. trusting them and higher ups standing behind employees who are
      correct.

1148. Be fair and give all employees an opportunity improve their career
      through education and training.

1149. Good training and a good salary.

1150. Adequate pay and benefits package. Adequately staffed work units.
      Clear and defined mission.

1151. Provide clear directives to employees and support employees.

1152. Benefits (such as flex-time and the leave donation program)

1153. Working with good people that treat you decent.

1154. Respect

1155. Provide good employees with the latest training in technical
      fields, improve the transfer of information to the field staff and
      allow them the opportunity to go on details.

1156. Promotion to the next level if the employee proves that he/she can
      provide the skills required for that level. There are many
      instances in NRCS that supervisors do not have the skills to
      handle the position held and rides subordinates to accomplished
      that job. These positions are obtained by having some required
      college study hours. Experience accounts for nothing. Too much
      politics.

1157. Treat people fairly along with lookout for there well being.

1158. More pay, more educational opportunities and leadership/managerial
      training programs.

1159. Reward employees who demonstrate proficiency in putting
      conservation on the ground and working with landowners versus the
      current practice of rewarding emplyees who are good at working
      with people up the line and blindly following directions.

1160. I have been working with USDA (SCS) NRCS for 25 years. I remember
      a time when we could help people with what they needed on their
      farms and other lands without so many regulations. There are some
      cases where conservation is being regulated and engineered out of
      existence. (Stream bank restoration and protection for example).
      We also have so few people and so much more paper work now that it
      sometimes feels like it is hard to keep your head above water. To
      keep good employees - train them, stand behind them, give them
      enough co-workers to get the job done.

1161. By utilizing them in the skills which they are hired for. The
      field personnel has been given much more computer responsibitilies
      therefore taking from their ability to be on the land with the
      lanowner/operator. This agency was built at the ground level and
      it should return to its responsibility of focusing on getting
      conservation on the ground in the field rather than having to
      spend so much time on adminstrative duties.

1162. Soil Conservation technicians are highly vital to the agency and
      have to be engineers, computer specialist, soil scientists, etc.
      and need to be upgraded.

1163. Stop overwhelming them with more work than any one person can
      complete. Our field office is chronically understaffed by
      three (3) individuals, yet we are expected to meet yearly goals
      that increase every year with no additional assistance.

1164. Reward accordingly for good work not on on race or olitics bias of
      agenda

1165. Pay the employee using a graded merit plan.

1166. Promotions, OJT

1167. HIRE PEOPLE WITH A FARMING BACKGROUND

1168. Promote them based on technical competency and managerial
      qualities; don\'t promote based on ethnicity and sex as you are
      currently doing.

1169. Remove bad employees and support good employees with quality
      leadership that treats subordinates with respect and as customers.

1170. Quit hiring incompetence just because of who they are, meaning
      balancing workforce with percentages of population. Do away with
      any reference to race, gender, schools attended, name, etc on job
      applications. Hire on KSAs alone no matter how they fall. Then
      award good work with recognition.

1171. Better pay! I like what I do and really like working with
      customers. I have a since of accomplishment when I leave on most
      days, but I would like my salary to be competitive with the
      private sector.

1172. Allow technicians to earn more money (only if they deserve it). In
      our state it is difficuly for technicians to climb above the GS-07
      level. Most technicians that are advanced in their training can
      work private sector and make better than GS-07 pay. DC\'s in our
      state have a minimum of 3 counties most have 4. DC positions
      should be GS-12 with this much workload.

1173. Promotion of soil conservation technicians without a college
      education.

1174. Positive motivation, recognition of initiative and accomplishment,
      long term financial reward (senior employees are often maxed out
      on grade/step advancement in mid-career). Question 5 needs a
      choice of

1175. keep the flow of information down to all levels and increase pay
      for GOOD employees based on merit

1176. Training,promoting workers that are turning out work and getting
      the information of programs out to there producers,owners, anyone
      that NRCS programs might apply to.

1177. Pay

1178. Better communication.

1179. allowing the personel to advance in the field offices that they
      curently work in IE conservationist being allowed to advance to a
      GS-11 to off set gap between cons and DC in georgia

1180. By promoting beyond the caps that have been set for all soil cons
      and DC\'s

1181. More flexibility in advancement opportunities.

1182. Bonus and awards for hard working employees.

1183. Maintaining positions in permanent locations (i.e., less moving
      around to keep a job with NRCS) would enhance employee quality of
      life and increase the family-friendly aspect of the agency.

1184. Recognize and reward exceptionally good work and extra effort on a
      regular basis, encourage and support initiative and innovative
      thinking, use employees in fields/projects where they really excel
      (utilize individual affinities) to promote efficiency and
      excellence.

1185. Give employees the chance to do the job, stop introducing new
      tech. evey year.

1186. taking care of their job needs,providing them with good
      supervisors who are team players.

1187. better leadership and better pay

1188. Leverage pay aginst the private sector ; pay for the same type
      work. Allow staff to promote in place without having to move. Let
      merit as well as outstanding performers advance by using this new
      job performance rating system. Get past just giving spot awards
      and try to fill the positions of the 60 % percent of retiring
      people in the short future.

1189. treat everyone fairly \-- don\'t change position requirements
      after being told you meet the requirements for the job ex. 457
      series

1190. Provide recognition for efforts, more direction from supervisors,
      good pay, and training for promotions.

1191. Fairness

1192. Consistent and fair treatment of employees, follow policies, good
      communication

1193. To provide all employees with adequate training along with the
      needed equipment. To bring all NRCS employees together on one
      accord. In several situatons I have noticed that each office does
      things differently and abides by different rules when it comes to
      their jobs. Most importantly having those supervisors that are
      capable of traing new comers in the correct manner. Along with
      that, those same supervisors need to have better communication
      skills instead of working on assumptions about their employees.

1194. Go see them and have more personal contact.

1195. Hire them first

1196. Provide training in technology and managerial assesment.

1197. I am not sure.

1198. More traing on civil right issues. Detailng- to much changes with
      no warning/training.

1199. Job Security

1200. Quit sending them where they don\'t want to go.

1201. Reward employees that are doing a good job and release those that
      are not.

1202. merit in pay\.... excellent, good, and fair employees are paid the
      same

1203. Hire good ones to start with

1204. Keep a steady focus on our objectives and not try to be an agency
      that is everything to everyone.

1205. reward high achievers. maintain flexibility in work schedule.

1206. Keeping positive goal achievement accessible and recognition for
      the acheivement; positive rapport with public and fellow
      employees.

1207. Promoting for the right reasons. Acknowledging their good work.

1208. Establish clear and achievable goals.

1209. More training and all employee\'s conferences.

1210. Practice what you preach, don\'t manipulate the system to fit the
      personal agenda of a few, have supervisors who know how to
      supervise and get the best from each individual person based on
      that person\'s needs.

1211. Pay; opportunity for advancement; cut workloads on paperwork, i.e.
      total accountability has diminish our ability/time to serve the
      customer directly.

1212. Minimize mobility requirements and recognize that most households
      are two-income households. Assistance may need to be provided so
      that if an employee is relocated, the spouse can also be relocated
      to new employment.

1213. On time promotions and good relations

1214. Acknowledge them with promotions or monetary awards. Weed out
      employees who abuse their time and position, there are many!

1215. Manage Workload

1216. The upper level jobs require too much stress and politics. We
      don\'t have enough support to get the job done but managagement
      expects production to be there no matter what. It takes time to
      train someone who comes from another office on detail, and this
      should all be taken into consideration. Because there are so many
      aspects to the job it is hard to be good at anything. We are now
      making payments, doing field work, learning the computer, GIS
      technology, attending meetings and public relations, knowing
      biology, forestry, soils, engineering and some things that take
      time but are not reportable in PRS. The public sees us in the
      office and it appears we are not working, but there is so much
      computer work now it\'s hard to be seen everywhere and also learn
      the tremendous amount that we are expected to know.

1217. Keeping them informed and providing proper training and
      leadership.

1218. Provide consisstent leadership through out the Agency guided by
      local needs and input using the TQM which was developed and droped
      by the Agency, to show all personel that the Mission which the
      field people are trying to meet working with our Voluntary
      customers is the reason we are here, not to satify the whims of a
      few persons with a personal agenda.

1219. Give the county employee\'s a chance to become workers of NRCS

1220. comunication

1221. Promotion in field office leave

1222. The primary way to keep good employees is to increase the pay
      scale and place more empolyees in the local field offices.

1223. interview process. Hire people with high values and character

1224. true reward for high producers

1225. Let them do the work for which they were hired to do. Stop all of
      the changes and let them be proficient in what they do.

1226. Equal pay for equal work

1227. Competitive pay and personnel benefits.

1228. Hire the right people and compensate them for their work. Show
      more appreciation toward successful employees and terminate the

1229. Take employees that have potential, regardless of a degree or not,
      and let them advance as they are capable of doing.

1230. Promote employees based strickly on qualifications utilizing a
      fair evaluation board that rates the applicants.

1231. Promote on the basis of performance and not on the basis of
      increasing diversity.

1232. Provide equality of pay for type of job instead of location of
      job. (state office vs. area office vs. field office)

1233. Encourage and support the Managers to get rid of bad emplyees.

1234. Eliminate depression-era management style. Provide more
      opportunity for field-level employees to have input into
      managerial and program decisions

1235. More formal recognition of their work with awards. I think the
      agency has reduced the numbers of awards given to employees.
      Should be increased, based on performance.

1236. Keep pay in line with private companies

1237. Acknowledge their contributions, provide proper training, keep the
      lines of communication open and provide opportunities to be
      promoted and grow within the agency.

1238. By, promoting them, when a job is done well.

1239. Let them work one on one in the field with people instead of
      working on the computer all the time for the power\'s at be.

1240. Pay is important but also sincere recognition of good work is also
      important.

1241. Meet the primary needs of the employee-excellent pay, opportunity
      for advancement that is fair to all and not just to people of

1242. Keep open the lines of communication.

1243. Quit promoting people who just satisfy their boss and find people
      who know what the NRCS is all about and came express it.

1244. Provide a clear vision of where the Agency is headed. Changes are
      being mandated in a top down fashion, some great, some
      questionalble. No real understanding of the thoughts behind any of
      it. Agency seems more reactive than choosing a vision.

1245. Higher pay, more in line with private. Streamline softwear
      programs.Quit changing programs in middle of a program year. Make
      a decision and do not make changes until end of year. Get
      employees with experience in agriculture, natural enviroment, let
      them go to field, vivit with lanmdowners, not spend 80% of their
      time sitting in front of a computor. Get on committees and have
      imput. NRCS must become active in current issues and long range
      issues, and actually spend time to assist landowners. We have a
      lot of reguest for assistance other than Farm Bill programs.

1246. Don\'t promote them to quickly without letting them gain technical
      competency but let them think outside the box and come up with new
      ideas. Challenge them.

1247. Pay needs to be competitive with private industry!

1248. Terminate problem employees instead of promoting or moving them.
      Most are at a higher grade level than the people that carry the
      work load and get the numbers in the system that it takes to get
      the funding to operate the agency.The taxpayers need service and
      the Natural Resources need conserving. anddelivertaxpayers the
      service.

1249. Hire qualified candidates & promote based on documented work
      performance.

1250. Pay, most of all, cutting the red tape that bogs down the the
      workflow, waiting for authorization, any decision. If an Area
      Conservationist can manage his/her area and manage his/her budget,
      give them the latitude to make decisions for his/her employees
      without having to have approval from STC on matters that
      shouldn\'t need STC approval. Such as: Approval for home to work
      use of vehicle.

1251. Work and reporting system keep changing.

1252. Give the training they request and do not just say cause have
      reached this level you are on your own.

1253. Reduce workload by increasing field employess as well as pay
      adjustment.

1254. pay them more based on performance

1255. Make promotions and desk audits easier to obtain

1256. Get back to the basics and insure that everyone is properly
      trained at the field level and required to have this experience
      prior to promotion.

1257. Pay more and recognize more.

1258. Allowing good employees the opportunity to advance without
      political interference. Grandfather in the hard working employees
      that don\'t meet the education requirements but have continually
      proved themselves within and outside the agency.

1259. By recruiting from local colleges, and other local natural
      resource professionals. On the job continous training is also very
      helpful.

1260. Help the people that gets the work done. Let go of those that do
      not

1261. Do a better job of Prioritising the missions and tasks for the
      Agency and Staff. Stop trying to do everything.

1262. Show trust and improve their opportunity to meet the managerial
      qualities expectations.

1263. Keep their jobs from being affected by political platitudes. Show
      more stability on reasonable goals, objectives, and deadlines.

1264. To Pay Better Money.

1265. I think to retain good employees it is necessary to expect and
      recognize quality work, not necessarily by monitary mean. It is
      also important to give challenging assignment to keep interest
      level up and continue to give training at all stages of a
      person\'s career. Also, don\'t inadvetantly discourage quality
      work by succombing to rushed deadlines.

1266. Manageable workloads, fairness by supervisors

1267. The agency should always stay the course without too many policy
      changes. Keep frustration levels down by only releasing software
      that works as it should. Reduce information mining. What actually
      happens in the field cannot be captured by a computer generated
      report. You can capture data, but not what it actually takes to
      generate the data.

1268. Treat them like decent people

1269. Promote based primarily on experience and performance and use
      education as a starting point for new employees.

1270. keep employees satisfied, ie pay, merit for accomplishments

1271. Clearly define eligibility criteria for a job series and maintain
      that so the employee has a goal to shoot for and once acheived
      they feel like they are appreciated.

1272. providing challenges to keep the mind alive and interested

1273. Continue to provide advancement potential and encourage more
      personal initiative in the field, field employees need to be able
      to think on their feet and be innovative in problem solving.

1274. Improve pay and maintain or improve the benefits. Benefits are
      important because the pay never has been able to keep up with
      private sector. Many of the better employees will move over to the
      private sector for increased pay. Younger employees do not see far
      enough into the future to realize that their benefits are better
      than the private sector. Possible new benefit ideas. Give FERS
      employees some motivation to save their sick leave and not use it
      as annual leave. Young employees do not forsee the need to accrue
      a large stockpile of sick leave that they just loose when they
      retire. Maybe reward another days vacation per year for every 75
      hours of sick leave saved. Private businesses can give an end of
      year bonus while govt. cannot. Allow the possibility of an
      employee turning in up to a week or more of annual leave for cash
      one time per year.

1275. Better treatment and pay for the backbone of the agency ,the
      technitions and support staff.

1276. good salary and benefits

1277. Continur Maxi-Flex work schedule.

1278. Promotional potential equal to the private sector with equitable
      pay scale. Require less paper work which would afford more time
      with our clients.

1279. Not over loading field personel with administrative duties and
      paperwork.

1280. Support & Recognition

1281. EQUALITY FOR ALL, SPECIAL ATTENTION/TRAINING TO THOSE WHO HAVE

1282. Recognizing and utilizing individual employees strengths. Pay
      employees well.

1283. Ask and listen to input from employees. NRCS doesn\'t address
      barriers to getting the work done because everyone is afraid to
      tell leadership what the problems are. The standard answere is to
      just get it done no matter what. That leaves employees
      compromised. Also find a way to more easily fire problem
      employees.

1284. most likely would be pay grade increases

1285. Get more Technical employees

1286. promotion and advancement in place

1287. Reasonable expectations

1288. Less red tape. Promot employees based on qualities.

1289. Hire administrators who have degrees in administration. Let the
      technical people work their disciplines rather than become
      contract administrators

1290. Provide better work environment as far as personnel and
      management.

1291. Top Pay and compliments when there is agood job done

1292. Continued technical development to keep up with private industry,
      and on the job training for new employees.

1293. The pay and benefits are fine, if you live in a rural area.
      Details to other areas to increase experience and desire to
      continue to improve would help employees not to get stuck in an
      isolated rut.

1294. Allow them to exprees themselves without being attacted or cut out
      of the loop. Good employees are rare and do not get the rewards
      they deserve because the leaders are too worried about offending
      other individuals or sometimes even groups.

1295. Awards, promotions

1296. Be flexible when problems come up. Resolve issues without
      destorying employees and their career.

1297. Get rid of the non-workers and the incompetent so the good ones
      aren\'t having to pull the weight of both.

1298. Give them the tools and training to do the job, before you assign
      the job.

1299. Treat them Fair and pay for what you get and not how long they
      have been there.

1300. Pay equity with the private sector for people who have highly
      technical jobs like soil scientists and engineers.

1301. Help them to realize their job is important and don\'t ask them to
      be experts at so many different fields.

1302. Hire field and State level supervisors on the basis of skill and
      ability.

1303. Employees should be promoted on experience and technical
      knowledge, not cultural diversity or college degrees.

1304. Treat deliverables as employees, including pay scale

1305. hire younger personell and develop skills through experience

1306. Keep good supervisors around. Be understanding when you are a
      2-income family. As a conservationist, you are expected to move
      and I understand this, but my husband works as well. We both make
      the about the same amount of money and cannot afford to be out of
      work. The agency needs to be understanding when both spouses work
      and when you are a working mom. For instance, wanting a person to
      move when they have a 11 month old baby at home really shouldn\'t
      be an issue and an added worry for the new mom.

1307. Understanding and meeting their needs. More so understanding
      working mothers.

1308. Get rid of the bad ones.

1309. Provide good opportunities for career advancement. Be as family
      friendly as possible.

1310. Increased pay and job satisfaction

1311. Make certain that employees know that they have an equal chance
      for job promotion based on merit - not minority, poitical, or
      other non-merit status.

1312. Give them the promotion and awards when they diserve it

1313. Have a vision of what we need to be doing. Management (not all,
      but enough to monkeywrench the works) and the people who actually
      get the work done are at an extreme disconnect as to what is
      important to be doing. Management is mesmerized by the
      environmental regulations (NEPA, sodbuster/swampbuster, etc.)
      while the field wants to get conservation on the ground. We cannot
      be the good cop & the bad cop at the same time (and I really think
      we should be doctors and not cops at all).

1314. Treat all employees fairly and with respect.

1315. Recognition of their accomplishments and not rewarding or hiring
      people not qualified to do their job.

1316. Increase pay scales (we are one of the lowest graded federal
      agencies for similar work)

1317. Promote awards initative

1318. Give them the goal and let them determine how to get there. We
      have new leaders who tend to micromanage my profession based on
      misconceived notions from Hollywood movies.

1319. Equal treatment for all employees

1320. For new employees, be sure they are getting exposure to both the
      technical and administrative aspects of the job. Too many new
      employees are put in front of a computer and are not getting the
      field experience they want and need.

1321. Give responsibility and authority, and support decisions.

1322. By promoting the ones that are well qualified.

1323. promoting good work ethics to new & young employees to grow with
      the agency.

1324. Update the regulations we have to use. They are very obsolete.
      Communication is very poor. Responsibilities are not fully
      defined.

1325. Provide appropriate support base \[time, equipment, team members,
      etc.\] for position madates.

1326. Providing training opportunities as needed; rewarding outstanding
      accomplishments; providing technical staff assistance as needed;
      encouragement and support in difficult situations, etc.

1327. recruit good employees at the lower levels, give them a good
      career development plan, and then follow through on it training
      and promoting them as they gain experience

1328. Hire more employees. Let our people become experts in their field.
      People take pride in doing a good job, it is hard to do a good job
      if you are so overwhelmed that you can\'t even get the simple
      things done in a timely manner. The way things are now, it seems
      we spend all our time trying to just get by. Our customers
      (general public) are frustrated because it takes so long to get
      things done. Employees are overwhelmed with work. New systems that
      are designed to reduce administrative costs take years to become
      fully functional.

1329. promotion opportunities.

1330. Consistency of rules and regs.

1331. Work more with team and boss.

1332. Keeping them personally involved and invested in all levels of the
      job and agency. Comunication!!

1333. A primary way to keep good employees working for NRCS is for them
      to be able to diversify either in their field of exper- ties or a
      related field.

1334. Reward those that have exceptional performance while offering
      opportunities for advancement.

1335. The agency should delegate increasingly challenging duties and
      responsibilities to those that perform well and are willing to
      work hard. The agency should cultivate and utilize skills and
      talents in the workforce that allow a mutual employer/employee
      benefit. A good employee will be one that grows with each new
      challenge, takes personal satisfaction of knowing an important job
      was accomplished, and feels a sense of pride in knowing a
      difference, be it big or small, was made. Encouraging personal
      accomplishment, merit, and team work will foster an attitude of
      pride in one\'s work and contribute to a feeling of job
      satisfaction in good NRCS employees. In my opinion, this is the
      best way to keep good employees employed with the agency.

1336. Treat them with respect and not play favorites

1337. Pay and Compatible to Jobs Outside of the Government.

1338. Recognition of performance and oppurtunities for advancement.

1339. Pay and recognition of good attitudes & good work ethics.

1340. Teaching employees technical skills that can be used to develop
      credibility with their customers. Once customers express
      satisfaction with a good product, the employee will be fulfilled
      and have the desire to keep up the good work.

1341. Better pay for the amount of workload

1342. keep the benefits and promote from within

1343. Tie grade raises to technical abilities and work load not to time
      served

1344. Recognition and rewards are based on merit. Upgrades are fair,
      honest and reflect the work being completed at the field level.

1345. Initiating training for cutting edge technical proficiency in area
      of work and developing ways for improvement and advancement within
      field.

1346. Salary

1347. NRCS needs to take care of it\'s good employees to keep them.

1348. Pay and work location flexabilty

1349. Ensure that that you utilize current technology that other large
      corporations in the private sector may be utilizing. Try to
      streamline paperwork/administrative as much as possible. Get away
      from annualy goaled items. Find another way to track performance.
      I think we are the only federal agency that has this type of goal
      system. It takes a lot of time to do it, and once it\'s done, who
      is going to really use it. Just don\'t do something in order to
      provide for a QAR review.

1350. rewards

1351. pay and recongnition

1352. Increase training opportunities and insure work assignments are
      realistic, attainable, equable.

1353. A combination of good pay and beneifits

1354. Keep them happy/Pay

1355. The workload in our agency has changed in type and has increased
      dramatically in the last few years. Employees could be recogized
      for these efforts by increasing GS levels for certain jobs to
      reflect the additional work and expertise needed to complete their
      current job descriptions.

1356. Promote and higher employees based on job performance and work
      ethic rather than other factors

1357. By upgrading their grades and pay scale.

1358. Better pay and less stress in the workplace.

1359. Give them financial security according to jobs they do.

1360. 1\. pay 2. Reduce the amount of paper work for the employees who
      are out actually getting the work done with landowners and
      farmers.

1361. Enforce non-discrimination policies!

1362. financial incentives; good training; improved retirement benefits;
      development of

1363. Hire qualified individuals that want to work in the field of
      agriculture and provide them with a good pay check.

1364. Increase beginning salaries so that we hire the best to start
      with.

1365. 1\. Provide need training to preform the different task that are
      required. (computer and files) 2. NRCS clerical position are
      needed in the field offices.

1366. Pay should match that of FSA counterpart in that service center.

1367. MAke sure their salary reflect the work they do.

1368. Give praise where it is due.

1369. Promote them when they are ready and don\'t tell them they have to
      move to be promoted. When people are happy they do an outstanding
      job.

1370. Keeping salaries even or above the private sector.

1371. Make sure they are trained for the job they do.

1372. When a program is working well, DON\'T CHANGE IT. I know several
      employees that have retired from the position that I serve in and
      their main reasons for retiring are constant changes to programs
      that are not needed and the increased paperwork for regulatory
      reasons. We spend more time trying to prove that an individual
      does not qualify for program benefits than we do assisting the
      individual. Also, the changes in computer programs are key reasons
      for early retirement. The computer software and programs we are
      now don\'t have half the conveniences and checks and balances that
      our old R-base systems had. The agency needs to think about how
      these

1373. Treat the with dignity

1374. Upgrade the pay scale.

1375. Promote them based on merit rather than because they have spent
      time in grade. Treat all empolyees equally.

1376. Promote by knowledge, skills, and abilities instead of friendship
      and dislikes.

1377. Good work being reconized and pay scale.

1378. Do not hire from outside the agency - if you have a good employee
      that wants the job and can do the job.

1379. better pay and complete training needs.

1380. Advancement and in house selection

1381. Increase in pay.

1382. Compensation, and cut the unnecessary paperwork(cover your
      rearend) to get the job done. We do way to much planning in the
      field to satisfy someone in DC and not the landowner! The
      landowner could care less about our reportable goals.

1383. for upper level supervisors show concern for their staff under
      them.

1384. Good pay and reconize all employees for doing a good job. Not just
      women or minorities. Reconize technicians for what they do. Don\'t
      leave them out of meetings or training. If there is no room for
      them at a District Conservationist meeting, get a bigger room.
      Don\'t leave them behind.

1385. Recruit good employees through intern and temporary positions.

1386. Upgrades and incentives! The private sector does this! Also
      keeping flexible work schedule such as 4/10 hour days and 5/4/9
      work schedules as open options.

1387. Rewarding them on the work he or she does. Example: Verbally, job
      promotions, special projects, or any thing to show that they are
      valuable to NRCS. Also, do not make promises that can not be made.

1388. allow them to work and not become an administrative agency

1389. competing salaries with private sectors and time off.

1390. Let the technical people do the majority of the field work. The
      ones with a sound agricultural and farming background but not that
      sound at sitting in front of a computer all day. Let the employees
      with less farming background but more computer literate
      concentrate on what they are better at. There making us be a jake
      of all trades so to speak and a master of none. Let employees do
      what they are good at and what one employee is not good at let
      another employee do that job who is good at that job. The medical
      field has doctors who specilize and the private sector jobs
      specilize also. Why can\'t NRCS field offices do the same thing?

1391. Give all employee a sense of security and stability.

1392. Good communications and recognizing employees that are willing to
      go the extra mile even when it is not necessary.

1393. Trust and recognition of a job well done

1394. First you need to hire qualified people, then pay them a
      competative salary

1395. Competitive salary.

1396. Hire better people,goal orientated in the first place.

1397. Get rid of the bad employees, Better leadership more competetive
      wages

1398. Do away with a lot of uneeded forms and documentation.

1399. Give promotions to entry level employees that are good performers,
      set reasonable standards for soil conservationist to be promoted
      in regards to mobility, shouldn\'t have to relocate to receive
      promotions from GS-5 to 7 to 9, but sign agreement to apply for
      and seek District Conservationist position within 3 years of
      obtaining GS-9 or accept a direct re-assignment by NRCS to a
      District Conservationist position as needed.

1400. more pay

1401. Having worked 19 yrs with the agency as a technician,I now am
      doing most of the certifications that the Soil Cons. are also
      doing except I\'m not recieving the pay just the work.If new job
      specs. would include this work along with pay more employees would
      stay longer and be happier.

1402. Do away with the

1403. Have programs defined clearly in black and white

1404. Promote with in the ranks to employees qualfied to do the not by
      race and gender!

1405. Treat everyone the same. Keep the playing field level and get
      politics out of the hiring and promotion system. Show that you
      care about your employees.

1406. I\'ve seen people that are great at their jobs, but can\'t advance
      because they do not have a degree. I\'ve also seen people that
      have the degree but can\'t do there job. People should have the
      opportunity to advance because of what they have done, and what
      they are capable of. In the private sector the boss looks at one
      thing, are you making me money, you\'ll get promoted if you are,
      and get fired if your not. Promote based on competency\....

1407. Start with farm raised employees who start in lower GS pay in
      County Field Offices with 3 to 5 years of on the job training
      before they are up graded.

1408. To treat them fairly and equally, something that has not been done
      in my case. I would love to discuss this with someone who would
      listen and that could giev me answers.

1409. Base promotions on what you know instead of who you know.

1410. Compensate the best and get rid of the rest! Don\'t hold mobility
      over people\'s head as a prerequisite for a promotion.

1411. Give promotions on job done and stop the practice of people that
      do the same job getting different pay. GS5 vs GS6 vs GS7 etc. This
      is from a Tech. point of view.

1412. We have to adjust our pay scale if we want to keep our future
      employees.

1413. training

1414. Do not make promises and not come through with them

1415. Keeping/hiring other good employees (good work ethics) that will
      be committed to providing conservation assistance to the public.
      Unqualified/poor ethical employees strains the agency and cast a
      shadow of encompetance by the public.

1416. Rewarded for

1417. Good pay, good benefits, promotion potentional and recognition for
      work that meets or exceeds performance plan.

1418. Increase GS-Grades

1419. In my 18 years with this agency, I have noticed that must of the
      people that is promoted faster are trouble makers or family
      members. Either way the good, dedicated workers are over looked
      and stepped over. The best way to keep a good employee working
      with NRCS is to be fair with positions and promotions.

1420. Give them proper training, and promote them based on skill and
      ability.

1421. Offer better salaries and less

1422. Reward the

1423. Hire at a higher grade. Pay them like they should be paid.

1424. Fair Treatment

1425. Promotions based on merit, skills, and workload versus having the
      right connection.

1426. Hire qualified people

1427. pay

1428. Specialize each position rather than making them broader.

1429. Reward technical competency and responsibility with pay
      commensurate with their duties. Government managers are paid above
      the private sector level, engineers are paid much less.

1430. Increase the pay to meet private sector.

1431. Don\'t Know but software being developed is sometimes very
      unreliable and is hard to figure out sometimes.

1432. Fairness

1433. Reduce the ineptitude at the senior managerial levels and raise
      the salary of employees to reflect that of the private sector.

1434. Build agency image and morale.

1435. Punish the bad ones. Don\'t let them get away with poor
      performance. Definitely don\'t reward them.

1436. finacial compensation commensurate with other agencies

1437. Have supervisors that are not always negative. You draw more bees
      to honey than you do vinegar.

1438. rewarding good performance

1439. Credit for what they do.

1440. Salaries and benefits stay competitive with industry standards

1441. Increase the pay!

1442. Get pay scales for highly technical jobs up to competive levels
      with private industry.

1443. Have the supervisor ask the employee what incentives would make
      them want to stay. Then negotiate based on their response.

1444. Clearly defining their responsibilities

1445. great benefits and working conditions

1446. Recognition of work ethics and quality of work

1447. pay equivalent to non-governmental job market

1448. Expect the best of employees and give them the tools to get there.

1449. I don\'t know.

1450. Administrative support of the Field Offices activities.

1451. Keep and create ways to make the employee know that they are an
      intergeral part of the agency. that what they do is important and
      how it fits the stragetic plan of the agency.

1452. Appropriate pay scale. Keep employee morale high by rewarding good
      work habits and discouraging bad work habits. Utilize probationary
      periods to weed out bad employees.

1453. To promote them in a timing manner instead of the employee sitting
      at a GS-5 level for 10 years.

1454. Recognition and fairmess

1455. Pay, benefits, and job satisfaction.

1456. Let technical cometency and managerial qualities be basis for
      promotion.

1457. Train them the system of the nrcs.

1458. Give promotions that are based on merit in order to maintain a
      high level of moral.

1459. Show them the recognition when a job is well done. Good pay is a
      must for job and family security which translates to a person
      doing all he or she can. A pat on the back is what renews the
      enthusiasm that makes a person want to do more.

1460. Pay and accomplishment

1461. Showing appreciation for hard work and paying well will keep
      employees working.

1462. good managers, which we don\'t have

1463. benefits, pay, promotions, time off

1464. Promosion based on ability and work they perform

1465. Employ people with farm backgrounds, not just degrees in some type
      of agricultural subject.

1466. Reward and promote the ones who DESERVE to be promoted. Reclassify
      positions according to what is actually expected and done by
      persons in those positions. Stop promoting persons based on
      factors that have nothing to do with level of competence or job
      performance.

1467. Remove bureaucratic restrictions that keep good employees from
      acting

1468. Keep pay in line with out sister agency (Farm Service Agency) for
      District Conservationist positions and upgrade some Soil
      Conservation Technicians.

1469. Better promotional opportunities and more in put at lower levels.

1470. Providing them the support and motivation they need to do their
      job

1471. User friendly computer programs and reducing the mentality of

1472. Develop an incentives program

1473. provide tools and training to do the job. reduce unnecessary
      steps/walls in order to accomplish what is needed to be done. it
      seems we take 10 steps back to go 1 step forward

1474. Be competitive with private sector salaries.

1475. Proper Training/Adequate pay

1476. Develop a structured trainig program that identifies task specific
      requirements for each level of knowledge required for each grade
      under a common job training standard administered on the job.
      Administer a viable awards program based on truly
      exceptional/superior performance rather than just because you
      acomplished your job or held a position.

1477. Dont work us to death like we have been the past two years!

1478. Better pay, especialy technitions. Pay for work experiance,if a
      person tops out at GS-9 step-10, Move them to GS 10
      step2(example).

1479. Promote, reward, and establish pay grades on

1480. Through training,career enhancements, and increased pay.

1481. promote employees who work and deserve promotions

1482. Give employees greater opportunities to work in areas closer to
      their home towns. Many NRCS employees have agricultural
      backgrounds and have a sincere intrest in having a part in their
      family farming operations. The requirement to be mobile with no
      assurance of ever returning to an area with resonable distance of
      their original homes limits in recuiting and retaining good
      qualified employees. This is not to say employees should be placed
      in their home counties or that there is no merit to mobility but
      if an employee has aspirations of working and living close to
      family then they should be afforded opportunities to work and earn
      the chance to do so.

1483. Raise the payscale for the lower grades,The private sector is
      paying more.We will lose good employees.

1484. Look at retention of employees. The agency needs to promote the
      technicians they have instaed of keeoing them held back due to
      them not having a college degree. Most of the other federal
      agencies do this, when dosen\'t NRCS?

1485. Hire the type person who will enjoy the type of work we do.

1486. More training and more tools to get the job done.

1487. Higher pay

1488. Pay which equals the job.

1489. Reduce the amount of paper work and computer time. If you can\'t
      hire more people to handle the paper work, consider combining
      offices so that each office will have a DC, a SC, and a SCT.

1490. Better pay commensurate with private business. Treat and pay
      technicial staff as professional. Increase in Health Care
      subsidies. Increase in matching retirement funds.

1491. Keep them in formed and quit per selection od person for
      promotion.

1492. Pay and moral

1493. make us feel the job is worth it, good pay,

1494. Competitive pay, fair (as in equal for all) working conditions

1495. We have traditionally been a customer oriented agency. That\'s
      what our field employees like. When we get away from that personal
      contact, the personal satisfaction declines. Most of us thrive on
      that feeling of being useful.

1496. pay raises

1497. The supervisor should be aware of the employee\'s responsibilities
      to outside agencies. Adequate Training funds. Adequate Travel
      funds.

1498. ensuring them that we as an agency will remain intact and continue
      to support them and their goal in the agency.

1499. promote on merit

1500. Appropriate pay for technically training personnel.

1501. Increase salaries and more new technology training

1502. Better incentives - awards, promotions, comparable pay rates.

1503. GIVE AWARDS AND PROMOTIONS TO THOSE WHO DESERVE THEM

1504. Motivation through interesting work that has a visible reward
      based on feedback of the customer and his preception of our
      agencies assistance to him or her.

1505. Fully and equitably utilize and recognize employees according to
      KSAs, career goals, education and management and technical
      exposures.

1506. Pay is the most important.

1507. match pay to responsibilities; award hard and competent work in a
      timely fashion; provide competent leadership and managment

1508. Good working conditions and fair pay

1509. Competitive salaries.

1510. Provide for revised grade structure more compatible with privaste
      sector.

1511. Give more recognition to employees at all grades levels,
      especially when employee position do

1512. Advance employees in the agency based on merit and merit alone!

1513. Provide job training and career ladder promotions.

1514. By providing them the tools to succeed.

1515. By placing new employees in offices where the DCs want to train
      and manage. It takes taining counties for new employees to learn
      and advance. Not just any DC can train or manage new employees and
      those are the ones that should not be made training counties.

1516. I cant think of anything different the angency can do differently.
      Its a great place to work.

1517. Be more strict on the one year probation. You should be able to
      tell if someone can manage working with NRCS within a years time,
      and I feel as though people squeeze through the cracks and people
      find out 5 years down the road that they know nothing about
      conservation.

1518. Pay

1519. Starting salaries for SCT\'s should be at the GS-5 level for a
      minimum. DC salaries should match FSA-CED salaries.(AL CED\'s are
      GS-12 and very few DC\'s are GS-12)

1520. Treat everyone fairly

1521. Fairness and incentives

1522. Having fair opportunity and effective leadership development plans
      that actual are used once they are completed for people that want
      to move up.

1523. GOOD PAY - BENEFITS

1524. Allow and possibly help employees who are already working hard for
      the agency to return to school and advance to a higher paying and
      managerial position.

1525. Give the employees a chance at receiving advanced education. Also
      make the employee feel needed.

1526. Continue to give workers proper equipment and supples to get the
      job done.

1527. Keep the pay level competitive with the private sector. Do not let
      the work outpace the employment/replacement of new employees. We
      are currently being asked to do more with less.

1528. More personel at the field level. Field level employees are
      overwhelmed and very frustrated.

1529. Promotions and awards based on merit. The present system of
      promotion and awards is unfair.

1530. Provide more opportunity for advancement of technical personnel

1531. Provide the necessary training,computer and technical.

1532. Being able to do your job without being burdened with unnecessary
      paperwork.

1533. Offering opportunities for advancement

1534. Keep them interested and challenged!!!

1535. Provide up to date technological equipment and information to
      field personnel. Provide insentives to field personnel to
      encourage the production of high quality products. The system is
      too top heavy and should reduce the number of upper level
      personnel (GS/GM14 and above)and increase the number of feild
      personnel to complete the field work.

1536. 1\. Initiative. It is difficult to colors outside the lines. 2.
      Organization. Dissolve artificial, geo-political boundaries. In
      another state, there are three field offices within 50 miles of
      mine and I have no idea what they are doing. 3. Conservation
      Planning. If the workload continues as it is and there are no
      additional resources/people, I cannot plan as policy dictates.
      There can be manuals, bulletins, and threats to the moon, and it
      still won\'t be done.

1537. More Money

1538. Promote, pay, and reward based on merit.

1539. Weed out the bad employees-fire them- and keep, train, and promote
      the good employees.

1540. Awards, Compliments, and Acknowledgements

1541. Compensation. As a person with good computer skills, a lot of CAD
      experience, and a very good comprehension of GIS software, not to
      mention 50 college credit hours, it is very hard for me to justify
      driving 50 miles to my field office for a GS-5 salary. Especially
      when I can make at least as much if not double that, working for
      the private sector.

1542. Throughtout the country, the agency must be FAIR in HIRING and
      PROMOTION.

1543. Train them before you give them new programs, tools, etc. Its hard
      to self teach and get frustrating.

1544. stop micro-management. allow good employees to do their jobs with
      being watched all the time.

1545. Reduce paperwork and let employees do thier job

1546. N/A

1547. Pay for what you do and make the job enjoyable, not so high
      pressured to obligate and then can not follow through with the
      work because of lack of qualified man power.

1548. By giving the monetary rewards and recognition to those that are
      capable of doing the work honestly and ethically

1549. Allow people to take iniative and innovate. The family farm died a
      long time ago. There are numerous successful models for innovative
      conservation not directed at production related agriculture.
      Encourage innovation, but accept honest mistakes. There\'s a
      difference between an honest error and fraud. The agency is very
      top-down driven. There is a very powerful culture of negative
      repercussion. The programs only increase in complexity, mistakes
      are inevitable.

1550. Recognizing them at the correct grade and supporting their
      efforts.

1551. Reduce the amount of burreaucratic paper work. Give people more
      time to work with siols, plants, agriculture, farmers.

1552. Promote and reward on the basis of merit. Stop social promotion
      based on race. Drum out the losers who don\'t get anything useful
      done and advance via complaint by filing grievances and formal
      complaints. Make it possible to force people to work effectively
      or be fired. Then those of us with high standards and solid work
      ethic will be more comfortable that the agency has achieved equity
      in personnel matters.

1553. Increase Tecnician Grade levels

1554. pay,less hasssle

1555. Provide black and white policy that last from Farm Bill too Farm
      Bill. Stop changing standards and policy in the middle of programs
      signups and contracting phases. Both actions make the field office
      personnel look incompetent to their customers.

1556. Job satisfaction, accomplishments to help people help the
      environment, help people who want assistance, etc.

1557. Have good leadership.

1558. NRCS needs to reward those employees that are out front and are
      conservation minded as well as the pace setters for the agency. I
      am currently the lead Soil Conservation Technician in the Field
      Office in which I work out of in the state of Louisiana. I work in
      a very large workload Field Office and I have had as many as 4
      technicians both NRCS and SWCD working under my supervision,
      training and guidance within the last 2 years. I currently have 3
      technicians under myself, 1 NRCS technician and 2 SWCD
      technicians. With the extremely heavy workloads that we have here
      in this office, EQIP, 319 Turkey Creek Project, WRP, CRP, WHIP and
      CREP, I stress quality conservation. I stress that we can\'t
      afford to sacifice quality for quantity. It\'s about enhancing and
      protecting our natural resources. And besides juggling this kind
      of workload with 3 or 4 technicians there is no way the District
      Conservationist(DC)can manage all there is to do in an office this
      size. So I find myself with the (DC\'s) guidance also deligating
      some of the respondsibilities to the other technicians and helping
      the DC juggle and schedule workloads such as surveys, installation
      of practices and checkouts of engineering practices. Often I\'m
      detailed to where I\'m needed within our Resource Unit or area of
      work. I\'ve been out front and on the cutting edge of some of the
      lastest GPS - TOPCON equipment as well as the new AgForm software
      for the last 2 1/2 years. I have fellow employees to contact me
      from around our Area as well as the state with GPS questions. I
      could go on, but I said all of that to say this. I love my job,
      and I like what I do everyday. Everyday is a new adventure and I
      give it 110% every day I\'m on the job. It\'s almost as though the
      (Soil Conservation Technicians)those of us that are dedicated and
      are making a difference and we\'re on the front lines everyday
      making a difference in the lifes of people, as well as our natural
      resources, soil, water and animals. NRCS needs to take another
      look at those Technicians that are making a difference everyday.
      The answer is

1559. to keep them trained

1560. We deal with the public and tax dollars. Employees must be
      competent, trustworthy, and have good people skills.

1561. Increase pay and stream line paper work/REDUCE WORKLOAD. Identify
      a more effecient way to complete all the worksheets and forms for
      contracts mainly EQIP and CRP contracts.

1562. motivation

1563. I\'m not sure

1564. Provide the help that is needed to complete the tasks that are
      asked of field staff and when the help is not available to
      complete the needed tasks and the staff is doing what they can
      then understand that things will not be done.

1565. Make sure the employees know what is expected of them and
      encourage good work habits. Furnish training and reward
      exceptional effort.

1566. Training Pay

1567. By keeping us busy all of the time. Putting more job
      responsiblities on us.

1568. Competitive salaries with opportunities for training and
      advancement.

1569. Better pay.

1570. to give them the feeling that they are doing a good job and that
      they are important to the agency.

1571. Listen to their needs. Respond quickly to problem areas when
      employee questions arise. Look like NRCS really cares about
      employees. Don\'t reward \'brown-nosers\' over otherwise competent
      employees who don\'t \'brown-nose\'(yes, this happens). Keep pay
      where its at (no decreases); it is good. Recognize and attend to
      employee workload-related stress; not good especially when
      higher-up admins. don\'t seem to realize what stress they create -
      we are only human.

1572. Upper management should assess workload in all field offices and
      UPGRADE those offices that are doing the most work. There are many
      field offices that are of a higher GS level that have much lower
      workloads than neighboring field offices which are doing most of
      the work. Pay employees for what they do. Also, high workload
      offices should be staffed as well as lower workload offices. Some
      offices have to work much longer hours than offices with lower
      workloads and higher GS levels.

1573. There should be a quicker mechanism for removing employees that
      are not completing their duties. If an employee fails to \'pull
      his/her weight\', office moral declines. This is especially true
      of supervisors, who are indirectely monitored through sometimes
      vague goals by distant offices, while lower-level employees have
      day-to-day contact with supervisors.

1574. Recognition of skills and pay for performance.

1575. Identify, encourage, and reward competant, conscientious, hard
      workers and technical competance; Train employees properly, don\'t
      just give them a bulletin, web training, or a short presentation
      at a meeting and call them trained!

1576. Increase training and salaries.

1577. remove

1578. More rewards or benefits would help compete with the private
      sector.

1579. Pay /grade increases based on performance/expertise in the locale
      that you are working .

1580. Offer incentives such as classes toward level progression, student
      loan repayments, better retirement programs etc..

1581. Promote those worthy of being promoted and not because who they
      are friends with.

1582. better pay and stable living location.

1583. Reward employees (higher pay, recognition) because of ability to
      do job, not simply for time

1584. Meaningful accomplishments.

1585. Better appreciation for job well done.

1586. Pay and recognition for what they do.

1587. Good leadership from supervisors

1588. Pay for the quality of work you do.

1589. higher pay and better benifits

1590. Better pay and beneifits

1591. Reduction of overwork and stress compelled with proper managerial
      backing. Pay parity and pay for overtime worked

1592. If you have Good Employees, take care of them. Reward them for
      their extra efforts. NRCS needs to start advertising vacancies.

1593. Improve training and reduce paper work loads and improve employee
      morale.

1594. Fair and equal promotions.

1595. I think the agency needs to look at simplifying some of the
      program work load. It is wonderful the amount of contracts that
      our state funds, but the frivolous amount of paper work that is
      required in them go a bit over board. I also think that there are
      so many rules for the programs that NRCS field office staff get
      hung up on making a mistake than accaully getting conservation on
      the ground.

1596. Hiring individuals who are qualified based on experience and
      technical skills. NRCS during the last few years are looking for
      individuals with color/gender to fill jobs and have compromised
      the skills and experience for diversity. Refer to the JUSTICE FOR
      ALL POSTER.

1597. Quit trying to farm our jobs out

1598. Keep good employees to work with.

1599. Treat them with respect and honesty.

1600. The agency can maintain a qualified workforce if it receives clear
      guidance from Congress in the development of programs, and
      consistent support from agency leadership in carrying out those
      programs.

1601. Train them and motivate them

1602. Provide performance based salaries.

1603. By having continual training, education for all employees and
      support from supervisors.

1604. Acknowledge level of accopmlishment with level of difficulty of
      preformance. Some jobs require innovative and work and planning to
      assist communities, where others have programs that provide
      expected results ie: EQIP others.

1605. Recognize loyalty and dedication of employees to the agency\'s
      mission.

1606. Hire employees based on qualifications not race.

1607. Know the good employees from the bad ones.

1608. Recognition of achievements and giving the employees a variety of
      tasks

1609. Consistent training, timely promotions and good pay.

1610. morial is the best way keep them striving to exceed and give them
      a reason

1611. KEEP WORK ASSIGNMENTS EXCITING AND REWARD/RECOGNIZE GOOD
      ACCOMPLISHMENT.

1612. make sure they get training required to do the job they are hired
      for!

1613. Pay,Location,good supervisors

1614. Keep us motivated with positive feedback from upper management.
      Comparative pay raises to private sector jobs.

1615. When a good employee earns a promotion, give it to them. Ensure
      the budget accounts for expected promotions.

1616. Keep employees informed of advancement opportunities and support
      employees efforts at advancement.

1617. don\'t force them to move, promote on competance rather than
      social factors, make the workload actually achievable again
      instead of impossible, go back to us doing technical work and
      FSA/others chasing paper and buttons for payments

1618. Understanding and addressing needs and concerns of young
      employees, especially the different approaches to a job/career.

1619. Give them adequate tools, good training, good pay, flexibility,
      and allow them to be creative. Give them help with heavy
      workloads.

1620. Provide them with staff to get job done. Support them rather than
      the partner agency when conflict happen. Show you care.

1621. pay, challenge, train

1622. Reward soil cons for the good work they accomplish throughout the
      year rather than once a year or not at all. Soil cons are the
      heart of the agency and they are the reason we reach our reporting
      goals. Hiring out of state has also proven to be a set back for
      our soil cons to apply and accept higher positions.

1623. Start doing more field work and cut out the worthless paperwork in
      the office.

1624. Good communication between the levels of management, from
      washington down to the field level and from the field back to
      washington. Washington doesn\'t always know what happens at the
      field level. The field staff work directly with the farmers and
      impliment the programs.

1625. Listen to them! Quit changing programs every few months! Get us
      some additional employees at the field level! Lower level
      employees who can assist us! Put new employees where the work
      is!!!

1626. flexible schedules, let new employees do more field work

1627. Increase pay, benefits, retirement and work flexibility

1628. Incentives

1629. Less Deadlines

1630. When employees ask personnel questions, dont beat around the bush
      with the answer. Don\'t try to hide the truth from them.

1631. Less stress from management. Micro management is the problem.

1632. As a new employee, two things discourage me. The first is seeing
      poor planning within our agency. This is a result, I believe of
      our national & state offices being out of touch with how things
      happen in the field as well as people in leadership not leading
      and making decisions in a timely manner. The second thing that
      discourages me are the baby boomer DC\'s not stepping up to the
      plate and working with the new computer technology that has become
      available. Instead, they just complain about the job and the way
      things used to be. I like my job and intend to stay but I would
      like to see better decision making by our leadership and more
      timely training and guidance for us in the field. The computer
      technology is OK but we need to continue networking it all
      together so we can spend less time at the computer and more time
      with the landowner - That\'s were real conservation work gets
      done!

1633. Getting back to the basics of planning in the field and less
      computer and office work. Putting conservation on the land.

1634. Train them to do the job they were hired to do as well as the jobs
      they be responsible for filling in the future.

1635. Provide the appropriate training and requested training, and stop
      pushing the

1636. training

1637. Continuous updating training.

1638. Cut out the administrative barriers that keep us from putting
      conservation on the land. Give us tools,ie: computer programs that
      are user friendly and easy to use. Prepare products that are
      usable for our clients, such as CNMP\'s that mean something to our
      clients. Program administration is killing us with paperwork.
      Would we really want

1639. Keep there training up todate and provide suport

1640. Promotions, merit raises/bonus, job satification and training.

1641. Make them feel appreciated.

1642. Don\'t burn them out with too much stress

1643. Only mange the employees tht need managed and leafe the rest of
      them alone.

1644. STOP the administrative process that allows employees to become
      supervisors/managers before they are ready. There are way too many
      people who are not yet ready to be supervisors but because of
      their lack of skills, maturity, or experience that are becomiong
      supervisors!!

1645. For upper management (Washington/State Offices) to get the rules
      of programs straight before telling the F.O. to implement them.The
      public gets info. before the FO gets this .Better time
      frames,(train today sign up participants tommorrow way of doing
      business. When computer programs are working,don\'t change them to
      a newer program just when everyone is getting the one to work. Get
      the employees the right

1646. Provide competent managers that recognize their skills and provide
      them opportunities for advancement.

1647. Promotion and increaced cost of living raises and more time in the
      field in less time in the office.

1648. Give them a variety of work to do, instead of the same thing all
      the time.

1649. I realize we need to continue to strive toward a diverse work
      force, but I believe we should focus more on potential employees
      that possess qualities such as dedication, well-educated,
      experienced, hard-working, and committed, rather than race or sex.
      I believe we have taken this form of race and sex-based
      recruitment far enough.

1650. treat them well

1651. far better and more communications from all levels. field staff is
      often working in the dark with too much to do and too many
      deadlines. we find ourselves working our tails off with no idea of
      where we are going. add to that very little \'thanks\' are ever
      given, just more work. no matter how many times i e-mail my
      supervisor (AC) i get zero, ZERO, response. makes it hard to want
      to stay.

1652. Adequate pay & benefits; challenging job environment

1653. The District Conservationist job position in the field has too
      many stressful responsibilities. Some of the clerical work could
      be done by others. These people should have more time to meet our
      customers (landusers) needs.

1654. Offer clear career steps that emplyees may follow. More training
      opportunities, flexible work hours and work locations.

1655. Offer them the tools they need to complete their jobs
      successfully; ie. people, computers, programs, training.

1656. voluntary resources improvements, not total program driven
      resource management.

1657. Treat them right.

1658. Open and complete communication through all levels of
      administration.

1659. Reduce stress in the workplace - Unrealistic deadlines,
      understaffed because of retirements and freeze, able to do more
      field work with the customers. Qustion 5 - should be not
      applicatable, the program made me chose something that I did not
      want to - do you really want to know what we think?

1660. Have good coaches or mentors for new employees. Don\'t assign new
      employees to mind numbing boringly repetitive jobs for months at a
      time. Help them take ownership of agency goals and roles. Give
      them opportunities to stretch and grow by exposing them to
      different tasks. Interview them to learn their strengths and
      weaknesses and help them progress in both areas.

1661. By getting rid of the bad ones. We need to train our supervisors
      to be more critical of poor employees, document problems, and rate
      them accordingly. We have too many slackers hanging around because
      of poor supervisory documentation, thus we are unable to dismiss
      the employee. Too many times it\'s easier to rate a person
      satisfactory than to rate them unsatisfactory and have to develop
      an Improvement plan.

1662. Be honest with them about what is expected and where they will be
      in the next year or two. We have lost too many good young
      employees because management has not been open and honest with
      them about where they will be located and by not being flexible
      when possible.

1663. Allow more field level employee input into national initiatives.

1664. clear and honestleadership. make up there mind and stick to a
      decision no more back pedaling

1665. Treat the employees as professionals. I\'ve worked in the field
      for 30 years. CSP,Equip & Protracts are all wonderful
      opportunities to get more Conservation on the ground, however, the
      way the National Leadership is pushing out inferior software
      programs, changing rules, and arbitrarily making decisions on
      deadlines & goals with out consulting your Field Professionals is
      causing the worst employee moral I have seen in my entire
      Career\...We have hired some of the smartest & talented young
      people as Soil Conservationists the last few years and I hear them
      all saying they don\'t want to be District Conservationists
      (DC\'s) because they see how

1666. promote based on competence only and not ethnicity, racial or
      gender bias

1667. be open to their suggestions and requests, especially for things
      such as training.

1668. Satisfying job experience.

1669. Don\'t move them like pawns on a chess board and better pay.

1670. Listen to their concerns and give honest answers.

1671. Let us get out in the field more.

1672. Award employees who are doing an outstanding job and deal with
      employees who are not doing their jobs.

1673. We need to try to keep such a major workload off of the field, we
      are trying to keep up with to many programs. We need to have one
      program that encompasses everything with the same specificationsn
      not several programs with different specifications.

1674. I think good employees do work for NRCS. I do not think you can
      keep people from retiring when they are eligable to do so. New
      blood may not be bad, I am impressed by our new employees.

1675. By giving an indication that employee input is considered for work
      goals. Right now there is a feeling that the work goals are only
      coming from the top down without consideration for what is

1676. Keep employees informed about the programs, provide training on
      the programs, give employees a reasonable lead time to get things
      done to meet program requirements, let your good employees do
      their job and support them - rather than threaten them with losing
      their jobs or jail time - mistakes do happen especially when
      employees are not given the proper information in a timely manner
      and deadlines are unreasonable in relationship to the amount of
      work that needs to be done for a particular program or project.

1677. Be honest about moving to get promotions, time expected for a
      promotion and employee benifits for new employees.

1678. Provide a work environment that is less stressful to employees at
      all levels of the agency.

1679. Provide the training we need and request to do our jobs
      effectively. Keep open communication between the field staff and
      the state and national offices.

1680. Hire secretaries and administrative assistants to do the simple
      and repetitive data inputting tasks that field personnel are
      burdened with.

1681. Acknowledge excellent performance of actual job duties, rather
      than focussing on extra-curricular duties, such as Civil rights,
      EEO.

1682. Promotions and better pay

1683. Competitive pay and benefits

1684. treat them well/good pay

1685. Positive input from supervisers

1686. promotional potential and career advancement

1687. promote a flexible and fair work environment

1688. Interact with and rely on young employees when developing training
      plans and goals. This will only encourage them to take an active
      role in their becoming a better employee.

1689. Give them the information needed to implement programs before the
      program becomes a reality. We also need training in the tools we
      are expected to use. The tools need to be perfected before we are
      to use them. In answer to question 5 above, I feel that many times
      the promotions of supervisors are often not relate to either
      technical or managerial abilities.

1690. Keep the job hours flexible, and don\'t require employees to move
      for the sake of moving. Help people find their niche. Don\'t
      expect that everyone is wanting to be a state conservationist!

1691. Support on being flexible in allowing an employee to balance
      family and career.

1692. Make more training available in technical areas where the employee
      desires to grow and expand their competency. Provide more time to
      interact with other employees in areas or disciplines which the
      employee wishes to develop skills.

1693. Ensure employees are receiving their required training. Provide a
      reasonable

1694. It depends on the employee. Some want a good salary. Some want

1695. to provide adequate training and having a good support system from
      the supervisory level down

1696. Promotion if they want it.

1697. Most of the folks I know of who have left in the past were being
      tranferred to another work location. This was a major
      inconvenience because the spouse might have settled into a good
      job and not want to move. Also, some where asked to move away from
      the area where they grew up, but they wanted to stay close to
      family, or wanted to work on the family farm, etc. If NRCS could
      find ways to be flexible and creative when it comes to assigning
      work locations, these folks might stay.

1698. To recognize them for the great works they are doing.

1699. treat them well!!!

1700. Make people more accountable for obtaining the knowledge and skill
      to do their jobs.

1701. Recognize and reward those that are doing a good job. Stop
      promoting and giving preference to those that screw up.

1702. Let us do field work instead of setting in front of computers
      entering data.

1703. Promote based on abilities. Also, provide enough staff to do job
      at a quality level. CSP has greatly increased workload here but
      staffing has not increased proportionally.

1704. reduce workload by hiring new personnel. Get more input from field
      level employees and then listen to what they are saying

1705. financial incentives, reduction in paperwork, re-focus from
      program driven operations

1706. Increase local authority-trust them to do the right thing, reduce
      paperwork, reduce stress, adequate staffing levels.

1707. Don\'t make promises that you can\'t keep. Keep the workload
      interesting, but make sure employees understand that there is
      continual paperwork even with the paperwork reduction act. A
      change in type of work is happening based on each farmbill and we
      need to stay positive, which I think we do a very good job with.

1708. Programs such as CSP should be simplified. Programs need to be
      announced timely with enough time to process applications

1709. good pay for people in the field not just the state office

1710. Be fair with pay,realize that other people work hard besides state
      office people and dc\'s.Quit choosing just their buddies for
      promotion.

1711. The agency needs to realize the tremendous workload that is placed
      on field staffs with short deadlines and somehow change this way
      of doing business. Employees that thought they would be

1712. More pay and more personal recogbition.

1713. BE up font and honest about needs and proposals.

1714. Incentivize working for the agency. Pay is not as much of an
      issue, but provide fringe benefits such as child care and flexible
      schedules. Also, develop clear-cut lists of what is expected for
      different positions so that the training needs are very clear for
      different positions.

1715. Not transferring to other areas for more experience. Maybe
      detailing them to another city rather than move them.

1716. INTERESTING WORK , FAIR PAY , OPP. TO ADVANCE

1717. Be honest with them and follow through with what may discussed as
      future plans for the employee in the time frame discussed. Give
      the employees some flexibilty when assigning them to new
      positions.

1718. Provide career ladder for all positions.

1719. Treat them with dignity, conduct business with the highest
      integrity, and give them meaningful work to do

1720. Do not detail employees to do work beyond a reasonable driving
      distance from their duty station. Extremely long commutes or stays
      in hotels may be difficult for employees with families or who have
      other responsibilities.

1721. Maximize the ability to develop and deliver products utilizing
      computer technology.

1722. opportunity and increwase pay

1723. Allow the people in the field to actually help those cooperators
      who come in for assistance. Quit making the process so huige and
      cumbersome that we can not work through the paper work, and we end
      up portraying the image of an agency that is so bogged down in our
      own paper work that we are useless. Many landowners like to make
      decisions and act on them, they have no time to wait while we
      screw around with computer programs and other bureaucracy.

1724. Give them good resources and support to get the job done.

1725. pay and freedom to take on/explore new challenges

1726. Have better leadership that looks out for their employees instead
      of their next promotion.

1727. A vision of future opportunities and promotions.

1728. salary compensation level

1729. Pay, Benefits, upward mobility, opportunities to work outside with
      the landowner.

1730. Training, honest open communication, giving meaningful task that
      show accomplishments

1731. Good pay and benefits. Telecomute

1732. Good training, Meaniful work, adequate pay

1733. Keeping them in a job they enjoy and feel rewarded for what they
      are doing.

1734. We need more staff now\...you are working us to death, we can\'t
      do our job now without cutting corners to get all the work done. I
      don\'t like working that way.

1735. Challenge their skills, not their patience.

1736. Allow NRCS employees to make more decisions at the F.O. level if
      they are in line with national objectives. Promote individuals on
      merit and technical skills.

1737. By not having budget problems, even with our current shrinking
      workforce.

1738. eliminate poor employees or at least demote them instead of simply
      reassigning them, what horrible leadership this implys

1739. Work to eliminate the negative attitudes of older workers

1740. create a employee plan\...concrete plan for the first 3-years of
      employeement\...has to be something with bang - bang
      accomplishments\...new employees\...y generation kids\...not into
      waiting\...want progress\...now

1741. Raise pay to match private sector and don\'t force employees to
      move or go on long details away from their home.

1742. I consider myself overworked, doing more with less, there where
      three employees in the office, now one with more work, so we need
      more people in the field

1743. Reward work when it merits it. Provide training. Cut red tape and
      allow employees to do the job trained to do.

1744. making it more worth while to move for the job, and make
      recognition and awards based on work performance and not on things
      that the empoloyee can not do within the work enviorment.

1745. Management needs to appreciate the work being done with actions
      not just words. Trust the employees and if mistrust is warranted,
      deal with the problem and not punish the whole team. Compensate
      good work.

1746. Training and mentors

1747. Proper recognition for good work. Remove penalties placed upon all
      workers for the misconduct of a few.

1748. You are not going to keep them they are all going to retire.

1749. Recognize and reward them for their efforts, without giving the
      same rewards and recognition to those employees that simply do
      their jobs with no extra effort.

1750. The pay scale and holidays

1751. Better pay. Our salary does not reflect the difficulty and
      complexity of our jobs. Recognize employees for performance and
      accomplishments, not for their ability to suck up to a supervisor.
      Implement EEO policy on a level playing field, don\'t use EEO to
      promote/hire minorities simply because they fit a catagory. Show
      appreciation for an employee\'s length of service, the agency does
      an extremely poor job of recognizing an employee\'s length of
      service, a certificate and a pin presented 8 to 10 months after
      the anniversary is inadequate.

1752. Investment in human capital through in-service training, student
      loan foreberance, and health benefits

1753. Provide a work environment that allows personnel to provide direct
      assistance to land owners and to experience the satisfaction that
      comes with that experience.

1754. More bottom-up development of tools and technical helps.

1755. Provide a work environment in which technical people can be
      technical and are not subject to political pressures of higher
      management and are not required to do inane computer work.

1756. By NRCS having a Fair pay system, challenging yet not overly
      burdensome workload, recognition/reward system that works well,
      and seeing that troublesome employees are dealt with and not
      ignored.

1757. Provide career ladders, challenging work, and enough resources to
      be successful.

1758. Recognize outstanding work efforts

1759. Treat everyone fairly. Minorities are favored over better
      qualified non-minorities.

1760. Recognize and reward a job well done; do not allow managers to
      allow their personal feelings to get in the way of how they treat
      their subordinates; stop promoting incompetent and problem
      managers. It takes special gifts to be a manager. Moving someone
      to a new post of duty will not suddenly imbue in that person what
      it takes to be a good manager. Managers are important because they
      are the role models for the rest of us. A rotten apple as a role
      model just creates a lot of little rotten apples who might someday
      become managers.

1761. Reward ability, stop filling sexist and racist quotas, keep people
      doing what they are good at.

1762. Have clear management goals and proper pay.

1763. Let them be more technical and less program driven!!!!

1764. Provide them with pay equal to the private sector.

1765. Recognition for good work

1766. Higher gradeing of the positions.

1767. Recognize and reward talents and abilities

1768. Acknowledge good performance and be fair, but firm about poor
      performance. Let employees know what will happen next\... in terms
      of training, job opportunities, job expectations. (we hate to be
      kept in the dark.)

1769. Better management at the state and national levels. Managers are
      perceived as

1770. Challenging interesting work, supportative workplace, competitive
      pay, & retirement.

1771. Create a list of people interested in going on details along with
      their expertise and provide the list to managers.

1772. Proper recognition of accomplishments.

1773. Ensure that people are not overloaded with misinformation and keep
      their skill levels at levels in which they can easily perform
      their jobs.

1774. Allow them to grow into new positions at their pace. I have seen
      too many advanced too quickly while others were held back. You end
      up losing good employees both ways.

1775. Provide enough employees necessary to get the job done in a timely
      fashion. Provide more reasonable (expanded) timelines- especially
      for CSP. There is a lot of work out there, but due to crunch
      timelines the quality of work may suffer.

1776. Give them the right tools to do the job. Stand behind their
      efforts.

1777. training

1778. Make more opportunities available and establish mentoring
      programs. Also not necesarrily having the technical/administrative
      expertise come from the National Headquarters. Field experience
      should be a prequisite to work in the national headquarters.

1779. Good communication and proper training

1780. Manageable workload, timely training, good benefits package, pay
      commismerate with workload, recognition for work performance at a
      superior or above level, good supervisors

1781. Promotions and benefits. Benefits are extremely important as
      retirement gets closer.

1782. good working environment/less micro-managing

1783. Focus on the mission of the Agency.

1784. Allow them to add meaningful input into their tasks or duties Let
      them make use of new ideas and technology as it relates to their
      fields

1785. The work itself must be interesting and satisfying.

1786. Provide an individual the opportunity to excell in his/her area of
      expertise.

1787. Better & more truthful performance appraisal. Let employees do
      performance appraisal on employees working under them.

1788. improve pay

1789. Provide good, solid instructions for new programs and
      knowledgeable people who can provide guidance.

1790. Provide opportunities for advancement and formal training to
      improve skills need for exisiting and new tasks.

1791. Don\'t overload/overwhelm them with more than is humanly possible
      to do and do well. (On a different note, mobility often seems to
      be an issue with newer employees.)

1792. Opportunity to progress to higher grades and more responsiblity.

1793. The agency needs to support technical competency if the agency is
      to continue as a technicasl service agency. This would give
      employees something to work for.

1794. Keep benefits such as low cost health insurance and good
      retirement plans.

1795. A good challenge

1796. Give them awards and promote them. Having supervisors who are
      interested in the employee and supervisor knowing how to be a good
      supervisor instead of putting a supervisor in a position they are
      not qualified to handle.

1797. Go back to making the priority of the agency to put conservation
      on the ground that is friendly to farmers and stop wasteful
      paperwork.

1798. Have clearly defined and attainable goals.

1799. This is no big secret. You must pay well, offer good benefits, a
      challanging job and do it all in a POSITIVE, HELPFUL environment.
      With all these piece together, it becomes

1800. Place them in positions they are qualified to perform not just in
      a position to help some busy field office, give them tasks that
      fit their abilities.

1801. The state level managers need to be more straightforward with
      employees so there is less

1802. Treat them fairly. Recognize and reward. Respect their knowledge
      and opinions. Support, support support!

1803. Provided flexiable work schedules, and work location for employes
      with more women with children enyering the workforce it is
      important to find jobs that can be done form altrnate worksites.
      Remove barriers that restricts creativity. Understand that hiring
      and mobility are different for females and minorities than for
      other segement of the workforce. Increase reasonable accomdations
      for people with disabilities.

1804. Good working environment.

1805. Flexible work schedules, more family friendly environment.

1806. Having a fair and unbiased hiring, advancement, and recognition
      process.

1807. Solid technical training and letting non technical dead wieght go.
      To many typical govt employees doing nothing and getting paid for
      it

1808. HELP THEM EXCEL IN THEIR WORK BY TRAINING. TOO MANY OF US ARE
      OVERWORKED DOING 2 TO 3 PEOPLES JOBS AND NOT ENOUGH TIME TO DO AS
      GOOD A JOB AS WE OUGHT TO DUE TO NOT ENOUGH WORKERS

1809. Higher grades for the ones that do ALL the work. Don\'t just stop
      a secretary/program assistant at 6-7. They do more than they
      should

1810. Give employees a since of accomplishment and a way to better
      themselves technically and monitarily

1811. increased salaries to align with private sector jobs

1812. Competitive Pay to the Private Sector. Adjust pay scales so that
      special salary tables are not surpassed by general schedule pay
      tables.

1813. make the qualifications to promote someone not as specialized -
      some of it should be based on what they already know by working a
      job similar. Also, not advertising a job someone already has just
      because it is a grade increase - they deserve the job and should
      not have to compete.

1814. develop a highly skilled employee through quality training and a
      meaningful employee development plan.

1815. Give credit where credit is due, recognize and reward employees
      for successful and hard work.

1816. Respect and recognition for work performed above their job
      description.

1817. Provide training instead of fast paced

1818. Keep them challenged and provide adequate compensation for job
      performance.

1819. More autonomy at the local level

1820. Let them know they are.

1821. training, recognition and rewards, promotions based on technical
      competence rather than time in grade

1822. Good training, good reconition, keep up with other agencies in pay

1823. FAIR PAY, TRAINING AND REWARDING PROJECTS

1824. Reward them when they perform above their job requirements.

1825. Teach them what it means to be a conservationist and how to
      transfer that information and service to the public. Then reward
      them on their demonstrated proficiency and effectiveness. The
      agency must insist on competence in technical abilities first,
      then train on managerial requirements. Recognition and promotion
      must be based on demonstrated ability and accomplishment and not
      on gender, race, color or some other factor that has nothing to do
      with a measure of quality service and accomplishment.

1826. Recognize and promote the high achievers.

1827. recognition and attending meeting involving out-of-agency peers

1828. This agency appears to be outsourcing its technical expertise. A
      lot of engineers are leaving because they do not feel they can
      advance, particularly at the state level. Other government
      agencies promote engineers to a GS-13. We cap our engineers at an
      11 position with very few GS-12 positions available within each
      state, and only 1 GS-13 position in each state. As a GS-12 I would
      like to advacne to a GS-13. I am not even considered for a
      managerial position because of the fact that I am an engineer.

1829. Fair and Equitable Treatment

1830. Having managers that have good people skills and who know how to
      treat employees fairly.

1831. listen to what employees have to say when discussing new
      ideas,problem solving, etc.

1832. pay them better

1833. For myself and others with families it is fully allowing the
      flexibility within the maxi-flex work schedules. Not all states in
      NRCS do that and it creates some severe problems if you have
      school age children. Having worked in a state that allowed you to
      work a full maxi-flex schedule and then going to one that did not
      it has created problems in our family and that puts you in a
      position of having to chose family vs. job unnecessarily.

1834. Proper recognition and pay.

1835. The best way for our agency to retain good employees is to pay
      them according to the pay comparability act which was to bring
      federal employees more in line with comparable positions in the
      private sector. Our employees also need to feel a sense of
      accomplishment at the end of the day in what they did to protect
      our resources not how much money they obligated that day.

1836. Encouragement, insentive things for them, training opportunity for
      a higher level of goal, continue career goals to be an asset for
      the company as well for them (security)

1837. Provide good, consistent and fair promotion opportunity and
      encourage job development through continued training.

1838. Employees today are frustrated because of constant changes in
      programs and tools that don\'t work properly. They loose
      creditability with the public. We need to correct things that are
      not right but sometimes we don\'t see the benefit of change. We
      also need to pay people their worth in their current positions.

1839. Encouraging good employees to become decision makers and giving
      them the confidence and authority to make those decisions.

1840. Hire more people to alleviate the workload on those that are
      overworked. This will cut down on employee burnout.

1841. Salary comparable with private sector

1842. Give them job satisfaction along with the necessary training along
      with job pay.

1843. Less politics in and outside of the agency. Pay for the work done.

1844. Input into decisions (as practicle), feedback (positive and areas
      needing improvement) and training that allows for career
      advancement while benefiting the agency.

1845. Create a clear vision and direction of the future.

1846. listening and following through of their needs

1847. Increased pay and a better reward system.

1848. Continual training and development. Provide growth opportunities.
      Include them in design of products and services that they will
      impliment. Prioritize organization objectives. Provide advancement
      opportunities. Reward based on performance.

1849. Acknowledge them, not just with rewards, but with words.

1850. Promote the best from within. Start recuriting the best college
      students while they are in college.

1851. To improve communication from the national office and don\'t have
      so many changes in programs/guidance. Change is inevitable, but
      NRCS has had to much over the last three years and employees are
      being effected mentally and physically.

1852. Provide employee with a flexible work environment; and let the
      employee figure out the best way to get the job done w/o breaking
      any rules (

1853. Keep them satified in their job and allow them opportunity to
      grow.

1854. Go back to concentrating on actual conservation on the ground
      instead of on Washington generated administrative programs.

1855. Increase staff so employees don\'t feel so overworked.

1856. I think the best way to keep good employees working for NRCS is to
      praise them, point out their achievements and give constructive
      criticism when necessary. Also by creating a comfortable
      environment to which they want to come to work and be involved in.
      Setting goals and following through with things also helps to make
      employees feel secure in their work.

1857. Make sure the empoyee understands his/her role as it relates to
      the overall mission, strategy, and accomplishments.

1858. work at home option\--not just whitewash- insist managers allow

1859. Activities that provide for boosting morale along with training
      (teamwork activities that are educational and fun).

1860. Challenge them with meaningful work and recognize those who truly
      deserve it.

1861. Not overloading them with other job responsibilities because
      staffing is to low. i.e. Doing contracting, leasing, grants &
      agreements, and procurement all at the same time because you are
      short two employees.

1862. Leadership that leads, inspires. Promote a return of direct
      contact instead of talking to a computer.

1863. Incentives, good managers, and recognition

1864. Remove the barriers. Have software that works easily for the user.

1865. Most employees want some type of recognition and be sincerely told
      they are doing a good job. They also want to have career
      advancement opportunities. Many simply would like to know more of
      what and why decisions are made (be in the know) rather than to be
      looked at as simply someone to get the work done.

1866. Allow people to do the job they were hired to do. Don\'t turn
      technical people into bureaucrats.

1867. I don\'t know. My job is made for telecommuting but the agency is
      far too rigid to ever let that happen.

1868. Compensate them with adequate pay and good benefits

1869. more promotions

1870. Benefits

1871. Allow individuals with special interests and apptitudes to
      specialize within field office and area office environments
      utilizing more of a team approach than jack of all trades.

1872. Incentive pay to reward extra effort may help combat the trend of
      most of the work being done by only a few employees; while the
      rest just sit around.

1873. Provide training, advancement opportunties, and understand
      circumstances that limit mobility

1874. Allow them or make them stay in position to take care of their
      mistakes and learn from them. Most move to quickly due to lack of
      experience or they have screwed up. If you really want to have
      folks take ownership, give them the athority to make decisions and
      provide them with a salary that is appropriate. Stop requiring an
      employee to do extra and not reimburse him/her for their efforts.
      Pay is the most important part of retaining an employee an then
      make them accountable. But don\'t make them accountable and not
      pay them appropriately.

1875. Recognition of extra effort in the face of ever more demanding
      program requirements.

1876. Show more appreciation for a job well done - awards, time off,
      etc. The employee that excells is not treated any different than
      the average employee. There is no incentive to do better.

1877. Quit bashing federal employees, increase the public recognition of
      the positive benefits of federal employees, and pay federal
      employees a wage that is comparable to the private sector. Stop
      trying to move our jobs to the private sector, all that does is
      drop morale to very low levels.

1878. Have more permanent positions

1879. By allowing them to do their job without being over burdened by
      bureaucracy.

1880. Get them out in the field instead of behind a computer

1881. Reward them for the hard work that is put into making sure we
      accomplish the mission of NRCS, and provide technical & managerial
      training for the jobs that we do and therefore we would be better
      prepared for the unforseen situations. For those new employees
      consider higher starting salaries to entice individuals to leave
      home and work for us.

1882. Let good employees at field levels who are experts in their field
      make on site decisions instead of having to follow strict
      guidelines created from higher levels who are not experts in that
      field. It is difficult for good employees to be content with their
      jobs when they are not allowed to perform their work the way they
      know it should be done.

1883. Recognize extra effort. Management should be supportive and let
      employees feel they can depend on them.

1884. Get them some help, trained employees.

1885. Better pay.

1886. Reward the good employees. Presently, awards are rotated to all
      employees, even the ones who do not perform their duties.

1887. reduce bureaucracy

1888. Software should be throughtly tested and proven prior to
      implementation.

1889. From my point of view, D.C.s who have been around for 15 years are
      good influences on new employees. D.C.s who have been around for
      25+ years have lost their desire to change with the times. They
      are good conservationists but they are so grumpy that a new person
      can\'t learn much from them. Don\'t assign new Soil Cons to old
      D.C.s.

1890. Give them a clear and exciting career path.

1891. Keep or make wages competive with the private sector.

1892. Let them know their workload is understood and appraciated by
      higher levels of management. Appears to be lip service now.

1893. More flexibility in job.

1894. Cut down the paperwork and computer work.

1895. cut back on the amount of red tape

1896. Upgrade tools, i.e. computer programs, to be competitive with
      private industry.

1897. The pay needs to keep up with cost of living and the private
      sector. Keep morale up by getting employees input and act on
      input. Replace employees that retire or reorganize so existing
      employees don\'t have to pick up all the slack.

1898. Give them good training and give them the responsibility to make
      decisions.

1899. acomplishing programs

1900. Give Field employees enough training, follow-up small group
      training and/or one on one support for new software, new policies,
      and procedures to keep field employees from getting bogged down in
      procedures so the field work can stay more efficient. Also don\'t
      overload field employees with reports and procedures that can be
      done at an area or state level so employees can focus more on
      customer service, planning, and application.

1901. Job satisfaction and support.

1902. acknowledgement that all NRCS programs and people responsible for
      those programs are equally important

1903. Promote emplyoees within their State instead of hiring outside the
      State. There are people who would like to stay close to their
      families.

1904. Better handling of personnel problems involving district
      employees. DC\'s are responsible for the office and it\'s
      reputation but have no control over district employees that cause
      problems.

1905. We are over-managed and underled. If you would develop leaders and
      not \'numbers managers\' we would retain more good people.

1906. Promote them equally and fairly. Stand behind them when they make
      decisions.

1907. I see no problems.

1908. Good Pay Moral suport

1909. Awarding good people

1910. Cut the red tape field level employees are faced with.

1911. Give more pay to match the outsied workforcs

1912. promoting a teamwork atmosphere, where skills are shared.

1913. HAVE PROGRAMS FOR OUR COMPUTERS THAT ARE EASIER TO RUN AND REDUCE
      THE PAPER WORK FROM STATE AND NATIONAL OFFICE. APPARENTLY OUR JOB
      NOW IS TO WORK ON THE COMPUTER AND FORGET OUR CLIENTS.

1914. Recognize the work is accomplished in the field.

1915. A worthwhile mission and the means / assistance to accomplish the
      mission.

1916. We have excellent field employees that are sitting behind a desk
      because of ArcGIS, Protracts, PRS, WebTCAS, and numerous other
      things that have to be documented. The life blood of this agency
      is our technical assistance abilities in the field. New employees
      are not gaining this knowledge and it will be lost soon because of
      the number of technically sound people that will be retiring.
      Employees need to know that they are valued. Presently, in our
      area, only the employees that have free time to be specialists in
      certain areas are being recognized consistently. Employees with
      the most work load and accomplishments in the field are rarely
      recognized. This sends the wrong message. Another problem is
      inequality of pay. Some DC\'s in KY are rated as GS-12\'s. Some of
      the 12\'s even have a one county work unit. This seems very unfair
      to DC\'s that have two or three counties and they are still
      GS-11\'s. For example, there are GS 12 DC\'s who work in one
      county, deal with no multi-county computer problems, do not deal
      with two conservation districts, and have low PRS goals. This
      situation is very unfair to the GS-11 employee that has two
      counties and a high workload. STRESS is another key that needs to
      be addressed. Management needs to look for ways to make the DC\'s
      job less stressful. He is responsible to the taxpayer, the local
      boards, and to management. He takes all applications, ranks them,
      develops the conservation plan in Toolkit ArcGIS, contracts the
      items, designs all the items in most cases, oversees installation
      of these items to NRCS standards and specifications, reviews
      bills, completes Protracts documentation, meets with landowner to
      review payment, then approves payment. It seems that some of the
      process could be streamlined to help these individuals.

1917. I think that in some situations we lose or dont\'t have the
      opportunity to employee the most qualified people due to the
      mobility requirements. Relocation can be an unnecessary expense to
      the agency and ultimately the taxpayer.

1918. Revise GS grade structure in a way that is fair to nonmanagement
      employees.

1919. Give promotions and merit based on skills and abilities, not
      ethnic origin or gender.

1920. Make sure each individual has a career track to promotion

1921. Pleasant working relationships with supervisor and coworkers.

1922. Have people in the managerial postions be qualified to do their
      jobs. When a person calls and ask a manager a program question and
      they don\'t know, you lose confidence in that person.

1923. improve morale

1924. Give them more input on decisons that management makes.

1925. a competent chain of command

1926. Increase Pay

1927. Increase the level of pay

1928. Treat everyone fairly, give them the tools they need to do the job
      such as training, equipment. Don\'t micro-manage employees.

1929. Recognize good work performance, maintain competitive pay and
      benefits, reduce government

1930. training tools needed to complete job comparitable pay with
      private sector

1931. Teach them to listen, learn then lead and appreciate and recognize
      them for their accomplishments.

1932. Give credit for where credit is do and not brown nose or promote
      because the employee has messed up so bad the agency has to get
      them out of the current position they are in. Get rid of the
      problem and the agency would have good employees.

1933. Fair treatment in awards, opportunities, and vacancies.

1934. Agency organization and decision making should be a top priority.
      Many times the moral is affected when last minute decisions are
      made on programs and policy. There has been some dissorganization
      from management on workload objectives and there seems to be no
      communication to the field were the work is actually completed.
      This has hurt the credibility of the agency with some program
      participants

1935. Lighten the stress load and increase the duties of field work,
      (the main reason we went to work for NRCS in the first place),
      don\'t

1936. benfits and wages

1937. Agency support in work provided in the field offices. Salaries
      competitive with private industry salary.

1938. Better pay. More opportunities to move up.

1939. Training, having enough employees to get the job done with as
      little stress as possible.

1940. Good communications and strong working relationship with
      management

1941. Recognize the abilities of those employees with good work ethic,
      knowledge and skills to lead others within our agency. When staff
      feel that their leadership is competent and have confidence in
      their ability, then moral is high and job satisfaction is high. We
      also need to continue to increase our staffing to prepare for the
      workload ahead of us. Too many DC\'s complain that they are slaves
      to the computer as much as a help as the tool is. They simply are
      losing the one to one connection with the landuser that we once
      had.

1942. Clear mission and straight forward programs.

1943. recognition and promotion

1944. Utilize student loan pay-off program more while providing
      application specific training on a regular rotating basis

1945. The government pay scale should be in line with the private
      sector.

1946. Promote and reward employees based on performance and not sex,
      race, favoritism, etc.

1947. Adequate staffing per field office

1948. Don\'t overload them a multitude of tasks. Allow them to perform
      the job the were hired to do.

1949. Less workload or more help

1950. More support for technical people in the field.

1951. DO NOT FORCE THEM TO RELOCATE WITHOUT THEIR INPUT!

1952. Be honest. You cannot have State Leadership employees lie to
      employees, as that is what has been happening in Indiana. It
      doesn\'t matter how good you can perform a job or skill, what is
      important is who you know and are friends with. Many District
      supervisors have no interest in the NRCS program because of the
      filthy way in which many friends of State Office employees are
      promoted.

1953. Quit keeping those who can not do the work.

1954. Quit moving them around. Give them training. Quit hiring people of
      the street at higher grades, when existing employees can be
      promoted within NRCS.

1955. Keep the positions what we signed on for\... ie not having
      conservationist doing adminstrative, payment processing jobs.

1956. No comment.

1957. New employees need a greater voice when being required to change
      field offices and move.

1958. Offer pay that is equal to the private sector and provide more
      health insurance benifits (dental,vision)

1959. Good pay and benefits.

1960. On the job training with a trained employee in a job with
      promotion potential with adequate pay.

1961. allow them to do the job they are supposed to do and define their
      career path through a clear system of personal development plan.

1962. I believe our agency is suffering from

1963. Acknowledge their good work and give them the needed support.

1964. Recognize employees who have performed above their level of duty
      for a given year.

1965. To show them that they are appreciated and to give them grade
      level increases based on their work performance.

1966. Being honest and respectful. Training people for the job they are
      expected to complete.

1967. Benefit or reward those that work while getting rid of those that
      don\'t. Even though this is not possible rewarding the ones that
      deserve it instead of everyone would be a good start.

1968. Good management with a balanced pay schedule and promotional
      opportunities

1969. By giving them encouragement for doing an outstanding job such as
      positive feed back.

1970. Streamline the farm bill programs in order to get conservation
      practices implemented on the ground in a more timely fashion. Stop
      shoving premature computer software down our throats before all of
      the bugs are worked out of them. Ease up on the need to spend so
      much time on reporting what our time is being spent on, because a
      significant amount of our time is being spent fighting the
      computer programs being used to report what we arespending our
      time on.

1971. Treat them with respect for the person and recognition of his/her
      abilities. Allow for greater flexibility in setting local
      priorities.

1972. Getting rid of the Pass/Fail Performance Appraisal, is a great
      start. Make sure superior work performance is recognized. (awards
      ect.)

1973. Improve comunication between the ranks from top to bottom.

1974. The success of NRCS relies heavily on the accomplishments of field
      level staff. Currently the field staff throughout my state have
      very low morale and under alot of stress. We must lift the burden
      off the field staff imposed on them by state level leadership and
      staff. We must continue to reassess workload burden reduction that
      unneccessarily trickles down to the field level.

1975. praise them. people get discouraged when they go above and beyond
      their positions and it is not recognized. in crease saleries to be
      more in line with private sector

1976. Employee Development, Job Advancement, and value in the work place

1977. Offer easier advancement for good work.

1978. Fair treatment across the series.

1979. Help to manage workload by increasing staffing levels, or increase
      individual compensation;

1980. Keep us in the field and not paper pushers.

1981. Let them do the conservation that they are tasked to perform.

1982. Dont change the way we do things in the middle of the process.
      Changes that need to be made start at the beginning of the yr.

1983. provide opportunities for advancement and have a pay scale on par
      with the private sector

1984. By not forcing employees to be relocated to an undesireable duty
      station. Some people have family at their duty locations. Job
      security should also include the fact that you might like to live
      where you work and do not want the expectation that you will be
      forced to move. Some people may take a job with the NRCS because
      this allows them to stay near family.

1985. Provide adequate support to field offices.

1986. Don\'t load the worlds problems on us and then yell at us for
      forgetting one detail out of the thousand we are supposed to
      remember. Promotions on time when deserved, and managers that want
      to manage PEOPLE would help.

1987. Give them good training when they hire in not 1 year later.

1988. Better Management, ones that understand what they are telling us.

1989. More promotions based on accomplishments.

1990. Provide opportunities for career development without requiring
      individuals to move all the time when it adversely effects
      personal situations. Allow employees opporunties for advancement
      in locations where they would be comfortable.

1991. Keep them happy

1992. Promote them.

1993. Provide extra staff assistance when needed to cope with high USDA
      Program workload. Authorize use of comp time when credit leave
      maximum is exceeded. In high workload field offices, allow time
      for use of excess annual leave balances.

1994. Give them challenges and goals and then give them a method by
      which to obtain and meet those.

1995. More awards based on merit, meaning output and workload. Not just
      one satisfied customer calling the state office.

1996. Reduce the red tape and bureaucracy so employees can deal more
      effectively with customers. There is too much computer data entry
      required which leaves very little time to actually interact with
      the customer or look at the land.

1997. Treat everybody the same

1998. Provide good managerial and leadership. Too many people in this
      positions have no idea of how to manage and leadership can not
      manage to give enough lead time to complete requests.

1999. Acknowledge their efforts through promotions, certifications,etc.
      and keep a balance and check system on managerial levels.

2000. Stop moving them around so much. Ensure that there Supervisors
      will support them under all circumstances.

2001. Perhaps higher pay scale for good people in early stages of
      employment

2002. Accept experience as a way to reach career goal or different
      series instead of all education.

2003. Flixiable work schedules and when applicable to work out of home.

2004. Praise or reward for a job well done. Provide basis for decisions
      made.

2005. Make the work interesting and do away with some of the ploitical
      infighting between different states, regions and occupations.

2006. Unfortunatley NRCS Michigan\'s philosophy is to move people around
      the state from time to time. I have personally seen good
      candidates for jobs, or good employees walk away because of this
      policy. I personally feel that I do a great job at work, and my
      performance appraisals and extra achievement awards will show
      this. Even though I love working for the NRCS, I too will probably
      be in the private sector within two years because of this policy.
      Not only does it drive some people away, but it is probably the
      most complained issue here in the office that I work.

2007. Stop the constant change. Stop the political bullshit such as
      competitive sourcing studies, A&E contracting, TSP\'s that wastes
      staff time that could have been better used planning and
      implementing conservation practices. Stop assigning state
      conservation engineer\'s time on stupid assignments such as acting
      state soil scientist. Stop wasting engineering staff time on more
      efficiency studies. Put more staff in the field and area offices
      (engineers, CETs, SCTs) to boost in-house engineering capacity in
      addition to handling all the contracting work dumped onto the
      field offices. With farmbill program specialists at the state
      office, a whole new IRM computer czar division, a whole NADS
      division for appeal, a whole bunch of agencies (GAO, FSA, etc.)
      watching every step we take, it appears to me that USDA has gotten
      top heavy at the expense of the field staff who are the backbone
      of the NRCS and the whose production of conservation aplied is the
      only reason all the other folks above have a job. I have been an
      engineer with NRCS for about 22 years. My job satisfaction has
      decreased significantly over recent years because of the
      increasing amount of bullshit that seems to go with my job.

2008. Allowing the individual to make career choices for themselves
      rather than being forced to move locations for the sake of
      experience. Each individual should be evaluated on there own merit
      and skills rather than be made to fit an existing system that does
      not acknowledge the diversity of the employees, such as skill
      level and personal goals and objectives. People who feel like they
      have control of their career and are given the opportunity to live
      and work in their preferred communities are happy productive
      employees, who develop loyalty to the agency. Acknowledgement of
      superior skill and competency also keeps employees.

2009. Keeping employees happy; assisting employees with attaining career
      goals, developing individuals interests, keeping or changing job
      location.

2010. Stop shuffling young employees through offices and moving them
      around so much. Many of these employeees would like the
      opportunity to build up their skills and remain in the locations
      they chose to work from the start.

2011. Inform them of what the position will entail. If we are moving
      more toward contract managers I see us recruiting less. We are
      conservation planners. We need to provide them the opportunity to
      be planners. Good employees \-\-- improve the administrative
      departments \-\-- more helpful to employees \-\-- seems like they
      are not serving there clients that well. Need to really focus on
      what we want out of an employee and be honest to them about what
      they will be doing. Do not RUSH training. Build the skills. Train
      and let them learn on the job rather that rush into knowing
      everything right away.

2012. good pay and benefits, easing up on the paper and computer work

2013. make the computer systems and paperwork less complicated

2014. Training and promotions

2015. Increase advancement opportunities

2016. Quit the facade like question 5. Many promotions are based on race
      and gender to meet unwritten

2017. Flexible relocation opportunites, good training programs and
      hiring employees at the highest grade level possible.

2018. reward accomplishments

2019. Put emphasis on developing managerial and leadership skills of
      current and potential managers and leaders. Some of the
      frustration of employees is from the way management deals with
      employees.

2020. Meaning full work. More independance for talented employees.

2021. Add additional staff. Overloaded employees have a high stress
      factor and low job satisfaction.

2022. Respect

2023. Having a workload that is manageable and defined, that a quality
      job can be completed instead of quantity and getting it done the
      best way it can be done to reach goals. Giving a sense of being
      able to do a good job without a lot of frustration. Also, having
      the right tools accessible without searching for them.

2024. Give them proper compensation to match what they would be
      compensated working outside of NRCS

2025. improve working conditions so that employees have the tools,
      equipment, software and training. People based workplace
      enhancements, noise control erognomic equipment. communications.

2026. Keeping the employees happy

2027. Have managers that will deal with personnel problems. You need
      people in the management team to actually

2028. Recognition of good work

2029. Rewards or opportunity to diversify

2030. Providing training and rewarding accomplishments

2031. Be fair and transparent.

2032. provide appropriate training for all employees

2033. Nice work that\'s not excessively reliant on paperwork.

2034. Avoid top-down, one-size-fits-all, do it now types of directives.
      Let them have some sense of control over their work (or help them
      feel that way). Appreciate them. Have supervisors and managers
      treat employees the way they would like to be treated. Keep the
      politics out of the jobs.

2035. Job satisfation and enjoy the work.

2036. Recognize hard work with awards.

2037. Recognize and support their efforts. Recognize that they will make
      mistakes if they are getting things done.

2038. Recognize an employee\'s performance and effort to do their job
      well and conscientiously. Flex time is also appreciated and much
      needed in today\'s busy society.

2039. Supervisors working with & supporting their employees regarding
      job advancement opportunities.

2040. Being encouraging to all employees not just favored employees.
      Allowing them to participate in decision making and allowing them
      the training that is needed.

2041. Providing training, high quality work experience, recognotion and
      a work load that is managable

2042. Clear agency objectives and to stay focused on why the agency
      exists in the first place. Conservation Planning. Many other
      agencies can administer a program and make payments. Ours needs to
      try and maintain our technical expertise. I fear were losing it to
      program rules and contracting.

2043. Wage increases.

2044. Training

2045. Have them share their short and long term career goals and then
      visit with them to help them understand how to achieve them.

2046. Work around family lives.

2047. Be sure that promotions are based merit and not other less
      performance based criteria.

2048. Salaries and benefits are good enough to keep employee\'s working.
      Exceptional employee\'s should be rewarded by promotions.

2049. Maintain or improve employee benefits. Don\'t allow an erosion of
      our retirment system or health care benefits!

2050. Have more merit recognition and Grade increases on a more timely
      schedule

2051. Don\'t keep forcing the world\'s best technically trained
      workforce to become contract and computer specialists. Consider
      hiring new employees with contract training instead of natural
      resource management.

2052. Them enjoying their job.

2053. Train and empower

2054. Better pay and benefits!

2055. Offer reward/recongnition for actual work accomplished.

2056. Spot awards

2057. Better starting wages

2058. I can only suggest what can be done at the field level. Try to
      limit the tedious administrative tasks that eat up time but,
      result in very little gain or production. This give employees no
      sense of accomplishment. Give new employees real expectations of
      the job. In the past, NRCS was strictly a technical agency. With
      the 2002 Farm Bill, and the funding it provided, contract
      management duties have increased dramatically. Let new employees
      know that contract administration will be big part of their job. I
      have seen young employees disillusioned by the expectation that
      will be a

2059. enhance job satisfaction, promote professional discretional
      abilities, support for field office activities

2060. Maintaining the current pay scales and promoting individuals in a
      fair manner based on technical abilities and managerial abilities.

2061. You can\'t do it. It is the lower pay and the general lethargy of
      working for the government. By it\'s nature it is political and is
      a slow moving beast. The \'go-getters\' as I\'ll call them
      couldn\'t stand to work in such a system. Hence we get technically
      competent individuals who can put up with such an environment.

2062. Re-focus the agency on working in the field with customers.
      Technology has gotten in the way of

2063. Start giving some consideration for the work beople are being
      asked to perform today. We are being asked to perform far too many
      things and are unable to give the time to projects or customers
      and as a result quality and service are suffering. We need to cut
      and streamline our work items and get back to helping people with
      land issues and get us off so much computer managment. Some
      additional staff to assist would help.

2064. Simplify the programs

2065. Overall, I am happy with my job. I am 28 years old and already a
      GS-12, so I am basically here to stay because I like most aspects
      of my job and have a wealth of other positions to move on to if I
      get bored with this one. With NRCS, I feel as the sky is the
      limit. I am not sure you can do much more for a person like me.
      Often, I feel as if NRCS has done far more than deserved already.

2066. Selecting intermittents to become full-time employees.

2067. Allow the people who are doing the field work the time to do that
      type of work and stop

2068. get back to providing technical assistance to farmers and ranchers
      instead of managing contracts and money with computer programs

2069. Better Pay and enough people to do the job so emplyees don\'t burn
      out.

2070. solving issues with common sense instead of red tape barriers

2071. Get us back in the field anf off of the computer

2072. Get rid of the employees with poor performance. Reduce
      computer/clerical workload to allow for more field time.

2073. jOB SATISFACTION

2074. Reduce the stress. The agency has many people that are under a lot
      of stress to meet deadlines.

2075. redefine the mission and purpose of the agancy, quit trying to be
      like FSA, and a new chief who understands what we really are.

2076. don\'t burn them out!!!

2077. Pay them wages earned by private industry.

2078. NRCS needs to recognize that the best product we have is putting
      conservation on the land, not creation of paper and confusion with
      computer systems. The employees that put

2079. Simply and streamline program requirements. Allow NRCS employees
      to focus on Conservation of working land, while limiting the
      amount of meaningless papers to get the job done.

2080. Not overworking them. We need more help out in the field office
      level!

2081. Hire enough staff to support the hard work the good employees do.

2082. Field staff desperately need the feeling of accomplishment through
      the successful service they provide for the customer and the
      appreciation that customer expresses afterwards. The service is
      far more important than the

2083. Provide more opportunities for advancement

2084. More formal training

2085. Work performance recognition

2086. Keep morale and self-worth levels high.

2087. flexible schedules, training

2088. In field offices the DC and Technician should be at same level.
      Having one supervisor supervising one employee just so the
      supervisor can recieve higher pay doesn\'t make sense, especially
      since they are in different series.

2089. I consider myself a good employee, I\'m in the field, and have
      contact with dozens of clients and internal customers. There is
      intense workload pressure, a huge variety of circumstances and
      personalities, and complex programs and situations. Sometimes my
      technical decisions are questioned, and sometimes people complain
      about me. I never feel supported by the agency. Any time there\'s
      a question about anything I\'ve been involved in, the agency comes
      down against me. This is not the way to retain good employees. The
      employee should always get the benefit of the doubt, and for me,
      that is never the case.

2090. Making more permanent positions available. I have already seen a
      lot of good employees leave due to intermittent hours because
      reduced or eliminated. These people will then take the skills they
      honed while working for NRCS and make a permanent career in the
      private sector.

2091. Reward the good employees by repremanding the bad ones.

2092. Be honest,share information

2093. Keep them happy by rewarding them and not just rewarding
      everybody.

2094. To hire good qualified people that want to work with the agency.

2095. Hire them when we have them. We lost 3 good people here because of
      a temporary bad budget in 2006. Look at intermitents as a source
      of good trained employees.

2096. Competitive Pay Increases

2097. Getting them a mentor when they first come on board. Make sure
      they have supervisors who like to be good supervisors.

2098. Reduce the bureacratic paper work.

2099. Be honest with them and appreciate them with an award if
      warranted.

2100. Support the Field!!

2101. For future reference, don\'t abandon the current grade/step system
      for either merit pay or pay banding. There is no system that could
      accurately monitor individual raises to insure fairness
      agency-wide, let alone government-wide.

2102. Increase Soil Conservationist Technician pay. They are the
      backbone of this agency.

2103. good service, good use of tax money, etc.

2104. Keep the on going training for programs etc, and keep salaries
      competitive with other same type of jobs.

2105. Get back to working w/ landowners on the land, not sitting behind
      a computer or buried in paperwork in the office.

2106. I think young employees need to be given more opportunities to
      advance academically while working full time

2107. fully employed , but not overworked to the point of frazzled

2108. Provide additional staff to the field offices to relieve the
      stress of workload as a result of the Farm Bill Programs.

2109. Make sure supervisers care and are concerned about the people they
      supervise.

2110. provide them with support from management

2111. effective teamwork and positive communication

2112. The biggest issue for me is location. I drive 1hr&1/2 past 2 field
      office with in my MLRA to my soils office. I have a family and
      small children, since I am a GS 11 working on MLRA wide update
      projects, not sure why I can\'t be allowed to work at a field
      office. So I see it as a issue that NRCS needs to be more flexable
      in work locations for soil scientist since they product driven not
      service. I think the NRCs employees caught right behind the baby
      boomers are not happy. For so long there was no potential for
      moving up a grade. It took me 17 years to get an 11 and I moved
      every 3 years. Current soil scientist get an 11 in 5-7 years with
      out moving. As the group following the baby get to ther mid 40
      familys are at an age where they don\'t want to move, so
      flexabilty in location is key. Dual income families requires more
      flexability. I THINK EVERYONE IS GETTING SO FOCUS ON KEEPING THE
      NEW HIRE THEY ARE FORGETTING ABOUT US THE ARE HALF WAY THROUGH ARE
      CAREER.

2113. STOP changing the computer software every year, by the time
      employees become comfortable with it you change it!

2114. Provide varying experiences, and offer opportunities to those
      individuals who choose to expand their horizons.

2115. Let them explore and encorporate new technologies and ways of
      doing things.

2116. Provide a support system and reasonable guidance on new
      technology. DO NOT over-stretch workload!!

2117. Recognize jobs well done; positive reinforcement

2118. Listen to them. If you are going to accomodate some you should try
      to do that for all. It\'s too bad that employees with 10+ years
      are tossed out because they won\'t transfer but they are willing
      to take a decrease in pay to switch over to different positions
      that they are over qualified for!

2119. Listen to field employees, many good interns have been let go
      against recomendations from field supervisor.

2120. Better use of award system, reward those willing to take on extra
      duties. Stop promoting people who screw up.

2121. Better coordination of bringing new systems and programs and the
      training (including OJT time provided for review) to use them. Far
      too often, we get the training, and little of it, that is not
      coodinated with the release/time of use of the object of the
      training. By the time we can actually make use of the training, it
      has been too long a time since we recieved the training. Or worse
      yet, we have to use try and learn the new system/program prior to
      receiving much more than a few minimal emails on use of because
      the training hasn\'t even been developed yet.

2122. Give them an

2123. Place an adequate amount of personnel in the field offices to deal
      with the HUGE workload. People are at

2124. Address the real world activities and not what someone thinks or
      the books says is going on.

2125. Promote employees for their competence and capabilities, not for
      what position they are already in, or where they are already
      located, or what ethinic or military preferences they have. Award
      for work well done.

2126. Stop changing everything. We seem to go around in circles when we
      make a change and everyone gets accustom to a new proceedure but
      then someone, somewhere determines the new system isn\'t working
      and they come up with a

2127. Pay your technical staff more. Soil Conservation Technicians in
      many states do the work of Engineers and recieve the pay of
      secretaries.

2128. training and higher pay

2129. Promote people who do a good job, not people who have problems in
      the work place. In addition, do not make us move around so much

2130. Treat them fairly and honestly. Discipline those that need it.

2131. Pay, benefits, purpose.

2132. Create a work environment attractive to the employee with
      supporting financial incentives.

2133. keep programs as simple and unbureacratic as possible

2134. Respect their opinions, help them to feel successful, work to
      decrease the annoyances, like ineffective programs, be sure to
      tell them THANK YOU!

2135. Improve benefits, performance stabilization.

2136. Take into consideration that NRCS employees have spouses with
      career and life goals. NRCS leadership has the attitude that
      employees can freely move around. This may have been the case 40
      years ago when most wives stayed at home. My wife gave up a dream
      job because my position was

2137. Keep employees happy!

2138. Less paper work and more in the field work.

2139. To continue to follow and embrace trends in technology to keep up
      with the private sector. Private sector jobs will not look any
      more attractive to employees if the way we do our work is similar.

2140. Eliminate excessive paperwork and eliminate protracts, eqip,csp
      and go back to the effect ACP programs with the COC handling the
      \$

2141. Quit changing programs and the way that we deliver them to the
      field. Constant change is not good. Hard to be consistent in
      delivery and build good relations with customers

2142. Recognition

2143. Provide sufficient training and experience to new employees to
      prepare them for leadership positions and utilize their
      adaptability for and ability to handle change.

2144. Eliminate the mobility policy.

2145. Recognition of performance and getting rid of those that are just
      milking the system.

2146. Provide pay incentive comparable to private sector. Advanced
      technical training

2147. Good pay/the job is very satisfying.

2148. Don\'t change program details to make them look bad in the
      public\'s eyes.

2149. Stop promoting people that can\'t do the job in the field to the
      state level or higher grades. Reward the people that are doing
      there job but don\'t like to blow there own horn like a lot of
      people in this agency.

2150. Show more respect for the job & decesions that they are doing in
      the field along with fair monitary reward for the job.

2151. Promote good employees rather than good personalities

2152. Rate and pay the employees on the work they do; experience and
      quality of work they perform; reduse the B.S. in

2153. get rid of the bad employees who make it harder for the good ones.
      Bad employees either don\'t do their job or don\'t do it correctly
      so the good employees have to work harder and have more headaches
      trying to get things done. Also, don\'t recognize the bad
      employees for just doing one thing good. Recognition should be
      only for those doing a complete job. Sometimes a bad employee gets
      an award for just being part of a good thing when they really
      didn\'t do anything.

2154. Promote and make starting grade sufficient to their abilities. A
      lot of education is great but you must beable to do the job not
      just on paper on the job skills is very important.

2155. stop the intimedation and truely mean thank you good job

2156. At the local level, looking at the amount and accuracy of the work
      and rewarding for that.

2157. Quit making us drive PO. vehiches 50-60 miles,get GO. vehicle
      ,drive same route back to where started to within 4 miles of job
      site.

2158. Managers and supervisors need to have ability to identify
      strengths of their current employees and encourage them to seek
      promotion and do things necessary to get a promotion (such as
      further education).

2159. Good Management

2160. Remove Indiana\'s management team. Replace with individuals not
      into playing games.

2161. Recognize and reward those with consistent high quality
      performance,AND be sure to intervene and reprimand those who
      consistently perform poorly, ignore regulations. The work of good
      employees is often undermined by that of poor employees causing
      much frustration.

2162. make programs easy to administer and less complicated

2163. Pay them more!

2164. Recognize and reward the folks who are doing a good job without
      regard to gender

2165. Adequate training so that we are confident in our positions

2166. A satisfying job that accomplishments can be seen through the
      planning process to application.

2167. Offer movement within the agency

2168. Putting them in the right positions for their skill level and
      making sure they are satisfied in the postion they are in. Also,
      pay scale.

2169. Assign new employees with a mentor that has a positive attitude
      and a respectable career with our agency. Trust me, this makes a
      big difference.

2170. Reward the employees that deserve it. Weed out the ones that
      don\'t so the good employees don\'t have to deal with the
      distraction of working with non-quality personell. Keep pay scales
      more equal to the private industry for similar products produced.

2171. Recognize the work they do in a formal way.

2172. Focus on conservation not programs. Programs have eaten the heart
      out of the agency!!

2173. Giving them opportunities to learn and advance

2174. Good pay and promotions

2175. Reduce the last minute stress. When we-need-it-yesterday becomes
      the normal way of business, retirement becomes very attractive.

2176. Increase the number of employees working for NRCS. Most everyone I
      know at every level is covered up, under stress & burning out. We
      need more people to accomplish the work.

2177. Provide help to the local field office. Our budget is supported by
      the work that local field offices do. More and More workload is
      put on them without help or assistance. Their workload items never
      go down. If the goals are so important it should be a go to
      support them with actual bodies to get that work done.

2178. Allow our conservationists to be conservationists instead of doing
      clerical and payment clerk work

2179. Training opportunites, less paper work and Protracts so that
      application of conservation work can be completed. Hire clerks and
      data input persons and allow planners more time on the land.
      Don\'t allow mangement to practice management systems every 3
      years, ex. creating super distict conservationist and promoting
      them to GS 12 and then abolishing the system leaving those DC\'s
      as 12\'s and putting the other DC\'s back in there repective
      positions as GS 11\'s, that is not very rewarding.

2180. Trust employees.Improve managers skills and the amount of time
      with employees.have not

2181. Provide training for the position they are currently doing and
      mentor them to get to the next level.

2182. Recognition and promotion.

2183. The encouragement of promotion opportunities.

2184. Recognize good employees through promotions, bonuses, etc\...

2185. mitigate burnout factors

2186. Reward the achievers and motivate the under-acheivers.

2187. continuous training opportunities and skill diversity development.

2188. Better Training, Expecting the same standards from employees,
      higher pay,

2189. Good pay and give responsibility

2190. Recognize and promote employees for their efforts and acheivements
      not because of gender, race or friendships with supervisors. Steer
      away from military type managment. Intimidating and arogant
      managers scare employees away. Need more positive and humble
      managers. Employees feel we are always walking on eggshells and
      afraid to make decisions.

2191. Promote the employees who do a good job instead of the ones who
      the agency just needs to get out of their current position.

2192. Reconition when a good job is being done not just when things are
      going bad.

2193. Stop overloading current employees! Hire on enough competent staff
      to be able to fully meet agency goals! Get rid of incompetent
      employees that drag down the rest!

2194. offer competitive wages

2195. Rewarding experience and hard work with merit based awards.

2196. Allow them to keep focus on agency mission instead of degrading it
      to politics.

2197. Establish better consistency in quality and expectations
      throughout the state, commensurate with those of other states.
      Praise ambition and hard work, don\'t let negative attitudes
      pervade. Don\'t encourage and reward the constant belly aching of
      the malcontents.

2198. Keep practical workload on employees and recognize them when they
      do well.

2199. provide the equipment needed to do the job and expectations need
      to be reasonable and consistent

2200. God communications and accomplishment recognition

2201. Adequate salary with periodical pay increases

2202. Reward the ones who do a good job and terminate the ones who
      don\'t.

2203. Maintain the technical aspect of the job.

2204. 1st; Let us get

2205. Pay on a parity with the private sector. Recognition and/or
      monetary reward for merit achievements. Willingness to work with
      employees on family considerations when deciding geographic
      assignments for additional training or promotion.

2206. Understanding conflicts between personal life and work and working
      to make them compatible.

2207. Provide a way to advance in thier career with NRCS as their years
      increase with the agency.

2208. Work with there needs. I know that we need to put our resources
      where they are needed, but we should work with the employee to
      find out what is most suitable for them.

2209. Foster a feeling of accomplishment. Provide training to ensure
      that employees feel competent. Be sensitive to employees family
      econimics. Many if not most have spouses that work or other family
      circumstances which limit their mobility. Directed reassignments
      should need to be absolutely necessary to accomplishing the NRCS
      mission before considered by leadership.

2210. Consistent program direction from management, rather than

2211. Comparable salary with private sector.

2212. Empowering employees or asking for feedback or input about some
      key decisions impacting work processes of field employees for
      example new software releases

2213. Provide good direction and keep the salaries, benefits
      competitive.

2214. The feeling that what we do is important and valued.

2215. Make sure there is a functioning career ladder in place. This
      would ensure that people don\'t get stuck in lower rung jobs with
      no openings for advancement, as this is what is happening in our
      state.

2216. Re-evaluate jobs that were created to serve programs

2217. Limit changes in how we do business & in tools used to do our
      jobs. Limit multitasking demands to the extent possible. These
      actions will enable employees to be more consistently productive.

2218. Distribute the workload and the pay in the field offices. Some DCs
      have a very easy workload/diversity and some are buried. I have
      little incentive to stay in my very busy field office with
      multiple and diverse counties at a GS-11 when neighboring DCs are
      GS-12 with far less to do in more urban counties. If the
      antiquated GS-11/12 DC system isn\'t remedied, the exodus will
      continue to

2219. Make them feel like they are important.

2220. Encourage employees to work in areas where their strengths &
      interests are strong. Get rid of employees that cannot perform
      their jobs competently. This was one of the largest problems
      identified with TQM training, impacting morale.

2221. Give them up to date technology and training. It can be
      frustrating when we are using out dated technology or are not
      trained properly for the task at hand.

2222. Keep salary and benefits competitive with private sector.

2223. flexability of hours and decent pay

2224. Higher pay

2225. meaningful work (that what keeps me interested)

2226. Higher pay, better insurance benefits, more training.

2227. Hiring good employees to start with.

2228. By giving them everything the need to to the job asked, before the
      the deadline is set.

2229. Recognize the people that know what they are doing, young or old.
      When I started my knowledge and skills were higher than most but I
      started at the lowest level when other with less experience was
      started at a higher level.

2230. Starting pay must be increased

2231. Recognition by either pay or some sort of award.

2232. Hire the right ones to start with and provide them with production
      based incentive rewards.

2233. more recognition for a job well done; better pay scale; more
      opportunities for career development

2234. keep us happy

2235. promote employees by work performance not years of service

2236. Provide proper training and equipment to complete their jobs.
      Promote employees based on merit.

2237. good pay & good benifits,

2238. I suggest the agency look more at the clients they are servicing
      and hire a reflective workforce. \>80% of our producers are in
      production agriculture. I believe our workforce should have \>80%
      of our employees with either a background of production
      agriculture or have a variant of a production agriculture degree.
      A degree in wildlife does NOT constitute knowledge of production
      agriculture.

2239. quit promoting people with no technical skills to supervise people
      who are better qualified for the position,

2240. Fair treatment.

2241. Swifter action to identify and terminate employment of people that
      do not perform to satisfaction. It is a huge disservice to the
      agency, the public and the offending person to keep them employed
      when perfomance is poor.

2242. Provide adequate training so employees can develop the skills
      needed to do the job we have to do.

2243. Money and realistic time frames for program deadlines!

2244. Employees in the field offices are under alot of stress due to
      program deadlines and computer requirements. We need more
      assistance in the field offices to get the work done and to manage
      the workload. I am in a med to high workload county and I am the
      only NRCS person.

2245. Merit through work performance.

2246. When asking for suggestions listen and then implement or show the
      employees that you are willing to change things that are not
      working. Give raises when they are due.

2247. keep a strong mix of field/technical work with other job duties.
      provide a culture of quality customer service by supporting field
      office staff with assistance with clerical level duties
      (conservation districts, nrcs staff) so the DC can focus on
      technical services and outreach instead of contracting and
      payments.

2248. Continue to provide flexibility on how we work with our clients.
      (CTA General needs to be the largest budget item) Our hands are
      getting pretty tied with programs in the last few years, and the
      paperwork that goes with them is horrible. Also, it\'s pretty
      discouraging when we get told in

2249. Do away with a 6 week Bootcamp that scares away new employees!

2250. Make training on an as needed basis as determined by the
      supervisor and employee. Bootcamp for example is not for every
      employee- some have lots of experience and training already.

2251. Keep the flexible work schedule.

2252. The stress level of my position is very high. There needs to be
      the feeling that you can accomplish your job goals and that you
      are reasonably supported by management (State and National levels)
      with the resources that you need to accomplish your assigned work.

2253. A continually challenging work environment that does not encumber
      the employee with too much repititous computer entry and paperwork
      requirements.

2254. All the little things. People are easily fooled. Example: If we
      are requiring steel toe boots on a job provide employee annual
      funding for them.

2255. Promotion potential.

2256. Do not place a high priority on mobility of employees.

2257. Increase pay scale, recognition program, continued training

2258. Reward and recognition based on merit

2259. 1\. Equitable pay to the market place. 2. Truly promoting and
      awarding the best instead of those who are politicaly correct.

2260. Competative pay and clear expectations.

2261. I think that a way to keep good employees working for NRCS is to
      encourage employees to be more family oriented.

2262. Moving less and allowing grade increases to be given on competency
      not on time.

2263. Make them each feel valued and have meaningful input in decisions.

2264. Pay people for what they are doing, not the education that they
      have recieved. Remove people that are not doing the job that they
      are suppose to and get rid of supervisors that are in over their
      head.

2265. Give them locally led projects that highlight personal
      accomplishments.

2266. Less computer work more field work

2267. Cut out the

2268. Reward the employees for what they accoplish rather than by how
      much time you have in the agency.

2269. Provide the training needed to be confident and competant in their
      position.

2270. They need to hire good competent employees with descent work
      ethics

2271. Adequate pay at the level that they want to be at.

2272. Recognize people for the good everyday items they complete. When a
      new program becomes available, field office staff should have all
      available rules BEFORE announcement is made to the public. The
      slowness of available rules makes the field office staff look
      unprepared to the public and that intern lowers moral.

2273. If NRCS would like to keep their own people moving up the ranks we
      need a spouse job assistant program.

2274. Recognize their good work and support them when needed.

2275. Recognition for doing a good job.

2276. increase pay levels of technicians. these are the people that are
      likely to stay in a county and provide continuity to a working
      office as DC and SC\'S are forced to transfer to gain job
      experiance. Techs, at their low pay scales can be easily lured
      away from their positions by more profitable jobs in private
      industry

2277. People that work in the field office level already have a passion
      for the job they do. To keep good employees working for NRCS is if
      the above higher levels can get along better might be one
      suggestion. Do to the disagreements on the higher levels it has
      hurt our respect from clientele and discourages employees that
      then there is the loss of passion means loss of an employee. The
      disagreeing at higher levels puts field office into crunch
      situations which seems unnessary which causes frustrations. So, if
      we can minimize frustrations and increase on a job well done keeps
      our passion alive at field office level.

2278. Provide compensation comensurate with private sector and allow
      them to make decisions about upward mobility instead of forcing
      those that are doing a good job where they are at and enjoy their
      current job to advance their career.

2279. Promotions based on technical merit and managerial merit without
      having to move from office to ofice to get it.

2280. Listening to their concerns, ideas, and helping them to feel a
      part of the bigger picture instead of a voice that doesn\'t get
      heard

2281. promote people based on abilities, not sex or race, when a black
      State con. tells a black AC. to put a woman in a position and make
      it work it isn\'t fair to the rest of us who have to cover for
      them

2282. Keeping morale high via awarding employees for good work, verbally
      and/or through awards; promoting good employees to postitions that
      best fit their strenghts.

2283. You need to make sure that the good employees are rewarded, not
      everyone. Only the best should be rewarded.

2284. Simplify the bureaucracy to allow more employees to actually work
      with clients instead of so many in middle management positions.

2285. adequate compensation for current work description. For example,
      Soil Conservation Technicians now spend half their time doing
      conservation planning and half technical, yet their position
      discription and GS level reflect a solely technical position. The
      position discription and gs level of the Soil Conservation
      Technician needs to be redefined.

2286. Promote and recognize employee\'s accomplishments, credit is taken
      by supervisors, not the individuals who are doing the work.

2287. Recruit employees within the state they live in.

2288. Providing fair and equitable opportunities; create support system;

2289. Recognition and upward movement.

2290. create an atmostphere that is postive, visionary, and have leaders
      who are competent.

2291. Supervisors should give them more respect.

2292. better managers, fairness and appreciation of work done.

2293. Give them lots of money as reimbursement for their time spent on
      the job. Most people don\'t like to work without proper
      compensation.

2294. To make them feel like they are making a difference on saving soil
      on the land while being able to work with people out in the field
      also.

2295. Deal with the problem employees in a meaningful way, don\'t just
      slide them under the rug. Also, determine a way where pay is tied
      to performanace, right now there is no incentive to go the extra
      mile when the pay is the same for everyone.

2296. Recognize them for the good work they do.

2297. Provide satisfying work and reward outstanding performance

2298. pay them more

2299. Keep training up to date

2300. make the pay fair between supervisors and lower employees

2301. Good office staff and great leadership

2302. Continue to provide opportunities for professional development

2303. Pay federal employees what they could get paid in the private
      sector. Reward employees for their hard work and accomplishments.
      Don\'t reward someone just because

2304. Make them feel appreciated.

2305. Treat all employees the same. Each level of employees seem to look
      down on the classes below them and do not give any credibility to
      different job classifications than there own. We are currently
      operating in a caste system.

2306. I would say pay is a big issue. We need to keep up with the
      private work place. Keeping them involved with different aspects
      of the agency.

2307. Reduce amount of computer time required of employees. Recognition
      based on amount of conservation applied to the land

2308. Reduce the amount of top down management.

2309. quit promoting people for doing

2310. Make performance reviews actually mean something. Currently, they
      neither serve as a review of positive or negative performance, nor
      are they taken seriously. They provide no feedback and even the
      most problematic employees are given

2311. Keep the work interesting.

2312. Raise the pay to compete with private industry. People with the
      same 4 year degree seem to be making more than me. Keep hiring
      kids with a farming background. All to often I see the agency
      hiring minorites and women who have no idea about important
      concepts that we work with everyday in our agency like no-till.

2313. Flexible work schedules. Stick with both kinds of people if they
      are good: those who want to move up and those who are satisfied
      with where they are at. Good support: managerial, IT, training,
      etc.

2314. Reward them for the job done. The current system only encourages
      mediocracy. Employees can only advance if they change jobs, rather
      than be promoted where they are. Certain people cannot advance
      unless they change careers while they perform the same duties as
      those paid more than them\...sometimes they do them better.

2315. Good pay

2316. Working with them and being flexible to their goals.

2317. Promotion to next grade is sometimes delayed for reasons other
      than work performance. Also some new employees are started at GS-2
      or GS-3 level. Their abitities are much above this level of pay.

2318. I think that if an employee is highly qualified and well liked
      within the agency that it should not be a requirement to keep
      moving around the state to gain promotions.

2319. advancing from nonprofessional position to professional position
      with years of experience

2320. be more flexible

2321. The primary way to keep employees working for the agency is to let
      them make the decision on where they want to work and do not force
      them to move. We lose to many employees because they are forced to
      take a different job. The moral would be better if this was not
      the chase.

2322. Increase the pay to compete with the private sector.

2323. Provide more help. We have to much to do with to little help. We
      get new programs or job assignments and no technical assistance to
      go with the program. And we are expected to keep up with all of
      our other work load. We are doing more with fewer people and can
      not keep up. For this reason people are retiring earlier and good
      young employees are going to different jobs that pay more for the
      work they are doing.

2324. You will retain good employees through compensation that is
      equivalent to their skills in the private sector and by making
      sure people are hired and promoted based on merit and skills, not
      based on race, etc. I personally know several very high quality
      individuals who are looking at the private sector for a new job
      because they were passed over on a promotion due to a position
      being filled by a below average individual.

2325. Benefits, job-training opportunities, A Supervisor û who is
      enjoyable to work for, and receiving recognition for doing a good
      job in job for promoting ôhelping people help the land.ö

2326. Giving them time to enjoy their successes and not passing them off
      to someone else when they ask a question.

2327. Allow for lateral transfer within the same grade if selected for
      one position to go to another one.

2328. Reward merit.

2329. Have more efforts directed at improving employee personal lives
      which are common with private industry, ie health or wellness
      programs.

2330. Better rewards and recognition, hiring second career poeple for SC
      and SCT, better training of new programs

2331. Better support from National & State Level.

2332. More flexibility, less moving, more work from home or office close
      to desired location.

2333. Pay them a good wage for what they are doing. Keep them in the
      location that they want to work.

2334. Acknowledge that they are doing good work. Get rid of or demote
      employees who are not doing good work.

2335. A sense of accomplishment in applying conservation practices on
      the landscape.

2336. Competitive pay with private sector.

2337. Need to improve the training program. Many times the people in
      management positions are promoted to quickly and do not have
      enough time in to adequately do their job.

2338. Full-time employment

2339. Supervisors should value their opinions and regularly ask their
      opinions on various subjects. Too often employees who just cannot
      produce are left to waste our financial resources.

2340. Recognize them for doing a good job and keep pay consistent with
      private sector.

2341. Basics: increased salary Good benifits

2342. Stop our agency from becoming program driven.

2343. Too many supervisors have to sets of standards. Theirs and the
      people they surpervise. My supervisor for insatnce has a 3 day
      work week and his supervisor does not keep track or doesnt check
      up after therer has been numerous complaints from the public about
      his absents.

2344. Competitive pay and job satisfaction.

2345. award employees for getting conservation on the ground, not their
      computer skills for reporting.

2346. Leadership must keep reputation of Agency high

2347. Pay them what they are worth.

2348. Recognition of work will done, doesn\'t have to be cash awards.
      Good pay and good benifits (health insurance and leave. Good
      supervisors who reognize good work, provide leadership, positive
      instruction and are fair.

2349. There needs to be more down-grading of employees that are
      incompetent or

2350. We need to focus on employees which have a background in
      agriculture. Many excellent individuals with agricultural
      backgrounds are not given a chance to work due to a percentage of
      men/women/minority status. I do not disagree with a diverse
      workforce but when we have top notch applicants and cannot hire
      due to diversity, we loose potential high end employees.

2351. Equal work, equal pay more leadership development more leadership
      opportunities for women

2352. Help employees reach their individual goals within the agency.

2353. letting them transfer into open positions and not forcing them to
      move to move up the pay scale

2354. Keep the paperwork to a minimum

2355. Positive Reinforcement

2356. Put them in offices that will train them and let them make
      decisions to demonstrate their abilities to work with people. Give
      them responsibilities and challange them for thier ideas. Expose
      them to new technolgy and ask them to help train and explain newer
      computer programs and field technology.

2357. By keeping the technical services provided to our customers as our
      main goal.

2358. Support employees by having better managers

2359. Good benefits, good pay, quit overcomplicating and changing the
      programs USDA offers.

2360. not forcing them to move if they prefer not to

2361. Reward and promote based on merit. Take action against problem
      employees.

2362. By knowing our mission and remaining focused on it.

2363. Salary

2364. Do not force employees to move around, by keeping them in one
      location, they can learn how things work and become very efficient
      in complete work at hand. By moving them, they are forced to learn
      a whole new environment, new tasks, and efficiency is lost. The
      other co-workers in an office with a new employee in it also are
      stressed with an increase in work load because this new person
      that they recieve every year does not know how things are run in
      that office, so they cannot perform the tasks that are needed!
      Also I feel that employees that work for NRCS for a number of
      years should be able to step up in pay based on their work load,
      their knowledge and abilities to complete those jobs. Pay should
      not be based on the title of their position, but should take into
      consideration the number of years they have been an employee with
      NRCS!

2365. Continue recuiting at the college level for student trainees and
      student career interns.

2366. Equal opportunity for advancement. Open lines of communication.
      Continue to develop leadership skills.

2367. Let Iowa technicians get to GS-8 like other states. My office lost
      2 good female technicians: 1 to US Postal Service and 1 to private
      industry because the pay is too low.

2368. A better awards program to reward the good work that we do.

2369. Pay and in-the-field work.

2370. Promoting within the state and area they originated if they wanted
      to move back.

2371. Keep them happy.

2372. Good pay helps put up with all the government change and
      paperwork, but trusting the local field offices would help ease
      tension.

2373. Benefits - especially high salaries\....

2374. Useful on the job training, competitive salaries, recognition for
      a job well done, continued oportunities for advancement.

2375. There needs to be an open ended pay scale, I reached the top of my
      pay scale 10 years ago, with 16 years before retirement,cost of
      living increases do not keep up with inflation!

2376. Salaries that provide for a comfortable lifestyle. Freedom and
      encouragement to achieve their conservation work goals. Doing away
      with agency

2377. Allow more interdisciplinary work and on-the-job training
      opportunities. As a specialist my career track is limited, which I
      can live with, but I would like more opportunities to learn and
      contribute in my current position. But there seems to be
      barriers\-- if it is not your defined job, you are not allowed or
      encouraged to participate. Yet there are so many skills people
      have that can be applied to a variety of tasks. We do not take an
      interdisciplinary team approach to a lot of work, especially
      lately with Farm Bill programs. This leaves staff whose primary
      work has dimished in importance with little to do and other staff
      officially charged with today\'s priority tasks with too much to
      do. Peopel can get marginalized very easily, especially if they
      are not mobile. Just because you don\'t want to leave your current
      job does not mean you don\'t want to contribute or keep learning.

2378. I feel that the pay scale should more closley follow the private
      sector. I feel that NRCS wages are somewhat lower than the private
      sector.

2379. Begin by hiring only good employees. When NRCS published a tillage
      handbook for new employees, we have proven that we cannot provide
      a quality product for our producers and we then begin to lose
      their respect.

2380. by hiring local persons knowlegable in the field of agriculture
      that know the local rural culture and understand the diverse
      economic and social differences in our clientele

2381. Keep us satisfied with our work. Quit piling more and more on us
      without giving us additional staff for new programs. We have had
      the same staff size for quit a few years (before 2002 farm bill),
      however funding for conservation programs fiscal assistance has
      tripled or more.

2382. Treat them decent and stick up for them.

2383. Recognize the job they do.

2384. Have a quality HR department. I and some of my peers left a state
      due to HR issues. She would not cooperate with or compromise with
      employees.

2385. Identify realistic goals for production. Reward when goals are met
      and exceeded.

2386. Have good wages and Benefits

2387. Continue to offer a competitive pay scale. Continue to offer
      formal and informal training of all kinds. Continue to offer
      several choices of good insurance, with the possibility of the
      employee paying less for their part of the premium.

2388. Give employees with technicial experiance and leadership ability
      currently working for NRCS the first chance to apply for openings.
      Even at grade 7 and below.

2389. timely promotions (with top pay grades for positions matching the
      expertise necessary to perform in that position).

2390. Keep pay scale\'s up & allow flexibility in jobs; whether in the
      hours worked, their training, etc.

2391. Opportunities for employment and advancement within commuting
      distance.

2392. Offer up-to-date technology and tools to do the job most
      efficiantly. Eliminate duplication and excess paperwork.

2393. offer some kind of incentive to keep employees that have a strong
      committment to our country\'s resources

2394. Recognizing the good work they do as well as keep them
      enthusiastic about working IN THE OFFICE and not being out in the
      field because sitting at a desk in front of a computer is not what
      people intended on doing when joining the agency

2395. Pay well and train well.

2396. Reward the good employees that go above and beyond, instead of the
      ones that

2397. Stability in Programs and good training.

2398. The agency as a whole needs to quit managing through intimidation.

2399. keep salaries with ranges of private sector. Let employees be
      employed near their personal preferences.

2400. reduce paperwork increase pay get rid of low producing employes

2401. Training - and positive press on individual and agency
      accomplishments

2402. By raising the ceiling on CET\'s and SCT\'s at least in Iowa. They
      could keep and get new hires.

2403. Awards based on merit, good benefits, limit moving employees
      around.

2404. Let them choose there location. Many great employees that can do
      great things for this agency take a different career because they
      don\'t like there location. If a person likes there location and
      were they live they will work harder for that area and be able to
      accomplish more. If you fill good about where you are you will
      have a better additude a work.

2405. Finding ways for employees to be promoted while limiting moves.
      Dual income families make it hard to move and maintain standard of
      living.

2406. Flexible working hours.Wages and health benefits

2407. Do not restrict innovation. More employee directed training
      choices. Reorganzie LINE-STAFF way of managment as this inhibits
      innovation, application of conservation, and reduces the approval
      of valueable and needed equipment. Stop bending the rules of favor
      of the rule breakers, i.e. the farmers, over the field staff. It
      greatly reduces moral. REDUCE PAPERWORK and report demands.
      Streamline EQIP .. it was much friendlier to farmers when FSA
      managed it. Hire GS-3\'s or TSP\'s, for example, to input computer
      data, file, organize folers, etc. for busy field offices so the
      more trained field staff can spend more time with clients.
      Followup is non-existent. Have field offices critique the Assitant
      State Conservationist in charge of field offices (Area
      Conservationists). A poor people manager can bring down moral. I
      would rather have a person who is poor, technially, than a bad
      people manager. Let each field office decide the type of
      vehicle(s) they should receive. If you look into it, some field
      offices have received full size crew cab pickups that do not have
      4-wheel drive when what they needed was a 4-wheel drive extended
      cab with a short box or longbed. Reduce the incidents of QUICK
      turn around reports. This indicates very poor upper level
      management.

2408. Support and continuous training

2409. Competative salaries, good work enviroment, training

2410. Let employyees be experts in a couple of areas and not try to make
      them experts in all areas. This keeps employees from getting
      swamped or overwelmed

2411. challenge their skills while offering pay scales in line with the
      private sector.

2412. Promote based on skills, not meeting quotas. Hire the best
      employees, not meeting quotas.

2413. Career development

2414. Monetary incentives for above average work.

2415. Hire/Promote based on merit and experience. There are a number of
      competant employees that are unable to attain a posistion because
      they do not have a degree, while at the same time there are a
      number of employees who have a degree but are not competant to do
      the job.

2416. variety of work

2417. provide competive salary and benifits

2418. Better pay, more flexibility in regard to family committments and
      tele-commuting, job-sharing, etc.

2419. Tell them their doing a good job, incentives?

2420. Reward the for the work they do.

2421. Employees do their best for the agency when they know they are
      competent to achieve what the agency\'s goals are. Good,
      consistent training needs to be given instead on relying on
      someone who picked up bits and pieces from a training session and
      is expected to pass it on. It ends up fragmented information. When
      an employee is competent to get the job done they don\'t need to
      be micromanaged. Most employees do their best when their
      supervisor acknowleges that they have confidence in their
      employee\'s skill level to get the job done.

2422. Continue to provide adequate training when requested by the
      employees.

2423. Training, mentors, positive recognition

2424. Reward excellent performance and leadership skills and not
      mediocrity. Get rid of some poor performers and coasters. Give
      raises on merit and hard work not just years served.

2425. Reward them sooner.

2426. Treating everyone equally and looking at all there qualities. Just
      because someone is reserved and not comfortable in large crowds
      doesn\'t mean they aren\'t an excellent employee\'s who love what
      they do and are great leaders. You don\'t have to be a obnoxious
      for people to notice. Every employee has a strength and that
      strength needs to be used.

2427. Bonuses for the good empoyees for their efforts beyond the
      required.

2428. Don\'t make them move so much.

2429. pay raises

2430. keeping frustrations to a minimum. Reduce short deadlines,
      software & program errors/problems, advance preparations for
      programs.

2431. Fire the bad employees. Often I see someone screw up, and they get
      promoted to another position, just to get them

2432. ???

2433. Keeping supervisors honest and ethical. This has been a problem
      where I work. Many folks have left when opportunity arrises, due
      to un ethical behavior on part of area supervisor.

2434. Be fair to ALL employees!

2435. Keeping daily work duties focused on accomplishments that
      employees can be proud of.

2436. Give good pay increases and benefits

2437. The agency needs to weed out the poor quality people when possible
      instead of passing them on and moving on up the ladder. We need to
      do a face to face interview and not just look a piece of paper
      telling what they can do and have done.

2438. Have a better performance appraisal system and more small awards.

2439. Pay them what they are worth.

2440. Listening to them & being open to new suggestions

2441. Better Management

2442. pay

2443. Treat them fairly and provide opportunities for professional and
      individual development.

2444. Incentives

2445. Provide plenty of office help.

2446. Good employees should be able to be promoted on their merits, and
      not such things as,

2447. Better Communication, better pay, better training, less red tape.

2448. STOP with all of the manditory technology
      (protract/toolkit/prs/etc) and allow time in the fields with
      landowners and/or producers putting conservation on the ground. We
      all realize a need for data entering, but that is mostly what we
      are doing. Keep bringing in new younger people, open up an
      education program that would allow for classroom visits in both
      public schools/colleges. I think NRCS is moving in the right
      direction with trying to get newer employees, but I know what
      attracted me to the agency, is not here anymore, and that is being
      able to spend the majority of the work time in the field.

2449. promoting stability, not requiring individuals to move as each
      time they do the provider/customer relationship is broken and has
      to start over with each new individual.

2450. Increase the pay! And get rid of the employees that are dead
      weight!

2451. Pay them the same that a privat sector would

2452. The ability to remove employees (without losing your own position)
      that are non performing would improve the moral of current
      employees. 2.Encourage job shadowing and details.

2453. Better benefits and allowing temporary positions to qualify for
      benefits.

2454. Have more flexible work schedules and flexible work locations.
      With the technology of today not everyone needs to sit in the same
      office - let the employees work in a location that is beneficil to
      them and the agency. This will enable employees to be with family
      which will motivate them to work harder and smarter.

2455. Make pay scale among simailar workload locations more equitable.

2456. Be flexible with two income families and allow more flexibilty for
      pay and job descriptions based on education and actual work
      preformed

2457. By hiring people that have a passion for natural resources and
      conservation

2458. Keep pay in line with private sector.

2459. Provide more and faster training so the employees can better their
      cost of living quicker.

2460. Reward good employees and make the effort to get rid of poor
      employees.

2461. Recognition and pay

2462. Give them choices and also power to make decisions. Dont make them
      move to advance.

2463. Need to reduce the burden of multiple programs. Reduce last minute
      changes or interpretations of rules and policy. Have software and
      databases ready to work before we push the programs that will use
      them. Reduce the management decisions and policy changes that
      occur during teleconferences.

2464. Pay and benefits equivalent to other organizations/businesses with
      same type of jobs.

2465. Give them resources to do their jobs in a quality manner allowing
      for good customer service

2466. I don\'t know

2467. More Pay and less moves. More training to calm down confusion.

2468. Have more career ladder positions available. Managers sometimes
      know that employee\'s are capable or may be actually doing work at
      a higher level, but do not try to help a person move up. Some just
      want to keep you below themselves and some forget that someone had
      to help them get where they are and they don\'t want to help
      anyone else!

2469. Keep the employees trained and not so overworked. Our field
      employees are stressed due to the workload and lack of help.

2470. Recognition

2471. Work environment, awarding the good work performance, better pay
      and benefits

2472. Match pay with private sector.

2473. Rewarding the employees for the great work they do, by monetary or
      promotion and show appreciation.

2474. pay them well; don\'t expect them to move around as in the past

2475. Improve our hiring strategy. Treat everyone fairly. Stop
      hiring/promoting based on filling quotas. Don\'t force employees
      to move based on some sort of re-organizational change.

2476. Provide them the lattitude to use their creativity.

2477. Keep giving them the best tools available to do their jobs. Be
      sympathetic to family commitments and allow them to take vacation
      time off. Don\'t require them to work lots of extra hours because
      that is the way SCS/NRCS has always done it.

2478. Apply rules fairly and equality. Get rid of blatant favortism.
      Limit the BS.

2479. Have good managers

2480. Reward/Promote employees based on merit.

2481. Recognize the work they do. Stop turf battles and game playing.
      Set reasonable and attainable goals in cooperation with employees
      that allow for good customer service. Hire more staff to carry the
      workload.

2482. Allow them flexibility in their approach to their jobs

2483. keep the pay competitive with private sector

2484. Salary & Benefits, Technical Reputation of Agency, walk the talk
      with \'Family Friendly\'

2485. Fair promotions, based on ability and not who you know.

2486. Recognition of accomplishments

2487. Focus on conservation: Base incentives on their true benefits, not
      on political acceptance

2488. Offer opportunities for advancement as well as rewarding
      achievements.

2489. Putting them in a good training location and paying a competive
      salary to the private sector.

2490. Establish and enforce clear, realistic standards for performance

2491. Give them good training and support.

2492. Good, adequate training (and a lot of it!) and recognition.

2493. Better pay and training. Also more opportunities to advance.

2494. training

2495. Flexible work schedule/location, along with appreciation for good
      work.

2496. I believe good employees will stay with NRCS if they are
      adequately compensated, appreciated and are surround by a majority
      of positive people.

2497. Recognize their individual skill sets, and help them find
      positions that match and allow them to go forth and do good

2498. Continue to offer competitive salaries/benefits and flexible
      schedules while and allow employees the latitude to do their jobs
      in a professional manner without being bogged down by red tape.

2499. Engineers pay needs to be competitive with the private world and
      employees on special pay scale should be eligible for locality
      benefits\...by not doing this you lower our pay even more so since
      we have to pay more to live in the area we work.

2500. Recognize the skills and abilities of experienced employees who
      are entering federal service at entry level positions and help
      them develop a career path to better utilize those skills.
      Continue to offer career development and training opportunities to
      all employees so they can grow.

2501. working better together, job satisfaction, opportunities for
      advancement (people will leave if can never move up in series).

2502. Providing consistant guidance without constant changing of the
      rules. Employee get frustrated and embarest when rules change
      after we have provided technical assistance to our clients.

2503. Recognize their accomplishments equally.

2504. teach people to respect others

2505. Continue to challenge good employees and reward them for work
      outside the norm. Maintain the flexibility to adjust work hours
      when needed in order to balance work life and family life.

2506. Place more emphasis on technical competence

2507. Offer more GS-10 or GS-11 non-supervisory positions to keep good
      employees from leaving for better paying jobs.

2508. Create an encouraging environment to retain those employed.

2509. Pay them more to start - a secretary who is doing the same exact
      duties as someone else who has been here for years, should not be
      making only 1/2 of what the long-term employee is. The long-term
      employee definitely should be making more based on years of
      service, but the difference is too vast.

2510. Make them feel appreciated. Allow them to feel that the work they
      do is important. Reward exemplary work and effort.

2511. Acknowledge excellence in work. Appreciation

2512. Pay them well. Promote them based on their performance.

2513. Fewer political appointees!

2514. When an employee is performing above average, reward that employee
      with grade increases, step increases, spot awards, etc. It is
      important to be competitive with the private sector and other
      federal and state agencies in terms of salary and monetary bonus
      programs.

2515. Increase pay for all educated people and experienced people across
      the board not for individuals with degrees who can not work
      independently even years later after their start date.

2516. All employees to do their jobs. Priorities are constantly changing
      which affects what a person does.

2517. Good benefits and flexible work schedules

2518. maintain the agency\'s technical integrity, hire emoloyees based
      on people skills and ability to do the job.

2519. More flexibility in the

2520. More authority to do assigned responsibilities.

2521. Get some diversity!

2522. Provide incentives beyond basic pay for highly skilled managers or
      those with key technical expertese as they approach and reach
      retirement age.

2523. Improve educational opportunities for advanced degrees with less
      red tape; Increase number of supervisors with good people skills
      rather than good political connections; Better State
      Conservationist and principle staff training in disability
      awareness and accomodations

2524. Developing a sense of value in assisting citizens make good
      decisions and helping them implement those decisions.

2525. Pay them well and also don\'t annoy them with retained

2526. Good pay, recognition, information to allow them to

2527. Keep employees satisfied by promoting within and allowing
      employees the choice of employment location

2528. Keep programs up to speed with the private sector, and reward
      employees with awards and adequate salary comperable to the
      private sector as well.

2529. creating a positive, work environment

2530. Continuity in the delivery of programs. Clear, concise direction
      in priorities to be addressed.

2531. Keep encouraging people to reach for the stars and give personal
      recognition.

2532. obviously benefits; maintain a sense of our core purpose, natural
      resource protection; allow employees to make decisions using
      commonsense rather than just written policy

2533. Treat them fairly and equally. Reward the best motivate the rest

2534. Job Promotion when employees are doing a good job and not
      necessarily

2535. Consider contract employees in the application process. Many
      knowledgable and hardworking temporary employees, including
      interns, are not hired on directly as I feel they should.

2536. Reward them for good work. Treat them respectfully. Reinstitute
      true maxiflex hours, and allow flexibility if it does not hurt the
      work load / responsibilities assigned to the employee, instead of
      only being flexible if it is advantageous to the agency. If the
      individual employee doesn\'t handle the flexibility well, then
      reduce that employees flexibility. It is not nessasary to make one
      size to fit all.

2537. Offer them better training and advancement opportunities. We do
      not encourage enough professional development. In fact, I think we
      discourage it. An example would be that in Illinois, we have to
      pay our own registration fees for professional meetings.

2538. Keep pay scales in line with non-government jobs.

2539. Listen to them and reward the successes. We have the worst
      management ever in the agency.

2540. Flexible locations and schedules.

2541. Recognize those workers who go beyond their duties to provide
      exceptional service. Be responsive to their needs.

2542. continue to match employee skills with job responsibilities

2543. Clear agency goals with little

2544. Recognition

2545. NRCS has always been operated more like a family business rather
      than a large corporation. In my opinion this is why so many of the
      father/son, father/daughter, brothers, etc\... work for the
      organization. To keep people interested in staying with the agency
      is treat everyone like they are important, intergral part of the
      NRCS family.

2546. Always reward people for hard work by promotion/pay increase.

2547. don\'t take away the

2548. pay them a salary and offer benefits equal to or greater than what
      they can earn on the

2549. Give the the correct resources to do their job and decrease the
      amount of time working with electronic tools. Recognize their good
      work.

2550. Having good leadership, in this area we fall way short.

2551. Increase top end pay grades for the position. Leadership the walks
      the talk.

2552. Continue to offer ways to better themselves or move up to a higher
      grade/step. I have a BA degree and am a GS5 step 2. I would like
      the oppurtunity to at least go up to a GS6 or 7.

2553. Have competitive pay compared to private companies

2554. Keep them informed and treat them fairly.

2555. Give employees opportunities for advancement and changes in work
      rountine, or growth, such as other assignments, details, etc. A
      sabbatical program sometime in an employee\'s career to learn and
      grow and replenish themselves will probably work wonders. If you
      have these programs, don\'t keep them a secret. Reduce the line
      staff component so that all employees have and know the correct
      information, e.g provide ethics training to all employees by an
      informed and trained trainer. Regarding the recruiting of
      employees for NRCS, some potential employees wonder if working for
      the federal government is the thing to do, due to their perception
      that federal employees may be cafefully monitored by Big Brother,
      in a number of ways. The recent news of how the government is
      spying and monitoring phone calls of citizens certainly adds to
      the credibility to potential employee\'s concerns. (Just telling
      it the way it is.) Finally, would you want to work for an employer
      who\'s chief executive officer appears to be killing programs
      (e.g. RC&D) and mismanaging federeal programs (e.g. federal
      disaster services for Kathrina/New Orleans). Would you want to
      work for an employer who comes close to tying the hands behind the
      employee\'s backside through policies per employee ethics \-- when
      the Chief Executive Officer gives away non-competitive, billion
      dollar contracts with little actual performance and appears to
      wink at ethics for him and his group. THINK ABOUT IT.

2556. Participating in projects that are motivating.

2557. Get rid of bad employees. Don\'t promote employees that are doing
      a bad job just to get them out of an office you don\'t want them
      in. It just puts them in a higher position, doing a bad job and
      impacting even more people negatively. Also don\'t make good
      employees move-up or change offices when they don\'t want to. If
      they are good at what they are doing and are happy with where they
      are at they are where they should be.

2558. Keep career advancement,salary, and benefits in line with the
      private industry. Reinstate the use of the MAXI-FLEX work
      schedule. That is the biggest drawing card for people to work for
      the agency. With the restrictive work schedules now in place many
      would be ahead to work the private industry. They would be able to
      make more money, have better benefits, and work the same schedule.

2559. Increase pay to compete with private, maintain technical training,
      health insurance coverage has been slipping

2560. Give them latitude to do their jobs. An occassional at-a-boy/girl
      from the STC certainly doesn\'t hurt.

2561. an enjoyable work environment

2562. Working for the government will never pay as well as private
      industry. The benefits (vacation and credit leave) are the drawing
      card for keeping people working for NRCS. The recent change in the
      way we can utilize credit leave (basically doing away with it
      except under certain approved conditions) has taken away one of
      the big drawing cards for working with the NRCS.

2563. Equal pay to private sector and good benefits. Bring back the
      maxi-flex duty schedule.

2564. Better incentives for advancements. Good working conditions,
      support from supervisors concerning personnel issues

2565. Too much paperwork kills high level achievement. The agency is not
      doing enough in this area.

2566. If possible, help keep the effect of politics away from us\--let
      us have the priority of serving our communities.

2567. Hire people who are genuinely interested in working for the
      agency, not just looking for a descent paying job!

2568. Don\'t expect them to be very mobile (moving 3 or more times in a
      career), pay higher salaries to cover more counties, rather than
      lower salaries to cover 1 county

2569. Employee development in offering training opportunities and a
      variety of activities to develop many skills.

2570. provide the necessary training to accomplish there job, keeping in
      mind the job never stays the same. provide potential to change job
      series or do away with them.

2571. Reduce paperwork and computer work and have more in the field
      time.

2572. Reward them for time spent and work accomplished. Give them
      adequate time off and flexible schedules. Give young employees
      training and more responsibility in there job.

2573. Recruit qualified employees and provide good job training. Creat
      more satisfied working environments, through less, or slower,
      change in technology and do more hands on work and less computer
      time needed. Make sure the computer programs work before sending
      them to the field.

2574. Allow flexiblility in work schedules. Keep pay level relatively
      consistant with outside workers. Provide recogination based on
      merit and work. Provide a postive work environment.

2575. Reward them. The 5 tier rating system will help. Salaries to be
      competative with the private sector. Need to re-evaluate. In my
      case why is important that an ASTC meet the 457 series if they
      have experience. Loosing good managers.

2576. Stop adding new programs like CSP and having your offices get
      overwhelmed, disheartened and fed up with trying their best and
      still getting in trouble for not crossing every damn

2577. Providing more trainings, and more on the job training sessions

2578. LESS PAPERWORK, BETTER SUPERVISORS

2579. Promote an awards program to recognize employees at all levels of
      our agency for exceptional service to the goverment and our
      constituents. Reduce the stress load on employess and further
      develop teamwork and cooperation to get the job done.

2580. Strong benefits program

2581. training

2582. Less forced duty station moves and details.

2583. Quit treating them like idiots. Give them the right tools to do
      their job. Give them the right personnell to do the job. Stop
      stretching them so thin. Much better support is needed from
      above(State Office Team). I believe the link between the field
      (where the work gets done) and the upper management (where the
      work gets authorized) is very poor to say the least. Until we have
      people making decisions on programs that actually realize how it
      will effect the people implementing the programs, this link will
      always be poor. Therefore, morale will be low, customer service
      will suffer, and employee turnover will be high.

2584. Increase job satisfaction by implementing clear concise policies
      and direction to employees. We need to stop re-doing and
      correcting work items based on bad information or lack of
      guidance. Information should be timely. Cut the red-tape and
      un-necessary paperwork. Let employees be free to do the job in
      which the have trained. Work overload is causing too much stress
      and we are losing quality individuals who are very skilled and
      could pass on these skills to newer employees.

2585. more opportunities to get out into the field instead of managing
      farm bill programs from a computer, also quicker advancement
      opportunities

2586. Reward them for good work

2587. Revise the rewards system. Keep flexibility on tour-of-duty.

2588. Don\'t laden them with excessive paperwork

2589. Eliminate the enormous amount of useless reports and last minute
      requests caused by poor leadership

2590. In my opinion, it is necessary for authority figures to have a
      good understanding of how to manage his or her people. Poor
      managerial skills of management may allow inferior employees to
      become frustrated and lose respect of their superiors.

2591. respect the fact taht not everyone wants to move around and allow
      good employee\'d the chence to advance without moving their
      residence

2592. 2 to 5 years before retirement ,not even close to the original SCS
      agency.

2593. put experienced people in charge, not people who want to advance
      just to advance or for the money and power thrill

2594. Treat the people with respect and fairness. Integrity in upper
      management would be nice.

2595. Don\'t use directed reassignments. Recognize them for doing good
      work. Understand that not everyone is mobile.

2596. Make the programs for the public less bureaucratic. Have the the
      procedures in place before a program is offered. If there are not
      adequate funds for a program be honest about it rather than asking
      the local staff to spin their wheels going through the motions of
      offering something that is very unlikely to be delivered.

2597. Provide timely and adequate training

2598. Realize that NRCS employees are motivated by many different
      things. Principally I am motivated by the feeling I get when I can
      help people with their resource related issues. As I look back, I
      think my best memories were of things that I was involved with
      that truly was appreciated by the people. Things like helping
      students understand soils, helping people understand the
      limitations and suitabilities of the land and then achieving a
      realistic objective, helping farmers to see how improving their
      understanding of soils would help them become better farmers,
      helping developers to understand how understanding soil and water
      resources could help them to be successful, helping elected
      officials to understand resource concerns that affected their
      constituancy and how their actions would impact on those
      resources. It seems that the primary motivation I have is working
      with people. It always hurts when I can not help someone,
      oftentimes it is because I do not have the resources to provide
      them with the technical and/or financial assistance. So it has
      been the people that have kept me working with the SCS and now the
      NRCS for thirty years.

2599. Competitive recruitment and competent placement.

2600. Treat them like they know something. Respect.

2601. With constant change taking place in the way we do business as in
      toolkit, protracts, contracting, direct charge budgeting/reporting
      etc, we should have some symathy on the workforce when errors are
      made un-intentionally without the threat of discipline.

2602. Acknowledge the employees that are doing a good job by giving some
      amount of monetary bonus.

2603. the opportunity for career advancement. not all jos/series are the
      same from state to state.

2604. Allow training and career advancement in the employee\'s areas of
      interest (strengths)and desired/needed locations.

2605. Promotion based on skills not education.

2606. Goals and incentives Do not move them so much. It is hard to have
      a family when you are being moved from one county to another.
      Especially if your spouse has a good job and/or you have kids.

2607. dont make them move if they have personal reasons not to.

2608. Giving employees the tools to complete their job whether those
      tools be physical objects or excellent training. And there should
      be more importance given to excellent training for this newer
      employee force. Also make sure employees know exactly the purpose
      and goal of their job. I believe there is too much focus on
      reaching number goals than doing quality work. I believe the job
      has become too much of a number game. Let new employees like
      myself know where our agency is going in the next 5 to 10 years
      instead of try to guess. If an employee knows the future of its
      employer/agency, it gives the employee peace of mind and something
      to stand behind and promote.

2609. Assist all employees in reaching their goals\...give them the
      training and challenging assignments they need to grow
      professionally and technically.

2610. Monetary rewards and recognition among agency peers. Make pay
      compete with private sector. To keep younger employees, assist in
      paying student loans and push leadership and management training
      showing promotion potential within the agency

2611. Comparable wages with the private sector and good benefits.

2612. Let them do their job of prmoting and appling conservation to the
      land. Getting rid of all of the paperwork. Give the financing all
      back to FSA.

2613. Cut out on all the impossibly short deadlines

2614. \$\$\$

2615. good working relationships within the offices

2616. To have every employee do their job rather than some employees who
      slack off and are not repremanded while the workload falls on
      those workers who have to take up the slack. Further, to recognize
      that NRCS has so much to offer the urban customer with soil,
      water, air, plants and animals. Whish means to support urban
      conservation and recognize that there is more to progress than
      farm conservation

2617. Good training, career advancement

2618. Training

2619. Treat everyone fairly and provide good leadership in
      interrpretation of congressional guidance.

2620. Encouragement is one thing, don\'t push employees into positions
      they may not be ready for or interested in. Not everyone is
      designed to be a ladder climber.

2621. Reward for doing good work Don\'t demoralize employees by changing
      the way we do business

2622. Provide more decision making opportunities at the field office
      level and more consistency in decisions and policy at higher
      levels

2623. Reward and promote employees who exhibit above average work
      quality and work ethic. Effectively discipline employees who
      exhibit below average work quality and work ethic. This will help
      foster an environment where good employees will want to stay with
      the agency.

2624. Reduce paper work.

      -   Good Work Environment & a belief in the system

2625. Providing sound training opportunities for all employees that
      desire them.

2626. Recognition for a job well done

2627. the agency needs to remain, or increase it\'s flexibility. I\'ve
      seen a lot of hard, straight thinking come down in the last 12-24
      months. We used to be a

2628. At lower grade levels, make job series a higher grade level (i.e )
      SCT or CET.

2629. Motivation and encouragement from leadership and good examples to
      follow.

2630. Return to our prior committment of putting conservation on the
      ground & end our slavery to Toolkit & reporting. Instead of
      helping people in the field, we now spend our time 70% of our time
      tied to a computer program of some sorts. The programs are not
      helping us, they are enslaving us.

2631. -Treat employees with respect. Yes, we are a line and staff
      agency, but in my state this seems to be overemphasized and
      contributes to an almost militaristic atmosphere especially with
      regards to how upper management (state office and ASTC) interact
      with

2632. Adequate pay and addressing employee neeeds before moving them to
      new locations.

2633. Value their input, and show that you do value their input.

2634. do not overload with bueracratic paperwork and redundant reports

2635. Keep them happy. Have enough resources available to the employee.
      (ie. additional staff to meet workload needs, training, awards)

2636. Have clear a realistic goals

2637. Better communication between leadership and field offices.

2638. Provide them with small incentives for doing good work and stop
      the extreme changes in computer programs etc that frustrate people
      and keep them in a never ending relearning mode preventing them
      from production they endeavor to achieve.

2639. Better pay

2640. do not always keep piling on jobs and tasks and assuming that we
      will get it done\--i.e. doing more with less. someday less will be
      too little.

2641. Recognize and reward accomplishments and efforts. Flexible
      schedules. Telecommunting options for support staff not located in
      Washington - internet access and eAuthentication allows support to
      individual field offices without need for staff to be

2642. Treat them fair and honest. They should have the opportunity to
      advance.

2643. More input from the field level

2644. I think a good way to keep good employees workng for NRCS is to
      give them better promotional. I think the agency should work with
      they employee on geographical locations of their choice if that is
      possible.

2645. Higher good employees to start with good work ethic.

2646. Quit making so many changes without FIRST getting the bugs worked
      out!

2647. Provide leadership that strategically and clearly defines and
      communciates agency objectives that are focused and not too broad.
      Provide the resources and encouragement to support the workforce.
      Train supervisors to understand the value of the agency\'s human
      capital and how to help them to discover and achieve their full
      potential.

2648. 1\. Provide competitive pay as compared to provate sector. 2.
      Become more in tune with employee health as it relates to job
      performance.

2649. reward them when they do a good job \-- either with spot awards,
      additional pay, or additional time off

2650. Additional training in areas employees are weak.

2651. Offer competitive pay and benefits. Communicate an honest sense of
      value to employees for the work they perform. Restore trust in
      your employees.

2652. Don\'t forget what got us here\...putting conservation on the
      ground\...not how many forms and documents we can gererate!

2653. Let him work at his highest level of ability. Provide him with the
      tools and support to do his job. Buffer him from the bureacracy
      that creates unnecessary, useless, time consuming tasks. If you
      require him to do a job, give him the authority to do it.

2654. Have a good Strategic Vision that is well understood by the
      employees and supported by the NRCS Leadership.

2655. pay and recognition for their work, rewarding good employees
      instead of good ol boys.

2656. Treat them as you would want to be treated (fairly and with
      respect. If we did this one thing we would hold on to a lot of
      good employees.

2657. To reward and acknowledge the positive work being done by those
      good employees

2658. Training and showing from the start of their career

2659. Promote and hire the best applicant for a given opportunity. This
      will be best for the agency and all of the applicants, including
      the ones that are not hired.

2660. pay employees for the skills they bring to the workplace.
      technicians are expected to know and perform a vast variety of
      duties, and are also held liable when it comes to the success or
      failure of engineering practices, but some of the most underpaid
      employees in the agency, with no potential for advancement.

2661. better pay, more employees to help address the workload

2662. Continue offering good benifits and pay increases according to the
      standard of livung.

2663. Increase or maintain job approval

2664. job satisfaction

2665. If they are doing an excellent job and getting a lot of
      conservation on the ground, reward them for it. It is
      disappointing to see that people who achieve large amounts of work
      get paid/rewarded the same as those who do nothing.

2666. Working with reasonable, capable employees assigned positions they
      are qualified for.

2667. Doing conservation work brings employees to the agency. Pay and
      benefits keep them here.

2668. One way is to give more flexibility in getting the job done

2669. To give the good employee a recognition or a thank you every once
      in awhile and not to those that don\'t deserve it.

2670. Being open and honest with employees. Being fair with employees.

2671. Place employees where they need to be for what they are qualified
      to accomplish.

2672. more benefits

2673. Give them enough resouces to do their job.

2674. Provide us with better equipment, better training, and a sense of
      appreciation from the upper level management.

2675. try to accomodate location requests for employees if they are
      being re-assigned.

2676. Continue to help them do their job, with suppying needed
      infomation and needed training meet the changing challeges of the
      job, also continue to recruit at from different human resource
      areas, educational institutions,Job Services,etc.

2677. Reinforce positve attitudes,recognize accomplishments, and give
      people the opportunity to excel.

2678. salary: its a fact that the private sector leaves the federal
      gov\'t far behind when it comes to salary and bonuses. What bonus?

2679. Stop Showing favoritism within the agencies.

2680. Reward them for there accomplishments and good work.

2681. Provide the tool needed to complete tasks that are assigned. Be
      PROACTIVE.

2682. Make the pay level in accordance with the degree of
      responsibility.

2683. Higher wages and promote those that do the best job, not those
      that answer the KSA\'s with fluff

2684. Good employees can be kept by NOT promoting inept employees into
      management positions. Good employees can also be kept by a feeling
      of \'fairness\' in the hiring and promotion of all employees.

2685. Quit putting more work responsibility on fewer and fewer
      employees. Promote based on merit, not race and or gender. Be sure
      leaders are hired for supervisory positions, not just people w/
      years of service.

2686. Stop promoting problem employees.

2687. Promote deserving people, not based on minority or cultural
      background.

2688. Paying them for what they do and don\'t forget about experience
      they have.

2689. Cultivate and reward excellence. I really think the agency is
      doing a good job of this generally. However I think we shoot
      ourselves in the foot when, solely for the sake of numbers, race
      and/or gender is given preference over competence.

2690. By demonstrating to employees that decisions are made for the
      right reasons.

2691. Better pay.

2692. By placing individuals in positions which are in their area of
      interest. Reconizing NRCS is a technical agency and not a bunch of
      paper shufflers. Promoting everyone equally based on skills and
      abilities and not just to meet parity.

2693. Management support for those behind the scene give it their all
      employees.

2694. Pay increaases and rewards for doing a good job.

2695. Pay. And don\'t promote those with high technical competency, but
      no managerial skills.

2696. Recognize them for their accomplishments. Also make them feel that
      their jobs are secure and not going to be outsourced to the lowest
      bidder because they can do it better.

2697. Show that they are appreciated and not rebots.

2698. Opportunities to advance.

2699. Pay.

2700. Management should keep an open mind concerning new technology and
      techniques. Training should be done on an area office level for
      field employees. Input should be solicited from field level
      employees on needs and procedures.

2701. Offer rewards (incentives) to those that physically better the
      agency and the progams that NRCS offers.

2702. Diversity! Exposure to innovative programs, throughout the states.

2703. Have comparable \$/hr (ie: GS11-#30/hr) flexible part time work
      opportunity post retirement.

2704. Rewarding them for their good work through advancments/promotions,
      better pay, and recognition.

2705. Promotions based on ability not status.

2706. Flexable schedule and opportunities for advancement.

2707. FLEXIABILITY AND WILLINGNESS TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION OF
      COMPLAINTS. FIND BUDGET TO FUND THE SCEP PROGRAM.

2708. Meaningful jobs where accomplishments are recognized.

2709. Cutting poor employees from the workforce. Being a government job,
      poor, non-productive employees seem to linger until retirement,
      becoming very expensive towards retirement to keep, and
      contributing little to the accomplishment of the USDA-NRCS
      mission. The question

2710. I think pay takes a backseat to most federal employees. They do
      need pay raises to keep up with inflation, though. Federal
      employees moral is bad, at least at the field level. What
      frustrates most

2711. SCEP Program

2712. Excellent fringe benefits

2713. Provide opportunities for retired NRCS employees to provide on the
      job training to University students to be well trained in
      technical field activities to replace entry level staff in the
      work force. Example CCA training to develop nutrient and pest
      management plans and conservation plans.

2714. Recruit good people and promote those who are doing a good job.

2715. Someone needs to take an interest in them. Ask them in person what
      their long term and short term carrer goals are and help them meet
      those goals. That means you help them achieve those goals even if
      you loose them in their current posn., where they are doing a good
      job.

2716. Quit dumping everything on the field office. The workload and
      stress is tremendous in the field and we get the feeling there is
      no support at the state and national level.

2717. no comment

2718. Remove the poor ones from nrcs and replace with better employees
      rather than move poor employees to new location in hopes of
      finding them a job where they will be tolerated.

2719. You have to be honest and up front

2720. Listen to them.

2721. Keep funding worthwhile programs.

2722. Implement pay for performance. Promotions based on qualifications
      instead of quotas.

2723. Pay them on a scale more in line with the private sector. When
      people cause a problem do not promote them to get them away from
      the problem. Get rid of them. It is really hard to do your best
      when you see other people being promoted just to get them away
      from a problem.

2724. Acknowledging employees with both technical and administrative
      skills and not just programatic responsibilities and kissing up to
      the supervisor

2725. For higher levels of management to support the decissions and
      actions of the field staff when dealing with the public. to often
      adverse decissions are over turned on appeal. Often this appears
      to be done to make a problem go away reather than because the
      original action was incorect.

2726. pay is equal to private sector

2727. Eliminate discriminations and bias.

2728. Pay them well and treat them fair!

2729. Help them pay for further education.

2730. Recognize abilities and promotion. (money)

2731. Do not reverse discriminate against white males. We in Missouri
      are being raped by the State Conservationist over promotions. 90%
      of this years promotions and new hires are females. Now he is
      planning on opening a multi-county very high workload DC position
      up as a 11/12. This has not been done in Missouri before but he is
      looking to put a young woman in this position that only has a few
      months of experience as an 11 therefore having to open the job up
      as an 11/12 due to her not having the one year time in grade. This
      is wrong and could cost the tax payers a lot of money for these
      types of promotion practices.

2732. More pay.

2733. Promote based on qualifications not quotas.

2734. Promotions based on good job performance.

2735. Job satisfaction, open communication, recognition for good
      performance; training in a timely manner before new programs,
      software are expected to be used; adequate number of employees to
      meet program deadlines

2736. Job security

2737. Provide enough staff to actually carry the workload. We are
      understaffed.

2738. Stick with computer programs. Too many changes, changes, changes.
      So frustrating.

2739. Due to the increased reliance on computer technology, many lower
      staff positions (technicians, etc.), in addition to their routine
      job operations, are now being required to handle administrative
      duties that were once done (historically) by those of higher
      authority. This is being done without advancing the job levels for
      the lower staff positions that are now carrying heavier work loads
      and responsibilities. As stated in the opening statements,
      employee numbers are as low as they were in the 1950\'s, so more
      work is required from all.

2740. job satisfaction, pay, moving when the employee wants to move and
      not having to move, and benefits By the way, most are promoted
      because they BS better than the other candidates (question #5)

2741. Providing us with the tools to do our job and provide adequate
      training to manage and understand the programs were assigned to
      administer.

2742. Recognition for the individual doing the job not awarding their
      supervisor. Supervisors very often take all of the credit and do
      not even say thank you to those that are actually doing the work.
      Better pay would also help.

2743. Provide employees with training needed to grow in positions.

2744. Give the field employees the recoginition they deserve and pay
      according to their skills.

2745. Recognize those that work hard.

2746. Recruit from the public sector that position would work with.

2747. Value them as individuals; treat employee development on an
      individual basis; not

2748. Allow them to do their job

2749. LET employees do what they do best. Make computer programs that
      fit what we do in the field. Toolkit is NOT a good program for the
      field office. It is hard to work with and does not achieve our
      goals in a timely matter.

2750. pay more money

2751. Treat Field employees with respect, and be sure they recieve
      adequate resources and technical and anagerial support at Area,
      State and national levels

2752. Quit changing every computer program every three days, it causes
      too much stress on the employees. Every process and program is
      getting so complicated that you tend to not care anymore.

2753. Make pay compatible to private industry.

2754. Recognition

2755. Keeping employees well trained, and pay equivalent to the private
      sector.

2756. rewarding good employees for a job well done

2757. Promote based on output and having competitive pay with private
      sector

2758. Stop promoting the slackers just to get them out of the office.

2759. Keep him interested in his jobs. Don\'t Micro-manage him. Backing
      him by manager, and NRCS. Do the home work and have him ready for
      the next program before the next program arrives. I want to tell
      you how much I have appreciated the Team that has been working on
      CSP that has worked on trying to let the field folks know what is
      expected of us during

2760. Encouragement

2761. Avoid unnecessary complications, keep programs simple

2762. develope programs that work before needed.

2763. Performance pay based on better appraisal system, leadership
      development,supervisor involvement

2764. Upper management at the state level backing up and supporting
      employees in the field.

2765. Award them when they do a good job

2766. Pay them what they are worth. When you can go outside the agency
      and get paid more for doing the same job and have technology that
      isn\'t outdated it\'s hard to continue staying within the agency.

2767. Be consistant

2768. 1.Training 2.Positive work environment 3.Competative pay with
      private sector

2769. Morale is down. Need to improve employee outlook of accomplishing
      some godd, not just meeting numbers or goals.

2770. always listen/be sure a survey like this gets the real
      answers.Then really listen.

2771. Good communication and accomplishments that can be seen on the
      land not just on paper.

2772. Well Paid

2773. Through recognition and rewards

2774. Keep competitive with the pay scale with private company

2775. good salary good benefits good working conditions

2776. Raise the pay scale to compete with the corporate world.

2777. Stay competitive with salary and benefits package.

2778. Don\'t jerk them around with changes in policy/methods that
      reverse work done. Minimize politics in personnel actions-support
      personnel changes with technical/real reasons.

2779. Keeping them in the field working with our customers and allowing
      them to make sound conservation decisions.

2780. Develop good employee moral by fully funding budgets at the
      beginning of the fiscal year and not mandating program deadlines
      before materials are developed to implement the program.

2781. Make sure they are promoted when the opportunity comes about. Make
      farm bill programs easier to administer and understand. Don\'t
      throw away money with programs.

2782. Training for technical issues ie computer programs before and
      during needed signups. Computer programs with fewer glitches when
      they are required to be used.

2783. Promote, reward, and recognize them

2784. Excellent Leadership

2785. Flexible schedule

2786. Allow on the job experience to be counted as formal education so
      that some of the Technicians who show outstanding potential to
      change to the Soil Con Series.

2787. Treat everyone equally.

2788. better pay and better quality equipment

2789. Return to a technical competence based system of training and
      promotion.

2790. Don\'t promote bad employees or put them in areas that does not
      bennifit the agency. Keep hiring technical minded people and
      promote people that have proven technical field experience and not
      just schooling. last, forget about minorities and hire and promote
      the person not their race.

2791. Give then the tools they need to succede before you give them a
      program. You make the field office employees look incompetent when
      you come out with a new program and not even give them any
      instruction untill weeks sometimes months after the signup has
      been released. Tell whomever writes the programs to get their act
      together!

2792. Recognize good ones and keep the leadership at an excellent level
      from top down to ensure a good working environment that the good
      employees would want to suceed.

2793. Promote from within not just on the basis of sex or race

2794. Good pay and working conditions, as well as, keeping good teamwork
      skills to help attitude and self esteem

2795. Premote from within and reward outstanding accomplishment

2796. Have a more capabale leadership and when a sign up for programs
      start do not change the rules. Ever since EQIP and other programs
      that NRCS has started there have been numerous changes in program
      policy during the signup periods. This makes the field level and
      state level people basicly liars to their clientel. This is one of
      the most demoralizing part of working for NRCS.

2797. Incentives for those employees who do have both a good technical
      background and manager potential should be looked at more readily.
      Continue to provide good medical benefits but add more to the
      policies - dental, vision, fertility problems, and new medical
      advancements. Continue to provide good leave options but maybe
      consider shortening the length of service required to obtain 8
      hours a pay period. Continue to provide salary increases with
      inflation but perhaps try to match the actual rate of inflation in
      the previous calendar year.

2798. Make the pay, fringe benefits, and personal work environment
      attractive.

2799. Keeping them happy- match the employees training and interests to
      the work they will be doing.

2800. keep pay at competitive levels

2801. Provide employees the needed support and technical training needed
      as required by their duties in a timely manner.

2802. Primary study the endorsment system to allow those employees the
      latitude for achevieing their greatest possibilities for NRCS

2803. Make fewer positions politically appointed.

2804. Good pay, provide great leadership, opportunity for career growth,
      promote change only when it increases effectiveness and/or
      efficency

2805. Realize the work load is getting more complex and more of it with
      less employees something has to give. I love my job but not the
      job of two people.

2806. By rewarding people who are hard working and innovative.

2807. Promotional potential and giving awards to the people that deserve
      it.

2808. Providing the tools they need in doing their jobs and the training
      to do them.

2809. recognition for accomplishments both individually and group
      oriented

2810. pay, benefits, good working enviroment, fair treatment of
      employees

2811. It seeems to me than many, if not most of the recent NRCS
      promotions I have seen have very little to do with merit and much
      more to do with which quota (I know offically there is no such
      thing) they want to fill. I wish questions five above had the
      option of none of the above because I do not feel any of the
      listed options are accurate.

2812. Give us the training needed to do our work before new technology
      is released so the frustration with new things is kept to a
      minimum

2813. hire people who are truly qualified for the job and not base it on
      a numbers game. also, not having to answer survey questions, like
      number 5 above, that don\'t give a

2814. Better pay and getting awards based on performance not because it
      is your turn to get an award.

2815. Making sure the managers of the county offices are trained
      properly before they take over the office.

2816. Promote the ones that are doing a good job and have been doing so
      for some time.

2817. Don\'t increase the stress load by giving them more work than one
      person can actually accomplish in a week.

2818. Competitive pay and fulfilling said agreements. Pay the employee
      at the rate of the work that they are producing. EXAMLPE: If John
      Smith is a Soil Conservationist at a GS9 and is doing all the work
      that the GS11 and GS12 positions, that employee should be promoted
      to the next higher pay scale, OR not be EXPECTED to produce that
      high of quality of work for the lower pay.

2819. Quit changing Conservation Programs rules and regulations from the
      time a signup begins to the time a signup ends.

2820. cut down on paper work make day to day field level jobs more
      simple

2821. Quit makeing us build mountains when all you need is mole hills to
      take care of the landowners. We do a lot of hard work on programs
      that sound like they have a lot of teeth in them and when it comes
      down to enforceing them all the teeth disappear. Also their is
      nothing worse for moral when you have an employee that needs to be
      FIRED and they get promoted or moved to another area. What do you
      think this does to the people who are doing the hard work, and not
      free loading like some do. Also you need to limit on how many
      awards a person gets. I have read the awards that people get and
      some seem to be on their every year almost. I know a lot of people
      who deserves some awards but don\'t get one because their
      supervisor don\'t care or just don\'t put in for awards. Then
      their are the ones who put people in every year. I myself don\'t
      work as hard or am as dedicated as I used to be due to all the
      comments above.

2822. Pat on the back once in awhile

2823. job satisfaction

2824. Offer opportunities for training that might be

2825. Need to maintain flexibility in work hours and allowing employees
      to promote conservation in innovative ways. Allowing employees
      time to develop skills on the job and making transistion to other
      positions.

2826. Easier advancement opportunities, better training methods, and a
      more level workload.

2827. Supervisors have to little experience to determine if a employee
      is good or not.

2828. Trained for the jobs they are required to perform

2829. Furnishing the employees adequate training, equipment and
      follow-up on programs. We also need to have better cooperation
      between other USDA agencies. There are too many turf battles that
      go on. Customer Service is not near what it use to be. Employee
      professionalism is at an all time low.

2830. Keep programs from getting to complicated so it will give us
      enough time to go to the field for technicial assistance and
      on-the-job training.

2831. More training to understand the software we have. i.e. toolkit and
      not having the programs change mid-stream after they are explained
      to landusers who sign up.

2832. Provide them with challenging work with enough technical support
      to meet the challenge and pay them well.

2833. Having good supervisors to work for Give awards to employees who
      earn them

2834. Straight forward computer programs that do what we need them to do
      and work when we get them.

2835. OJT for new employees, better salary, and health benefits

2836. PAY them well

2837. Rewarding for performance

2838. Money and making them feel they make a difference

2839. money

2840. maintaining promotion possibilities and recognition for
      accomplishing goals

2841. recognition

2842. good pay and good working environment

2843. Flexible work environment.

2844. Better DC people skills.

2845. Promotion to the next allowable grade level

2846. Offer more opportunities for advancement in the technical
      positions.

2847. Optional moves;User friendly computer programs;

2848. Do not string them along! With just enough rope to Hang them
      selves.

2849. Pay

2850. Keep fostering good employee morale and job satisfaction by
      ensuring that we can do our job to protect our resources and
      assist present and future landowners and operators.

2851. Offer good wages with job stability (ie. not making employees move
      to keep their job)

2852. Be competative with private companies.

2853. Increased pay and better benefits. Example, need better dental and
      vision coverage.

2854. PAY

2855. Allow for promotion based on merit and not who you know or what
      sex or gender you are.

2856. Base promotions on achievement

2857. Acknowledge their skills and acomplishments. Remove incompetent
      people or demote them and train them to level. Make the operation
      of the agency more transparent.

2858. Pay and promotion

2859. Recognition for hard work and reward when justified.

2860. Listening to the needs in the field and looking at how policy or
      requests affect the field staff.

2861. Offer needed training and support from managment to develope and
      use their technical skills in assisting landowners to get
      conservation on the land.

2862. When developing programs and policies concerning NRCS and our
      customers, seek input and advice from those who work on a daily
      basis with the landowners, ranchers, and farmers. The staff in the
      field offices hear the honest concerns, complaints, and also the
      good points from our customers about the services that NRCS has to
      offer. We must have guidelines in the policy and programs that we
      offer, but sometimes the guidelines are too inflexible and we are
      not able to meet the needs and concerns of our customers. The
      biggest concern that I hear from fellow employees is that they are
      becoming

2863. Reduce bureacracy. Provide more & better support to the field
      level from state & national levels.

2864. Decomplexify the job

2865. Advancement potential if they want it, security,

2866. Include employees in on decision making processes (or at least
      hear out opinions)

2867. Recoginition and encouragement.

2868. \- higher pay always helps turnover-rate statistics - reducing use
      of Technical Service Providers would reduce employee opportunity
      for alternate empoyment - exempting ethics rule that retards
      hunting on farmer\'s land because you did pri

2869. Incorporate more

2870. Hire people in the rest of the agency that can do their own job

2871. good pay and benefits

2872. Better pay for those doing good work, better training for those
      interested in improving their work skills. And filtering out the
      incompentents to reduce the heartache on the rest of us.

2873. Stop working them to death and start treating them with some
      respect. Treat ALL employees fairly and not promote people to fill
      quotas.

2874. Training and salary

2875. Provide opportunities for advancement. Solicit input. Regard it
      seriously. And implement where appropriate. Establish a climate in
      which we can all try to make things better.

2876. Don\'t stiffle creativity and initiative by my way or the highway
      management!

2877. Show more fairness in promotions and detail assignments to NHQ.

2878. Opportunities for promotion

2879. Challenging work, advancement opprotunities, good training.

2880. Move leaders into leadership positions and let them lead. Change
      the promotion and reward system. It makes no sense to see about
      80% of the Senior execs get a reward of more than \$10K and the
      troops get a nothing, or a shirt, or \$500 maybe.

2881. Stronger Agency as far as Civil Rights and EEO go.

2882. Quit promoting/rewarding for non-merit reasons.

2883. don\'t insult employees telling them they are not qualified for
      the job they have been doing very well for 30 years, and then say
      they won\'t be fired, just can\'t advance anymore.

2884. A good way is to promote them is based on experience and
      qualifications, It would be of importance to allow an employee to
      more easily move from one series to another, if they are qualified
      for that position.

2885. Respecting and training employees. Reasonable Workloads.

2886. Job equal to their skills, Pay equal to their skills, and treat
      them fair, and don\'t lie to them.

2887. pay

2888. Show them respect, give them the proper tools to complete a
      job\...training, empowerment, etc.

2889. Pleasant working environment

2890. Treating employees with respect.

2891. Reward and promote on the basis of merit. Replace biased and
      unethical managers.

2892. Create a pleasant working environment.

2893. Providing better and more equitable treatment to employees among
      managers.

2894. Fairness in promotions/details/awards, etc

2895. Keep/get good managers to manage, but let the technical people do
      technical work (don\'t bog them down with reporting requirements).

2896. There are no upward mobility positions, especially at the State
      Office level. Our personnel people have their hands tied on many
      matters. Sometimes supervisors are not even allowed to be at the
      selection level of hiring. More and more people are being brought
      in from outside the agency to fill promotions. This puts a damper
      on morale. It seems the only way to get a promotion would be to
      uproot yourself and go to another state or agency. There is
      reverse discrimination at this agency and it is encouraged by
      upper management.

2897. pass

2898. alternate work schedule

2899. The primary way to keep good employees working for NRCS is raise
      salaries.

2900. Fairness, moral, recognition.

2901. ensure that the tools they need to do their jobs, including an
      appropriate budget, are available

2902. I think the new Performance Management Plan will be a step in the
      right direction.

2903. Promotion and finding ways to keep things challening.

2904. Develop a training plan that when steps are accomplished there is
      clear promotions associated.

2905. Make the incentive award program fair and equitable and not based
      on whether you\'re in or out of favor with the supervisor. Listen
      to the rank and file employees. If there is more than one
      discrimination complaint filed against management, that\'s a clue
      there\'s a big problem! Stop sweeping the problems under the
      carpet!!

2906. Make them feel appreciated. Often a pat on the back is as good as
      a cash award, but those pats are few and far between in some
      states.

2907. Better salary, less stress.

2908. Recognize quality work.

2909. We continue to overload our employees, especially in the field,
      with more and more job responsibilites and no additions employees
      to help in their office or to provide technical support. Our
      training program is inadequate for existing employees. We get new
      tools but no training to use them. Our employees are so pressed
      for time it is even hard for them to get away for a training
      session.

2910. Continue providing employees with the direction (the big picture)
      that NRCS is headed in.

2911. Allow them to experience variety in their work lives, for example
      through details with other agencies and organizations and
      international assignments.

2912. Provide better avenues for advancement.

2913. Provide a positive working environment and allow employees to work
      with landowners.

2914. Reward personnel for the job they do instead of promoting persons
      because of need for diversity. The correct choices for question 5
      are not shown.

2915. Good emplyees need the right tools at the right time to do the
      job. Also give employees opportunities to detail even to DC to see
      other opportunities in the NRCS.

2916. Reduce the workload and accompanying stress.

2917. Adequate pay and recognition

2918. Promote based on merit, not race or gender

2919. Reasonable expectations of what an employee can accomplish in a 40
      workweek.

2920. Make sure management treats everyone with respect and equality.
      Definitely see favoritism in the workforce, especially for those
      who brown nose.

2921. Pay incentives and recognition.

2922. Provide opportunity to keep up with technology and give latitude
      for experimentation with new ways of accomplishing the job.

2923. Since working for NRCS, I haven\'t wanted to work anywhere else.

2924. Managaerial support; fair/equal treatment; competitive salary

2925. Surround them with other good employees.

2926. Don\'t reduce pay or benefits, and keep up with technology.

2927. Provide stimulating and productive work environment where workers
      feel like they are constantly learning and improving skills.

2928. Treat them fair, comend the good work and make needed training
      available.

2929. Allow the flexibility that is permitted under current laws such as
      flextime. We do not have true maxiflex time as defined by OPM.
      This can cause some frustrations when it relates to family
      problems. Also provide funding for going back to school in all job
      functions, not just technical eductation. There should be funding
      for administrative and management education. Discuss telecommuting
      more with management. They say it is there and you can request it,
      but then say in another breath that they will probably not permit
      it in most cases. Management should be an advocate and promote the
      programs available that help assist the family and can help
      decrease energy costs by not using as much gasoline.The current
      mindset is that you can ask, but you will not get it. General
      impressions is that this is not really a family friendly work
      place environment compared to some other government offices.

2930. Have duties that give them personal satisfaction!

2931. Remove employees that are not carrying their part of the workload.

2932. Be fair and not promote people just because they are mobile.

2933. Employees must like their jobs!

2934. Minimize political and personal input on hiring or promoting.

2935. Get back to basics. Quit trying to be a catalyst for social
      change. Hire only qualified individuals for the level and type of
      position being sought.

2936. Make sure the work assignments are interesting and provide a
      feeling of accomplishment. Let the employees know that
      conservation is important and that they have an important role in
      the goals of the agency.

2937. Have leaders recognize that new technology requires training, and
      different levels of conservation experience will require state of
      the art tool training or specific workshops that might not be
      available from NRCS. Training budget must be increased!

2938. Promote employees who earn it. Typically people are promoted
      because of race quotas, or to move them from a position where they
      are not effective to one where they can do less damage.

2939. Give them rewarding work that results in tangible success.

2940. Insure job security Better Retirement and insurance plans

2941. Identify employee needs and attempt to meet as many as possible.

2942. Show employees the correlation between what it is they \'do\' and
      how that work benefits the Agency, environment, population.

2943. Make sure the realize just how good they have it.

2944. Benefits, competitive salaries, and good training opportunities
      for employees at all levels.

2945. It should be advancing employees based on past (good) job
      experience and managers skills. Not who belongs to the good old
      boy club!

2946. Provide a pay and benifit package that can\'t be beat elsewhere.

2947. Hire individuals who want to work on agricultural and natural
      resource conservation issues with private landowners.

2948. Hire people with an agricultural background, not just an ag.
      education\...you more often get a great deal of common sinse along
      with the important, invaluable, informal education.

2949. Better pay, make advancement more available.

2950. Good supervisors that allow employees to step outside of the box
      and make decisions. Employees that feel like they have an open
      relationship and have some impact on their work will be more
      satisfied and content.

2951. Recognition, having clearly defined career paths for all series,
      having consistent and professional series titles and pay for those
      who do the same job in different locations.

2952. By improving the ways we utilize employees skills and recognize
      and reward them for positive accomplishments.

2953. don\'t try to outsource their jobs

2954. Base promotions upon merit.

2955. flexible working conditions

2956. Make it easier for good, young workers to be promoted. Too many
      times,

2957. This is a very broad question and difficult to answer. The way to
      keep good employees is to keep them satisfied and provided with
      adequate opportunities to succeed. Each employee will have
      different motivating forces.

2958. High support for employees and the agencey from management,
      especially top-level management and congress; maintaining overal
      funding to be able to provide training, tools, and support for
      employees to meet the agency mission. The expectaions for the
      agency seem to be increasing, but out-sourcing initiatives and
      reduced funding do nothing to improve employee morale.

2959. Start out by hiring the most qualified people then keep the job
      interesting.

2960. Leadership trust/support/loyalty to employees

2961. Teaching management how to deal effectively with employees. When
      you work in a low stress environment, employees are more
      productive.

2962. Catch up special series pay rates to comparable private sector
      tech jobs.

2963. Give employees an incentive once they have reached their pay
      ceiling. At my duty location in Kansas the management does not
      plan ahead for the workload. Lower employees have to make up for
      their mistakes. They have an attitude where if we want to keep our
      job we will accept details of unknown length or be transfered. The
      job does not pay enough to be mobile, or be possibly outsourced in
      the future. The last 7 years we have been faced with problems like
      this. Insecurity in your job does not allow for any planning in
      your personal life!

2964. The starting pay for employees is to low. The advancement rate is
      to slow.

2965. Continuing to give good benefits and working conditions.

2966. provide a mix of job satisfaction and benefits

2967. Listen to employees ideas for getting a job done. This does two
      things that are important to the organization: It encourages
      sharing ideas that may be helpful in meeting goals. It builds
      trust and morale among the organization.

2968. Reduction in reliance on computers and

2969. some days the paperwork/documentation makes me want to quit

2970. The present farm bill programs has the field offices doing a spot
      treatment effect on which fire needs put out first. We really need
      more staff to effectively give our clients the time and resources
      they need.

2971. Stop promoting the Incompetent. Where is the None button for
      question 5?

2972. Treat all employees fairly, keep them informed, provide quality
      training and provide opportunities to do a variety of things,
      whether it be through transfer, promotions, or just special
      assignments or details in place.

2973. By having quality leaders and people who can provide assistance
      and correct information - in other words - leaders who actually
      know whats going on instead of ones just floating along trying to
      make things look good on paper.

2974. competitive pay and benefits

2975. Meaningful work, sense of accomplishment, and competitive pay

2976. BE postive- only postive consequences encourage good future
      performance People who produce good results feel good about
      themselves

2977. promote the good employees and not the marginal ones. Base it on
      the real performance and not thier willingness to move. Offer real
      leadership by employees who have worked a while, 3 states in 5
      years.

2978. Treat all fairly, promote because of ability and not who you know
      or you are of a certain ethic group. You are losing good employees
      who you dead end at 15 years because they don\'t have college
      degrees.

2979. More pay the private sector is exceeding the pay for the same job
      by twice.

2980. competitive pay

2981. Keep working towards good consevation.

2982. Letter or certificate of appreciation for duties carried out above
      the norm. Awards are fine for recognition, but a simple letter or
      certificate from management would keep the employee\'s moral high.

2983. Keep offering them the good job that they have, don\'t get them
      overwhelmed.

2984. We need to hire good quality people and have a position set up
      with a trainor who has worked as a District conservationist but
      they cannot do their job and train at the same time.

2985. Promote on the basis of qualifications rather than going by
      afermative action.

2986. Recognition by promotion

2987. Treat everyone fair.

2988. More pay

2989. Good Pay and location stability

2990. Job satisfaction, by giving employees necessary skills and time to
      conduct their duties without undo pressure and stress

2991. Provide adequate training and followup support, then maintain
      stability, consistency and fairness in all aspects of the job.
      Encourage and promote families and traditional family values.

2992. Job training and good pay

2993. Opportunities to advance.

2994. Let the employees know that their job is important and they are
      essential.

2995. place a high value on leadership. I mean the kind of leadership
      that has been tested. Such as when an enlisted Marine becomes a
      warrent officer, first proving him/herself in a staff capacity,
      and then moving to staff.

2996. Giving them staff based on workload.

2997. Establishing more opportunities to move up through the agency.

2998. Better award system, not it is their turn. More efficient training
      such as the boot camp that is offered for new employees but
      seasoned employees are not offered anything to continue education
      or make improvements. Also, DC have so much added porgrams,
      computer programs, administrative responsibilites, district and
      comunity involvment that these individuals are extemely overcome
      with stress. Finally when you are eligible to retire you bale out
      of the rat race and find a less demanding job to add to your
      financial reserves. Please find a way to give us a
      break!!!!!!!!\... Management.

2999. Good responses to reasonable requests.

3000. Show appriciation to the ones that do a good job.

3001. Provide more traninig so employees feel more confident about doing
      thier job.

3002. Offer greater promotions opportunities without moving employees so
      much. The family structure in todays society requires both husband
      and wife to work to maintain some level of economic stability or
      life style. I don\'t think NRCS of USDA in general take this
      factor into consideration nearly as much as private industry does.
      This agency need to provide job assistance to spouses of employees
      if you move an employee. Currently the systems contributes to
      distruction of the family unit because the agency does not help
      employees in this area.

3003. Allow them to see that what they are doing is making a significant
      accomplishment to society.

3004. Don\'t make them move around so much.

3005. Pay well, let them live close to the area they really want to live
      and work and don\'t overload them to much!

3006. Acknowledge hard work by recognition and pay. Keep training, both
      those that have been with the agency and new employees, there is
      always room for improvement!

3007. Do not overburden them by assigning addiitional and layered
      program responsibility without clear objectives and administrative
      support.

3008. Incentive Awards - Promotions

3009. Recruit and promote people based on ability and not based on race.

3010. Provide more help and not try to require more work with less
      employees.

3011. Praise and recognition for a job well done. the Stats show it,
      fewer employees and a bigger workload/budget than in the past and
      NRCS most always meets or exceeds its goals. That is deserving of
      praise.

3012. Convince congress that we are understaffed and that in many
      instances TSP is more work for the offices not less.

3013. Better pay.

3014. Treating individuals with respect and showing appreciation for the
      job that they to all levels of the agency.

3015. An excellent chain of command to keep employees informed. Diverse
      job opportunities and specialized positions. Excellant repoir
      between agency heads, supervisors and employees. Being appreciated
      for a job well done and not take the employee for granted.

3016. Provide additional assistance in offices where there is a big
      workload but only 1 or 2 employees.

3017. Teach by example Most managers now are put in their positions in
      field offices without any field experience or technical
      expertise.It would make sense to mostly hire these managers after
      having been working in the field for some time.Also some managers
      are not cut out to be managers at all.

3018. Promote/reward the good employees regardless of race or sex and
      get rid of the non-preformers. We have to many non-preformers that
      affect the attitudes of others.

3019. Clarity of job assingments and enthuasiastic positive leaders

3020. Don\'t know.

3021. Keeping wage, benefits and working conditions equivalent to
      private industry.

3022. Promote people because of what they know instead of who they know.

3023. Compensation or recognition for jobs well done.

3024. Recognition

3025. Let them do the work that they were trained for. We are a
      Technical agency that pushes paper now. We do not work with the
      producer much any more. NRCS is program driven not planning or
      landowner driven as we were in the past. We are heading down the
      road that extenion was and is on.

3026. Work responsibilities that give them a sense of purpose and pride
      in the end result of good conservation accomplishments.

3027. Promotions and more support from the agency for participation in
      activities with outside groups by attending conferences and
      meetings.

3028. Eliminate some of the paperwork that interfere with mission
      accomplishments

3029. Allow them to be creative and feel they have adequate input into
      the process of doing their job or improve on status quo.

3030. One big reason many of us work here is because we like
      conservation and field work. Seems like over the years the
      emphasis has changed to paperwork and office work. I think that
      reduces our value to the farmer.

3031. Adequate pay and benefits

3032. We need to reward technical competence and realize the level of
      computer skill that is required to service clients and pay
      accordingly.

3033. Leadership must recognize good employee performance. Keep
      employees informed of decisions and agency direction. Plan ahead
      and get information out to the field rather than wait until the
      last week of a program sign up.

3034. better pay

3035. treat them better.

3036. Maintain a solid sense of purpose for the agency\'s mission, so
      employees know their work is important to society.

3037. More opportunities for advancement and an increase in pay/grade.

3038. Start hiering the most qualified individual.

3039. Keep the agency technical rather than financial

3040. Being able to be promoted on job experience,and not acting like a
      college degree means so much more than a person with work
      experience.

3041. Job satisfaction

3042. Improve management. Select better supervisors and managers.

3043. hire good employees

3044. Increase pay.

3045. Honest appreciation, helpful training, allowing
      responsiblity/accountablity, recognizing individuals
      accomplishments,

3046. contiue as you have been. 2. Budget ups and downs result in an
      uncertain future for new hires.

3047. pay commiserate with unique duties and skills.

3048. regular pay raises and allow employees to keep doing what they
      have strengths at i.e-mgrs stay mgrs, field staff stay in the
      field but allow advancement there

3049. Preparing them for the task

3050. Reduce the stress levels of FO employees due to the constant
      change and complexity of programs

3051. Lessen the burden of workload by providing tools that prevent
      work. Management needs to make decisions that prevent rework.

3052. Recognizing and utilizing the existing talent. The last two
      reorganizational activities have narrowed the scope of workers\'
      jobs rather than broadening them. This limits their utilization of
      skills not required for their positions but that are possessed by
      the individuals.

3053. Reward them for their accomplishments via promotions and or
      awards. Provide them computers, vehicles, equipment to do their
      job.

3054. Empower employees to make decisions at the lowest level that is
      reasonably possible. Employees get frustrated having to run
      decisions

3055. higher salaries

3056. Maintain good pay, benefits, and a good work environment.

3057. Work with them on training, reduced stress with high workload
      times, and work with them on moving from one location to another
      for experience so it is somewhat convent to their family.

3058. more pay, more promotions, promotion of the

3059. Good Salary, Rewards and Benefits

3060. The rules for new programs set and well defined in advance of them
      starting.

3061. Competitive wage and benefits and listening to employee concerns

3062. Place people in a position they are best suited for rather then
      just filling a hole

3063. Make sure managerial people have the people skills to work with
      the people under them.

3064. More challenging jobs.

3065. Provide appropriate WORKING tools & reasonable timelines.

3066. Provide training and pay increases which keep them equal or above
      that of the private sector employee.

3067. Recognition. Do not put so many limits on what they can or can not
      do.

3068. Having enough human capital available to address the continuing
      increase in workload related to programs.

3069. Preventing the degradation of technical expertise and allowing
      employees to service the public.

3070. Reduce the volume of information required of an employee to do
      their job- multiple programs, multiple rules, multiple/continuous
      change.

3071. Hold them accountable. If they are not getting the job done then
      they should be demoted or let go. Irresponsiblity can spread from
      a manager to those he or she is managing. It can also make for a
      bad office atmosphere.

3072. Provide more opportunities for advancement as well as reward the

3073. Pay and have a better managed award system

3074. Training, money, promotion

3075. Keeping employee moral high and keeping the award program in
      place, in addtion to comptime and overtime pay.

3076. Have realistic incentives as part of thier jobs to make them want
      to stay and do more.

3077. Reestablish and maintain the ladder of upward mobility for every
      qualified employee that will take the step up. Do not allow

3078. If

3079. Pay increases that keep up with COLA. The pay raises should not be
      decided by congress. Increased responsibilities are not being
      compensated for. More programs are being added to the
      responsiblites without added compensation. FSA has their CED is
      Kansas at GS-12. The District Conservationist should be at the
      same level.

3080. Keep them trained in all conservation practices and programs not
      let them stagnate in local circumstances. Make conservation on the
      land the number one concern of the consumer public. Help the Field
      Office staff send a clear message to our customers. By having all
      press releases and application documents ready at the start of the
      current sign up. The producers have lost there trust in us because
      NRCS has been unorganized and untimely in delivering our programs.
      The sign up dates need to be moved up so that producers who want
      to change there farming practices can start after the fall harvest
      not at spring planting time. Producers have to make many decisions
      by December 31. Our programs should be contracted by that time!

3081. Keep allowing family time. NRCS does a great job when an employee
      needs family time and leave. Personally I would like to see a
      better policy on maternity leave at the local level. When you are
      the only female in an office it becomes hard to find a private
      place to feed your child or even pump. This policy needs to be
      looked at for the local level offices where females are still
      uncommon.

3082. Provide guidelines for new and all other programs at the start of
      the program and not change in the middle of the sign up period.
      Quit changing program guidelines at the vim of anyone. Let us do
      our job rather than redoing the job over and over because of
      somebody wants something changed. Take the time to think out the
      program and then leive it alone until the next sign up.

3083. Do away with the glass ceiling that limits employees from
      advancing. This practice is very discouraging for employees whom
      have reached the top of their artificial limits

3084. Fair and equal treatment of all employees.

3085. Reward them for their efforts; even the little guy

3086. Treat employees with respect whether they are at the GS 1-4 level
      or 12 or above. Consider what is good for the employee as well as
      what is good for the agency and keep the employee in the loop. Our
      good employees have a lot to offer by way of experience let\'s
      listen to what they have to say.

3087. Increase in pay and narrow program responsibilities. We are asked
      to know to much about too many programs. It\'s not possible to
      accomplish effectively. Quality is contagious, so is crap - chose
      wisely. I believe we haven\'t chosen wisely in some cases.

3088. Good pay

3089. Providing some increase in salary and good working conditions.

3090. Consistent management decisions.

3091. Provide a higher salary and develop ways to improve motivation.

3092. Make them feel appreciated by giving spot awards or tokens of
      appreciation that are not just a blanket award. Pay scale to more
      closey match the private sector.

3093. Have program working before sign up starts.

3094. Afford them the respect they deserve.

3095. Reward workers by promotion.

3096. Salary and promotional opportunities equal civilian workforce.

3097. Find good leaders and managers. Employees are not being promoted
      based on technical competence or managerial merit. Good leaders do
      not always make good managers and vice-versa. Demote those that
      are promoted but aren\'t good at what they do, don\'t continue to
      promote them to the next level to get them out of the way.

3098. Increase pay and other

3099. Pay scale in the technical positions needs to be higher. For
      instance offices the supervisors were up graded to higher levels
      while the lower levels were left the same.Workload has increased
      at both levels not just one level. Its like a slap in the face to
      the lower levels.

3100. Make them feel they are wanted and needed by the agency, let them
      provide meaningful input into operations, make them feel supported
      by their superiors.

3101. Recognize those in the Field who do the work that keep the
      \'leadership\' in getting awards & recognition. Support diversity
      in the workplace much better than is currently being done.

3102. Recoginition of outstanding work. Show no bias. Do away with the
      \'Good Old Boy\' system. Promote diversity.

3103. Encourage a broader managerial perspective and reduce nepotism and
      favoritism. Promote based on merit.

3104. Require less program management. Make the programs less
      complicated.

3105. Start paying for the work being done. You have many Soil
      conservation Technicians that are doing the DC\'s and soil cons
      work but getting nothing out of it. Remove the barriers that keep
      Technicians from being promoted. Make it easyier for a technician
      to change job class. Some Technicians would make good soil cons
      and DC\'s but are held back due to lack of college. If they have
      the know how and common sence there is no reason that they
      shouldn\'t be able to be soil cons or Dc\'s. Also need to start
      highering on basis of actural knowlege. We seam to see more and
      more college graduates that are don\'t have a clue. And to me its
      not right for a GS-7 Tech to have to train a GS-11 DC. If the GS-7
      tech can train the DC what do we need the DC for? Just promote and
      pay the SCT for the job he/she is already doing!

3106. Competitive wages with paid benefits, and stop tring to outsource
      our jobs. Job security is important and knowing that 20 or 30
      years with the same agency is possible will keep good employees.

3107. Job satisfaction: doing what is important with a minimum of
      paperwork and regulations.

3108. Proper training and greater ease in the planning system.

3109. Get back to the basics where individuals get sound technical
      training and use that technical training in the field. It\'s why
      most of the employees signed on to NRCS (for the chance to learn
      technical skills and use them, not so they could manage programs).
      The producers will then know we are here for technical assistance,
      not just another way to get a government check. NRCS should also
      continue to provide the most up to date tools for the job (and
      training to use those tools) as well as provide adequate pay for
      the job descriptions.

3110. Keep the pay scale congruent with the private sector.

3111. Allowing them to move up in the workforce without having to move.
      I believe this is possible with today\'s technology.

3112. Don\'t know

3113. Fair amount of work for fair wage. This isn\'t hapening right now.

3114. pay

3115. Increase pay, decrease benefit costs, increase leave earned for
      pay period by an hour.

3116. Increase turn around times for reports/requests or increase the
      work force to assist us in everything we do.

3117. increase pay/benefits

3118. Comunication and two way exchange.

3119. Recognition

3120. Promote within the agency and treat employees as humans and not
      machines, requiring unreasonable deadlines.

3121. Good management! Give the employee the authority, tools, support,
      and personell to perform the job. Then management needs to clear
      the obsticles and support employee in all his decisions.

3122. Bring pay up to private sector levels. Use of awards and
      recognition of job well done.

3123. More positive input, realize staff can only do so much, balance
      staff out, pay the experienced employ what they deserve even if
      they don\'t have a college degree, remove some of the egos (female
      and male)

3124. Job Satifaction

3125. Loosen some of the out of date rules dating back to the1930\'s

3126. Have merit promotions

3127. By giving them the training they need when they need it. There
      needs to be some continuity in the programs they work with. Keep
      changes to only those needed to make the job more efficient.

3128. Pay or other non-pay incentives

3129. Salaries with benefits is the main attractions for the younger
      employees these days. Job satisfaction seems to rank second.

3130. chances for advancement and or change.

3131. Pay for the work they do, not based primarily on program numbers.

3132. Decrease the management burden of programs NRCS oversees through
      increased staff in FO locations and greater salary/benefit
      options.

3133. I\'m speaking only at the field level NRCS. New employees need to
      have OJT with experienced employees before the old ones retire. It
      seems like management level employees in and above the field
      office level are streched to many ways and too thin to provide the
      right training.

3134. Good benefits and pay

3135. Quit changing rules/guidance in the middle of a program sign-up
      and/or when field personnel are developing plans/contracts. Also
      need to develop good technical tools (computer programs, etc\...)
      and leave them alone if they are working. Most everyone can adapt
      to changes, but there is too much. Constant turmoil is the phrase
      that should be used.

3136. We need to pay our employees for what they are actually doing,
      based of workload. As you stated above our workforce has been
      reduced since 1993 by 328,000 people. Then added the number of
      programs they have to work with, thus increasing workload but
      still pay the same. We need to pay employees for work completed.

3137. Being compatible with private salary ranges and keeping a
      family-friendly work environment.

3138. Provide good, clearly defined guidance and back employee\'s
      decisions when decision is left to employee\'s judgement.

3139. unknown

3140. Better pay and rewards.

3141. Don\'t overwork them

3142. keeping open channels between area conservationist and county
      field offices, and remain open minded about change.

3143. Adjust staffing to aleviate very high workloads as with CSP and
      EQIP

3144. Keep challenging their skills and paying them well

3145. Don\'t burn them out with programs.

3146. Better recognition for the work they preform.

3147. Pay them for doing a good job. In the area that I am located in
      you get a pay raise if your supervisor likes you. If you are on
      his bad side forget about a raise

3148. By having more time in the field interacting with land owners on
      their land instead of spending so much time sitting in front of a
      computer.

3149. Bring back the hands on in the field aspect.

3150. Keep employees informed of what is going on. Keep the agency focus
      on conservation on the land and not on wasting field employees
      time on paperwork and computer entries. Hire managers at all
      levels that have knowledge of conservation so when decisions are
      made at higher levels they have a clue as to how that effects the
      field.

3151. Reduce the paperwork and quite making changes in the middle of
      signups, decide what the rules will be before signup starts.

3152. (Note: I did not agree with ANY of the choices in question #5, but
      could not contiue without selecting one.) Allowing successful
      employees to succeed and promoting quality work over simply
      quantity. Encouraging innovation rather than crushing it under
      rhetoric and regulations. Allowing people who came to this agency
      because they enjoy working in the field and with people to get out
      from under the mountains of paperwork and the office. Bring the
      focus back to getting conservation on the ground rather than being
      superb computer operators!

3153. Insisting upon four basic principle of management: Planning,
      Controlling, Organizing and Supervising!

3154. Allow for more flexibility in schedules. Jire people becasue of
      their merit, not previous locations, levels etc.

3155. reward good work.

3156. Hire individuals who actually care about what they are doing
      rahter than just wanting a permanent paycheck with benefits.

3157. Treat them with respect and consider non-traditional modes of
      oeprating

3158. Give them something worthwhile to do instead of something that
      just makes the agency look good. There\'s a lot of wasted time at
      this agency. Reward employees for how well a job is done, not
      because of who they know. The agency needs more fairness in
      promoting people. The agency is very

3159. Very simple, Reward them for thier knowledge and abilities.

3160. Adequate support through the chain of command and recognition

3161. Keep good managers and award those who work hard and do a quality
      job.

3162. Don\'t mess with them once they are established and let them do
      their job!!!!!

3163. Keep the polltics out of our life.

3164. Increased pay scales at all levels and adequate staffing so Field
      Office staffs have time to breath occasionally.

3165. recognize good work

3166. Promote NRCS, better pay for the lower GS series jobs

3167. ?

3168. Having rules/tools/programs developed and well thought out before
      implementation begins would reduce chaos and frustration.

3169. Stay up with the private sector on salaries. Government is behind.

3170. Focus less on programs and more on technical assistance which
      tends to be more rewarding for both the employee and the customer

3171. Benefical promotion

3172. Instead of paying GS-11 or GS-12 DC\'s to do clerical work on
      Protracts or PRS, hire program clerks at a GS-4 or GS-5 to do that
      that work so the professional staff can do the job they were hired
      for\... Planning and on-site assistance.

3173. Good pay for the complexity of work they perform.

3174. Develop a strong culture of integrity above all.

3175. Respect them and pay them adequately for the increasing workload
      that they are responsible for.

3176. Extend deadlines, for high workload offices to help avoid stress.

3177. Improve the availability of training that employees need to get
      their job done. Currently it is a sink or swim, figure it out for
      yourself situation when a new employee comes on. The workload is
      extremely high in most field offices. Compared to other government
      agencies, the pay is lacking.

3178. Pay them what they worth and show appreciation for them. Make the
      job fun and enjoyable.

3179. Give more empowerment to the lower levels.

3180. work with them and their family

3181. People with 8 to 15 years of experience in manager positions to be
      able to train the new employees. How do people go from a GS-5 to a
      GS-12 in 4 to 5 years.

3182. Less stress because of lack of personnell.

3183. Don\'t promote incompetent employees.

3184. Promote the right person with the right qualifications for the job
      and not just because someon has been around a while or because he
      knows someone. Get rid of poor performers

3185. Keep their personal priorities in mind.

3186. Don\'t promote them they have had enough training for what they
      are about to do-whether through work details or formal training.

3187. By not forcing tham to move every year.

3188. By requiring that

3189. Provide ways to improve moral.

3190. I have been with the agency for 7 years in two states. I have seen
      capable folks (mostly Soil Cons) quit in both places when faced
      with an ultimatum of move or get out. I realize there are benefits
      to seeing how others do the job. At the same time, if a Soil Con
      has a good D.C. to mentor under and enjoys their duty station,
      then let them stay and take over when the D.C. leaves. If there
      are some that want to move, then we should likewise work them to
      accomodate their request. To force everyone to move seems
      nonsensical in some cases.

3191. Be able to work with employees on where they want to live and work

3192. money

3193. To not threaten employees with transfers.

3194. firendly employees, good safe working conditions, good pay with
      living increase, chance to move up

3195. Be fair through the hiring and promotion process. Don\'t focus so
      much on hiring diversity that tend to not relate to our customers
      or take such a long time to learn how to communicate with clients
      it makes our agency less efficient. Focus hiring personnel that
      reflect our prodominate customer base i.e.(farmers, ranchers,
      rural landowners)

3196. Promote based on skill and performance, not based solely on
      diversifying staff. We need employees that reflect our customer
      base ie. (people with farming, ranching, rural background)

3197. Merit incentives

3198. Higher grade levels for lower grade scale.

3199. Keeping the family happy not trying to move them to make them
      retire like they are doing in Oklahoma. Consider the family and
      how it affect them.

3200. Promoting them when thay are qualified and not canceling the
      promotion after applying

3201. Keep them happy

3202. Better pay, giving more notice of reports required by upper
      management so those reports can be scheduled on our time not upper
      management and being able to do your job enjoyably with less
      pressure from upper management.

3203. Reward them for their good effort. The only employees that do not
      get into trouble for quality assurance purposes are the ones that
      do not do anything. We need a balance between Quality and
      Quantity. We have been asked to do more with less for the nine
      years that I have worked here and now management is cracking down
      on the

3204. TRAIN PEOPLE WELL.RECOGNIZE AND REWARD PEOPLE FOR WHAT THEY DO,
      NOT FOR WHO OR WHAT THEY MAY BE.

3205. Offer them the appropriate pay for the work they are doing. You
      have a lot of employees doing the job of a grade level or two
      higher but not receiving the pay. The managers just turn their
      heads to this.

3206. better support system, consistency in program
      funding/implemenation/management, better training

3207. Keep the morale, agency pride, and importance of their job at a
      high level. Be competitive with salaries compared to corporations
      and private sectors.

3208. Hire good quality employess and not hire based on race/gender
      simply to promote diversity. Hire the best person for the job, not
      your friend.

3209. Hire the most qualified employee for the job whether he or she
      fits into the diversity profile. Provide promotion, awards and
      recognition truly based on competancy and quality. In my
      opinion,employees to whom ethics, technical competancy and
      professionalism are important are less often rewarded than others.

3210. Provide them with a safe and comfortable work environment, that
      includes updates in technology.

3211. competitive pay

3212. More specific job duties and better pay associated with these
      duties

3213. NRCS needs to hire individuals that have an agriculture background
      and quit hiring based on race/gender and filling quotas.

3214. Provide adequate compensation.

3215. Hire empolyees who wants to do this kind of work and not the ones
      who just see it as a job or paycheck.

3216. Promote on merit not on who you are or the color of your skin.
      Also provide additional training for individuals to gain the
      knowledge for supervisor roles.

3217. Pay those who work hard and competently a good wage and don\'t
      force people to move if they are doing a good job and are as asset
      to the community they live and work in.

3218. Show you care and willingly help them out

3219. Imporve employee morall

3220. raise their pay.

3221. Quit hiring personal that don\'t have a clue what they are doing!
      Its bad enought that everytime we turn around we have to learn a
      new computer program that does not really help us (only slows us
      down) but then we have to teach students that have not recieved
      good technical training in collage.

3222. Allow individual growth and development without fear of repremand.

3223. To eliminate the hassle the field people receive from NHQ.

3224. Let us do our entended jobs, providing leadership on conservation,
      not having to worry about justifying our budget.

3225. The pay is not competitive with industry and our insurance is to
      high. Increase health care benefits.

3226. Better pay!

3227. It does not go over well when those employees in the state office
      get rewarded just for performing their regular job duties (year
      after year), and those in the field do not get rewarded when they
      perform additional duties. (Rewards are supervisor driven (some
      supervisor\'s give rewards every year and some almost never give
      rewards). Also quit threatening layoffs for a period of the year
      every year because of the budget. Perform the needed training.

3228. Pay by merit.

3229. Real sincere caring about the individual, showing appreciation for
      a job well done, uncomplicate performance measure system,etc.

3230. Increase pay and reconition of hard workers, not hard talkers.

3231. To show fairness to all employees, not just minorities. Show that
      promotions are based on what you know not who you know.

3232. Allow promotions to be given to the best person for the job!

3233. Hiring people who have the knowledge and experience in the field
      they are to work in.

3234. Do not have any favorite employees.

3235. Timely training to keep up with new technologies, keeping pay and
      benefits competitive with the private sector.

3236. I am very proud to work for the NRCS. NRCS is a quality agency
      that provides technical assistance to protect and conserve natural
      resources to individuals and communities. Our service and
      assistance is second to none. But, NRCS needs to discontinue its
      way of managerial thinking of increasing demands on field offices.
      By this I mean we are expected to deliver more program dollars,
      more management and program reports using unreliable and sometimes
      complicated web based programs (Protracts, PRS, Web TCAS, CST,
      ArcGIS, PCMS)while not providing enough staffing to accomplish
      this and do a quality job of providing technical assistance. We
      are no longer able to provide quality technical assistance to our
      customers that we used to be able to due to what I previously
      mentioned. Job dissatisfaction from stress and frustration is the
      highest that I\'ve seen in my career.

3237. Recognition for hard work and dedication with Up Grades and not
      keep adding accountability and responsibility at the Field Level.

3238. Focus on team attributes, recognize superior talent that
      underpromises and overdelivers (does not have to be someone that
      puts in extra time in meeting normal expectations), recognize
      leadership abilities at all levels, decipher between the achievers
      and those that are good talkers,

3239. Pay them enough money.

3240. Communication. Taking time out for the individual-a pat in the
      back every now and then. Old fashioned appreciation.

3241. Make sure that the employee is being paid for the job they are
      doing (not simply for what their position says they do). Make sure
      that those in managerial positions are qualified and competent to
      be there!

3242. Having good benefits and resonable chances of promotions

3243. making programs easier for them to promote

3244. Pay increases based on length of service.

3245. Hire the best, highest qualified people and pay them well.

3246. Minimize office politics

3247. Offer more monetary incentive to stay

3248. Empower employees who design to grow and learn and who are
      responsible.

3249. Keep them in the loop when making changes, not just

3250. Better communication between upper and lower management from
      national to state, area and field offices.

3251. Keep social security alive, Fix insurance problem so that
      employees have better dental and vision plans, keep retirement.

3252. Don\'t reverse discriminate

3253. Provide good training opportunities, Provide positive support to
      field offices from management level, state office and technicial
      office employees, promote employees when desirved, keep salaries
      up with inflation, provide equipment to carry out the job.

3254. Putting more emphasis on hiring the right employees in the first
      place, then manegment needs to treat competent empoyees fairly. It
      appears there is no reason to do a good job. Question #5, needs an

3255. Rewarding the good employees that deserve promotion and not just
      the minorities

3256. Hire good employees that are knowledgable and eager to perform and
      learn, then treat them decent.

3257. Pay for the workload that each person has and completes. Some
      workloads are heavier than others, which require more skills in
      order to complete, this people should receive more pay\...

3258. Flexibility in work location.

3259. #1 Need to recognize that NRCS is a national organization. Many
      state offices do not see beyond their state boundaries. They are
      not interested in employees outside the state. Many jobs are not
      listed on USAJOBS - they are only known within the state.
      Experience from outside the state is looked at as negative. If you
      desire to move outside that state, that is negative to them. #2
      Look at other federal agencies and see what benefits they\'re
      offering. #3 Promotions should be based on skill, merit, and
      production.

3260. By allowing them to grow and attain knowledge within their job
      without extreme pressure to accomplish goals and deadlines before
      they are really ready. Being fair and equitable with them.

3261. Don\'t move employees just to make an example out of them, to
      improve mobility.

3262. Decrease the stress by increasing the assistance that the
      employees need. ie\... If the workload has increased 3,4,5 times,
      and the persons available to accomplish the workload has decrease.
      Don\'t have expectations of the employee to accomplish that
      increased workload to the quantity that is demanded, or to the
      quality of work completed if the quantity is, that would have
      taken 2-3 people to complete in the past.

3263. Retention Bonus for those eligible to retire

3264. Promote employees that deserve the promotion with the background
      and time in sevice, rather than people that are not as qualified,
      that fill a certain quota.

3265. Promote employees based on their abilities and work performance,
      not the lack of.

3266. Promote individuals that are deserving and letting go employees
      that are not adequately fulfilling their job requirements.

3267. It is critical to have human resource support when an employee
      starts to work for NRCS. The next step is the training that is
      needed on a reular basis. I would say those are two of the most
      impportant areas. Computer training for our older employees is
      critical.

3268. NA

3269. Provide them with support and guidance to help them learn and do
      their jobs well.

3270. Equality

3271. Develop program rules and guidelines before the program is
      released not after the program is underway. delivery of programs
      is at the field level. Try using the field personnel to trouble
      shoot before initiating a program.

3272. Pay!

3273. Hire new employees based on capability and not race or gender.

3274. Engage them. Put them to work. Train. Mentor. Allow for mistakes.
      Allow trial and error. Sink or swim sometimes. Have high
      expectations.

3275. Competitive wages

3276. Pay Well

3277. promotions should be based on work performance

3278. More Money

3279. Improve pay, reduce paperwork

3280. Advancement

3281. Eliminate incompetent employees in managerial positions.

3282. Let good employees know they are appreciated and not bypass them
      in advancement by moving someone with less experience but a higher
      minority status ahead of them.

3283. Reconizing the good work they do.

3284. Promoting those who deserveit and not because of gender

3285. continue to reward good employees. The reinstatement of the 5 tier
      system should continue this.

3286. At this time there is so much pressure on the field office in
      regards to goals, programs, getting practices on the ground.
      Computers programs, this checking computer system in regards to
      conservation planning, now takes more time to complete a plan than
      before the change. New ways in which we do the job consisting of
      changes in computer programs, very little training recieved to
      adequately feel that you are trained well, no hard copy training
      manuals on computer programs that we are performing, forcing
      computer programs on the field, that still have bugs in them on
      the field office to make them work, in some cases these changes
      make an individual to perform the job more than one time creating
      a backlog. There has been so many changes done in the last 5 years
      it is not funny, knowledge of what you learned previously, will
      need to be deprogramed and relearned.

3287. Increase the pay when the leadership and skills rise or so many
      years with the agency.

3288. Create a positive environment for involvement by the employee and
      promote according to qualifications.

3289. Encouraging them.

3290. Treat them fair. Question 5 above does not have a choice of

3291. Strong Leadership

3292. wages and good office atmasphere, full coop with/from OCC &
      District personel

3293. Intern Program

3294. Give us the right tools and adequate support to accomplish the
      workload assigned.

3295. Allow increase in salaries without an act of Congress process and
      let employees know they are doing a good job. They need to know
      they are TRULY appreciated for the good work they do. If it is not
      good work then assist them with improvement and encouragement
      instead of berating them.

3296. Pay and job satisfaction.

3297. Remove administrative responsibilitis (paperwork) as much as
      possible and let them focus on the field work. Don\'t constantly
      change paperwork, thus making us do paperwork over again.

3298. Promote individuals on the basis of the job perormance and
      abilites, rather than innate qualities.

3299. Adequate Pay and good working conditions.

3300. Workload should be reduced. Less time spent on electronic,
      computer generated materials to ease managements responsibilities.

3301. Establish same basis for each individual. Reduce red tape and
      politics within the job, promotions and awards.

3302. Provide a friendlier workplace. With transfers, warnings,
      reprimands, and OTI\'s being handed out like candy at Halloween
      it\'s no wonder our people are quiting or retiring as fast as they
      can.

3303. Find out what they want and help them achieve it. If they want to
      stay where they are at, don\'t move them, especially in areas
      where it is hard to fill vacancies.

3304. Provide the tools needed to complete their jobs in a professional
      manner.

3305. Make salary competitive with private sector

3306. more pay,

3307. Recognition for a job well done, providing a good working
      environment and support from supervisors.

3308. Employees suggestions and input should be given more weight by
      management.

3309. Controling Managers micro managers

3310. Increase pay and training

3311. Allow more time in the field. Less paperwork and red tape would
      allow this to transpire.

3312. Raise Pay & Lower amount of Paperwork

3313. Hire more Soil Conservationist to help reduce workload tension

3314. Show that you appreciate them and the work they do.

3315. Let them know that they are appreciated.

3316. The flexable leave program

3317. NRCS should continue to be willing to work with the employees in
      areas concerning family. NRCS business is vital to our country,
      but falimy is vital to each and every employee. Satisfied
      employees translate into productive, well rounded employees.

3318. Pay/Recognition for Excellence

3319. Keep them happy and reward the good employees!!

3320. promotions and better pay

3321. Adequate compensation for work performed. Reduce the barriers that
      prevent clerks and technicians from changing series. Lots of good
      people working for the agency that did not finish college, but
      their abilities and experience far exceed the

3322. Lowered workload, more time spent on conservation, less time spent
      on programs.

3323. Better leadership

3324. Incentives based on accomplishments

3325. more Pay

3326. Job satisfaction and competive salaries

3327. don\'t force employees to move

3328. Let them work where they want to live.

3329. Providing a good work environment and stable work location.

3330. Reward good performance.

3331. More competitive salaries for technical positions

3332. Having technically sound leaders and managers

3333. No mandatory changing work locations. Putting husbands and wives
      in locations closer together.

3334. Up the pay as most private sector, all Office managers should be
      GS 12.

3335. Flexible duty station assignments. Let the employee work close to
      where family wants to live.

3336. Recognition and rewards and not blanket rewards that end up going
      to people who really didnt deserve it.

3337. Reward them with promotions.

3338. Keeping morale up. Make sure everyone still enjoys the work they
      do, and don\'t dread getting up and coming to work in the morning.

3339. Help employees reach their career goals & recognition, rewards and
      promotions based on merit.

3340. To be openly honest in every aspect of our agency.

3341. Better recognition for a job well done. Better Leadership
      Development program\--identifying those who have the ability and

3342. Encourage employees to go on details, especially to other states
      and countries and to the private sector. Develop more technical,
      non-supervisory GS-11 positions to keep up with other,
      higher-graded, agencies.

3343. Promote quality employees based on job performance only!

3344. Appropriate pay and address heavy workload issues

3345. Provide clear guidelines and policy for program implementation and
      activities. Provide sufficient time for quality work (no
      impossible deadlines). Do not reward through promotion those
      individuals who are not worthy.

3346. I believe salaries is the big one. Pay should be comparable to
      what the private sector is so perspective employees consider the
      government or stay with the government.

3347. Reward good perfomance. Cut down on nit-picky criticism. Allow
      flexibility in work schedule and duty location.

3348. Promote employees based on their ability and skills, not just
      because they are in a preferential class, ie sex, race. The
      fastest way to demoralize the workforce is to promote incompetence
      in the name of racial equality. After all we are AMERICANS, no
      hyphen here.

3349. Give them tools based on field activities and user friendliness
      instead of basing them on the needs of national accountability.

3350. Providing them with the resources needed to stay at the top of the
      knowledge curve. Training, job opportunites, and new experiences
      under different philosophies are useful in creating an open mind.

3351. Maintain job satisfaction through a pleasant, fulfilling
      experience.

3352. Treat workers with respect, proper training, good benefits,strong
      equal opportunities

3353. Make salaries and raises comparable to those doing the same job at
      corporate/non government level

3354. Acknowledge them for their COMPETENCE and hard work regardless of
      age and/or sex, rather than acknowledging just those that have
      been in the agency for years and are men.

3355. Offer financial incentive, i.e. promotion, bonus, etc.

3356. -Competent pay -Don\'t force them to move somewhere they don\'t
      want to

3357. Providing good mentors to new employees.

3358. Rewarding all employees for work done and not overloading with too
      many demanding short deadlines

3359. Quit playing the Programs game and get back to basic Conservation
      Planning and Application. We chase money for one priority after
      another and have a contracting system that slows up the process.

3360. Stand behind and support them.

3361. My feeling is that the Agency has went through so many changes and
      reductions in force over the past 10 years that the old

3362. Promotions when needed.

3363. Give promotions when employees are elgible and look at keeping the
      new employees hired on.

3364. fair and equitable treatment

3365. Providing recognition for meritorious service in both physical
      awards and bonuses/raises.

3366. Diverse opportunities early so new conservationists aren\'t
      \'stuck\' doing paperwork. The employee needs to be flexible for
      this to occur. Policy need to be applied consistently so employees
      aren\'t frustrated.

3367. Training. Mentoring would be great not just for new employees but
      for people 10 to 15 years in as well. I would like to see the
      graduate studies program broadend. If you have an excellent
      employee who is a GS-11 or higher and is interested in expanding
      himself for the good of the agency they should be allowed to go
      back to school and achieve a masters or Phd. And finally
      empowerment for all employees to achieve the goals of the agency
      with technical a financial tools available.

3368. Provide opportunities for promotion and a good working
      environment.

3369. Fix the process of conservation programs. Let the field do its job
      more efficiently, which doesn\'t mean going out and buying more
      computers. It means taking a look at how we do business from NHQ
      to the field level. It means eliminating tasks which do not allow
      us to put

3370. Allow us to do what we do. We are good at it and do it better than
      any one else. Job security is still very important to most people,
      more than pay and benefit package. However pay and benefit package
      are what draws people to a job first in most cases. Our personel
      people need to take lessons on dealing with customers. I believe
      the mentor program is one of the best things we have to benefit
      both the agency and staff,it could and should be expanded on. It
      is easy, and necessary to generate loyalty.

3371. Keep up pay and benefits, give them opportunity for training and
      advancement. Reward their hard work and make them feel valued.

3372. In order to keep good employees working for the NRCS I would
      recomend the following. Superviors should act in a professional
      manner and leave their economic and political agendas at home and
      not engage in conduct that undermines an employees contribution to
      finishing the soil survey of a county. There are

3373. Money-The private sector pays better for new hires, than NRCS. The
      differnce in pay, many times out ways the benefits, and/or on the
      job satisfaction when newly hired.

3374. keeping employees informed of what is going on in terms of
      management\'s agenda, budget, and legislative affairs.

3375. quality management that has been lost over the past 10 years

3376. Keeping them informed and educated so they have the tools and
      competency to service our customers.

3377. Allow technical staff to concentrate on technical issues. Hire
      administrative assitance to take care of administrative and
      program administration (Contract Program assistants are working
      well)

3378. Better benifits and back to basic conservation activities.

3379. Providing advancement opportunities to employees of all skill
      levels

3380. Provide opportunities for the lower ranked staff to advance.
      Programs such as the SOAR program. It\'s in the General Manual but
      you never hear of any type of opportunities for individuals to
      apply for this program.

3381. Provide incentives to expand their capabilities. Reward them for
      the extra efforts and accomplishments they make. Let them seek
      training outside the agency and then bring that training to those
      within the agency that need it. Get rid of the old school managers
      that manage by stifeling and intimidating instead of manageing for
      excellence.

3382. Good pay. Don\'t overload them with duties especially with work
      that has nothing to do with their goals.

3383. Good employees need to be recoginized. It appears bad ones are
      recogonized also. How can a 14 person field office all get awards,
      theres is probally atleast one below average employee.

3384. more opportunities for in place promotions

3385. Good salary and benefits

3386. give them real conservation work, not more programs to meet the
      needs of Washington

3387. Give recognition for work accomplished

3388. Managers need to not fear getting after the lazy or inadequate
      people. It is not fair to those with excellent work ethic to have
      more piled on and let others slide because the manager knows that
      person will get the job done. If necessary reward the good
      employees financially.

3389. Less emphasis on too many incentive programs which tend to lead to
      time constraints for implementation and thus, poor results. Less
      demand for redundant reports from program managers (unless PRS is
      upgraded to make reporting more effective). More support for field
      office personnel where everything that upper management develops
      falls upon (the realization that whatever is developed by each
      level of upper management is finally laid to rest on the
      individual in the field office). Field office staff are the ones
      required to know it all. This does get overwhelming. Especially
      with the fast pace of change these days. Very little time is left
      for follow-up with the customer. This is especially true for
      planners.

3390. Reduce Red Tape.

3391. Advance the people that have the knowledge to do the job whether
      they have a college degree or not.

3392. Fairly recognize their efforts and achievements. Cut down on the
      red tape. More job security. No more threats of being outsourced.
      Promoting people to positions of management and supervision who
      have shown they have more than the technical abilities. They
      should also have to demonstrate that they have the people skills.
      These are the people that become good supervisors. The number one
      reason people leave or stay at a job is because of their
      supervisor.

3393. Award people for doing a good job and getting the higher ups to
      understand what we do in the field.

3394. GS pay schedule is out of date compared to the private sector and
      the pay is low for the amount of work the state and national
      levels want from the lower levels. People (especially recent
      college graduates) see the pay and that pushes them away, unless
      they really want to work for the government.

3395. Hire employees with an interest in agriculture. Continue to
      recognize good work. Encourage employees to continue learning, and
      support them in joining professional societies relating to their
      field of work. State office personnel need to make an effort to
      understand the needs and daily duties of the field office staff.
      Reduce the amount of constant changes. Example: We\'re getting
      ready to recieve the 4th new appendix to the CCC-1200 for the 2006
      sign-up. Participants have been asked to come back in and re-sign
      up for the EQIP program 3-4 times SO FAR. This is a waste of staff
      time, landowner time, and resources. Make a rule for a program,
      and stick to it. Do not change the rules part way through a
      contract. Consistancy for employees, programs, etc. is important
      to maintaining employee and customer satisfaction. Do things to
      boost employee moral, and make each employee feel as though they
      are making a difference. In my area, we had an awards luncheon.
      Other areas of the state gave out awards and had a holiday party.
      They were able to socialize, get to know the other employees in
      the area, find out what\'s going on in other parts of the area.
      This allows for better communication between office, area office,
      and state office personnel.

3396. RECOGNITION, MANAGEMENT LOYALTY

3397. Recognize employees for doing good jobs and going beyond. Give the
      employees that have the experience but not the degree the same
      opportunities to advance as those of us who have the degrees
      because those employees at the field office level are the ones
      that are the trainers and doing the grunt work.

3398. Allow them plenty of time in the field assisting those who need
      us. Less paper/computer work.

3399. reward

3400. Respect for the employees, support for the decisions supervisors
      need to make, less computer entries.

3401. Empowerment to do our jobs.

3402. Rewards and recognition for good work.

3403. Better program development. Less changes after announcements to
      simplify administration.

3404. By offering good training and promotion opportunities. We need to
      do a better job at the GS-12 level in the field.

3405. Give them opportunities to advance.

3406. Increased pay and opportunities. Based on the current system there
      is an artificial roadblock for advancing from GS13 to GS14 because
      of very few if any GS14 positions other than those in NHQ or NTCs.

3407. Pay raises and awards for good work

3408. communication

3409. Get a system in place that allows management to get rid of wacko
      employees who pull down morale. Adn get rid of managers who can\'t
      recognize them!

3410. Ensure there are viable career ladders, and that ascending them is
      truly based on merit.

3411. Hire and/or develop REAL leaders; not managers who speak

3412. Keep work challenging and interesting.

3413. Acknowledge the fact that upper management does not have all of
      the answers. Rely on your mid-level teams in order to take
      advantage of the expertise that they have. Make sure that those
      with expertise in compliance are given their due recognition, not
      necessarily free rein, but the freedom and budget to accomplish
      the goal that will assist NRCS and the image of NRCS even if it
      means acknowledging that NRCS is not perfect.

3414. Provide

3415. In short add diversity to our tasks via details with increased
      financial benefits. In a two year time frame find a justifiable
      reason to increase GS pay levels at least one level for many of
      our job series. Support follows: We have moved many technical
      staff into technical positions and managerial positions without
      the sufficient skills to hit the ground running. In the past we
      had State and Area Conservationist and staff to assist new
      position employees in the weak areas identified. These folks are
      now thinned out especially the technical staff and thus the
      managers do not have time to get to the lower level managers and
      do 2-3 day OJT trainings and thus the effectiveness and efficiency
      of our employees is extremely compromised. They Flounder! They are
      removed to readily and blamed that they could not cut the bill-
      WRONG!!! We must move on in an expedient manner to be compatable
      with partner agency salaries for the knowledge and support we
      provide our agency. Comparable positions in other USDA and USDI
      agencies are 1 GS level above ours or same GS level staff have
      other tasks that allow for supplemental pay. We have the Emergency
      Watershed Protection Program which is very limiting in staff
      outreach to be a broad descipline challenging program. It is tough
      to mainatain a healthy staff when historically we are cheaper than
      our sister agencies in overall benefits. The days of our staff
      being true to us and

3416. Job satisfaction NRCS had provived excellent services to the
      American public with much much more. It was a place where one
      could easily come to work, learn, and grow professionally while
      serving the public. The damage done by the changes made during
      1992 to 2000, will take us a long time to get it back to what this
      agency used to be.

3417. Offering advancement

3418. keeping then interested in thier jobs

3419. Making the job fun again, working together, less demanding, not
      trying to accomplish the impossible, opportunities for career
      development and advancement.

3420. Honesty, fairness and flexibility to balance family and work. If
      flexibility were not here, I would leave in a second.

3421. SET GRADE LEVELS OF JOBS COMPETITIVELY WITH OTHER AGENCYS.

3422. Recognition

3423. give them the promotions, awards and recognition they deserve.

3424. no idea

3425. Willingness to think outside of the

3426. Pay them what they are worth. End job descriptions that include

3427. Hire good supervisors and make them accountable

3428. Educating them on the job with someone who has former experience
      with NRCS.Working in an office with others who are also new to the
      agency is very difficult. It creates a lot of hostility and
      confusion and an over abundance of mistakes.

3429. Give training to those who ask for it. If they don\'t ask or when
      ask don\'t show an interest then stop with them. But, over the
      past years, training has been cut short while they keep piling on
      more programs for us to work with. Training and the proper time
      keeps some of the stress off of the employees. Part time (WAEs)
      are vital also as they could be a key to the future. B

3430. Honesty is the best policy.

3431. good communications

3432. Provide some latitude in allowing them to decide priorities of
      their job and empower them to develop high quality conservation
      activities in their region of influence and then evaluate them
      base don that rather than on how many contracts are written and
      approved for cost share activities.

3433. Reward the employees that work hard and care about the job they do
      and get rid of the loafers.

3434. Keep wages competitive, offer more flexibility for job placement
      choices, allow promotion opportunities to be based more heavily on
      job experience not simply educational attainment

3435. Provide a high level of job satisfaction centered around getting
      conservation actually practiced on the ground. Through adequate
      leadership this is most effectively accomplished.

3436. 1.Better salary. 2.Having programs to administer that do more than
      create lots of paperwork. 3.Having more efficient & easier to use
      computer programs so we can do our job with less time spent on the
      computer. 4.Adequate training for the tasks we are expected to do
      especially with regard to computer tasks and new programs to
      administer. 5.Supervisors that are fair and equitable and don\'t
      just belong to the good old boys club.

3437. Reward them for work well done. Have comparable positions levels
      and pays as other agencies.

3438. Other federal agencies pay more for similar positions, I am not
      tempted by them because I do not agree with their mission but I
      know that college students look at this when applying for jobs.

3439. To keep the work interesting and beneficial to themselves and the
      public; to

3440. Pay them salaries comperable to private industry

3441. Increase pay for the technical positions that is compatible to the
      private sector.

3442. To award them properly with pay increases and give public
      recognition for jobs well done. We need to get away from the good
      ol boy\'s club.

3443. Having practical, workable programs with less red tape so that
      employees can spend more time getting conservation on the ground,
      and less time doing paperwork.

3444. Making the job about helping people once more.

3445. High expectations of professionalism and technical skills. Treat
      all employees with dignity; abstain or re-educate ourselves and
      our staffs to abstain from

3446. Field Support is program driven, therefore, our good employees
      have become program planners instead of total resource
      conservation planners.

3447. good relationships and better wages

3448. Hire competent WAEs as soon as they exibit competency in thier job
      on a perminent basis with benifits.

3449. Make training a priority. To do this states must receive adequate
      funding.

3450. Make sure they are not overwhelmed by change and provide
      incentives to work harder, better and longer.

3451. Provide the field with the needed staff to accomplish the mission
      of the Agency. In order to meet the need of the future,
      individuals need to be hired and trained before the knowledge of
      our current staff walks out the door.

3452. Maintain a structure for advancement. Good for those in management
      positions but need to imporve for those within the techncial
      disciplines. This applies to all levels - Regional, state, areas
      or zones.

3453. Maintain technical competence of the agency. NRCS is

3454. Increased pay more comparable with private jobs. Benefits are very
      good and comparable.

3455. Reward them for the outstanding work that they do. Reward them for
      going beyond the call of duty. Although the budget has to taken
      into account don\'t use it as an excuse not to reward employees.
      Some managers reward regardless of budget while others do not.

3456. Most good employees who like working with ag producers stay. It is
      the new employees who have no ties to agriculture and are just

3457. Take care of business, recognize strong performance, and fair
      advancement opportunities. Support from management for employees
      doing legal and ethical public service. This does not exist
      currently.

3458. Make sure that employees are selected on merit, not on filling a
      gap to meet parity of an unrealistic percentage of the overall
      U.S. workforce (the number of qualified candidates available to
      the NRCS is not even close to the overall workforce). Therefore
      lesser qualified candidates are selected, which decreases
      management quality within NRCS. Provide upper management
      opportunities outside the beltway of Washington DC.

3459. Provide them the tools to get their job done properly, give them
      the training necessary, good pay, awards for going above and
      beyond the job at hand, recognize their abilities and promote them
      to more responsibiities, have better leadership at all levels of
      the agency with competent people so time and efforts are not
      wasted on matters that won\'t be successful, and get the overall
      NRCS game plan or vision for the future as good as it can be.

3460. treat them nice, be honest, trust and believe in them that they
      can do the jobs. Give them some training so they can continue to
      improve with their works. rewards and compliments when they do a
      great job.

3461. Quit mandating programs that are so flawed they can\'t be used.
      Then, expecting employees to work out the problems while trying to
      perform their jobs.

3462. Be honest with them and reward them for their

3463. Providing leadership, guidance, and programs that are realistic.

3464. Stop wasting our time with baby setting TSP\'s and chasing the
      lasted fat i.e. enerage calculators and market based conservation.
      Both are old hat and they did not work last time.

3465. Fair treatment in promotions and awards. There is a difference
      between being eligible for a job and qualified for a job. We have
      elected to promote people who may be eligible but not qualified to
      do the work.

3466. Reward technical skills the same way that supervisory and
      management positions are rewarded. We talk about technical
      knowledge as being the strenth of our agency, but we don\'t really
      put much stock in it anymore. Also, there is no real incentive for
      good work. Promotions are often based on promoting less capable
      persons in order to meet other objectives. Also, we frequently
      stymie the efforts and enthusiasm of resourceful and energetic
      employees until they lose interest and/or become bitter and less
      productive.

3467. Give them the freedom to do there jobs.

3468. Develop a system by which technically sound employees can increase
      their pay WITHOUT having to become a supervisor. The current
      system only provides promotion (usually at the GS 12 level) by one
      becoming a supervisor. Not everyone is cut out to
      supervise\...actually, very few people are!! It doesn\'t matter
      that you may not be good supervisor/managerial material, that\'s
      the ONLY way you can progress! THAT\'S NOT RIGHT!!! Promote, but
      don\'t force employees to supervise! Since working for the
      Government, I have had the worst supervisors! Yes, they knew their
      job, but they NEVER should have been put in supervisory positions!
      It sets them up for failure, makes employees extremely frustrated,
      and only is a loose-loose situation!

3469. Let them advance in pay without having to become a supervisor

3470. comparable pay to private sector. Developing good leaders and
      bosses who can actually lead, have leadership skills, and rapport
      between all levels.

3471. Relax restrictions in regard to time management, leave, and
      general working conditions.

3472. Pay could be more equitable with private industry. Let them do the
      jobs they were hired to do without overloading them because of
      unfilled positions they have to cover for or overwhelming them
      with colateral duties.

3473. Recognition for good work, keeping employees in the loop on the
      agency\'s inner workings, and good communication between all
      levels of the agency.

3474. Employees need to feel that their efforts are a part of the
      solution not just task workers.

3475. Let them grow as technical specialists; support a wider range of
      technical endeavors

3476. Hire from outside the agency

3477. Provide opportunity for employees to advance in positions equal to
      their abilities, not to the level of the weakest employee in the
      job title.

3478. Performance pay for superior work. Stop rewarding average and
      below average employees. Fire employees that do not work,
      especially those that are

3479. Recognition

3480. Keep the pay moving up, quicker and give employees a fair way, to
      get promoted, rather than politics as ususal.

3481. Better Pay

3482. Higher pay for individuales with advanced skilles and not be
      locked into a pay grade because of your academic degree or
      knowlege.

3483. Training and fair promotions

3484. Publicizing NRCS

3485. Being part of the work team and opportunities for training and
      advancement.

3486. Stay competitive with the market if not above.

3487. Offer more incentives to perform well.

3488. The good technical people I have seen leave. Have left for one of
      three reasons: pay, location or a work experience tailored to
      their personal goals and desires

3489. Offer more competitive pay.

3490. Higher salaries

3491. Treat employees with respect and give them the training they need
      to comply with supervisor\'s instructions.

3492. Rewarding good performance and removing poor performers.

3493. Increased recogintion at the field level.

3494. Opportunities for advancement, acknowledgment for good work by
      suoervisors, training

3495. Eliminate the bureaucracy and give employees the freedom to do
      what they need to do in their job. Provide more consistancy
      between technology and programatic implementation. Concentrate on
      our goals and quit trying to be everything to everyone.

3496. Salaries need to be equal or more than in private sector. Good
      employees should be recognized for their efforts.

3497. There are six important ways to keep a dedicated and competent
      NRCS employee satisfied: assign challenging projects, give
      recoginition comensurate with level of effort and success, enlist
      the advice of the employee in important management endeavors,
      provide the necessary tools needed to successfully execute
      difficult projects, assign management responsibility to the
      employee, and encouratge time off with family and to replensih
      mental/physical health.

3498. Recognition and good benefits

3499. Treat employees with respect. Provide opportunities for training
      and advancement.

3500. Hire employees based on their previous work experience. If someone
      works in an office for several years, there is a pretty good
      chance they will stay if they get the job they want. The hardest
      thing on an office is change - if there is alot of turnover,
      nothing gets accomplished. Hire people on their abilities, not on
      how many hours that sat in a class room.

3501. In hiring and promotions to consider work experience rather than
      just educational experience.

3502. Moral and pay.

3503. Provide opportunities for challenge.

3504. Reward their efforts. We have a huge workload and can not even
      come close to completing all assigned task.

3505. Recognition of their requests and accomplishments.

3506. Give ongoing praise and recognition for work well-done. This
      agency is populated, despite being understaffed, with people who
      willingly go out of their way to make sure the public is served.
      Giving once a year merit awards only goes so far. Praise for work
      well done on a regular basis is more valuable than monetary awards
      who\'s numbers are limited due to budget deficiences. Good
      management is the key to keeping good employees. Good management
      means putting your employees first. Do that and good public
      service will follow.

3507. Salary

3508. Good Communiations ,Good Pay .

3509. Provide promotion opportunities for employees from Technician to
      Conservationist when they complete the requirements, don\'t weigh
      us down with paperwork when we ask to improve our knowledge,
      skills, abilities by attending training, take care of problem
      employees and not ignore them, take employee complaints about
      working conditions seriously and not ignore them, get both sides
      of the story when there is a complaint and weigh them equally,
      arrange mediation in a timely manner, listen to the mediators
      report and act accordingly.

3510. By creating a positive work environment. I think that many times
      employees get frustrated with all the changes being made to
      supposedly make things better, then we end up doing something
      totally different.

3511. Quick advancement, and a pat on the back for doing a good job.

3512. Treating the lower level employees as good as the upper level

3513. Reduce complexity of the job, thus reducing frustration.

3514. I can\'t think of anything being done differently. It would be
      nice if there were funds to pay for continuing education.

3515. Provide good training and information to the employee and the
      employee should know what they are doing.

3516. Cut down on required forms and paperwork.

3517. Long term consistency in job responsibilities, flexible work
      schedules, and fair compensation.

3518. I\'ve heard a lot of our new employees complaining. I think the
      excessive computer time we spend now on the job is part of it.
      They are hired in a natural resource technical area, then expected
      to be on the computer 90% of the time doing accounting,
      contracting, etc. It used to be so much easier and you could
      actually plan with landowners and be out in the field learning
      about their issues and figuring how to resolve them. We are
      becoming more isolated from our clients. This is too bad because
      we are losing good people and our clients also. Primary way is to
      let them do field work at least 50% of their time and get someone
      else to do the accounting, etc.

3519. Hire people who a strong believers in ag and resource
      conservation. Improve pay at lower levels and reduce time on
      redundant paperwork. Push people back to the field and away from
      the computer.

3520. Less paper work associated with actual completion of conservation
      application on the ground.

3521. Increase in pay for lower grades. Reward them for their hard work.

3522. Promote reward programs, recognize individuals for
      accomplishments, realize that deadlines are not timely with other
      programs we\'re administering, recognize competent offices that
      are able to handle the workload and not move individuals
      involuntarily.

3523. Good employees are kept by ensuring their credibility is kept in
      tact. Changing rules in the middle of programs forces us to
      contact producers and change our story. This hurts the credibility
      of the agency with our customers. I am extremely irritated when I
      am forced to correct statements made to my customers due to a
      change in policy after signup has started. We should not start a
      signup for a program unless all information is known and does not
      change for that signup.

3524. lift the mandatory mobility for further advancement.

3525. Do not over burden them.

3526. Show that they are real people, not that anyone can or will do the
      work. Because there is more money in private business, but it
      doesn\'t have all the benefits sometimes.

3527. Make them feel needed. Advance them when they deserve it.

3528. Help them attain their career goal; recognize extra effort and
      achievement. I think NRCS does a good job of both.

3529. Reward preformance; help obtain career goal. I think NRCS does a
      good job of these.

3530. First we have to hire quality personel in the first place and as
      far as I know we are not losing people because they don\'t like
      ther job - it\'s because they are retiring.

3531. Using alternative work locations. With the communications
      infrastructure we have developed the concept of the state office
      and area office having all of their personnel located in one spot
      has become outdated.

3532. Provide enough office help to help to meet workload demands. There
      is a continual increases in programs, which results in additional
      contracts the field offices manage. However, there is never
      additional people added to manage the increased workload. We just
      add more and more work to the point it is not manageable.

3533. We are the Natural Resources Conservation SERVICE. Within MOST
      employees is an inate desire to serve, and to work toward an
      ideal. I believe that in every decision that is made within this
      agency, there MUST be a connection to the field office and the
      customers that are served there. In my own simple mind, I believe
      that managements job, at every level, is to make the job of those
      he or she supervises easier, so our mission can be accomplished.
      And ultimately our mission is to help people at the field level.
      To keep good employees, every employee must feel there job is an
      itegral part of delivering a product or service to the customer.
      If there is a disconnect,we become another just beauracratic
      monster. We must continually ask the question, how will this help
      those in my charge help people get conservation on the land.

3534. Allow employees to provide feedback about programs and incorporate
      ideas some of the ideas if appropriate. Employees will only
      provide feedback when they feel ideas provided will be considered.

3535. Reduce the bullshit policies that motivate us to mediocrity.

3536. Create a more family friendly environment, promote more common
      sense rules.

3537. Treat the well and help the out when they are needing help, that
      doesn\'t happen.

3538. Focus on letting us have a even mix of office and field work. I
      believe that are customers are more trusting of our agency when
      they see us collecting adequate field inventories. Field work also
      hones are skills and helps us see first hand how the natural world
      functions. This gives our customers more competent technical
      assistance.

3539. Reduce stress levels by providing stability

3540. Improving moral. Also we need to compete with the private sector.
      Job security will not cut any more.

3541. Workload is 4 fold in the last 5 years. Hire more help!

3542. Pay and benefits.

3543. Treat them fair, pay them for what they do, don\'t overload them
      with work, remember without the soldiers you don\'t need generals.
      Don\'t ask GS-6 to do the work of a GS-9 it doesn\'t work they
      feel like they are getting the shaft.

3544. Better pay and benefits. They need better dental insurance.

3545. Provide the opportunity to employees who have accumulated sick
      leave at the end of their career, to be compensated for the
      accumulated hours. Provide better coverate on the dental insurance
      options. Increased government contributions to retirement.
      Continue to provide up to date information in various forms for
      employees. Provide incentives for innovative ideas and
      implementation of those ideas, without the employees submission of
      idea for an incentive.

3546. Good pay and benefits!

3547. Give the technician\'s a raise. Hell we don\'t even get a turkey
      or a ham for thanksgiving. The private sector does.All we get is
      some stupid ass survey asking how we like our job. and a bowling
      shirt or a hat.

3548. Eliminate the huge amounts of red tape, bureaucracy, worthless
      paper forms and heavy computer addiction. Go back to the
      conservation programs that put sound conservation on the ground,
      not quick

3549. Utilize their talents instead of parking them in front of a
      computer doing data entry.

3550. Let people in the field offices help in the decison making
      process. We have a better feel for what goes on in the local
      agriculture that many of our supervisors.

3551. Support employees\' decisions and actions.

3552. Competitive pay compared to the private sector and good benefits.

3553. Develop program manuals before programs commence. Listen to the
      needs of the employees at the field office level, provide enough
      training and funding for additional employees to manage the work
      load and reward them for a job well done. Provide more career
      guidance.

3554. Keep salaries competitive with similar non-federal postions.

3555. Continue the benefits.

3556. The employeeÆs contributions are beneficial to the mission of our
      organization and by continuing to show employees that they are a
      value to the organization. I feel that the NRCS is a family
      oriented organization

3557. Maintain positive working environment and promotion potential.

3558. You need to recognize not only area office people and state office
      employees but also field office personnel.

3559. Quality pay and awards for work accomplished. It\'s sad, when one
      supervisor gives an award for the same accomplishments you have
      performed and you don\'t get an award, because your supervisor
      does not think it is necessary, but will state in your performance
      review how well you perform the past year, above and beyond your
      duties.

3560. Figure out ways so that more time is spent helping producers in
      the field and less time is spent reporting what is done.

3561. Changing some of the rules that don\'t make goog common sense.
      More complete investigation of some of the complaints.

3562. Treat them as good, solid adults. Employees want to feel needed.

3563. Increase pay and benefits and provide more rewards for
      accomplishments.

3564. Let them know they are important and not meaningless.

3565. Keep the annual leave, sick leave, credit leave policies. Allow
      for upward mobility with job related experience instead of
      requiring a 4 year degree is the only way you can move up the
      ladder

3566. Keep up what we are doing.

3567. Reconize their efforts. Pay them adequately.

3568. listen to their needs, reward them for experience

3569. by treating them good

3570. Increase Pay and Benefits

3571. Keep them happy.

3572. Reward those who do a great job.

3573. Reward them based on merit not the buddy system.

3574. Average pay with outside and more people to complete tasks.

3575. Stability of positions. (talk of cuts, etc. hurt long term
      productivity and longivity as employees feel uncertain of what is
      down the road with the deficit and private sector.

3576. Remove the buddy system, another words people should be promoted
      or the job they do and can do not due to being a

3577. The first step is finding out who your good employees are. I
      believe that there are a lot of people in this agency that arent
      good employees but have slipped through the cracks due to brown
      nosing and sucking up to people in administrative positions.

3578. career opportunities from non mobile employees

3579. Provide opportunities that don\'t require relocation.

3580. put them in a location they want to be

3581. put them where they would like to be as much as possible

3582. Hire one person per field office to do data entry. This will allow
      the technically skilled to get out in the field and do on farm
      planning. This would increase moral significantly.

3583. 1\. Not to push employees to apply for positions they are not
      ready for. 2. Put more emphasis on quality of work and less into
      formal education.

3584. At the field level, our interests and educational background are
      in agricultural, biological, natural resource areas. We joined
      NRCS to assist private landowners

3585. Make the younger employees work around the highly qualified older
      employees

3586. Pay the Technical support people an equitable wage to counterparts
      who do the same work.

3587. Stand behind thier decisions and DO NOT add additional paperwork
      requirements.

3588. Continue to provide fair opportunities for advancement.

3589. Help them get to a location where they would like to work. Do not
      force mobility unless they want to move.

3590. Improved communications and better pay.

3591. A good retirement program and health insurance benefits.

3592. give a reward with a spot award like money or a raise for doing
      good work.

3593. Listen to the employee and try to accommodate the needs of the
      employee whether they are work related needs or personal items
      that need attention that affect the person\'s performance or time
      at work. Managers more involved in the day to day activities of
      the people they supervise and open to new ways to address
      workloads as needed.

3594. Chance for advancement, good benefits

3595. Recognize their work ethic

3596. Recognition for good work and and less micro-managing.

3597. Better Pay, I\'ve seen many very good employees leave for higher
      paying jobs in other agencies.

3598. recognition and pay

3599. Administration and contracting of formal conservation contracts is
      reducing my desire to progress with the agency. I feel as though I
      am a less worthy employee in recent years, as I have little
      interest in administrative work. I am a very technically competent
      employee that feels the agency is moving away from a strong
      technical base. The increases in conservation contracts in recent
      years has over-balanced the agency away from technical specialists
      to contract administrators. In essence, I believe more people with
      a strong conservation ethic will come to and stay with the agency
      as technical employees than will be the case with administrators.

3600. Good pay.

3601. COLA\'s, recognition for performance, benefits.

3602. Incentives and Promotions.

3603. More producer time, less desk time.

3604. Treat employees fairly, do not play favoritizm

3605. Paying decent wages and show people that there is a chance of
      advancement up the carrer ladder.

3606. Leadership training them to what they need to know about their job
      and other things that may come with that job. Also keep in mind
      were they have family and support that 100%.

3607. Support employees in the field

3608. Challenging work with compensation and recognition for a job well
      done.

3609. Tell the employees what the task is and the expected end results.
      An employee needs to have a feeling of accomplishment and a clear
      direction. Less paper and computer work, and more time to work
      with the clients on the ground. Computers are not solving paper
      reduction they are just producing more paper and busy work. If we
      need the paper work hire office people and if we want to work with
      the clients on the ground hire technical people to do the field
      work, which was the orginal direction of the Soil Conservation
      Service.

3610. Provide advancement on job capability and experiance not just on
      education level achived. Don\'t make people move if they do not
      want to.

3611. Have good working relations with all employees to build confidence
      and trust.

3612. Place them in locations they wish to work.

3613. reward them for outstanding accomplishments, provide them with a
      friendly and positive work environment. Provide employees with the
      tools which they need to get the job done and let them do their
      job. Supervisors at all levels need to support the employee and
      provide sound technical support to the employee.

3614. help them achieve their goals

3615. Job satisfaction and pay. Cut out some of the paperwork that is
      just used to fill up a file. We are being worksheeted to death!

3616. Don\'t make them sign a mobility agreement. I know of many GOOD
      employees that would like to work for NRCS, but they are unable to
      sign a mobility agreement due to their families and farming.

3617. Job security, benefits and pay. (stop the 3-year

3618. Employees in the same series need to be paid at the same grade
      throughout the country. The locality payment will even out the
      demographics.

3619. Give them more responsibilities and the training needed to
      accomplish good results.

3620. morale

3621. Pay them what they\'re worth and treat them well.

3622. Allow feedback and discussion, such as this forum, to allow for
      adjustments in how our agency does business.

3623. Placment and acknowlagement of performance.

3624. better benifits package and pay

3625. Fair treatment for all. Since working for NRCS for the last three
      years, many offices I have worked in are very political. By
      keeping everything fair, you will encourage employees to
      appreciate the system and want to stay here.

3626. leave them where they are happy.

3627. Work with employees that have a motivation to move upward within
      the agency. Help them achieve education that they need to move
      upward. Also take any critisms/requests very serious and work with
      the employee to fix any complaints or problems.

3628. Let them do the job at hand by giving them the tools to do the job
      with little interference from a wantabe supervisor, who have no
      personel skills.

3629. Encourage them, and give them awards!

3630. Good pay, benefits and technical support.

3631. Eliminate the mobility clause.

3632. Provide recognition when it is due. Give employees challenging
      assignments to develop their skills and to give them a sense of
      accomplishment.

3633. Give opportunities to everyone, not just talk about it. It\'s
      usually the same

3634. Let them do their jobs.

3635. Keeping a good mentor for one\'s entire career. Understanding the
      importance of communication between supervisor/employee and the
      realism of work related tasks. Keeping superiors in touch with how
      there unders work and what they do on a daily basis\...not just
      what looks good on paper.

3636. Get good employees involved in molding/guiding the agency through
      changing times

3637. Supervisors to know their people. Know how to communicate with
      their employees to let everyone in the office to know what is
      going on. The pay is not even with the inflation. The cost of
      living increases are way far behind what we get for pay.

3638. Benefits

3639. Treating older employees with respect in regards to new
      technology.

3640. Treat them good and not push them around. Put them in a location
      that they would like to be.

3641. Gear the work they do to their strengths and interests, as much as
      possible. Also, they need to be busy so that they always have work
      in front of them, but are not

3642. Don\'t work them to death. Try to keep the moral up.

3643. Hiring quality people is the start. A good foundation leads to
      quality employees! Not promoting individuals based on there
      capability rather than having the right piece of paper! Recognize
      individual strong points and use them where needed! Re-evaluate
      employees who are using the system and just waiting for
      retirement!

3644. Provide adequate training to do the our job adequately. Provide
      consistent, non-oscillating leadership. Provide salaries
      consistent with other agencies and private sector.

3645. Increase pay to compete with private sector.

3646. Recognition for a job well done; wage increases; training and
      motivational conferences.

3647. Maintain a direct yet still somewhat flexible working environment.

3648. Give employees a chance to move up in the agency after they have
      had experience working for the agency.

3649. There needs to be more recognition for those who go above and
      beyond their job duties. Hopefully the new performance measures
      will help those individuals who are truly great employees. I would
      also appreciate if human resources personnel put less emphasis on
      mobility and more emphasis on a strong work ethic. For those of us
      who are married to the very customers we are trying to serve, we
      cannot be expected to uproot our families simply because it is the
      only way to receive a promotion.

3650. Recognition for the big and little accomplishments. A tackful
      approach to constructive critism instead of direct critism.

3651. Allowing opportunity to be mobile or to stay in one location for
      family. Also, recognition of accomplishments and good on the job
      training keep people motivated.

3652. Ensure offices are staffed well enough to meet workload.

3653. Reward and fair treatment

3654. professional training, not NRCS people trying to be trainers.
      Training concerning mgmt. (ie Dale Carneige type training)

3655. Keep communications active between management and employees.
      Management must take employees serious in problem solving and end
      the practice of dismissing suggests because we we haven\'t done it
      that way before. There are too many supervisors with the
      autocratic management style and have little respect for
      subordinates.

3656. give credit where credit is due and reward for jobs well done

3657. Giving employees the opportunities to advance and giving fair
      promotions.

3658. Better recognition and bonuses to field employees. Also cutting
      back on new paperwork and redoing computer software every year.

3659. Acknowledging and rewarding good work when it is merited.
      Promoting those that are qualified locally.

3660. We are pulled in too many directions, instead of focusing on one
      job.

3661. We need to keep our staff numbers up and reduce our EQIP dollars
      (At least in SD). We have less and less staff and more and more
      program dollars and more cost-share contracts. We have frustrated
      employees who are trying to spend all the program money and our
      quality of plans and contracts is getting lower and lower. One of
      my biggest frustrations is the push to get contracts implemented
      and reported by one part of the agency and then the requirements
      for technical accuracy and accountability from another part of the
      agency. To implement a good solid conservation plan, with all the
      cultural resources, environmental, and engineering constraints,
      takes time, and rushing to meet a program deadline causes poor
      planning and poor implementation.

3662. Allow them to keep there flexible work schedule (maxiflex) and
      continue the ability to take time off when they want to. That is
      worth a lot and allows people with the right attitude to be more
      productive.

3663. Have programs understood be employee before offering for public
      sign up. Cut all the paperwork for all programs. Treat everyone
      the same (getting better at this)

3664. We need to be competetive with the private sector. We do not pay
      our people what they are worth. If we could use a performance
      based pay scale, I believe more people would be satisfied. I
      personnally like the security of my position but would be able to
      be paid a higher salary in the private sector.

3665. By providing fair work standards and good benefits.

3666. Have supervisors show appreciation for a job well done.

3667. Keep pay and benefits good.

3668. Be understanding of family situation of employee.

3669. Give the Technicians the pay they deserve. They do most of the
      work, and they have to know every angle of what the NRCS does!
      Also reward the employees that are doing an above average job
      because there are no insentives to do an outsatnding job.

3670. Reward them for doing a good job and allow them to perform there
      job without being shackled with buracracy and heavy handed
      management styles.

3671. In south dakota, get rid of the moving process

3672. Become more technically sound in various areas of needed
      knowledge. Maybe specialize - agronomy, range, livestock, etc.

3673. keep good working relations between agencies

3674. Allow them to move up within the agency. Make the process a little
      easier. Establish a program to help offset the expenses of having
      to take additional courses to move up in series.

3675. Positive feed back. A pat on the back goes a long way.

3676. listen to them; pay attention to their needs. Don\'t just fill a
      position

3677. Obtainable goals.

3678. Question #5 - Promotions based on advancved college or leadership
      development completion whether suited for management or not.
      Ability is not considered.

3679. Acknowledge a job well done.

3680. Job environment.

3681. Provide them with positive potivation by allowing them
      flexibility, responsibility, respect, and constructive criticism
      in performance functions.

3682. Let them know they are doing a good job

3683. Provide a stable work place with opportunities for advancement.

3684. Help employees deal with stress. Train employees with management
      skills/dealing with people. Provide MORE recognition\.....a little

3685. Providing good salaries.

3686. Promotions and keeping them active in the policy\\management side
      of operations. Less telling someone where to go and work either
      through details or assignments, this the old way and we need to
      step up and develop new ways of completing work.

3687. One option would be more flexible work schedules.

3688. allowing them flexibility in the position they currently are
      holding or future positions.

3689. Build moral.

3690. Let us do our job and limit the red tape and unnecessary paper
      work. It seems our agency is planning for progress (PRS beans)
      rather than doing good conservation planning and application on
      the land.

3691. Be more selective on candidates. People who have consistently
      achieved and maintained low and/or poor grades in college, make
      questionable candidates for recruitment for potentially good,
      long-term NRCS employees. When you have high quality, selective
      recruiting practices, it seems to be me there should be a much
      lower turnover rate over the long haul.

3692. Little things that show that each employee is appreciated at their
      level regarless what that level is.

3693. Give them the tools, Praise them for work done rather than always
      the negative.

3694. Encourage their efforts and teamwork with praise, money awards and
      give opportunities for their input and advancement.

3695. Make sure you listen to their suggestions! Reward the their
      efforts! Acknowledge their accomplishments! Supply adequate
      support (in personnel) to get the job done! Reduce the red tape.

3696. Continue to offer opportunity and encourage training.

3697. Increase empowerment of employees. Involve employees at different
      levels in decision making through consensus.

3698. Job Satisfaction that they are serving the client

3699. Finding the right employee in the first place, the one that fits.
      People quit because they would rather work in private industry and
      not public service.

3700. Metter managers in GS-11 and above.

3701. promotion opportunities outside the boxes

3702. RECRUITMENT. Keeping a number of good quality people coming
      through helps both us and the potential employee to make an
      informed decision.

3703. treating them fairly and with respect

3704. Reduce the complexity of the Field Office workload.

3705. good managers

3706. Develop better leadership skills and understanding of what is
      needed in the field and not what make life easier for managment or
      creates job security for management and leadership postions.

3707. Higher salaires at the lower positions.

3708. Don\'t

3709. Give employees incentives (other than pay) to perform job
      functions at levels outside their job description. ie-volunteering
      for committees and support teams.

3710. Encourage

3711. Provide good, sound technolgy/programs that have been reviewed
      thoroughly before sending them out. Make sure the

3712. Upper management needs to get their heads out of the clouds and
      realize what it is like out in the field and just how much the
      agency requirements have changed over the years. It takes 3-4
      times as long to complete a practice application as it used to
      because of all the laws, rules, regulations and policies we have
      to deal with now yet management wants triple production out of
      less people who need that 3-4 times more time to complete a
      project. This creates a hugh stress level and is not indusive to
      retaining employees.

3713. Treat them with fairness and always be honest and informative to
      the newer employees

3714. Being willing to change with our environment and our customers
      demands while maintaining our basic knowledge of natural
      resources.

3715. Fair pay and advancement opportunities

3716. Show that good employees are appreciated and stop protecting poor
      employees.

3717. Ensure enough staffing that people can do a good job and keep the
      stress level as low as possible. Make sure they feel their work is
      valuable and appreciated. Telling them they do a great job and
      then turning around and saying you want more from them is no way
      to keep good employees. The good ones jump, the lousy ones stay
      because they can\'t get a job anywhere else.

3718. Less emphasis on recruiting minorities and meeting what appear to
      most of us as hiring quotas, and more emphasis on hiring the best
      qualified people for the job (whether or not they fall into some
      minority category).

3719. Recognizing good work accomplishment with a thank you and monetary
      awards when extra duties are performed. Also, keep the extra
      duties and extra workload at a minimum.

3720. Being flexible and creative. We have a number of employees that
      need a location where their spouce can find employment. That is
      difficult in rural states with small communities.

3721. Incentive for promotion/rewards for work done

3722. Pay. Lower grades are payed much lower than private business.

3723. Provide recognition.

3724. Keep them happy and proud of the work they do.

3725. high standards - Good pay - Conservtion based work not program
      based work. Maintain a balance. Most people are in the carrer
      because of desire to help others and maintain/improve our natural
      resources. Lessening the opertunities to do this with an increase
      in programatic paperwork will drive away quality employees.

3726. Health Benefits and Pay

3727. Pay and show of respect for work done and not crititism.

3728. Reduce bureaucratic BS. We get so tied up in paperwork that we
      don\'t have time to put conservation on the land.

3729. All supervisors use the same guidelines for all employees

3730. Pay them and treat them well. Also reduce paperwork have good
      managment in place and let techincal people do techincal not
      management work.

3731. By letting us do our jobs, meaning we should be working with
      landowners/operators rather then just adding to the pile of
      paperwork we are required to do that only seems to satisfy our
      needs, rather then actually providing assistance to our customers.
      We are so hung up on completing forms, tracting goals that we very
      seldom have time to spend with our customers. We can put good
      conservation on the land without the excessive paperwork. Also
      provide DC with opportunities to advance professionally to
      GS-12\'s. We continue to get more responsibilities assigned to us,
      yet the pay stays the same, and we are not given any opportunity
      in SD to become GS-12\'s. It would also help morality if
      communications between the various levels of NRCS within the state
      of SD were improved, and employees felt like they were supported
      by their administrators.

3732. The older experienced generation needs to listen to the needs of
      the younger generations. They also need to be open with each other
      as both can learn from each other. They say it is hard to teach an
      old dog new tricks and I find this is true about people also some
      don\'t like change or technical advancement.

3733. Allow some flexibility in making decisions (don\'t micro-manage)
      the employees to the point that they are made to feel that they
      are incompetent and unable to make good decisions on their own.

3734. Positive work enviroment, fair to all.

3735. Being family friendly. This includes being sensitive to issues
      such as extended travel for more than one week at a time, such as
      Boot Camp. Being in travel status for three weeks at a time will
      cause serious hardships for many people with families.

3736. Add some diversity; such as, community projects, research, etc.
      Maybe a little less paperwork, so we could be out in the field
      more, and offer more support to incoming employees.

3737. Pay

3738. Keep them happy. Don\'t keep moving them around and changing
      methods of documentation.

3739. Less Paper Work! 20 years ago we spent 50% of our time in the
      field working with land owners, now we spend less than 10% due to
      paperwork and computers.

3740. Promote them.

3741. Recognize them for the good work that they do, don\'t treat them
      as a number.

3742. Affirm, recongize and appreciate the top 1/3 the most, appreciate,
      encourage and recongize the middle 1/3 more than the lowest 1/3.

3743. Pay based on performance. There is a certain amount of

3744. Either allow them to provide on site technical assistance as they
      were trained, or hire buisness managers to do the job.

3745. If hiring technical individuals then provide more time to do more
      technical work with producers, otherwise if field office positions
      are to be just completing contracts with out technical skills,
      then the agency should hire contracting skill employees and
      buisness management majors.

3746. Communication, information should flow up and down not just when
      it is convenient.

3747. Pay them and train them well, don\'t force them to move.

3748. Keep job satisfaction high

3749. Solid & fair management, performance based incentives

3750. Recognize their strengths and place them accordingly. Let them
      know they are accountable for the quality of work being completed,
      yet let them also know they are appreciated. I believe the
      transfer policy leaves a lot to be desired for new employees and
      may be a deterrent to hiring good people.

3751. benefits (health, Life) and pay

3752. Recognize and support employees for doing a good job, instead of
      going out of the way to promote and reward minority employees who
      have less job qualifications, the same is true for many awards
      given.

3753. Challenge them, pay them for the time and skills they put into
      their jobs, make sure benefits keep up with the ever changing
      world.

3754. Recognition

3755. Recognition of good individual and team performance and job
      descriptions that reflect current technological developments and
      uses. We are using old job descriptions which don\'t reflect the
      current program/agency needs.

3756. Providing the staff to assist with the field office functions so
      it\'s not solely on one persons shoulder to get it all done.

3757. Treat them with respect and provide opportunities.

3758. No comment

3759. Keep them informed.

3760. Pay, environment, fulfilling work, and recognition

3761. treat with respect

3762. Train and promote when they are ready.

3763. If you give people leadership training to advance, then there
      should be openings to advance or the person should be able to
      actually believe he/she has a fair chance to apply and get the
      position when one opens.

3764. Increased OJT early in their employment. Increased pay.

3765. Good pay and benefits.

3766. Pay them well and give them clear guidelines on policy

3767. Allow them an equal opportunity for advancement.

3768. Advancement oportunities and merit based pay

3769. Offer more opportunities for training outside their current
      position in order to permit career paths in the interest of the
      employee and not just the agency. Also when opening new positions
      recognize that not all employees want promotions to large cities.

3770. Recognize the overpowering workload and that the automation tools
      that we have to do our jobs don\'t work in the field. There is
      just not enough server capacity. It is frustrating to spend up to
      30% of your time watching the computer just sit and spend. And
      2nd, the roll out of programs is horrible. CSP has been a total
      disaster to administer and explain to clients. Instead of a
      debriefing session after the fact, how about if the national and
      state office actually came out to the field and set down with us
      and clients to see first hands how our tools do not work during
      the signup. And what about recognizing the huge workload that we
      have now undertaken to pay program payments. If one looks at the
      NRCS national website and our farm bills programs, they state

3771. Treat all employees the same.

3772. New hires need to have potential to be good employees, have at
      least average intelligence, and not be hired based on race as they
      are in my state of Minnesota.

3773. Give responceablity and let them do their job. Quite promoting
      peaple for reasons other than merit

3774. Reward employees for the actual work they accomplish.

3775. Pay them for the job they do.

3776. The agency needs to do a better job in how people are promoted and
      how employees are picked for

3777. Promotions based on merit.

3778. Not to hire less qualified employees at hire pay rates

3779. Hire or promote based on education, experience and competence.

3780. Promotion based on merit! Not minority status.

3781. Not moving them around so much.

3782. Someone in this agency has to decide whether we are a technical
      agency or a programs agency\...do we re-establish our technical
      abilities or just become keyboard wizards.

3783. Put excellent employees in high level positions where they can
      still function effectively. Deal with poor employees quickly and
      efficiently. If one is an excellent employee, tolerance for poor
      employees and the agency\'s lack of dealing with poor employee
      creates a desire to depart. Don\'t advance poor employees for the
      sake of reaching goals.

3784. recgonize the deserving

3785. Provide advancement opportunities

3786. Reckognize and award them, now just the higher grade employees are
      awarded.

3787. Good pay and benefits.

3788. Promote Diversity at all levels in all states

3789. Pay, Benefits, Flexible Work Schedules.

3790. Have pay match responsibilities. Have a uniform workload for all
      employees within their respective grades.

3791. Recognize them for the job they do - get over the

3792. De-emphasize programs and recognize one-on-one, in-the-field
      contacts and sales work in the field.

3793. better pay

3794. Reward performance and limit cronyism.

3795. Show they are appreciated

3796. Have good supervisors, consider the personal reasons why employees
      apply for certain locations. Let the HR department do the
      selections and keep biased supervisors off the selection team.

3797. maintain good working conditions, promotions.

3798. Family friendly - has to be as the work force is a dual career
      family some with kids.

3799. Promote based on demonstrated skills and abilities rather than
      quotas

3800. ensure their job is challenging and rewarding

3801. #5 - some employees are advanced soley on good ole boy mentallity.
      advance employees due to there work and not employees that suck up
      to a supervisor.

3802. Provide oportuity for carreer advancement.

3803. Offering opportunities and choices.

3804. Giving them a feeling of self worth and promotion

3805. Value the employee as a valuable asset. People are the greatest
      resource that any agency has and that should be recognized. Keep
      the employee informed.

3806. Don\'t be afraid to fire non performers.

3807. Treat them fairly and promote based on experience, education,
      proven record and accomplishments, competence and not other
      factors. At a recent training session the statement was made by
      the instructors that

3808. Fairness

3809. Job satisfaction

3810. Pay them for what they are worth!

3811. Reward them!! And not with a very small award of \$500 or so. Do
      not reward everyone the same. Everyone gets their within grade
      increases even if they work just the minimum to get by. Then you
      have another employee that busts their back side and they get the
      same advancement. What is the incentive? We have too many
      employees that just do enough to get by because they get paid the
      same as those that go all out!

3812. Hire enough staff for the field office to support the DC.

3813. Recognize employees contributions to achievements

3814. competitive salary

3815. Hire good ones to begin with. Have tougher standards for the
      positions.

3816. More reward for the technical skilled positions which tend not to
      be in the state of staff change as often as managerial positions.

3817. mangement should not be micro but macro

3818. emphasize (in the form of official challange and reward system)
      research projects or special studies that challenge them and also
      advance knowledge in a particular field

3819. For those professions which require relocation ie soil scientist.
      Providing opportunity to remain where currently located, while
      still climbing the career ladder.

3820. They need to allow employees to do projects and assignments that
      are seen as beneficial and worthwhile. Not just punching numbers
      and working on the computer making sure all the payments,
      directives, and computer assignments are in order all the time.
      More direct work with our customers, and allowing more flexibility
      with the practices and projects we do. Anybody can prescribe a
      practice off of the e-FOTG site and get a plan to a landowner.
      However, this takes a lot of the professionalism and worthiness
      out of the projects NRCS employees do. Employees need to be
      allowed to be creative, flexible, and adaptive in the approaches
      to conservation problems. Allow employees to use the professional
      skills they have been trained for to be creative in the solutions
      to the conservation problems in the United States today. Policies
      and standards are important, but they often get in the way of
      allowing employees to use they knowledge, skills, abilities, and
      professional expertise in planning, prescribing, and solving
      conservation problems.

3821. increase pay to be comparable with outside employment

3822. Be responsive to an individuals location preferences.

3823. Improve agency image and agency recognition, retain perks like
      credit time and flex time.

3824. Raise the pay level. Entry level (step 1, 2, 3) does not compete
      with higher level - locally paid positions. Also, offer part-time
      workers the same health care benefits as full time workers (right
      now, part-time workers have to pay half of the govt. contribution)

3825. rewarding them for their good work

3826. Find good employees in the first place, and then use common sense
      for promotion, relocation, etc.

3827. Make sure you use the probation period correctly and make it
      easier to weed out the employees who are not interested or show no
      iniative,

3828. Reward employees for a job well done and acknowledge their right
      to respectfully disagree with the agency.

3829. Good benefits.

3830. Take into account the personal needs of individual employees. I
      received a forced transfer because I was the best qualified
      individual with the highest performance appraisals. This is not
      the way to keep good employees.

3831. Treat everyone fairly. Reward those who actually do a good job,
      and reprimand those who do not. Have the same set of standards for
      everyone.

3832. Give them the tools to excell in their positions. So they can be
      technicailly sound and show confidence in their performance.

3833. Keep them happy and keep them motivated. They need to feel as if
      they are working together to achieve a greater common goal than
      they could alone. They need a sense of teamwork.

3834. Salary and Good Supervisors

3835. Listening to them.

3836. I would like to have a better understanding of what type of career
      paths I could follow with the gov\'t. I\'m not seeing much
      available at the moment, so I will likely move on to another
      agency.

3837. Work better with newer employees as far as relocation. Don\'t
      force as many moves on them.

3838. Make sure the people at the top know what it is like at the field
      level.

3839. salary

3840. enable us to be in the field providing technical assistance to
      producers instead of in the office strapped to the computer

3841. Stop administering the Swampbuster provisions of the 1985 Food
      Security Act, as ameneded. Give the responsibility to another
      agency. It causes a lot of hard feelings with landowners, who we
      are trying to get to volunteer for conservation.

3842. Adequate compensation

3843. provide job opportunities in locations they prefer

3844. Proper compensation for the work being completed and maintain the
      strong benefit package during our careers and retirement.

3845. Provide advancement opportunities

3846. Adequate Pay

3847. Provide a great working environment, potential to advance, and
      better benefits than the private sector.

3848. stability, pay and good management

3849. higher pay

3850. Mentor program used more.

3851. Make employee development and retention a top priority and not
      just hiring people to

3852. By training them well & paying them well

3853. Give them proper training.

3854. Make all states operate the same positions at the same grade
      levels as people tend to comunicate with close state and find out
      diffences.

3855. Listening to, sharing and implementing new ideas (being open to
      change); good to excellent leadership at all levels of the agency
      including the area and state levels (some of the staff in
      leadership positions currently have too many other job
      responsibilities to provide the oversight and leadership that is
      needed)

3856. Hire the best qualified individual for the job! Morale is poor
      when positions are filled by lesser qualified individuals.

3857. Pay for performance. Fairness in hiring and promotion to maintain
      morale.

3858. Create better health benefit programs, encourage continuing
      education, opportunties to receive better pay.

3859. Make them feel like they are part of the team.

3860. Recognizing them for the actual work they do by better defining
      their positions and paying them appropriately for the work they
      do. Seems that some individuals at same grade level have less work
      and get the same pay. This is discouraging

3861. Better pay and promote based on technical skills, not on

3862. Transparent management decisions, appropriate pay for appropriate
      work, understanding that 50 hours of assignments cannot get done
      in 40 hours (support staffing issue).

3863. job satifaction and good relations with supervisor.

3864. Ensure job is fulfilling and not just a series of days working
      with frustrating computer systems, deadlines for reports, and
      trying to wade through ever changing regulations/requirements.
      Send promissing employees on details, special training. Train
      supervisors on how to encourage good employees. Get rid of bad
      supervisors and lazy employees\--good people want to work for a
      good agency with good co-workers.

3865. Support them and provide well qualified managers

3866. Providing competent managers/leaders with great

3867. Respect, recognition and compensation

3868. ?

3869. Make them fell valued

3870. On the job training is very importnat. I see that many employees
      are sent to a lot of formal not enough on the job. Hands on is
      where employees can be on the groung learning.

3871. I think that NRCS needs to invest in their employees by paying
      higher wages as well as providing more effective training.

3872. Sometimes it only requires a simple

3873. train them then reward them for good performance and results

3874. More pay

3875. Let them be involved in implementation of practices

3876. Have a smaller emphasis on management and a larger emphasis on
      technical competence and skills.

3877. Reestablish

3878. Good management and leadership. Training Opportunities. Recogniton
      for good work.

3879. Don\'t keep expecting

3880. Keep the work technical

3881. Opportunity for other jobs and promotion.

3882. ENOUGH TIME TO DO THE JOB PROFESSIONALLY

3883. career advancement, training,

3884. Correct the current poor work environment that makes good
      employees feel unwanted, unappreciated, and stressed enough to
      leave the agency.

3885. competitive wages

3886. The agency needs to pay as does the private sector

3887. Provide encouragement, recognition, and credit for work
      accomplishments.

3888. Providing training opportunities and engaging and challenging
      younger generations of employees.

3889. In our office, it is the discriminatory attitute of the State Con
      that is driving good employees away. Leadership is everything.

3890. Increase pay and benefits

3891. Recognition and a combination of formal and OJT training coupled
      with participating on a detail assignment within NRCS.

3892. Recognize good and outstanding performance. Establish well-defined
      standards for performance. Pay banding.

3893. Value what they do.

3894. keep flexible work schedule. Publicize good work outside the
      agency.

3895. Empower them to do their job w/o being under someone\'s thumb.

3896. Give clear expectations for accomplishments with consistent
      recognition for those who meet them AND consequences for those who
      don\'t.

3897. Valuing them as a person and employee. Fair reward system.

3898. 1\. Good supervisors 2. Provide training 3. Good salary 4. Good
      Benifits

3899. Invest in training of managers and leaders to empower employees

3900. Hire based on TECHNICAL competence, and managerial experience; and
      not for other reasons. Please note that requiring an answer for
      Question 5 forces this respondee to lie because none of the five
      choices are correct!

3901. Ensure that there will always be field work for them; that field
      work will not be dominated by TSP or other out side resourcing.

3902. To treat everyone fairly, irregardless of race. Recognize quality,
      not the speciual empahsis recruitment and promotion based upon
      race and sex.

3903. Ensure a challenging, accountable work environment.

3904. Promotions and better pay

3905. Hire qualified supervisors. Avoid appearance of cronyism in
      hiring. Ability to rid the agency of people who are not doing
      their jobs rather than promoting them up and out.

3906. Flex work schedule, telecommuting and oportunity for advancement.

3907. A primary way to keep good employees is to award employees when
      they step outside of the box and do things above and beyond the
      usual requirements of the job.

3908. Promotions and recognition based upon performance and competancy
      rather than ohther factors.

3909. Offer pay that is on par with similar responsibilities in the
      private sector. Continue to provide the work schedule
      flexibilities. Provide enough competent staff to do the work so
      that some aren\'t so overburdened.

3910. Provide an adequate workforce so an individual can do their job
      without pressure and stress. You need to increase employees
      significantly.

3911. Promote on merit.

3912. By making competent and sound management decisions - By doing the
      right thing for the right reason.

3913. Supervisors do not care about morale. There is no reponsibility
      for the supervisor to maintain morale. Take an extra 15 minutes at
      an office Christmas party and you\'ll face prompt disciplinary
      action. Regarding question 5 above promotions are usually based on
      gender or race.

3914. Have a strong employee recognition program

3915. I think that their needs to be more recognition. It does not have
      to be spot awards. I think supervisors need to inform their
      employees about how well or poor they are doing. I don\'t think
      there is enough communication of this type.

3916. Give them a clear vision of the agency\'s focus, provide balanced
      training & consistent supervision & mentoring, fair evaluations
      and reward/discipline, maintain or enhance pay scale & benefits,
      especially those geared to the \'sandwich generation\';
      significantly implement telecommuting; reduce or eliminate the use
      of business tools that are not direct commercial-off-the-shelf
      products - we are spending too much capital (human & dollars) on
      these products.

3917. Show appreciation for the work they do.

3918. Good salaries, positive working environment, realistic advancement
      potential

3919. Job statisfaction, good communication and proper recognition

3920. Recognize excellent work and efforts at self development.

3921. Try not to move them to areas where they don\'t want to live. Boot
      Camp is chasing away alot of our good new employees.

3922. Get good managers who know what they are doing and who will treat
      the employees who are doing a good job with respect. In the last
      several years I have seen totally incompetent people promoted and
      enabled to make life miserable for good employees. These
      incompentents are later

3923. Treat them with respect, don\'t overburden the good ones, Tell
      them when they are on the right track, keep the personal bias out
      of it.

3924. From my experience, some of the best employees have left because
      their skills were not recognized or they weren\'t paid in
      accordance to their ability and value. I have also seen good
      employees become bored by not given the chance to use their skills
      and be challenged.

3925. Give them recoginition for their accomplishments

3926. Promoting Field Level employees to higher positions.

3927. Get rid of bad employees.

3928. Acknowledge them as good employees.

3929. A way to keep good employees is to stay flexible about how work is
      accomplished and ties to the office.

3930. variable work tasks

3931. pay

3932. To show respect to a person and appreciation for the job they do.
      To maintain good communications throughout the agency and show
      that everyone actually shares the same goals, in practice and not
      just in words.

3933. Foster professional advancement utilizing a diverse education and
      experience background rather than just

3934. Pay them the cost of living and have managers who make good
      decisions.

3935. A mentor program, training and get rid of the dead weight.

3936. Higher wages

3937. Without changing the entire fed system I dont see how its
      possible. We need to be able to promote, make counter offers,
      etc..

3938. Keep them busy

3939. Higher salary especially in CA.

3940. Provide help to offices with only one employee. I am getting
      burned out by not having even an assistant.

3941. By providing updated training on new programs on a regular basis,
      as well as providing yearly pay scale increase.

3942. Provide challenging work with chance for advancement and have
      managers work with employees on their career goals with quarterly
      follow-up

3943. Equal Recognition, Appreciation Letter(thank you), Management
      Training Opportunities. Job shadowing with a experienced employee
      before he or she retires, its called retention.

3944. benefits, good working environment

3945. Make them feel completely valued

3946. Treat them well; good pay, good working environment, award them
      for good work.

3947. Acknowledge their accomplishments and the

3948. let the employee do his or her job and try to reduce the stress
      level

3949. More emphasis on product quality than on program spending. To
      learn and employ technical knowlege is why we came to this agency,
      and to have it watered down by computer programs, farm bill
      deadlines, and demanding needs for

3950. Get the agency back to doing conservation planning and quit
      chasing programs. Emphasis education and technical attributes of
      the agency.

3951. having them know up front what is expected of them

3952. Go back to an emphasis on quality of work rather than gross
      output, which has been a tendency lately.

3953. A little more praise and appreciation.

3954. Require more supervisor & leadship training. A reachable HR
      Department. Clearer answers from those in supervisory rolls.

3955. Put employees in a position where they will be successful. Expect
      them to accomplish a realistic workload.

3956. Treat employees with respect. Give ample time to complete workload
      developed by programs, EQIP, etc.

3957. Stop requiring multi-state experience in order to receive a
      promotion. If the agency says they do not require multi-state
      experience, that thinking does not filter down to those making the
      hiring decisions. Many families have two wage earners and the
      second wage earner may not always be willing to pack up and move
      to the spouses new job, just to receive a promotion.

3958. They need to feel that promotion possibilities exists for all
      employees

3959. Good Pay and Health Insurance.

3960. provide awards/rewards when appropiate

3961. keep them happy by offering incentives and rewards for a job well
      done

3962. Adequate pay and openess between management and the employees.

3963. Provide more help in heavy workload areas - oftentimes, the better
      employees do more and are expected to continue to do more because
      they have the capability. When they are overburdened for too long,
      they burn out. Other, average to poor employees either don\'t do
      less work or get extra assistance. This has the additional impact
      on the above average employees of reducing morale. Try
      compensating based on work accomplished at the field level.

3964. Keep them motivated and ready to take on new challenges

3965. Through recognition of their accomplishments and being flexible
      when it comes to where they want to be located within the state.

3966. Treat them like individuals rather than numbers

3967. Let the programs be ground driven grass roots not from the top
      down like they are now. Suggestions that we have from the field
      for programs such as CRP, EQIP, CSP seem to get overlooked.

3968. KEEP THE PAY SCALE UP WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

3969. Rewards and incentives.

3970. Competitive salary

3971. Give employees enough time to implement programs by providing the
      information about those programs in a timely matter.

3972. cut back on red tape

3973. Quit heaping more work on them than what is possible to achieve.

3974. Each program has many requirements and people are expected to know
      the requirements for each program. This is overwhelming to younger
      employees.

3975. Having a reasonable work load, reducing stress.

3976. Making the effort to treat the employees (SCT and SC) with the
      respect and appreciation they deserve. If that means paying those
      employees more that is what should happen. They are the backbone
      to the agency, the personnel that get the conservation on the
      land!

3977. Just eliminate as much frustration as possible. A very hard thing
      to do.

3978. Recognize their accomplishments and their work.

3979. We spend too much time on management activities, surveys, civil
      rights, etc. I get job satisfaction working to get conservation on
      the ground, but don\'t have enough time to do real job.

3980. Keep wages competitive with private indusrty.

3981. Competitive wages with private industry and to maintain the
      feeling of

3982. Be upfront and honest. Don\'t just talk the talk, but walk the
      walk.

3983. Acknowledge their outstanding acheivements. Track their process
      and give them feedback.

3984. Make the pay and benefits comparable with other jobs (both public
      and private). Right now it is sorely lacking in both.

3985. Provide necessary training and reward those who are doing
      exceptional work.

3986. increase pay add more training

3987. Maintain or continue to demonstrate good leadership.

3988. Keep an open door for promotion potential.

3989. Reduce direct charge and accountability paperwork so employees
      have time to do their job.

3990. Commensorate pay scale with private sector

3991. Flexibility in position location within a state.

3992. Treat people on equal basis.

3993. Reward employees for abilities and work accomplished and
      discipline employees who don\'t pull there weight. Cash awards for
      the individuals promotes each employee to strive to do there best
      versus rewarding a large group as a whole that may include
      employees that are not doing their part.

3994. Show that employees are promoted on the basis of their past work
      and abilities to do their job, not on the basis of their gender or
      race. I see reverse discrimination toward white males at work
      currently in our agency.

3995. not promote employees with substandard skills

3996. Increase Pay More Field Work

3997. Answer their questions, correctly, in regards to necessary
      education/experience and don\'t give an answer just to give one.
      If HR staff do not know the necessary requirements for a position,
      how can they give advice as to the correct education and/or
      experience an employee needs to apply or otherwise advance?

3998. Have programs and policies set before programs and polices are
      suposed to take affect.

3999. Empower employees at the local level to make decisions. In order
      to provide customer service we have to be able to make the call
      locally as much as possible.

4000. Compensate them with performance bonuses. Don\'t overwork the
      employees with less office assistance and more duties.

4001. Keep the pay adjusted to cost of living.

4002. by allowing employees to work part time after retirement

4003. Making them feel appreciated

4004. Be fair. Practice what the poster says,

4005. Reward the best and motivate the rest!

4006. Keep realistic field office goals and recognize good work with
      thank you s for recognition.

4007. Increase pay in all grades and not limiting some to a lower grade
      just because they are a

4008. Promote and pay on merit.

4009. Good training and job satisfaction.

4010. Empower them with responsibility and freedom.

4011. Eliminate

4012. Job secerity and pay the employee what threre worth.

4013. Pay is way under the private sector, therefore job grades should
      be increased atleast one grade for lower grades.

4014. -Promote based on technical abilities, not artificially support
      underrepresented groups by hiring and promoting unqualified people
      from those classes -standard pay for all agencies. It appears
      agencies have different standards, some agencies are

4015. Provide training and outside opportunities, job share, telecomute

4016. Good employee development program and having enough staff in the
      office so employees don\'t get burned out. If employees feel over
      worked and underpaid, they don\'t feel appreciated.

4017. Good working conditions, fair wages, recognition for
      accomplishments, timely reviews and advancement

4018. family friendly practices

4019. A balanced workload with needed staff do it.

4020. Pay and promotion.

4021. Supporting the staff on decisions made at the local level that are
      controversial. Supplying offices with tools to successfully work
      with land owners.

4022. Help them develop, give them the idea that if they are qualified
      they can move up and it is not just a name game.

4023. Open communication between supervisors and employees and chances
      for advancement

4024. Promote those that do the best work, not those that are

4025. Allow flexibility as far as education qualifications to be
      eligible for a different series. I think NRCS is passing up very
      good candiates because they don\'t have a specific degree (i.e.
      agronomy) Wouldn\'t a biology degree with work experience qualify
      also? Base promotions on technical expertise more.

4026. Better constancy in program delivery. Less feuding at the higher
      levels.

4027. Tell them they have done well when goals are met. Pay them well.
      And keep them trained.

4028. Loyalty and fairness

4029. Make sure they have compentent staff to help them

4030. maintaining a positive work enviroment

4031. Hiring the right people to begin with.

4032. Promote based on skill

4033. more pay

4034. Offer upward mobility and awards based on abilities and
      performance.

4035. Workload computor techology is replacing on ground experience.
      This will take away producer/agency working relationship in future
      will loss agency obectives.

4036. Simply pay attention to how effective the personnel was at

4037. Increase District Conservationist grade level to have more GS-12
      possibilities

4038. Having skills and ablilities recognized so that you know you have
      a chance for advancement and are not deadended.

4039. Meeting their personal needs, location, benefits, awards, and
      recognition of their achievements.

4040. Reduce the requirement that a new employee be mobile. Most new
      jobs and promotions require that the employee relocate.

4041. Money. Keep it a fair playing field.

4042. Improve pay and job satisfaction. Don\'t micro-manage the
      employee.

4043. Keep them up to date with training and recognize them for
      achievements. From my own experience, my recent attendance at boot
      camp made me feel very important to the agency and sent home the
      conservation idea.

4044. Promote employes for the job they are doing and give them credit
      for what they know and do, not for what education they have.
      Education level is way over rated

4045. pay and good goals

4046. Allow them to do the jobs they weretrained to do not be paper
      pushers and computer robots.

4047. positive reinforcement for work accomplished. True work on the
      farmers land, and less numbers games on the computer. Recognize
      and promote people in technical positions, and not just in
      management.

4048. Allow employees to work on a variety of projects to avoid boredom,
      and let them make a lot of their own decisions. Avoid bureaucratic
      details.

4049. More recognition for excellence.

4050. Do not overwhelm with responsibilities. District Conservationists
      are the worst for this with the number of programs they have to
      administer. Provide effective training. Provide adequate staff.

4051. salaries

4052. Reward people on an equal level.

4053. Continue and improve training programs and recognize extraordinary
      effort with promotion opportunities.

4054. They need to reward the good ones and get rid of the bad ones
      instead of continually moving them on or up. There needs to be
      more of an accountablity of performance for new DC\'s before they
      get there 11. They should be able to hold them back until they are
      worthy.

4055. Keep their personal goals in mind about the geographic location in
      which they want to live, when placing them or promoting them to a
      position.

4056. keep treating them fairly work loads in alot of feild offices
      require low grade employees to complete alot of what might be
      called over and above the call of duty.

4057. Provide clear policy and procedure. Provide adequate time and
      training to accomplish policy and procedure. Clear policy and
      procedure equate to accomplishment of goals.

4058. Acknowledge their capabilities

4059. Avoid hiring term and temp employees. The NRCS does not want to be
      in the same mess as the Forest Service and BLM where they can not
      hold on to employees, especially skilled younger employees.

4060. Let them work in their chosen professional field and have a career
      ladder in their profession. Don\'t

4061. Reward initiative and willingness to learn while not making their
      lives difficult by unneccessary moves. Also, hiring the most
      qualified people, not tweaking the OPM rules to get friends in
      upward mobility programs.

4062. Advancement, awards, recognition, details, etcà

4063. Training, awards for accomplishments,agency support

4064. Offer advancement opportunities. When you are at the top of the
      series, there is no place else to go many times. Many times there
      are no opportunities to enter a different field to move up the
      ladder. So an employee looks to a different agency for
      opportunities.

4065. Pay more (higher grade levels, more promotion)

4066. Pay more in wages and keeping up with technological advances.

4067. Tell then when they do a good job. Understand that sometimes there
      is more than one way to do a job. Be constructive when something
      is done incorrectely.

4068. Take the time to train our supervisors. I have seen us put people
      into DC positions that have only been with the Government for 2 or
      3 years and they have not training on how to be a supervisor. THis
      really worries me.

4069. Higher salaries for upper division positions, Better medical
      benefits

4070. Get rid of the political appointees.

4071. Having recently changed agencies from the USFS to the NRCS the
      things that attracted me was being offered a permanent job. The
      USFS has gone down the road of exploiting seasonals and TERMS
      which was a source of frustration for myself and for a number of
      peers. Those kind of hiring policies create resentment toward an
      agency and should be avoided by the NRCS.

4072. Promote within agency, Ask folks that have left and are now with a
      different agenicy, the + and - aspects of working for both
      agencies, and why they left NRCS.

4073. Provide the opportunities to be promoted within job by technical
      skills, and by assuming a larger work responsibility. Recognize
      the technical and administrative skills and use for job
      requirement, detailing and training.

4074. Make sure they are justly copensated equal or better than the
      private sector for the work that is done.

4075. Provide timely training and give them the opportunity to do more
      field work and less administrative work.

4076. recognize them for exceptional work and accomplishments through
      awards and perhaps pay bonuses

4077. Training, pay and recognition

4078. Job satisfaction

4079. Recognize accomplishments

4080. less bureaucracy and more field work with individual producers.

4081. Assign people to do the kind of work they were trained to do. If
      you hire a soil conservationist then assign that person to
      appropriate work. Don\'t place that person in a position in which
      computer input becomes his job instead of the field work he was
      trained to do. I understand that computer data entry is an import
      part of the job but presently it is the job.

4082. recognition and the opportunity to be involved with other
      agencies/entities on projects, reduce

4083. More time out in the field helping customers.

4084. Empowerment. Give employees a feeling (and methods for)
      controlling their own destiny. The last six years or so have been
      very top down. Rapid deployment of poor computer software, and
      multiple changes in program interpretation take away any feeling
      of empowerment.

4085. Recognize true performance and production and stop rewarding the
      personalities. Managers should also realize that what motivated
      the now-40 plus employee at the beginning of their career probably
      doesn\'t apply as much any more.

4086. Provide career ladder steps so that a person has something to
      strive for and groom them with training and mentoring, to those
      individuals that want to move up.

4087. Reward excellance and HAVE CONSEQUENCES TO NOT PERFORMING WELL. I
      get very frustrated seeing employees who break the rules, don\'t
      work hard, and don\'t do a good job even when they do make an
      attemp, not only never face consequences, but even get promoted
      before me. I answered question 5 based on the promoted people I
      thought were deserving of it, there are many others who I think
      are not.

4088. Providing good training opportunities and chances to develop those
      skills as well as providing career advancement opportunities
      especially in areas where specific disciplines have limited
      openings.

4089. Pay more

4090. Good pay and advancement opportunities

4091. Access to professional developement (details, trainings, etc).
      Reward hard work and excellence.

4092. An acting state con. once told me

4093. Treat them like they are not so

4094. By maintaining a desireable work environment.

4095. Hire people with good technical & people skills who believe in the
      mission of the agency. Reward good work. Provide greater
      opportunity for advancement in place

4096. Good working environment.

4097. Compensate them for a job well done. There are too many people in
      managerial positions that are not good employees and do not pocess
      good leadership skills. There are many good employees who are
      better suited for those positions, but don\'t get a chance for
      them, because the management has no intention of retiring or
      moving.

4098. Get rid of the employees who don\'t perform to expectations. Make
      this a true quality agency again. Where is the incentive to
      achieve loafty goals if the person who does minimally recieves the
      same pay and rewards.

4099. Get rid of bad employees.

4100. Unfortunately benefits are a strong calling card for mediocre
      employees, but a sense of accomplishment of meaningful and
      stimulating work, and hope for positioning oneself to do more, is
      my idea of an attractive job for people who really make a
      difference.

4101. Decisions from the top have become overly political, not based on
      science or conservation needs. Listen and act on info. from the
      field.

4102. Pay them well with good benefits and fire the poor performers who
      tend to bring everyone down.

4103. ?

4104. The pay and benefits could be more competitive with thos e of the
      private sector

4105. Recognise their work well done and inform them they are
      appreciated.

4106. Develop program rules prior to program implementation so that
      things run smoothly\...stop press releases about program signups
      for programs that haven\'t been fully developed.

4107. Getting promoted according to merit, not just being there in the
      job.

4108. fire the poor ones.

4109. Reward them when they do a good job at what they are expected to
      do. Match the private sectors cost of living increases. Get them
      back to the field, out of the over documentation business.

4110. Recognize employees accomplishments and allow for Series
      Advancement due to good work ethic and accomplishements

4111. Acknowledgement for work well done. And not rewarding poor
      performance either with indifference or moving problem up and out.

4112. Retain and recruit employees that have good field background
      first, and then college credit hours to prove it secondly! Also
      retain and recruit employees that are well qualified to do the
      job, not well qualified to fill a quota!

4113. Good salaries and benefits.

4114. Foster an environment that provides a sense of accomplishment and
      promote based on merit.

4115. More promotions Better pay More opportunities

4116. Pay comparability with the private sector.

4117. Recognising the work they do as individuals

4118. Many first time supervisors are put into a position without any
      experience/training as a supervisor. These people are becoming
      disatisfied rather quickly and looking elsewhere

4119. MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE IN ALL JOB SERIES HAVE A OPPORTUNITIES TO
      ADVANCE (FOR EXAMPLE, MOST SCT\'S PEAK IN TERMS OF GRADE LEVEL
      BEFORE THEY ARE ON THE JOB FOR 10 YEARS.

4120. Allowing long time employees a chance to move up based on actual
      experience and work productivity. Too many well qualified
      employees are training people to advance but cannot advance
      themselves due to the education barrier. Education is important,
      but there should be some way to promote very qualified employees
      based on proven performance.

4121. To listen to them. If you have an employee that has been working
      for the agency for 5 + years that was a good employee that
      suddenly has a problem with a new employee it is very hard to keep
      good employees when the

4122. Decrease individual workload by hiring more employees now or by
      reducing the

4123. keep employees motivated to do a good job

4124. Don\'t overload them with work.

4125. Get better consistant leadership that makes sense. We are here to
      assist with proper use and treatment of our resources not to sell
      programs and spend dollars.

4126. Create the conditions where employees are making gains towards
      achievement of a sound goal, using their skills and experience to
      help other agency folks and customer on the land. Older employees
      need to feel they are accomplishing good things. These good things
      will relate strongly towards the reason that they started work for
      NRCS. The current work environment of hurry and rush and computer
      data entry demands (at the expense of field work and customer
      service) with the goal of serving

4127. provide good supervision

4128. Reward them with pay.

4129. recognition and bonouses

4130. Reward good employees for there work. Fire poor employees. Be
      flexible with working scheduled when employee is doing there job.

4131. Need to raise the pay to compete with the private sector.

4132. Provide challenging and meaningful work with reasonable pay and
      benefits.

4133. Recognize the good and really good employees for their
      accomplishments.

4134. Give appropriate promotions to those who have proven their
      abilities, we loose too many good help because they can\'t get
      promotions and have to go elsewhere. Then to replace them the
      promotions are offered to those applying. Our agency seems to have
      always forced the best people to move elsewhere out of state and
      their replacements get the promotion the original person was
      denied. Get rid of the the glass ceiling for non-college grads.

4135. By reducing as much stress as possible

4136. By motivating, encouraging self development, listening, and
      provide the necessary training

4137. Provide consistent, effecient leadership

4138. Encourage them, acknowledge them when they do a good job, continue
      to build confidense, and give them new job opportunities.

4139. Evaluating individual accomplishments so that people don\'t become
      complacent with there jobs and know there will be consequences for
      not getting their share of the work in the surroundings they are
      in done.

4140. Make workload commeasurate with time

4141. Good pay

4142. Reduced workload.

4143. Good Pay, Good Training, Good Programs

4144. Better pay and award recognition for ALL levels. Stop favoring
      only soil conservationists and start recognizing soil conservation
      technicians who are primarily responsible for almost all of the
      work that gets done.

4145. The simplicity of helping customers in this agency has gone out
      the window. The

4146. Provide good working conditions. Since we are a technical agency
      we need to keep up with new technology and provide this technology
      to all offices for use. Train everyone in use of new technology.

4147. Promotions

4148. Give them incentives to stay

4149. Need to provide a stair step effect for employees to work their
      way up through the agency. Could accept years of service in
      exchange for College Credits. Example Technician with 20 years or
      more experience become eligible for a Conservationist Series job.

4150. Maintain Job autonomy, workplace integrity

4151. Providing management who are concerned about their employees and
      who will be helpful in personal career guidance. Retirees today
      wish there had been more in the retirement guidance early on.
      Actively teach people the best ways to prepare for the future. Too
      many are ready to retire but find that by the time everything is
      figured out there\'s no way. I am speaking for those with less
      than 30 years service. It doesn\'t help to discover the Social
      Security that you were planning on at 65 is only 1/2 what it
      should be because you are a Federal employee. We paid that money
      in expecting it to be there for retirement supplement. Since when
      is that not out and out thievery!!

4152. Having leaders and managers who are good with personnel, not just
      good technically

4153. more match work load to available staff. Right now there is too
      many programs and not enough people

4154. Improving support from State level personell for rule/standard
      clarification and developement of time/effort reduction tools.

4155. The mass confusion due to lack of personel to impliment the
      continued increase in programs discourages employees. Especially
      new employees who are not sure NRCS is where they want to spend
      their career. NRCS needs to provide possitive experiences for new
      employees. The work load is so heavy that managers don\'t have the
      time to appropiately train new employees.

4156. Cut the red tape & let employees do their jobs in a timely manner.

4157. Incentives to work, good pay (competitive with the private
      sector), good benefits, keep moral in tact by keeping workloads
      managable.

4158. Job satisfaction

4159. Provide appropirate training in a timely manner, i.e.
      Toolkit/ArcGIS trianing & general computer training.

4160. Rewards and making employees prove they can do the job just not by
      riding on someones elses shirt sleeve.

4161. Recognition

4162. Provide proper training in the early develop period of employees
      jobs. Provide leadership and managerial training to those
      employees that would like to serve in managerial capacity.

4163. Upper Managerial levels taking an interest in individuals
      career\'s, GS 1 through GS 12.

4164. Pay better wages and provide sufficent staff to carry out our
      workload.

4165. Good Wages, Good Training

4166. Competitive pay and benefits, job recognition, advancement
      availability, better and more training

4167. Understanding the changing workforce may consist of non
      traditional employees. Forced moves make it extremely difficult
      when you have a family to consider and are moving away from your
      support system. Accomadations need to be made for families when
      trainings are required, such as.. What does a single mother do
      with her children if she is required to go to an extended
      training? You cannot expect to move people without considering
      this and expect to retain employees. There ought to be an
      incentive, usually a grade increase to encourage employees to move
      to a new location or detail and then allow the ones with intiative
      to move. Because if they don\'t have that initiative, they are not
      going to be the ones you want in charge anyway.

4168. Removing some of the

4169. Training, Encouragement, Positive reinformcement

4170. Fire the bad employees. The good employees are given more work and
      the bad employees are kept around and don\'t do anything, but
      create more work for the good ones.

4171. A decent wage and inentives for doing a job well done.

4172. Recognize excellent people who are good and remove those who are
      not.

4173. good management and communication

4174. Increasing the benefits of being a federal employee.

4175. Less excessive office/paperwork so we can spend more time
      improving conservation on the land with producers

4176. Reward them accordingly and promote them when possible.

4177. Provide the support and direction needed to complete our duties.

4178. Make sure they know they are good employees! (recognition/positive
      feedback)

4179. Weed out the non productive employees who bring down the moral of
      the good employees - reduce the program frustrations by developing
      a good program and then quit changing the rules every signup -

4180. Streamline the paperwork and allow them to make stand alone
      decisions and back them up. Often upper level mgt has no answers
      to field questions so what is their purpose?

4181. Eqial Pay for work

4182. Some way to get recognition for doing a good job.

4183. Good communications and developing programs that are necessary to
      easy to administer. Keep benefits and salaries competitive with
      private sector.

4184. Selecting quality leaders for the workforce, and allowing
      promotions based on performance along with tenure.

4185. Let us do our job and get rid of some of the numbers games and
      change in computer programs that are not needed.

4186. Pay needs to match the private sector.

4187. Good pay and benefits. More employees to reduce workload.

4188. To take better care of employees, look out for the employees.

4189. Reward them for accomplishments in a timely manner and recognize
      them in front of their peers.

4190. Change the GS pay scale. Private industry outpays new hires and
      many times the benefits are better. In my location a high school
      grad can start at \$16.50/hr (Monsanto Corp.) with benefits. NRCS
      technicians start at grades 3 to 4 which is near the poverty level
      if they have families.

4191. To rid the agency of poor employees, people who are just trying to
      make a name for themselves. To encourage employees who are
      proficent in an area to share that expertise.

4192. I would like to see multi-year budgets instead of annual budgets
      for angencies to work with. This may help with the

4193. Recognize accomplishments (merit promotions) and provide more
      flexible avenues for work environments (telecommuting, etc.). The
      agency needs to work harder at keeping good individuals from
      leaving by making it an attractive place to stay.

4194. Provide high honest leadership and real support from state offices
      and, more importantly, NHQ

4195. Reward the deserving employees and get rid of the people who
      aren\'t doing their jobs. I think

4196. Dump the dead wood, whether they are Supervisory or not.

4197. Keep competitive benefits and allow people more choice in where
      they work.

4198. Training, competitive pay scale,

4199. Limit moves and keep good benefits as they are.

4200. Good morale - let us do our job in the field as we were hired to
      do and cut out some of the computer imputs and paperwork required.

4201. Recognize empolyees work efforts and not promote average or below
      average empolyees who lack the ag skills to communicate to the
      clients.

4202. By simplifing the proceedures for eliminating the bad.

4203. Supporting the employee and encouraging them to continue to
      challenge themselves. Also, have obtainable goals for the
      employees so one can feel like you have accomplished something
      without having so much more out there in front of you. I realize
      there is always going to be more out there but lets complete
      something and then take on the next step. It seems like we do a
      little in each area and never really get to say that is finished
      and look what I was apart of. I also realize there are areas of
      our job that may never be fully completed but there are areas that
      could be. Hence, the old saying an arrow in every direction is no
      direction at all. In summary, find ways to enable the employee to
      somehow have a sense of acoomplishment every now and then along
      the way to the long term goal.

4204. Place them in positions that best utilizes their skills and
      interests and supports goals and mission of the agency. Listen to
      and treat them fairly.

4205. Challenging assignments that utilize employee expertise

4206. Increased salaries

4207. Keeping employees informed and involved throughout all phaes of
      projects to keep ownership with all employees.

4208. Recognize good work often with bonus and public recognition.
      Recognize when an employee has enough work load that additions
      would affect good performance

4209. Make sound management decisions.

4210. Provide truly open opportunities for promotions. Don\'t limit
      opportunities to just one or two series. Don\'t advertise if the
      job isn\'t really

4211. Good benefits, such as spot awards and leave, and training

4212. Leadership in the organization must reflect to employees that the
      are valued, provide opportunities for development of skills and
      reward for the accomplishments to contribute to the mission of the
      agency.

4213. I believe to take care of those desiring to be committed
      employees.

4214. Work with the good employees, give them more of the things they
      request. What I see happening now is all employees get treated the
      same. I don\'t think a good employee should get the same treatment
      as a bad employee. Management says it\'s fair to treat everyone
      the same, but I don\'t think that\'s fair at all.

4215. Ensure that we hire the right person in the first place. Someone
      who is dedicated to the profession and the resource.

4216. Better management of huge goals/workloads and unrealistic
      expectations

4217. Providing opportunities for training & promotion. Not stiffling
      creative & energetic employees. Being flexible with position
      locations to allow employees to best fit their personal
      situations, i.e. placing employees near their homes & families

4218. Question 5 does not include all the reasons people are promoted

4219. Good pay and great office politics

4220. I think we need strong leaders to be willing to deal with
      personnel issues. Shouldn\'t it be that you reward or promote
      employees with appropriate behavior and skills? In my career with
      SCS/NRCS I have witnessed just the opposite. I have heard people
      in the agency say

4221. Keep them informed of the agency priorities, initiatives,
      strategies, and

4222. Provide them with the training to understand all of the different
      programs we deal with on a daily basis. Provide enough staff to
      accomplish agency goals. Field staff is currently stretched way
      too thin, causeing severe morale problems and stress.

4223. Make clear cut decisions on priorties and goals and that employees
      are making a difference by focusing on these goals.

4224. pay them better and recognize outstanding achievement

4225. Like the military, allow 3 year transfer to NHQ for experience,
      and then transfer out so not trapped in Washington cost of living.
      Better work load analysis of staff needed to keep up with programs
      volume today. The work is in the folders, not in number of
      contracts signed. Need to measure work better and staff
      accordingly.

4226. Consistency, fairness.

4227. Don\'t burn out.

4228. He/She is dependable, acknowledgable, and positive attitude.

4229. Recognition for jobs done, even if they are daily or routine jobs.

4230. propoer recognition and awards

4231. Provide and opportunity for growth (loosely defined) to enable the
      employee feel they don\'t need to leave the agency to grow.

4232. Having a positive working environment which provides open
      communications between all levels, and providing jobs which allow
      for promotion. Showing common sense when setting fiscal year goals
      and expectations.

4233. Benefits, awards, and steady pay.

4234. Expect people to perform at their full level but do not be
      unrealtistic about expectations.

4235. Better leadership to deal with personnel issues.

4236. Ensure the duties of employees are similar to those specialties
      they were hired for. If NRCS continues to force very well educated
      and skilled biologists and natural resource specialists to
      administer pure program accomplishment that in some cases are not
      incorporating good science and natural resource management, then
      employees will naturally look to different agencies. Remember who
      works for you, what the requirements were for them to obtain the
      position, and what the core concept is behind conservation
      science.

4237. Provide a clearly defined career ladder.

4238. Work with them and show that you care, because these people
      already care for the agency.

4239. Recognition,Rewards and Promotions.

4240. Recognize them for there accomplishments, and don\'t forcefully
      move them around. Most families are a two income family these
      days, as federal employee\'s we know we have a job, but our
      spouses may not get a job, and then we are forced to leave so that
      we both can get jobs.

4241. Better awards and annual bonuses.

4242. Weed out the bad seeds that spread pessimism.

4243. Boost Moral through better recognition and bonus pay. Most
      employees have the attitude that the world owes them a full time
      job with top paay from the very beginning of their career. This is
      an individual thing and I have no thoughts on how to improve it.

4244. Allow/require employees to maintain contact with on-the-ground
      planning and projects

4245. Increase job satisfaction

4246. Institutionalize accountability and reward/promote based on
      performance/abilities, not on the need for work-force diversity or
      the good old boy system.

4247. More pay and flexibility is where to live.

4248. Give them authority commensurate with their responsibility.

4249. Provide them with a positive work environment, develop their
      strengths and talents, give them continuous feedback, give them
      the tools to do their jobs, help them to develop job satisfaction

4250. Recognize and reward their achievements.

4251. Competitive pay

4252. Jobs satisfaction

4253. Let the field people provide technical assistance on-the-ground
      and one-on-one and not have to spend all their time completing
      administrative assignments and working on computers

4254. Recognize and Reward. Accountability in performance. no

4255. Challenges. Freedom to specialist in a technical discipline at
      locations other than Centers and other special units.

4256. Increase in pay. Currently the private sector is paying

4257. Job Satisfaction and appreciation with occasional Monitary awards

4258. Treat them fairly and respectfully.

4259. There\'s a lot of employees that are doing work beyond their
      position descriptions. They need to get promoted for doing the
      work (i.e. desk audits by those familiar with their line of work,
      not typical admin staff!) Also, there should be potential for
      employees to be promoted from 12\'s to 13\'s without having to
      move if extreme technical competency can be justified and without
      having to be in a supervisory position.

4260. Recognition for accomplishments, opportunity to work where
      desired, paid maternity leave.

4261. Give them proper recognition when deserving; encourage training
      where necessary.

4262. Have a good program that will give step by step guidance on how to
      receive grade raises. Some people get promoted so fast and then
      nothing, others never get a promotion. It should be gradual so
      everyone gets promoted with experience.

4263. Instilling pride in what they accomplish for conservation.

4264. Raise the pay level to the same as the private sector.

4265. Be honest and upfront about their growth potential. Reward the
      good employees and take appropriate action against the
      non-performers. A loyal employee will stay if they see everyone is
      pulling their fair share.

4266. Highly trained, skilled, and professional Human Resources
      personnel to assist current employees with from the basic HR
      questions to career path plans. A excellent HR department can
      satisfy the needs of the current employees and also recruit good
      personel for the long term.

4267. Reward and promote from within

4268. Quit making it so you have to move to get a promotion. I am a wife
      and mother and not the bread winner so I cannot get up and move
      and in Idaho that is the major way to get promoted.

4269. Stop burying us in paper work and promoteing people on the basis
      of their skills instead of promoting people because they are a
      minority or know someone (wired)

4270. cut the useless paper work now require to protect us from our
      selves. Give the responsibility and authority to the field offices
      to do their job, getting conservation on the ground and eliminate
      the state/area office second guessing why and what the frontline
      staff do. State/area offices should be to advise and help field
      offices, not try to destroy them!!

4271. Reward the good/extra effort/

4272. Not forcing them to go to out of state trainning for an extended
      period of time. The trainning that is the best for us, we can get
      from right here in our own state, from people that we will have to
      deal with for as long as we work for the agency.

4273. Improve pay and benefits package. Give employees more voice in day
      to day operations.

4274. Give them an outlet, preferrably anonymous, for discussing what
      the agency is doing wrong and suggestions for change.

4275. Keep things as simple as possible. Use a common sense approach.

4276. Recognize them for their accomplishments on a annual basis and the
      recognitions need to be personal to each individual.

4277. Get more support staff and increase the Quality Assurance. I also
      feel we play a numbers game in progress and get quanity but not
      quality.

4278. awards, reduce workload of individuals by increasing staffing,
      promote technicians above the gs 7 level, promote cet\'s to gs 9
      or 10 if qualified to perform at that level.

4279. Job satisfaction. Improvement in the salary levels, increase the
      TSP contributions and better organization of the programs that are
      offered to landowners and operators.

4280. training, pay, quality leadership

4281. Instead of pouring all the new monies into programs, It should
      also be used to hire more people to help apply the conservation to
      the land. We are constantly having to do more with less. Hire
      computer programmers instead of having to patch-up programs that
      are not user friendly and have not worked since it was developed.
      (Toolkit)

4282. Hire qualified people, get rid of nonperforming people, give
      raises to people that do quality work and eliminate time
      reqirements between grades.

4283. Prrovide tools and procedures that actually work so employees can
      spend time actually doing their job rather than struggling with
      complex computer programs that often don\'t work and make simple
      tasks time consuming and confusing.

4284. Hire the correct people. Not just fill slots with minorities or
      woman. We need to hire QUALIFIED people

4285. Stop expecting technicians to be soil conservationist and computer
      specialist.

4286. Promote within. Raise the pay schedule beyond the GS10 step for
      grades 8 and lower. Keep the pay competative with the non
      government workers. Support and leadership from the State level.

4287. Those in supervisory capacities, even though not my supervisor,
      could now and then recoginze the work that I have accomplished by
      myself. I am a GS-11, and continuously train new employees, work
      with a part time employee, supervise a secretary and maintain a
      full workload. My supervisor says nice things, but others could
      look around too. Engineers, state range people etc.

4288. Treat them fairly and with respect. Allow a common sense approach.

4289. Develop fair, consistent managers capable of making decisions who
      stand by the decisions and handle the consequences from those
      decisions. Treat all employees fairly, with respect to their
      individual strengths and needs. Request volunteers rather than
      send a letter detailing employees to a work site. Select talented
      individuals for their management skills rather than for \'dues
      paid\' in the system.

4290. Recognization for work completed. Recognization for extra effort
      in doing work.

4291. Get rid of people who sexually harrass

4292. Have good programs with which to work and have rules that are
      finalized before the programs begin.

4293. Our agency needs to promote people know their job. They need to
      provide education opportunities for employees.

4294. Recognition of a job well done, and it doesn\'t necessarily have
      to be financial in nature. A

4295. More OJT before promoted into a new manager job or putting new
      people into manager spots without any OJT.

4296. Give supervisors the ability to get rid of poor employees. Listen
      to the good employees when they have suggestions for ways to
      improve the job and then take those suggestions and implement
      them. Don\'t just give them lip service.

4297. Give the one\'s that are under a heavy workload some help and ones
      that are underused some guidance to help them function at a higher
      work level.

4298. Treat them as well as they are performing

4299. Pay raises.

4300. Physically and measureably demonstrate to employees their value to
      the agency and to U. S. agriculture

4301. A safe and equal work place.

4302. Cut out the bull and allow them to do their job

4303. Recognition and promotion.

4304. Upper management needs to clean house and bring in people who have
      a full understanding of and have a great deal of first-hand
      experience at the field office level. Upper management should not
      be located in Washington DC - the basic framework needs to be
      revamped to secure the best, not just those willing to move -
      bring the job to the individual. The right people that have the
      proper experience and understanding and given the authority will
      develop workplace conditions that keep and recruit good employees.

4305. Having management that is knowledgeable and personable.

4306. Giving employees proper local training. This agency needs more
      people to allow for job shadowing type training on a local basis.

4307. PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCEMENT FROM NON-PROFESSIONAL STATUS
      TO PROFESSIONAL STATUS WITH WORK EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE
      POSITION IN PLACE OF COLLEGE DEGREE. THERE ARE NUMEROUS EMPLOYEES
      IN THE NON-PROFESSIONAL STATUS MORE QUALIFIED FOR SPECIFIC JOBS
      THAN THAT OF COLLEGE GRADUATES.

4308. Good Benefits, Good Retirement Plans

4309. Good explanations of why and how we are suppose to do things. Not
      getting the run around and having to change things after they are
      already done.

4310. Improved recognition programs and increase pay.

4311. Continue to ask employees what they need regarding formal
      training, on the job training, keep goal pressure at a minimum
      when new programs are added and original goals are expected to be
      met along with the new additional program goals (increases
      workload that may not have been in the business plan). Allow
      employees to specialize in certain areas and hire more staff in
      locations where workload is high.

4312. To have realistic goals, sufficient staff numbers, sufficient
      training and equipment and to try to fit employees into jobs where
      they have strong backgrounds.

4313. Pay them enough to keep them with NRCS

4314. Show them promotion is available without having to move miles away
      to take the promotion.

4315. Promote according to apptitude and the effectiveness of the
      individual. I see a very under qualified staff in our state
      office. They are agronimists trying to be managers of people and
      programs. They do not have the ability or the skills to properly
      communicate and properly empower the field to most effectively to
      do their jobs. The rest of us have to have a certain amount of
      college credit in soils but these jokers didn\'t take one
      management or any business class when they went to college. Why
      does that make them eligible for advancement and many of us that
      have better skills than they do are held down because of some
      stupid policy that probably was made by some intravert
      agronomist!!!!!!

4316. Less time on computers. Reduce paperwork. Get something productive
      done with our customers on the ground.

4317. Keeping in mind their personal goals & wishes in mind when
      locating them & requesting them to fill positions.

4318. I am field employee and to me the lack of leadership and the lack
      of someone making a decision and staying with it is very
      frustrating. Field people are the back bone of this agency.
      Without field office people this agency would not survive. Give
      the field credit when deserved and give them time to get their
      work done.

4319. Pay according to work load, not just title.

4320. Keep the good field people in the field with a sense of
      accomplishment without all the nit picky details, flip side to try
      and balance the good managers that know how to handle the nit
      picky details that keep us on the cutting edge. Sometimes I think
      a little more field dicretion but that needs to have its limits
      too. It is a tough balance but not all supervisors are good in the
      field and not all good field people are good managers; the
      excellent employee is one that is good in the field and is
      promoted to supervisor but retains the practical field approach to
      management.

4321. You shouldn\'t have to go into management to be promoted. Some
      employees are very good in their technical field and when they are
      promoted in to management they are not that good at management. So
      NRCS has lost a very good technical person and gained a very poor
      management person.

4322. Provide enough labor in the workforce. Less politically concerned
      and more concerned about our resources.

4323. Recognize who is responsible for the work being done and promote
      them accordingly.

4324. incentives, possible bonus \$ awards for all jobs, keep job
      experience a happy experience,

4325. GIVE THEM SUPPORT THEY NEED TO DO THEIR JOB IN THE WAY OF TIMELY
      TRAINING(AFTER NEW SOFTWARE OR PROGRAMS ARE MADE AVAILABLE NOT
      MONTHS BEFORE), RESOURCES, AND EQUIPMENT. COMPENSATE PEOPLE BASED
      ON THEIR JOB AND RESPONSIBILITES WHICH MAY MEAN ALTERING SOME
      PEOPLES GS LEVELS.

4326. Make sure administration is in close commumincation with the needs
      of the field office.

4327. Empowerment at the local level.

4328. Keep the link stronger bewteen the activities of the state
      office(polices etc) to what is actually happening in the field
      offices. Remember who is out there with the producers and who has
      to answer their questions. Also look at the geographical areas
      when you are setting goals for each office, the land may not be
      able to support those goals.

4329. Supervisors that are easy to work with.

4330. Better recognition for quality work accomplished in a more timely
      manner.

4331. Encouragement by rewarding those that deserve the awards, and
      getting rid of those that only

4332. Good pay and quality training

4333. Show equality in job selections and promotions not based on
      gender, etc.

4334. improve pay and hire the best qualified rather than the minority

4335. Promote based on demonstrated skills, not just level of education.

4336. Give them timely, quality formal training (NRCS classes),& quality
      on-the-job training. Give them awards\--not just jackets, but cash
      awards. Managers need to tell them frequently that they appreciate
      their good work for the agency and for its clients.

4337. Have good manager to train new employees. All employee need to
      have some sort of management and leadership skills so that they
      can became better employees as they go up the career ladder. Many
      employees are tried of managers that do not have enough technical
      competence to anwser their questions. Also They lack the
      management skills to get the work done in their offices
      proficiently.

4338. Make employees more specialized, right now everybody has to know
      everything about everything. We don\'t have the time to know
      everthing about all programs.

4339. Fair salary that approaches private sector. We have great
      benefits\-\--which should be considered. Salaries are behind
      however.

4340. More pay.

4341. Promotion potential. Ability to find jobs located near a spouse.

4342. Promote employees for their ability not to meet quotas.

4343. Working with employees schedules, being flexible with the
      schedules(within reason),realistic goals,keeping good equipment
      with the employees,respect the employees decisions as adult
      decisions and stand by them. If this is continued I think this
      would keep people and their experienced skills and knowledge on
      our NRCS team.

4344. Better pay and less red tape.

4345. Promotions

4346. The big problem has been going from a technical agency with
      importance of field work to what changed in the 1990\'s being
      program driven and tied to the office computer.

4347. Increase wages! The NRCS is about 25% below private industry at a
      minimum!

4348. pay,benefits, are a good start. promotions for employees if they
      are doing the work even if they do not have a degree.. don\'t
      micro manage

4349. Give the good employees that latitude to make decisions and
      require the

4350. Provide us with the right equipment so we can do our jobs without
      worrying about our personal safety. For instance, I work in a
      state where you need 4 wheel drive vehicles to get to the job
      sites. On some days you can\'t even drive on county roads with 2
      wheel drive. I don\'t feel safe during the winter going out in the
      field and that makes me uncomfortable doing my job. There is a
      push to reduce 4x4 vehicles in this state and that\'s making it
      unsafe for us to do our jobs.

4351. Keep them happy.

4352. Maybe less mobility requirements?, it seems that being mobile
      rewards all employees, meaning good ones and not so good ones.
      This also goes for folks willing to move are usually higher
      grades, is that what we need as an agency mobility or competent?
      Or do we need folks moving up the career ladder that are
      technically competent and maybe less mobile. Now for the soil
      scientist career its been rock bottom for several years, maybe
      even decades. There is not a decent career ladder for this series,
      GS-9 is not a grade to peak underneath one party/project leader.
      Project Leaders should be GS-12 with folks earning a decent living
      with GS-11\'s. Soil Survey\'s take sometime and we need folks to
      assemble this very important product, its the foundation of our
      work. This also gives better stability and consistency in the
      mapping especially the once over in the western states.

4353. Being fair and honest.

4354. Competitive wages with private sector. More consistant awards
      program.

4355. Promote based on ability to do the job, not how well a person can
      exagerate the truth in KSA\'s.

4356. compensate well, provide technology & tools to accomplish job

4357. Reward them by promoting people that are competent

4358. Reduce stress associated with the job & pay about the same or more
      than the private industry

4359. Increase salary; minimize redundant paperwork and overall
      documentation;

4360. Not decreasing the benefits we have now and when we retire.

4361. Salaries and employee benefits need to be competetive with the
      private sector within the geographic area of the position.

4362. Competitive wages, better mentoring

4363. Make sure they are happy with their job.

4364. through the use of good training, equip. and wise leadership

4365. improve pay and working conditions, eliminate useless bureaucratic
      paper work

4366. Getting them back to the field and not be so dependent on the
      computer.

4367. Reward them for doing a good job.

4368. Besides offering good pay and benefits, make those career
      advancement opportunities available. For those that want to grow
      with the agency, give them that availability. Promote within.
      Sometimes this will include providing training and education which
      we as a agency should provide as well.

4369. Pay them a fair wage and make them feel like their part of
      something important.

4370. Reward people who work and deal with those that don\'t perform or
      just play the game.

4371. Awarding the people who work hard instead of promoting people who
      are problems.

4372. reduce workload stressadfasfdasfds

4373. Provide training for opportunities of advancement. Recognize
      quality work and compensate accordingly.

4374. Streamline our mission and deliver assistance to the farms that
      really need it - not just the rich landowners. Make the work
      meaningful.

4375. Recongnize for a job

4376. Better pay

4377. Keep family oriented and bring pay scales closer to the private
      sector.

4378. change happening at a slower rate, increased benefits-dental and
      vision

4379. Continue their on the job training and formal training to assist
      them in advancing their skills to pass on to their peers and to
      their customers. It would also help to look at career latters in
      all diciplines.

4380. Hire individuals that want to commit to the agency and are willing
      to go where we need them. If they are committed to us and the
      career we offer they will stay and enjoy their jobs throughout
      their career. Also need to bring employees up through the system,
      hire soil cons now and instill in them the need to fulfill a role
      as a DC, train and move them for exposure to different management
      styles and they will be much better prepared to step into
      management roles.

4381. Higher pay.

4382. Managers often say they manage positions and not personnel
      forgetting that the personnel often make or break the position
      they are in. Incentives should be based on quantity and quality of
      work. Often conservation districts are overlooked because low
      quality personnel were assigned to them and killed the trust and
      workload in the district. Pay grades should be based on quality
      and quality of work that can be produced. It isn\'t right to see
      one field office crew work very hard to produce and see another do
      very little and get the same pay. The old methods of measuring
      production shown in the Nation Handbook of Conservation Practices
      (ie. number of feet, acres, etc.) was a more accurate way of
      measuring personnel production than the current system. The
      technical expertise of area and state specialists will often make
      or break a program is a state. It is hard to measure their value
      by production numbers alone. Management must take time to go look
      at the innovative work they do to properly manage them.

4383. Our managers say they manage positions not people. It seems unfair
      that some field office staffs work very hard to produce in some
      offices while other offices don\'t work hard and don\'t produce
      yet both are paid the same. It would be nice if merit bonus
      payment could be paid to employees who work hard. These merits
      shouldn\'t be based on the current reporting system. That system
      is meaningless and easily manipulated to reflect progress that
      only exists on paper. Merit pay should be based on actual prgress
      as reported in the old system reflected in the National Handbook
      of Conservation Practices (ie. feet of pipeline).

4384. challenging work, empowerment with authority and responsibility,
      competitive salaries, use of their real talents

4385. Make salary increases available yearly as long as the employee in
      increasing in training and ability. Having to Wait so long between
      salary increases (i.e., 3 years) causes frustration and lack of
      incentive.

4386. It seems to be working the way it is done now.

4387. Giving them self worth through pay and recognition.

4388. less bureaucracy and more consistency in job and career options

4389. Go back to why the agency was started. Working with producers on
      conservation work. All we are doing now is program dollars and are
      not looking at the whole picture nor the whole farm.

4390. Provide timely training, provide reward and recognition to
      deserving employees based on objective performance system with
      realistic and acheivable goals. This will require increased
      communication from supervisors and detailed plans for employees so
      know if they are heading toward their target

4391. need to feel valued & appreciated. if an employee is doing well &
      is happy in the position & location, they should not be forced to
      transfer. while mobility does have it\'s benefits, there is also
      benefit to stabilty -for the emplyee & family, the community, &
      the agency. if personnel issues exist, they should be addressed,
      not ignored. sometimes an individual may be difficult to work with
      or get along with, often managment ignores those issues. i don\'t
      know wether it\'s because they don\'t know how to handle the
      situation or if they don\'t think that it deserves attention.
      however, i am aware of some people who have transfered or left the
      agency partly because of those type of issues not being addressed.

4392. keep them happy

4393. First of all, hire people that are interested in the job and not
      just the pay!

4394. Recognizing employees that

4395. Improve morale within the agency. We are far to desperate to fill
      jobs that we often fill them with incompetent people at all levels
      and thus then we create another personnel issue that has to be
      dealt with.

4396. By supporting those who have the knowledge and skills to do the
      job correctly. Regardless of years completed in school. Sometimes
      the people that have the degrees are not necessarily the one that
      do the best job. Sometimes when those persons having a degree get
      promoted over those who do not, those who do not go to the private
      sector for more pay. I think it could be looked at on a production
      level and with some common sense.

4397. Come up with a way to get rid of not so good employees

4398. Give then lots of opportunities and provide support. Reduce the
      excess paper work.

4399. Allow field NRCS employees to maximize their time at work
      performing resource and planning duties and minimize their time
      performing accounting and reporting duties. Recognize capable,
      productive employees for their accomplishments.

4400. Maintain & expand our comittment to service and accountability to
      the resource, to agriculture, and to the public & taxpayer.

4401. Challenge them and maintain high expectations of them

4402. Maintain benefit package, provide stability, and work with
      employees in a more flexible family friendly environment (we have
      policies in place, but they are not enforced or promoted by
      management who are of an age that they don\'t always understand
      the new 2-career family situation.

4403. Pay and awards for accomplishments.

4404. Eliminate bad or problem employees, and career opportunities.

4405. Provide a flexible work environment; minimize the

4406. Recognize them as individual people w/ individual thoughts and
      skills. Supervisors must communicate satisfaction and
      dissatisfaction as well as assisting (when possible) with possible
      solutions when there is dissatisfaction

4407. Take the BS our of the Job. We need to work towards haveing
      performance goals for each employee that reflect what they do both
      on the managment side and the technical side. We can\'t say you
      have 1600 hours to work on goals and only 240 hours to do all the
      rest of the stuff. There is way to much of the rest of the stuff.

4408. deal with problem employees. Transfer or moving problem employees
      does not assist in keeping quality employees.

4409. Only hire people that have a farm/ranch background and quit trying
      to meet parity all of the time. Filling positions and promoting
      individuals based on their gender or race isn\'t the answer.

4410. To promote and recognize them as good employees and for doing
      their job, people need to be told and shown that their work is
      valuable.

4411. Give people praise and recogination for a job well done and not
      promote people because of who they know but how they do their job.

4412. Good support by management (which is currently the case from my
      perspective), awards based on productivity, management honoring
      promises (IT staff have an issue regarding this - they were
      promised GS12 level positions in the new reorg which didn\'t
      happen-we are going to lose real good IT staff to other agencies
      if this doesn\'t get adequately addressed).

4413. Make sure that those employees are recognized for the good work
      they do and promoted to the position that they are qualified and
      able to do.

4414. Being Flexible

4415. Hire the best of the applicants on the panels. Do on the job
      training with the existing specialists.

4416. provide a positive place to come to work and reward them for their
      efforts while in the work place.

4417. Do not keep promoting or importing sub-standard supervisors. When
      NRCS employees have good supervisors, they are happier in their
      jobs and less likely to resign for one reason or another. In the
      Federal Government (not just NRCS) there seem to be a lot of
      sub-standard employees that get passed along to other offices or
      promoted just to get rid of them where they are, to the detriment
      of their new subordinates.

4418. better pay, a more common sense attitude, we are getting so
      complicated hardly any one truly understand their jobs anymore. It
      is hard enough learning one job but this agency expects you to
      know 5 or 6, I do not know if this is the case in other branches
      of the government or not, but it does tend to stress people a lot.

4419. If they are considering leaving ask them what has motivated them
      to want to change. Meet their needs as much as practicle. Keep
      fexible work time and leave as benfits. Keep good health care
      options and sharing in the premium cost.

4420. reward them

4421. Work with employee for choice of duty station. Allow for
      specicalization in field of expertise. Keep awards regular with
      employees - programs may dictate accomplishments(good or bad). Pay
      support for accomplishments - required to work outside job
      description.

4422. Reduce workload stress by narrowing job responsibilities. In other
      words: Define work responsibilities so that an employee can be
      responsible for, and excel, at fewer items rather than having
      multiple responsibilities over a myriad of programs that it is
      impossible to gecome proficient at.

4423. Reduce the beaurocracy and train them in technical fields!

4424. Keep agency from outsourcing jobs to private sector, and offer
      more incentives for work well done.

4425. Take a closer look at starting pay rates. Need to be competative
      with the private sector

4426. Performance based incentives and rewards

4427. Keep them excited, Challenged, well paid, and limit the
      meaningless report generations and programattic complexities.

4428. Improving Job Satisfaction

4429. Provide good leadership with people that set a good example and
      motivate others. Support and encourage employees: stress
      management techniques/trainging, excercise program.

4430. Allow upward mobility without out of state experience, family
      friendly policy

4431. Make the darned decision to have number crunchers in this new
      computer program age in field offices so that planner can plan and
      apply conservation to the land. This light should be coming on
      pretty darned soon.

4432. Positive feedback from supervisors, Emphasis on conservation
      accomplishments and not Progress (numbers of widgits produced)

4433. Go to a pay for performance system.

4434. Allowing the type of quality work to be accomplish that all
      technical, ethical professionals strive for.

4435. Minimizing unrealistic goals Keep offering training opportunities,
      to allow them to become more informed and trained with the skills
      required in their job.

4436. Give them the ability to shape the course of their work and the
      agency.

4437. Keeping them informed of how their work is important to the big
      picture and showing appreciation through recognition.

4438. Cut bureaucracy so employees can see their efforts going to the
      good of the people of this country and not just satisfing another
      political whim

4439. Make us partners in our careers by giving us decision making
      options that combine personal needs and professional goals. Better
      health benefits plans. Higher pay keeps coming up.

4440. Increasing pay to reflect the private sector.

4441. Take into account their personal goals as well as their
      professional goals.

4442. Pay them what they are worth

4443. return to our mission of conservation rather than the program
      driven way we have gone

4444. Appreciate and promote deserving technical employees more.

4445. This question is lacking background!

4446. Good employees are frustrated with the mixed signals from agency
      leaders right now. They are expected to meet programs goals at the
      expense of high quality service/conservation planning and are
      expected to provide leadership to private sector TSP\'s to acheive
      those goals. CTA funds and a clear message about the value of good
      employees are needed. Not more money for someone else to do an
      employee\'s job at a lower quality level while still meeting
      goals.

4447. Providing flexibility and, good pay, and good benefits.

4448. Allow good employees to advance in their desired location.

4449. Listen to questions and concerns they have, continue communication
      between field offices and state offices

4450. Open communication between all levels of employees and incentives.

4451. Give them support on there acheivments even if its the little
      things. Bonus\'s for the big things.

4452. Trust in their decisions

4453. Do not promote incompetent people. Bet some supervisors that have
      a knowledge of what is going on in the field.

4454. Make them realize the real world of unemployment.

4455. Have employees perform job duties directly related to the series
      they were hired under. For example, direct Rangeland Management
      Specialists to conduct conservation planning on rangeland only and
      not cropland. (Have Soil Conservationists conduct planning on
      cropland and other non-range ag lands).

4456. Fairly reward employees based on merit, pay a fair wage with
      benifits; on par with the private sector, promote BEST Qualified
      employees; those with a mix of technical competency and managerial
      qualities not based on unfair hiring quotas.

4457. Have a well-defined career-ladder system.

4458. The salary must keep up with the general nongovernmental salaries
      in order to keep good employees!

4459. Realistic goals and the opportunity/time/tools to complete them.

4460. Keep them motivated by involving more field staff with management
      level decision making.

4461. A better cost of living allowance.

4462. Incentives commenserate with private industry

4463. I can only opine for myself. The biggest beef I have with working
      for the government is the lack of competitive pay and the lack of
      advancement opportunities or opportunities to better my position
      in life. It also appears that it dose not matter how technically
      skilled or managerially gifted you are. The only way you are
      promoted is by time on the job and that could be years and years
      and moves and moves. Question 5 really is poorly worded because it
      appears that most people here where promoted because they were the
      only option, not because they where a good option. In other words
      there is no fast track for career advancement. Due the remote
      location of many of the positions in NRCS the agency will have to
      do a lot better job at compensating me for living so far from
      civilization. I also would apperciate anything they can do to
      increase my access to the service and conveinces of larger
      communities. I desperately want to continue my education but feel
      this is impossable due to the remote nature of my location. Being
      stuck in the middle of a artic purgatory which is so far out that
      it is even why beyond the sticks really really sucks when you a 20
      something. I get terribly lonely and board and the first decent
      oppertunity to leave that presents itself will be taken.

4464. Recognize accomplishments by deserving employees w/o pestering
      them to death about moving

4465. Fair rank system on job performance. Keeping workload at a good
      level, not to little (makes people lazy) not to much (makes people
      feel overwhelmed). Definitely recognition should be given to those
      who have gone above and beyond. There also needs to be
      understanding by official higher up on the different situations
      field offices face.

4466. Promote based on merit

4467. Let us run our own programs and get rid of most of the horrible
      computer software we are developing for planning.

4468. Eliminate poor and marginal supervisors. The single biggest issue
      I hear all around the country is that good employees have to deal
      with is poor supervision. Which includes very poor communication
      or unequitable communication, favoritism, and a lot of supervisors
      hold grudges. Once an employee with one of these boneheads is in
      the doghouse there is no way out except to transfer or leave the
      agency. Question 5 should have another choice or two. I would say
      many folks that get overlooked are not as slick at writing resumes
      and KSA\'s. So the ability to market one\'s self would be my \# 1
      choice for why folks get promoted.

4469. Give good employees a raise once in a while. Don\'t force the to
      move because someone else knows what is best for carreer.

4470. Provide ability to get promoted without having to transfer to
      another County or State. Most families now have both spouses
      working and when you have to move to get promoted you create
      economic hardships.

4471. Let them be involved in the decision process. At least on issues
      that are controlled at the local level.

4472. eliminate employee personnel conflicts

4473. Give options on forced moves or ask what locations are desirable

4474. Trust in the employees and constant communication from the top on
      down.

4475. Treat them fairly and provide them with meaningful goals to
      accomplish.

4476. Pay them what they sould be paid. I am lucky to be in a place
      where I enjoy my work and the people I work with. It is the most
      proffesional group of people I have worked with in my 20 years of
      service. I feel that at as a state purchasing agent I should be at
      a higher grade than a 7. especially when contracting officers at
      the state level are 4 grades higher. The gap needs to be narrowed.
      It is easy to justify why someone is paid. That does not make it
      right. If a person is treated right they will stay around.

4477. Improve the managerial skills in those promoted (or hired) to
      mangerial positions. This might mean better training and/or
      requiring a certain level of management before promotion.

4478. Providing meaningful tasks coupled with recognition of
      accomplishments.

4479. Higher pay and upward mobility in the form of training and

4480. Show our appreciation for their work and communicate/explain many
      of the new directions that the agency is taking.

4481. Good pay, challenge creativity, rewared good preformance, and
      understand personnal needs.

4482. job challenges relative to allowing them time to work on emerging
      issues in conjuction with research organizations

4483. Better managers and leaders who know how to motivate and lead not
      just be good technically. Have a way for employees who are good
      technically but are not manager material to be promoted up the
      ladder without having to supervise.

4484. Recognition, appreciation, and removing poor management that
      stands in the way of good employees.

4485. In todays\' society, training availability, competitive wages,
      permanent status, and good health benefits is the key to retaining
      good employees.

4486. Try saying

4487. Allow promostion potential

4488. Financial recognition for good work

4489. First, reward them. Second, do not reward those employees who are
      doing the bare minimum (or less) by turning a blind eye or by
      promoting/rewarding them.

4490. Pay equality for the same position across the U.S.; recognition in
      the form of rewards and promotions for excellent job performance;
      avoidance of assigning menial duties to highly skilled workers
      (wastes the resource)

4491. making them feel a part of the NRCS team, working toward a common
      goal

4492. reward for performance

4493. Be consistent among employees and maintain high moral among
      employees

4494. Continue to communicate from all levels of Management that the
      employees matter. Also reward the best and fire the worst.

4495. Improve morale.

4496. We are losing our good technical people either through attrition
      or other jobs. NRCS promotes bad people, when actually, they
      should be removed/fired/terminated from their position, like Mr.
      Brown in FEMA. NRCS needs to compensate their people, especially
      the secretaries. I have been with NRCS starting 20 years and I am
      still a GS-6. I\'m the secretary for Ecological Sciences and
      Engineering staffs. I have to know other things too for my
      position like time/travel/purchasing, etc., besides training
      people who are higher-grade than myself that have been with the
      agency less time than myself. It\'s very frustrating for me to
      continue to stay with the agency under those circumstances. But,
      even though there are these issues, I truly like my staffs that I
      work for and my job is such that I learn new things everyday from
      my specialists.

4497. Create more opportunity for promotion without having to move to a
      large metropolitan area such as Washington D.C. When the agency
      moved regional positions to Washington D.C. they forgot that a
      large number of NRCS employees have rural farming or ranching
      backgrounds and are not interested in city living.

4498. Limit the amount of change and reward excellent performance.

4499. use effectiveness for leadership performance

4500. Provide avenues for advancement

4501. offer permanent status and promote in accordance with time in
      grade and performance. Offer formal training or other career
      advancing education incentives.

4502. Keep supervisors located within work place.

4503. Promote from within

4504. recruit good employees out of college, provide superior training
      and good pay, and then keep promoting from within.

4505. Pick good leaders that are a mix of technical competency and
      managerial qualities.

4506. Work with them to assign them to a duty location THEY want to be
      at, instead of force moving them someplace they don\'t want to be.

4507. Competitive pay, job security, and ensure that ALL promotions are
      merit-based rather than on some other criteria. Nothing defeats
      moral more quickly than placing

4508. I think the best way to keep good employees, is to not burden them
      with excessive goals and objectives. Employees are swamped right
      now - especially in field offices. They keep being asked to do
      more, while getting no additional help.

4509. Ensure the technology we are required to use is useful and
      functional. This will allow us to spend more time doing our job
      and less time dealing with the frustration of new non functional
      technology.

4510. a system which more effectively provides forn the screening out
      and getting rid of non-productive employees

4511. Moral is low. Be timely on awards, not months later, in some
      cases, several years. Offer incenitives and recognition of work
      accomplished.

4512. Our agency needs to go back to providing assistance to our
      customers based on natural resource needs rather than budgets and
      arbitrary goals.

4513. Be fair to all. Hire on quality not goals of targeted groups. As
      an agency we are now being micro managed. Get away from strict
      structure and do not set goals to unattainable levels. Do not
      advance employees before they are capable to do the job.

4514. Talk with employees about decisions involving their future with
      regards to promotions, transfers, within grade increase. Don\'t
      make decisions without the employee imput. For example a mandatory
      move, this is not always feesable with double income families.

4515. Fair and equitable working environment; sufficient technical
      training; direction and recognition

4516. Culling the poor employees instead of just moving them to another
      job. Good employees get serious burnout when they see no action
      taken toward poor employees that do not do their job. Need to
      develop a Donald Trump policy

4517. Be competetive with the private sector. Make them feel appreciated
      and not looked down on since they are public servants.

4518. Pay competitive salaries. Also, give more career options. The old
      system of all soil conservationists will be district
      conservationists one day is not working. Soil cons are leaving the
      agency or not moving up because the DC postion is too diversified,
      and nobody wants that role. It could easily be divided into a
      technical position and a managerial position.

4519. Have a good working open environment

4520. Keep the work interesting and challenging.

4521. keep the about of work to me completed to a managable level.

4522. competitive pay and flexibility that allows for individual
      initiative to solve problems

4523. Reduce paperwork or hire secretaries for the field offices to do
      much of the paperwork so that staff are able to get to the field,
      work with landowners,have time to problem solve and develop new
      approaches to conservation. Also, to not require moving.

4524. Employees need to make a difference. Current direction and
      programmatic deadlines, continuous changes in CST, ArcGIS,
      Protracts, and new computers (not available until after programs
      changes) without providing enough time for quality training is
      difficult. Financial assistance funding is great, but technical
      assistance funds don\'t keep pace. It is difficult to add staff,
      expect journeyman planner status within one year. TSP\'s are
      typically not as qualified as NRCS staff. Program changes and
      unknown CSP program start-up dates until a week or two before
      announcement is unbelieveable!

4525. Recognition by Awards and Promotions. A fairer award system
      hopefully will come with a more detailed performance appraisal
      system

4526. Three items: 1)Recognize the really good work and/or extra
      employees perform, even if it\'s a single occurence during the
      year. 2)Stop placing more and more demands (because of Farm Bill
      programs and other mandated activities) until they are adequately
      training and have significant work experience under their belt; 3)
      Spend more time in field offices training newer employees, more
      time following up with employees on their training plans (with
      more focused training, if necessary) to INSURE field office
      employees have the necessary experience and expertise to move on
      to the next higher level. I have been observing (last 15 years) a
      trend in less actual field technical knowledge because of the huge
      time demands that computer technology requires\...too much
      information, too many changes too often in NRCS computer-generated
      planning, progress reporting, and other management activities. Our
      employees are becoming \'lost\' without the computer-generated
      information. I do not see this as a healthy situation. Field
      employees, middle management employees are fed up with the
      constant changover in computer programs and the time required for
      data entry for planning, reporting, goal setting, etc.

4527. Reduce bureracracy so they can see more tangible results.

4528. Good communication between all levels. I see a lack of
      communication between the State Office and Field Offices.

4529. Develope workload management techniques, as most offices are short
      staffed and don\'t have time to take annual leave. This increases
      stress and decreases agency loyalty.

4530. Reduce paper work, more time in the field,less emphasis on
      spending money, more emphasis on getting conservation on the
      ground

4531. When excellence is acheived reward them. Budgets shouldn\'t have
      as much influence in control of rewarding employee as they
      currently do, but we do realize we have a budget to follow.

4532. Good training, incentives or recognizions for the job well done.

4533. Recognize that you can\'t expect your employees to keep doing more
      with less manpower. Workloads and expectations are unreasonable,
      Employee stress levels are not recognized/acknowledged.

4534. promotions based on merit and better pay

4535. Provide good and reasonable training, with a pay range that is
      comparible to the private sector. Keep poor managers out of a
      supervisory position.

4536. Employee and family may work and live in a community they wish to
      live in while working for the NRCS.

4537. Merit pay

4538. Keep stress level down by keeping expectations at a reasonable
      level.

4539. Recognition, voluntary promotions (not direct reassignments),
      keeping morals high by treating employees fairly.

4540. Keep promotion available

4541. pay better. We lose a lot of women and minorties to the private
      sector because thsy get more money there.

4542. Make sure they are rewarded for doing a good job. Also, make sure
      to understand the stress triggers that make it hard for people to
      finish tasks.

4543. Have time, after required computer time, to help install
      conservation practices on the land working with land owners and
      users.

4544. Make it a family friendly workplace. Paid maternity and paternity
      benefits and job sharing are important so people can balance
      family and career. Also every DC needs a raise. They just don\'t
      make enough money for all of the responsibilites they have. It
      doesn\'t make it enticing to become one.

4545. Try and cut down on the paper work and let them do the field work
      that needs to get done.

4546. Good employees want to work for an NRCS that challenges
      them,involves them,inspires them, empowers them, and values them.

4547. Reduce the daily frustration in dealing with computers, policy and
      complicated program requirements.

4548. Reward for performance and competancy above the normal line of
      duty, respect and consider employees with families when making
      decisions.

4549. Try not to make them feel helpless when it comes to moving, ie:
      don\'t tell someone they might go somewhere until it is for sure.
      Also, if possible, when a move is required, move them to different
      field offices within commuting distance. This saves money and
      stress.

4550. Promotion opportunity and pay increases.

4551. Listen to the employees, what are their needs, career goals, etc.

4552. Incentives and training

4553. Pay. NRCS employees, especially field management and field
      planners are not paid for their experience, skills, job complexity
      and succeeding with extremely high learning curves as the private
      sector is. Drop the

4554. Need to reconize generation differences,support for diverse status
      empolyee\'s after hiring,remove military way of doing things

4555. Reward those individuals with higher pay increase who perform
      their job duties above satisfactory standards. Make policy where a
      person does not have to transfer to another office within two
      years of employment.

4556. Reward or promote good/productive employees regerdless of there
      race or gender. Do not reward or hire employees just because of
      there gender or race.

4557. Make their job enjoyable and pay them what they are worth.

4558. better pay and more reconition and rewards!

4559. Compensate according to work preformed. Bad
      performance..termination.

4560. Employees like to be recognized for the work that they do. A pat
      on the back would even help keep me feeling good about my job.

4561. Be treated with respect.

4562. Offer clear pathways for advancement and be sure they understand
      their own job and the mission of the agency and how these two
      things intersect.

4563. Fair working condations and fair compensation.

4564. Good work environment, good pay, and good benefits

4565. Acknowleging hard work

4566. Sorry, every

4567. Improve the tools we are required to use:PRS, Toolkit, OnePlan,
      etc. Provide ways to not only reward good employees but to get rid
      of the less productive ones (Morale).

4568. Provide a good, open, fun, respectful,professional working
      atmosphere.

4569. Provide more training opportunities to new employees and have
      realistic ideas on the production capabilities of these employees

4570. Listening to ideas from employees at the field office level.

4571. Challenge them and broaden their experience with special
      interstate or international assignments.

4572. Keep from overloading employees with work

4573. Adequate pay for the job and less change in computer systems that
      we use. Find one system and stay with it instead continually
      changeing for the sake of change. Reduce the change in program
      rules that can change on a weekly basis.

4574. Develop some sort of incentive program or utilize the programs we
      have more. The frustration felt with the current situations
      regarding computers and paperwork is increasing daily.

4575. Get back to focusing on technical expertise instead of
      administration, invest in the development of technical expertise
      for young employees, and let these young employees provide their
      learned technical expertise to our customers. A lot of technical
      knowledge will be retiring in the next few years and NRCS is not
      replacing it. Instead, most of our training is about how to
      operate the latest, greatest computer program. The backbone of
      NRCS is disappearing and young employees will get burned out quick
      when they don\'t get to do the work they thought they would get to
      do.

4576. Let them do what they signed up for, relieve administrative
      burdens at the field office level. I suspect most people who get
      degrees in biology, soils, botany, etc\...did so because they
      didn\'t want to spend their career\'s doing accounting, book
      keeping, contracting, computer jockeying, etc..

4577. More leniency on the idea of relocating offices temporarily.

4578. Good, timely, and relevent training; utilize a persons skills; get
      rid of folks that are not doing anything and get folks in that
      will.

4579. Focus more on conservation than programs.

4580. Stop outsourcing all the good work (planning, inventory)

4581. Fair performance appraisals that individuals have a chance of
      acheiving.

4582. Increase pay and work with the employee in regards to career
      goals.

4583. Do NOT force moves. Keep morale up in the field by not
      discriminating because of where we live. What I mean here, is that
      our state office offers employees within a certain commuting
      distance to participate in health fairs and insurance fairs that
      are only held in the state office.

4584. Treating employees with respect. Appreciate work that is being
      completed, not what cannot. Don\'t expect an employee to do the
      work of 2 people.

4585. Quit demanding that they

4586. Get the Field Office employees in the field with the producers
      rather than in the office on a computer.

4587. Providing excellent training opportunities that help employees
      advance (graduate degrees, outside the agency training, details,
      etc.)

4588. Give the agency the people to do all of the work and provide them
      with the tools, technical and managerial, to do the work. Burned
      out employees will leave earlier. We want to apply good
      conservation on the ground and not get tied to a computer to
      report practices and when we do report practices we want them all
      to be recognized not just priority practices.

4589. Make all aspects of the promotional requirements fair for
      everyone. I feel like I am being held back due to not having a 4
      year degree. I know that I need this for a professinal series job
      but I do not think it should keep me from moving up the pay scale.
      If an employee does thier job well they should be rewarded for it
      regardless of thier academic background.

4590. Better Benefits

4591. Let us have the time to do quality planning in the field with
      producers.

4592. There should be a career ladder for field oriented folks, so that
      we keep the quality, experienced people in the field - we tend to
      lose the best people to administrative positions, because this is
      the only avenue for advancement to a higher grade level.

4593. Reduce the frustration levels of new tools, new items, new changes
      midsteam while we are trying to do our jobs i.e. new performance
      standards, new business plan formats, new ranking tools, etc.

4594. Treat people like they are real and not pawns in management\'s
      chess game. Promote them on their knowledge, skill and abilities
      and not ethnicity or gender for quotas. Recognize their
      contributions, and pay them equitably with private industry or
      equivalent with other government agencies for the same job
      responsibilities. NRCS personnel have way more responsibility and
      accountability for a grade level than other federal agenies,i.e.
      BLM.

4595. Hire enough people to do the job. More and more work has been
      heaped on essentially the same number of employees. Stress levels
      are at an all time high in my career - 30 years.

4596. Reward them (i.e. bonuses, admin leave, NRCS apparel) for goals
      accomplished and jobs well done. Don\'t just keep expecting more
      blood, sweat, and tears from them and not giving anything in
      return.

4597. Positive attitude of management. Continued use of flex time and
      credit leave.

4598. Provide more opportunities for them to move where they want to.
      Especially, don\'t send them places where they don\'t want to go.

4599. Job Satisfaction and management that recognizes highly productive
      employees

4600. An overall committment to employees professional needs by agency
      management. Job satisfaction, as well as performance, is strongly
      tied to having field equipment, computers, software, opportunities
      to attend training and conferences, ect. to the same degree as our
      counterparts in other agencies and the private sector. Employees
      want to have pride in quality work, that is considered to be

4601. Recognize individuals for what they are worth and the amount of
      work they produce rather than one pay plan for all.

4602. Job location and work at home duty stations.

4603. Let them do there jobs without undue supervision.

4604. As an NRCS employee working for the community through
      conservation, you become apart of the community. Therefore,
      forceing people to relocate every few years can damage the
      employees personal life as well as the employees family lives as
      well. Producers have mentioned to me how difficult it is to have
      to re-establish goals and business with each new NRCS employee
      every few years. Another primary way to keep employees working for
      the NRCS, is the promotion process. I have a BS degree, yet I
      cannot move from a soil con. tech. to a soil con. based on
      education requirements although I can currently perform the task
      as a soil con.

4605. I think that the NRCS Boot Camp is an excellent way to begin an
      employee\'s career. The NRCS Boot Camp provides new employees with
      knowlege of the Agency\'s visions, goals, some policy, and tools
      that will aid them in successfully completing their jobs.
      Additional training during the employee\'s career will maintain a
      workforce that is happy and competent.

4606. Stop promoting employees into management positions without strong
      technical experience.

4607. Make the job a challenge Not forcing them to move\--especially
      with families\--every couple years

4608. Reward their efforts with pay raises & public recognition.

4609. Better career ladder

4610. Maintain technical expertise through training.

4611. do not pre-arrange duty station moves. allow employees to stay at
      a location until they feel competent and it\'s conducive with
      their family life to make a career move. many times new employees
      are given crash courses with on the job training and moved in2
      years or less and expected to perform at the next level of skill.
      often they are not ready.

4612. Developing realistic goals that are attainable within time
      established timeframes. Over the last two years too many things
      are done with a short deadline and sunbject to problems. Also put
      the emphasis back on conservaiton planning and not expenditure of
      program dollars.

4613. Let them do their job w/out the bureaucratic bungling of IT, i.e.,
      if the national NRCS has OK\'d programs such as RUSLE2 for
      downloading on our office computers, why does it take permission
      from the local IT person to do it. If you don\'t have that good of
      an IT person, it keeps you from performing your job! Another way
      is to increase their pay to what other federal agencies are paying
      their employees for doing the same thing.

4614. Base regonition/promotions on merit. Reward employees for good
      performance.

4615. Benifits and good wages, good working conditions

4616. Add qualified staff. Ensure individuals with technical abilities
      do technical work- not become glorified secretaries.

4617. Be more flexible with forced moves. If we are going to use this
      method of placement fine, but offer several locations. We are
      families of duel income and moving is not always as simple as
      relocating with short notice. Especially to smaller comunities.
      Spouces continually have to start over often taking a position way
      under their experienceif there is even anything in their field. We
      can only ask our spouces to do this so often. Some are also
      married to framers adn ranchers, you don\'t just relocated those.
      Commuting in some states works, but others are down right
      dangerous in the winter months.

4618. 1\. ease frustration levels on different fronts where possible
      (Listen to employee concerns and try to resolve issues)

4619. Pay them what they are worth. The technicians that have alot of
      experience and years with this agency can\'t get grade raises
      without going to a multi area technicians (if available)or going
      back to school to get an engineer\'s degree.

4620. NRCS should promote employees up within field offices to next
      levels of management, i.e., SCT\'s to SC\'s or RC\'s; SC\'s or
      RC\'s to DC\'s. Education is not always better than experience.
      Home and families would not have to be uprooted then either if
      this was implemented. Many SCT\'s actually train SC\'s and RC\'s,
      and they themselves are the best people for the job.

4621. promotions with better pay.

4622. I think people like to work or be a part of a

4623. Open and honest communication from leadership.There is a real
      disconnect from the national to state to field office levels in
      understanding how conservation actually gets done on the land. To
      foster a greater sense of accomplishment, we need to analyze how
      we are measuring conservation practice installation and create a
      better system that truly reflects the benefits of conservation
      practices.

4624. pay comensurate with duties, promotion opportunities, less job
      threatining from superiors/management

4625. Timely promotions

4626. Better recognition of their good work and more empowerment.

4627. Keep wages competitive with the private sector. Work with
      individuals when relocating them, try to put them in an area where
      they will be happy. Provide work based and goal based incentives.

4628. Competitve salaries and also recognition for work accomplishments

4629. Better training and higher pay

4630. Competent supervisors and non-stressful working environment

4631. pay for performance would be good if it actually happened; the way
      the govt. is run, it would be politically incorrect to reward
      field office people by performance, since the non performers might
      get their feelings hurt; consequently, everyone gets the same
      rewards or none at all.

4632. Provide more useful training. Improve communication between higher
      managerial levels and the field office. Pay based on performance!

4633. Support and recognition

4634. Offer more chances to move up, either by within grade pay raises
      or grade raises.

4635. Within NRCS, stop moving the employee just because you can or for
      the training

4636. Promotions for those who do the job. Remove weak supervisors who
      are not getting the job done especially at the field level.
      Individuals like this hurt the agency image in small rural
      communities.

4637. Pay based on performance!

4638. Pay them for their extra time and effort put in

4639. Good Pay, Insurance Benifits, Retirement

4640. Clear focus, relevant training, advancement opportunities.

4641. Treat everyone with fairness and respect. Lower level managers;
      such as; area conservationists have the ability to promote friends
      rather than merit promotions. Middle management is not service
      oriented to the field offices. They dictate and motivate by fear
      and humiliation.

4642. End the crap & the anal stuff and let us do our jobs. End the
      conflicting messages & let us implement the farm bill. Period.
      That\'s our job.

4643. Managers are in need of

4644. Rewards and appreciation

4645. Respect

4646. Less deadlines, do away with goals, less computer work ,more on
      ground conservation

4647. Providing the tools, materials, and training needed for employees
      to do their job and exceed their jobs. There is too much
      confusion, complete lack of communication, and lack of providing
      new employees with the necessary things to be able to do the job
      they were hired to do.

4648. Providing a good working environment.

4649. Placement into positions that they are good at.

4650. Technical and managerial competent managers that recognize
      innovative, hard working employees that get conservation on the
      ground, not

4651. The agency should re-examine the stand on mobility\...not so much
      for new hires, but for Area office or State office staff. In this
      new age of computers, teleconferencing, net-meetings and so on it
      would be more effective to have these employees in the field
      keeping in touch.

4652. Provide adequate staffing to meet anticipated workloads. Burn-out
      is a reality in most Field Offices.

4653. Make sure the employees have field office experience before
      promoting to state or area office levels. Providing working moms
      with maternity leave benefits as well as part time schedules after
      they come back to work from maternity leave.

4654. Give people something to care about. They need to be convinced
      that what they do makes a difference.

4655. Recognition of good work and providing the tools and equipment for
      employees to keep on the cutting edge of their respective
      scientific field.

4656. Reward your good employees with grade increases without jumping
      through so many hoops and increase the pay.

4657. Treat employees fairly. Reward good performance and take care of
      problems immediately instead of letting them fester.

4658. management needs to understand the amount of to do items shoveled
      down to lower levels to perform plus perorming their regular
      duties.

4659. Good pay, excellent benefits, and ample promotional opportunities.

4660. Better leadership makeing better decisions with present political
      climate

4661. Making sure there is always a way for advancement even if you are
      at the highest level in your job.

4662. Good pay, and flexible work schedule.

4663. Recognition for doing quality work.

4664. Reward and promote the good employees. Remove the bad. Often we
      get a new, young employee but are limited by upper management, by
      various excuses, in promoting them.

4665. If they are doing a good job and have no probklem staying
      motivated, don\'t force them to move to get a higher grade and or
      position. Allow them to stay in place and reqward them by
      promoting them.

4666. Make sure that training is provided to allow an employee to
      perform at the level that they are expected to perform at. Be sure
      to give a term employee an opportunity to become permanent after 1
      term period if the agency is interested in having that person as
      an employee. Find a way to devolop good supervisors and not
      promote poor supervisory attitudes by some employees in a
      supervisor position.

4667. In Montana for instance, employees are forced to move around,
      sometimes with short notice, especially term employees. In this
      day of families in which both members need to work, more emphasis
      needs to be put on the fact that a family unit is being affected
      by a move request, not one person, and husbands or wives need to
      consider the careers of their significant others as well. I know
      this is a source of friction in my marrage had suspect that we are
      not alone in our fears of this. When someone is hired, let them
      stay where they are and establish roots. The relationship with
      producers is also very important, and I think establishing a long
      term relationship with these producers will help the credibility
      of the NRCS and promote a stronger relationship between field
      offices and their producers. Shuffling people around forces this
      process to be started over time and again, which may impact trust
      and credibility which is very critical since we are all here as
      stated in the NRCS mission to help the producers on a local level.

4668. Stop the Movility clause. Let people live where they work and not
      fear they are going to get moved around on short notice.
      Understand that people have families.

4669. Minimize Stress and Overwhelming Workload!

4670. provide good working conditions and benefits

4671. Do not force moves, this just brings moral down & we loose good
      employees. Awards are good, especially when employees go above &
      beyond their normal duties. Also, if there is an employee not
      performing, figure out what the problem is and address it. We have
      a lot of poor employees that need fired that get rid of good
      employees.

4672. State and area office support of field office.

4673. provide incentive to advance. Provide advancement opportunities
      without moving to national headquarters

4674. Maintain a quality working environment.

4675. Is hard to keep working when there are so many managers that
      don\'t know anything about agriculture and think this is just a
      job. I always felt that we are here to assist producers. They have
      a hard time with technical assistance when monies and people who
      understand their needs are scarse.

4676. Let us go back to the basics of having adequate time to work in
      the field with our producers.

4677. Take the emphasis off programs (by streamlining the portfolio of
      programs and simplifying them)and get back to focusing on
      conservation planning and implementation.

4678. Find a way to instill a sense of accomplishment with the work that
      we perform. Allowing beginning employees to remain in their first
      office for a longer period of time.

4679. Pay technicians a higher wage. I have heard several times that
      they are the backbone of the Agency, yet there are one of the
      lowest paid.

4680. Giving regular recognition for good work through a combinations of
      awards, regular verbal recognition for a job well done, using
      outstanding employees to set examples for new employees and even
      for employees that struggle with their jobs. These kinds of
      things. Also, giving employees the necessary training
      opportunities to learn all the new programs and technology that is
      thrown at us on a regular basis (after all the bugs are worked
      out)

4681. Ensure that the opportunities exist for an employee to develop and
      advance. That they have the chance to enhance technical and
      managerial abilities.

4682. I would require employees to integrate a personnal development
      courses. I see one of the major problems in the office is the
      ability to let day to day

4683. Allow resource people to work with the resources and managers to
      manage. Allow Advancement in the resource fields without requiring
      to be a supervisor. Many of the best resource people are the worst
      managers as they are generally introveted and not people persons.

4684. Treat with respect- listen to opinions and provide communication
      for why we are doing what we are doing.

4685. Cut out the micro-management and the consant fear of out-sourcing
      our jobs (management positions are the positions that should be
      first considered for being out-sourced). Technical positions are
      filled with highly specialized/trained/adept individuals and will
      not be easily/adequately replaced by the private sector. Plus the
      result of out-sourcing technical postions to the private sector
      will be the inconsistancies with our products and even less faith
      in government agencies.

4686. Build moral through team building. Maintain training to insure
      compitency. Quit outsourcing our job to TSPs, we do it better and
      more efficiently.

4687. Move toward a merit based performance system - we need
      incentives!!!

4688. Let them do their job, that is, getting conservation on the ground
      with a lot less paperwork and reporting requirements

4689. thank you\'s, awards and recognition, pay

4690. Good training from mentor\'s in their first few years. Good
      leadership and a positive attitude by supervisor.

4691. start with good new employees. We hire some of the poorest
      availble and base it on good grades etc. Not actual potential.

4692. Increase Job Satisfaction. Make feel like making a difference.
      Untie the employees from the computer. Get technical and field
      orientated people out of the office and back to technical duties.

4693. Give out more awards and/or other public acknowledgement for
      employees achieving their goal or exceding it. Encourage Montana
      NRCS to start up the Mentoring Program before all of the extremely
      knowledgable field employees retire. Allow Emplyees (no matter
      what grade level position he/she is in) to go back to school to
      get more courses or a degree. Allow them to go to more Formal
      trainings that is geared to there position. Have Supervisors be
      more informative and give more encouragements to there employees
      on what goals that he/she can or needs to complete to be able to
      go up to the next grade level or higher positions.

4694. Competitive pay with the private sector.

4695. Get them out in the field instead of behind a desk.

4696. Giving them the tools they need to do their work. A Happy
      environment. Recognizing employees for a job well done, and the
      hard work they put forth.

4697. allow high performing individuals to advance in place when they
      are in a critical position such as District Conservationist by
      allowing them to assume more responsibility from Area and State
      offices without forcing moves or forcing them into higher mgt. or
      technical jobs.

4698. Better pay and rewards for a stressful position.

4699. Leave employees where they are most needed, instead of making them
      move every 2 years.

4700. keeping them happy

4701. Recognition and cash awards work. You should also look at the
      stress levels and workloads to determine if additional staff are
      needed. If one FO is doing more work than another with less staff,
      then you have a problem. You can\'t continue to

4702. Develop and promote more job/workplace flexibility for employees
      with family obligations.

4703. Continue to emphasis that we are an agency working on private land
      DOING natural resource conservation WORK.

4704. Keep them interested. People get bored with doing the same thing
      everyday.

4705. Reward and promote employees based on merit. Many of the higher
      grade employees that I have seen are

4706. Happy employees are productive employees. I have never seen moral
      so low. Promotions and Awards given on a who you know basis not
      what you know. There are some hardworking and ethical employees
      out there who are never recognized, no matter how hard they work.
      RECOGNITION

4707. Keep the programs based on solid conservation measures and not on
      how much money can be pushed out the door.

4708. Invest in the human capital that the agency has in its employees.
      I would like to think that we have some of the best and most
      technically well trained employees of any federal agency. Most
      employees get a huge amount of personal satisfaction from their
      work with farmers/rancher and the benefits from the conservation
      work we do.

4709. Allowing for more opportunities for flexibility in the job. This
      will allow employees to take job opportunities that will also work
      with their families and spouse employment options.

4710. Keep the awards program funded and encourage supervisors to
      nominate employees. Keep salaries comparable to the private
      sector.

4711. Take them and their needs into consideration as well as the
      agencies needs when making major decisions, (ie transfers). Keep
      the field more involved in what is going on up the chain.

4712. pay, satisfying work

4713. To treat employees fairly. Cut down on redunant paper or
      electronic work to track things to provide more time to do actual
      work. More effcient ways to track progress because I see the need
      for it, but it seems we spend more time tracking what we did than
      doing what we did.

4714. Let employees help set realistic goals for there job grade. Have
      less programs that are driven by the spending of money. Simplify
      programs so that they are less difficult to understand by
      employees and operators both.

4715. Regular pay raises.

4716. I have lost two good employees,because they had to move to another
      location in order to advance as a soil conservationist.

4717. Keep up the quality of the services we provide to the producers
      (farmer/ranchers) in our great country. And not just hand out
      money!!!!!!!

4718. Continue to ask employees what they need, allow honesty and admit
      that there is a mesurable quantity of corruption in the
      advancement process.

4719. help them in getting their next grade level

4720. Keep up the employee moral.

4721. Promote, merit and job enhancement based on performance not years
      in service.

4722. Promotion through demonstration of quality of work, very good
      people skills, and a demonstration of loyality to NRCS.

4723. Have adequate help available to cover the unexpected increased
      work loads.

4724. Treat the employee\'s with professional respect and reward them.
      Don\'t overload them with more than they can handle.

4725. Offering a pay, promotion and benefits ratio that is comparable to
      outside sources.

4726. Maintain or enhance benefits.

4727. More thanks and recognition. It doesn\'t have to be monetary, just
      some appreciation.

4728. One of the biggest problems I see with employee turnover is the
      lack of leadership and ability to or want to do their jobs in the
      specialist positions. There is nothing more frustrating to a field
      person when they call the state office or where ever attempting to
      get assistance and get nowhere. The field personnel are the
      backbone of the NRCS. They need competent individuals up above
      them that know how to and do get things done. There are more
      wasted days and time due to computer program failures, internet
      outages, and other non-answered questions that occur, its seems,
      than actual accomplished tasks. It gets awfully aggrivating to see
      these individuals receiving big pay checks for nothing. If an
      individual can\'t do their job, no matter how long they have been
      with the agency, they should be fired!!! There are many out in the
      field that could run circles around most of the higher ups, yet
      make half their pay! What incentive is that. Knowing they will
      never get to have that salary and they do most all the work.

4729. Good pay, flexibility in work hours, benefits, strong positive
      moral,

4730. Stop outsourcing, try harder to keep employees who have just a few
      years service.

4731. provide employee support, healthy challenges, good pay and
      benefits

4732. When they are working outside their job description and are doing
      a good job\-\--Permote them!!!Some of your best employees because
      of their education level are being held to a lower grade and they
      are better at their jobs than people with degrees!!!

4733. Keep them happy and satisfied

4734. Abandon the

4735. Follow OPM grade structures and strive to have three people to an
      office minimum.

4736. Reducing the amount of time spent in the office behind a computer!

4737. training and grade/pay and annual awards/promotions that
      correspond to the level of increased responsibility and workload
      associated with new farm bill programs and the highly technical
      softwares that are required

4738. Agency loyalty to employees; don\'t go outside the agency for
      journeyman level employees unless there are no qualified employees
      in the agency

4739. 1\. Insuring that field employees are consistantly trained, this
      means that all employees are trained equally in general
      technologies of our agency. I have seen different field offices
      with employees that have been trained really well and while other
      with employees not trained well. Although I do believe it is
      managements responsiblity to insure that our work force is being
      trained. I do not see a consistancy among employees even in
      adjacent offices with the same type of workload. We need to insure
      that the employees are trained adquately regardless of the
      individual that is supervising them, an employee should not be
      deprived of training or On the job training due to the
      inadequacies of his/her superivor. 2.Trained in new technolgies
      that apply in there local field office. Ex. Our field office is
      experiancing an increase in micro drip irrigation and although
      some producers are keeping up with the technology our field office
      is slowly acquiring the knowledge. There are a few Universities
      that teach this technology but getting approval for none NRCS
      courses is, based on my experiance, almost out of the question. It
      is very discomforting to walk out to a producer that is wanting
      this technology, that his neighbors have, and we can\'t give him
      some of the basic management and production info. to help him make
      a informed decision. 3. Pay \-- insure that we are getting the
      same pay as our sister agencies. In the west Bureau of Land
      Management, US Forest Service have Rangland managers, Biologist,
      Soil Scientist\...that are of the same caliber and workload as our
      NRCS Specialist. However, at none managerial level these other
      agencies GS 11 grades after 5 or so years. Our field specialist
      only have the potential for a GS 9. The only way to obtain a GS 11
      is to get to a managerial level. So, we develop a solution to this
      or our employes may look at these other agencies for an increase
      in pay. 4. Aquire Area level specialist to support the field
      office. In the eastern states most of our office have access to
      are specialist that could service the field offices atleast once a
      month. In the west although our workload, technology, farming and
      ranching efficiencies are is increasing we have no area specialist
      except for one engineer. So eventhough we can get some verbal help
      from the state office which is 400 mile away. We can not get good
      hands on assistance. So we either get more area specialist or
      train our local field office specialist in new and general
      technologies and pay them for there increase in knowledge.

4740. Chance of advancement.

4741. Give them the assistance and training they need but don\'t
      micromanage them.

4742. Place employees at locations they want to be. Ask them were they
      would like to live and work and place them as close as possible to
      that location.

4743. please follow up with new highers and do not be afraid to demote
      of fire any one.

4744. pay them on the same level as other agencies and private industry

4745. Hire employees that understand and believe in the goals of NRCS.
      Provide management that support their staff. Pay is always
      important, but it is not the main focus. If employees enjoy going
      to work, they will stay at work.

4746. Improve job satisfaction, capitalize on technical expertise
      remembering that the real job is on the ground not the computer
      screen.

4747. Training, Monetary rewards, and time flexability

4748. 1.training to learn new things and become more competent 2.
      reducing the amount of changes from year to year(Consistency)

4749. Higher pay, retention bonuses.

4750. Adequate pay and good benefits

4751. Get rid of the good \'ole boy system. Give younger, newer
      employees a voice and a chance.

4752. Having employees go to the field and learning from

4753. Keep them content at what they do.

4754. Continue to reduce paperwork. Wasted time and money discourages
      employees who have been in the private sector. As wide of a range
      as possible of opportunities for advancement. Supervisors to be up
      to date on a variety of issues and better trained in their
      management skills. Attract higher quality applicants to the
      federal workforce by offering higher beginning salaries.
      Accomplish this by restructering the steps.

4755. Give employees the recognition deserved for accomplishments with
      out always expecting more with less (less help & less guidance).

4756. Pay for the advancing experience that is gained and displayed in
      the work place.

4757. Given the training they need to get promotions not just training
      to do their jobs. I am under the understanding that there are no
      funds to train other that to do the job related to the workload
      and not looking to the future.

4758. Expect, reinforce and recognize excellent job performance.

4759. Offer better pay equal to the private sector.

4760. Better pay. Increase field staff to address the workload.

4761. Taking care of them.(raises,merit increases)Listening to them.
      They are the ones working with the public,not the leadership.

4762. Reward job performance a bit better and better pay.

4763. Establishing workloads that are achievable and practicle and not
      overloading with unachievable expectations

4764. Increase pay scale or GS levels for all positions

4765. Technical vs administrative

4766. Pay and benefits

4767. Show appreciation and reward for performance. Let them know and
      understand expectations. Give training opportunities. Follow-up
      with Supervisors so that they have tools to do a good job and
      support their staff.

4768. Perhaps to give individuals with certain

4769. Give them the opportunities to grow professionally - be part of a
      review committee or field office technical task group. Also,
      compensate those individual who are the back bone of this agency
      (field office staff).

4770. ,.,

4771. Faster step and GS promotions

4772. employee appreciation/pay increases

4773. Provide support for them to continue learning, provide
      opportunities for advancement, provide tools to do their job to
      the best of their ability.

4774. Pay them a fair wage for their responsibilities

4775. Reward emlpoyees for excellent performance

4776. Employees need to be awarded on an annual basis with either
      promotion or bonuses. I think specializing one\'s qualities to one
      profession and a good salary helps as well

4777. Salary and good training.

4778. Get rid of Hispanic preferences, hire according to qualifications
      not personal friends,or personal prejudices. Answers to question
      #5 The basis for promotion is usually the degree a person is
      incompetant in the field. The more incompetant you are the more
      likely you will get promoted.

4779. Increased wages

4780. Promote initiative, responsibility and accountability.

4781. 1\. Give engineers state-of-the-art tools, including NON-CCE
      computers with state-of-the-art software! 2. Not require employees
      to move to advance in the organization \-- including moves to a
      State Office for advancement. 3. Provide development of leadership
      & project management skills for engineers 4. Provide development
      of leadership/management skills for DC\'s & other managers.

4782. Recognizing and promoting the good employees, and having the
      capability to recognize good employees. Also be willing to let go
      employees who don\'t perform well. I feel the good employees end
      up doing their work and the work of the lower performing employees
      and that it is not recognized.

4783. Allow flexibility in work schedules and other non-pay benefits.

4784. good managers and flexibility with work situations

4785. Give them challenging work and recognition. Give details to learn
      skills that they can\'t get in current job.

4786. Not overloading employees with impossible amounts of work and
      responsibility without hiring additional staff.

4787. Consistency in communicating national goals to states and field
      offices. Flexibility that allows field offices to report
      measureable progress when working on local resource concerns that
      do not exactly match national goals and concerns. We say that we
      are all about helping promote wise resource management, but
      internally we are told to only work on the concerns that fit into
      the progress reporting system. Sometimes we get advance
      information and told to communicate this to our clients and then
      later in the year things change and we have to explain to our
      clients that it\'s not what we said in the first place -
      embarrassing. Consistency from program rules to program delivery.
      Seems like this changes and is different from state to state, and
      sometimes even within a state. For example, EQIP rules state cost
      share up to a certain percentage, but states can hold this rate to
      what they determine is suitable. Also EQIP rules state contracts
      can run for up to 10 years, and states can limit this to three
      years. It\'s difficult to explain to clients who read the rules
      and information pamphlets and feel that we are not following the
      rules. Accurate and timely training, or at least better
      documentation, for some of the new tools, like protracts, arcmap
      and customer toolkit. Eliminating some of the documentation
      requirements for practices that are constructed by licensed
      contractors according to local building or architectural codes. It
      takes too much time to design and document and many reputable
      contractors feel the specifications required by NRCS are
      over-kill.

4788. Provide opportunities for advancement that are not based on a
      thinly disguised good old boy network, live up to the agreements
      that are made with the employee

4789. Keep treating employees with respect and caring about their well
      being. Most of the time employees are overloaded with work due to
      the lack of other people to help that it is hard to realize that
      the job is fun because many are so tired. More help (meaning mroe
      employees) would assist with this issue and keep people around
      longer.

4790. Job security, family health benifits, flexible work schedule and
      generous vacation.

4791. Reward good work with awards, encouragement.

4792. Create a feeling of

4793. Uniform grade and pay across the US, such as for technical
      professional grades are not uniform across the US. For an example
      the Area engineers are not paid equally from state to state. Our
      state was upgrading one by one to the GS-12 level, but they
      stopped. All the area engineers that got a 12, left this state.

4794. Do something about advancement in pay for employees who are at set
      10 for many years, they are dead end employees and lose money each
      year to higher health benefits costs.

4795. Good pay/benefits

4796. Better pay scale and awards/recognition for a job well done.

4797. Treat them fairly and pay them according to their qualifications.

4798. By training and letting them do the work needed to reach the
      knowledge they need to preform.

4799. Improve the benefit package (medical and Dental)

4800. Get control of the micro manage people within the agency. At the
      field level many people in this state are afraid to allow
      professional judgement to be part of the basis upon which
      decisions and documentation is based. 20 pound case files for a
      \$20,000 contract is considered to be a achievement in
      documentation of a good plan and contract. This level of planning
      and documentation is severe overkill and is mainly an internal
      justification that does not materially help the landowner out. I
      realize we need to show the widgets produced, but it comes at a
      cost in productivity!

4801. Acknowledge the ones that are doing a good job and give the winers
      cheese.

4802. By recognizing potential early and not overwhelming employees with
      additional work without additional resources.

4803. Better, user friendly performance measurement tools and reporting
      tools. Many times the state office staff can\'t even explain them
      to the field office staff.

4804. Increase the number of GS 11 positions. They are limited and you
      can only live on GS 9 wages for so long. You could potentially pay
      the GS 9\'s a little more too

4805. Allow them to work in the discipline where they are most
      competent.

4806. Enable those who have new or big ideas to develop those ideas. The
      Institutes should be an excellent outlet for talented
      individual\'s creativity. As much as possible, let indviduals work
      on what interests them most.

4807. Keep he/she busy and interested in the job.

4808. Make sure that employees are able to accomplish tangible results
      through their labor. Reduce red tape and bureaucratic barriers to
      progress. Employees who feel they are simply shuffling paper or
      who consistently encounter restrictions when trying to carry out
      their work will grow frustrated and leave.

4809. Less red tape, more time to be productive.

4810. NRCS is a recognized leader in conservation applications on
      private lands. The service needs to maintain that expertise by
      providing a wide-range of technical services for a host of
      resource concerns. The Service needs to recruit well-educated,
      motivated and competent individuals provide conservation
      assistance for resource concerns driven by a locally lead process
      and not prioritized by agri-business interests.

4811. First you must realize the

4812. Make goals realistic and provide enough resources to accomplish
      them.

4813. Allow person who enjoy technical work to advance in a technical
      field without having to become managers.

4814. increase pay and reduce workload

4815. Not expecting that an employee do engineering when he/she did not
      train in this field.

4816. Find more ways to make communication two way. 2. As people add
      more and more duties they do not have a sense of being able to
      create anything (methods, styles, etc) at their own levels. Field
      level people now have to take care of a huge array of
      administrative and other duties, mostly inefficiently. Figure out
      a way to not have people doing everything\--provide field employee
      support. 3. provide training\--not just NEDS, but best available
      training.

4817. Two things: 1) An enormous amount of work gets

4818. Feelings of accomplishment and job satisfaction.

4819. Reward the good employees and weed out the poor performers. Poor
      performers make it hard for the ones that are trying to promote
      the agency in a positive matter

4820. recognize good work; promote the people who are doing that good
      work when their skills would make them good supervisors and
      managers (don\'t put them in management if they are good
      technically but aren\'t good management choices).

4821. Administrative people need adequate trainings.

4822. The work is good, the mission is right, the thing that discourages
      the good employees is the retention and promotion of the bad
      employees, especially when they wind up supervising the good
      employees, there seems to be no mechanism to truly remove or
      improve bad employees. Also, NRCS needs to not be so consumed with
      accountability and reporting that employees no longer have time to
      actually be out on the ground getting the work done. There is a
      certain level of inefficiency when reporting the same work 3
      different times and those inefficiencies will eventually frustrate
      the good employees who want to see the mission of the agency
      actually realized.

4823. Allow the technical staff to do technical field work. With the
      transfer of contracting responsibilities from FSA to NRCS, it
      seems that the technical field staff are acting more and more as
      contract agents, rather than planners. This is frustrating. Create
      positions for contracting agents or administrators, people that
      are good at handling money, and let the technical staff get back
      to doing what they are trained to do, being technical.

4824. \(1\) Find a way to let them know regularly that they are
      appreciated for the work they do. (2) Pay them what they are
      worth.

4825. Higher pay for all positions.

4826. Provide offices with enough staff so individual employees are not
      overworked. More and more administrative responsibilities are
      being placed on field office staff, therefore increasing the
      amount of non-technical work.

4827. The most difficult thing to handle in a field office is finding
      the time to properly handle contracts and providing all the
      necessary specifications to landowners as well as trying to
      promote our programs so much that we meet goals. It would increase
      the quality of our product and the satisfaction of the employees
      to be able to focus more on quality and not always on quantity.

4828. Good pay, flexible schedule and benefits.

4829. Letting them know that the work they do is appreciated. Through
      verbal praise and perhaps small awards.

4830. leadership support, fair compensation for work accomplished,
      pleasant working enviornment, reasonably flexible hours for
      families, all of which make my particular office an ideal place to
      work.

4831. pay them what they\'re worth

4832. Increase pay, training opportunities, decrease paperwork and
      buruecratic hurdles.

4833. Keeping the agency relaxed and informal.

4834. Field office employees should be doing technical, in-field work,
      not sitting in front of the computer reconciling receipts,
      modifying contracts, and processing payments.

4835. Reduce paperwork & national topdown management style

4836. Proper pay for type of work and resonsibility that the employee is
      doing.

4837. Provide pay and benefits to fit the worker set on scales from
      outside the government.

4838. Decrease frustration by limiting new programs and software until
      they are ready for application and use. Don\'t distribute new
      software programs for use at the same time that new conservation
      programs and administrative responsibilities are added. Limit the
      amount of

4839. Better Benifits. Dental, Eye care

4840. Don\'t overload them.

4841. Respect and chances for furthering their knowledge and keeping the
      job challenging and not too much office time

4842. increase monetary compensation and a more professional field
      offices

4843. To offer salaries more in line with the private sector. To offer
      higher GS level positions in the field offices rather than at a
      state office level. Today, at the field level promotions to a
      gs-11 level is hareder than ever to attain. At this time a GS-9
      position is a dead end position especially if mobility is an issue
      for an individual.

4844. Keep promises or don\'t make them. Reward them (it is still a
      punishment when you say your extra hard work has meant, now you
      get to keep your job).

4845. I would not recomend to anyone going to work for the NRCS.

4846. Remove artifical barriers to increased pay. Pay for performance.
      Reward good employees. Keep employees involved in the workings of
      the agency and have management listen to their people. Develop a
      mission and direction for the agency and stick with it. Reduce
      dependance on technology. Reduce redundant paperwork and
      proceedures. Go back to the name Soil Conservation Service.

4847. Better training on new technology and job duties/or provide
      assistance at lower pay scales to assist in offices. I think it\'s
      illogical to pay GS-11 & 12 employees to file information and do
      contract maintenance.

4848. managerial support

4849. Flexibility, which we are already doing in our state.

4850. Remove all stop signs that incumber employees from being
      productive.

4851. Keep new employees challenged and a pay scale that is compable to
      the private sector.

4852. Keep them doing the technical jobs they were hired to do, and they
      want to do instead of asking them to change the work they do so
      that the agency can accomplish some political goal. Case in point
      taking over FSA\'s program management and financial resposibility
      by people who are formally trained in biology, soils, and
      engineering. WE don\'t don\'t do it well, its very frustrating and
      we don\'t have the time to use the skills we do have effectively.
      Our customers are actually the ones suffering the most.

4853. Don\'t require transfer location for promotions

4854. Let them have a part in the decision making of field needs, since
      they are the ones that know it best. Dental, vision and life are
      standard in the private sector (included without fees).

4855. Competitive Pay Scales with Rewarding those who go above the call
      of the Job description

4856. good pay for good job balanced with family considerations

4857. Recognize them, continuing education, streamlining paper work
      where applicable.

4858. Being Held Accountable for our own Preformance

4859. Place an emphasis on the importance of family, especially to keep
      women working for the agency.

4860. Keeping them happy - If an employee feels important, then they
      tend to work harder.

4861. Be consistent with policys, especially as the relate to
      promotions.

4862. reward those that are doing a good job, and being productive.
      Provide incentive or promotion to those that are, and do not let
      people skate by doing an average or under par job. I think it
      should be easier to get rid of the lazy skaters. Allow people to
      be promoted within a field office, if a person is qualified and
      doing a good job and they have established quality working
      relationships that work, why not allow them to be promoted right
      there. Last but not least, allow more of the state specialist jobs
      to be located in rural areas; why would a professional range
      conservationist that enjoys the rural setting want to move to a
      city to get a promotion. I feel by having all of these state
      technical positions in large cities, such as portland you are
      limiting your truely best applicants who would rather get paid
      less money to stay in a rural area, in a true setting of there
      profession.

4863. Reward them for meaningful performance through pay and benefits

4864. Recognition (monetary reward,job promotion, or some kind of
      significant reference) for work above and beyond the call of duty.
      Reward those that truly deserve it - not those who may have
      political connections without adequate expertise. Make sure the
      existing policy for promotion and rewards is consistently applied
      to all employees (be fair, don\'t make acceptions or make
      acceptions for all)

4865. Working on a good team. Allowing employees to be involved in the
      decision-making process.

4866. Communication with field office staff and individually.

4867. Realize that knowledge is of importance and realize that formal
      education is not the only avenue for knowledge.

4868. Increase retirement benefits and increase the workforce depth.

4869. Recognition for good work and quality pay for quality work.

4870. Good supervisors who know how to encourage their employees

4871. Flexibilitly to have part-time positions/ jobshares at higher
      grade positions. I went from a GS-12 to a GS-5, just to allow more
      time with family. I could do a lot more for the agency if I were
      able to work part-time in a higher GS-level job.

4872. Relocate duty stations for higher level positions (GS-13 and
      above)from large cites to smaller communities where quality of
      life is higher because of less commute time, lower crime, better
      schools, lower cost of living, etc. Good employees are looking for
      ways to better balance home and work - this often means staying in
      small community as a GS-11/12 rather than moving to a large metro
      for a GS-13/14. Our best people are not advancing in leadrship
      positions because they do not want to sacrifice quality of life.

4873. Listen to employees. If there is a reason an employee can\'t move,
      don\'t make them. Be more generous with awards. Make field staff
      feel as important as state office staff, which they are. Give us
      tools that work. Give us programs that aren\'t a guessing game
      when it comes to rules. More training for the tools we are given.

4874. Remember that it\'s teh work we do in the field that justifies teh
      existence of our agency. We get way too caught up in the
      management and meetings, and we\'re top heavy.

4875. Start treeting them like people that are realy valued by the
      agency. Start making sure that thay have the equipment,
      information and training needed to do there job.

4876. Feedback on quality of work; job promotion opportunities; job
      environment conducive to good morale; interesting and challenging
      duties

4877. Right now my state con. is not employee oriented, but strictly
      government oriented. To many people aren\'t being recognized for
      good jobs simply because it is mentioned they are

4878. Show increased awareness to individual accomplishment and reward
      deserving employees accordingly

4879. Increase staff levels so that we can meet the demands of all of
      our programs without turning technical people into full time
      contracting specialists.

4880. Provide them with a quality workplace with good objectives and
      compensate them commensurate with their job complexity.

4881. Good pay and good retirement benefits.

4882. Allowing them to apply for the positions they want. I feel like
      its silly a person has to move for a promotion, it should be based
      on ability and performance.

4883. Incentives. Promote from within first.

4884. Treat them fairly, provide good supervisors (someone who really
      cares about all members of his/her staff), better pay.

4885. Have real leaders that make the most of individual talents and are
      responsible for their own actions.

4886. Reduce the time spent on feeding computer programs information. 2.
      Refocus agency resources to assist the field in providing better
      customer service with the services and products we deliver. Too
      many new employees quickly become disillusioned with the amount of
      time spent behind the desk rather than being out on the land
      working with the public to implement solutions to resource
      concerns. While contracting & reporting are important it has
      become an unrelinquishing task master. 3. Better trained leaders
      are essential. Too many lack important managerial & people skills
      to help organize, balance and manage large workloads that
      challenge employees without overwhelming them.

4887. rewarding, and recognizing good work

4888. Competitive pay, make it easier to get rid of people who aren\'t
      doing the job they are paid to do

4889. Keep moral up in the workforce. Have better communication between
      upper management and field office. Try and have wages that are
      competitive with the private sector.

4890. Treat them with dignity, and don\'t require them to do things that
      managers wouldn\'t want done to them.

4891. I think your doing good right now.

4892. Good leadership, Don\'t force them to move, Keep pay up, Bottom
      line be willing to work with them.

4893. Help them to be where they want to be and give leadership
      opertunities. do not force employee\'s to move to other areas.

4894. Give opportunities for challenging work. The opposite of this is
      using a very capable employee to do menial work that someone far
      less qualified could do.

4895. provide sense of accomplishment

4896. Most chose the Ag or conservation field because they are concerned
      about natural resources or love agriculture. They enjoy the
      outdoors. We are working less and less in the field directly with
      producers and more and more on computers in the office. We are
      working so hard to administer programs we are not doing a good job
      of planning and do not have time to assist producers on their
      farms and ranches with teaching and application. I have been very
      happy to see the

4897. The agency should provide the proper training for positions that
      employees have or are seeking to assist them in achieving their
      professional goals. Management should treat all employees the same
      and manage their area of responsibility with integrity and not
      with personal friendship in mind.

4898. Keep the employees challenged with projects that are of interest
      to them. And let employees expand their skills.

4899. Recognition of job performance and allowing level increases within
      the Service Center if the employee is content with the area they
      are serving.

4900. Job satisfaction and good supervision

4901. Provide way to reward for proficiency and productivity besides the
      payscale.

4902. Good compensation and benefits

4903. Promotions and mental stimulation

4904. Make it the best place to be, job satisfaction, pay and stability.
      Opportunities to advance.

4905. The agency needs to be flexible.

4906. Keep giving them challenging career opportunities.

4907. career ladder positions

4908. Hire them based on the skills required to do the job - and then
      allow them to hone their skills. Many young people accept jobs in
      NRCS and find that they are not performing the kind of technical
      duties that they expected. Writing contracts on idividual
      practices is not necessarily doing conservation.

4909. Recognition and comparable pay to outside government workers.

4910. We need more latitude to let non-performer employees go.

4911. I am in a technical discipline and it seems that advancement is
      primarily thru management. Need a better way to promote strong
      technical people without going thru a managment position or the
      technical people get frustrated.

4912. Increase interaction between upper level managers and the field
      (listen to the workers, they have some good insights that should
      be respected).

4913. Ensure they have the materials (IT) and human resources to get the
      job done.

4914. Providing a means whereby they can have a sense of
      accomplishment.Stop allowing programs to dictate crises.

4915. Finding ways to make mobility more attractive and less of a
      financial burden.

4916. Know who you\'re selecting and promoting for positions. Most
      higher graded position selections are based on who you know, what
      gender and ethnic background you represent, rather than on what
      you know and your proven abilities. The lack of success of too
      many St. Cons. and NHQ staff is a direct reflection of this.
      Question 5 above, is not true. Most Employees are promoted because
      of political reasons and personal relationships rather than merit
      or managerial qualities.

4917. Allow pay for performance and get rid of traditional pay scale
      that says X postion can only be paid X dollars.

4918. I think that salary and benefits are extremely important for the
      retention of good employees. Over my 30 year career, I have seen a
      gradual eroding of the federal benefits. In the past benefits were
      one advantage that the federal employee had over the private
      sector emplyee but that advantage is not nearly as great as it
      was. Also when I compare my salary to my private sector
      counterparts, the federal government lag is very significant.

4919. Provide good management and a good career ladder

4920. Provide opportunities to expand their skills and interests.

4921. Allow professional conservationists to work in the field with
      clients and get them out from behind computers entiring data into
      Tool Kit and Pro Tracts.

4922. Recognition; Clarity of mission and freedom to carry it out; pay
      commensurate with responsibility.

4923. Leadership must be outstanding and we need to insure that
      political considerations do not overshadow technical
      considerations for programs.

4924. Leadership and communication

4925. Time to do a good job, opportunity for training and monetary
      rewards fot a job well done.

4926. Many of our timelines are being set through knee-jerk reactions as
      opposed to realistic, thought-out planning and scheduling. This,
      coupled with the stress of high workloads, is putting pressure on
      field office professionals to

4927. Give them an incentive to strive for, such as goals and
      accomplishment and positive feedback, as well as constructive
      feedback.

4928. Increased staffing in overloaded offices. Employee\'s wearing too
      many hats which causes extreme stress and extreme dissatisfaction.

4929. WE must offer jobs with excellent pay and the opportunity for
      growth. NRCS jobs must be careers not jobs.

4930. Treat them as humans, not as cattle to be easily traded

4931. Recognition by job advances for quality work

4932. Pay incentives, recognition for exceptional performance,
      up-to-date equipment, adequate training, leadership opportunities,
      travel opportunities, ergonomic physical equipment, opportunity to
      work with other agencies and private industry, research
      opportunities.

4933. Put them in jobs that they find personally rewarding

4934. Promotion potential; recognition; flexible schedules

4935. Good moral and good pay

4936. Have managers/supervisors with people skills.

4937. Provide the best training opportunities and tools to get their job
      done. Provide a more comprehensive career ladder for technical
      series positions, not just policy/managerial options.

4938. Make sure that a person\'s job is fulfilling, while competing with
      the private sector in pay and benefits.

4939. Provide opportunities for increased responsibility and
      compensation

4940. Very poor reward/recognition system. Need to have it seperate from
      the annual budget, as it becomes limited or controlled by budget
      \$\$.

4941. Recognition of the effort they are doing

4942. Improve performance based promotion and recognition. Improve
      access to technical and professional trainings.

4943. Treat employees with respect and integrity. Encourage
      career-relevant training and development of new skill sets.
      Provide a clear career ladder (with options) to motivate good
      performance. Give managers more leverage to promote
      high-performing employees, instead of having to open every job up
      to all US citizens. Lead with carrots and not sticks.

4944. Give them the flexibility needed to manage a job and a family.
      Overcommittment to the job results in neglect of family and is not
      good.

4945. Higher wages and promotion advancement.

4946. Don\'t burden them with internal, self-created, \'exigencies\'.

4947. Good pay, and a challenging but encouraging work environment.

4948. Recognize their accomplishments, provide a real opportunity to
      advance based on achievement and a real evaluation of their work.

4949. Communicate meaningful goals, and preserve meaningful work.

4950. Provide competitive salaries; provide quality technical training
      opportunities outside of NRCS;

4951. Adequate staffing and equivalent pay.

4952. incentives, being promoted within agency, moving less to go higher
      in your position (tough on dual income, more access to IT related
      issues (rediculous to have IT install an updated driver on your
      machine and some software work best with local priviledges)

4953. A feeling of accomplishment. Feeling that we belong to an agency
      that receives recognition in the media for the work we do.

4954. Ammenities and perques that support family life. Opportunites to
      learn and grow. Structuring work so employees get out and do
      conservation planning.

4955. Freedom for individual initiative and creativity

4956. Offer them better health and misc. benefits at a better perentage
      of biweekly income and try to align current programs with the
      founding mission and goals of our agency.

4957. Get out behind a computer

4958. Give employees promotional opportunities.

4959. Focus on technical excellence and employee development not just
      implemnting farm bill programs. Farm bill programs provide
      economic incentive but erode the agencies technical prowess.

4960. Flex-time schedules and Telecommuting.

4961. Appropriate rewards and recognition.

4962. Give them responsibilities, minimize burecratic tasks, keep work
      technical, avoid unnessary administrative tasks, good pay, better
      health care benefits,

4963. Employment screening of new vacancies informal working atmosphere

4964. Offer more advancement opportunities to lower-level employees.

4965. Opportunity for advancement

4966. Providing recognition beyond what we receive from the performance
      system, especially since we are going to the five level
      performance system. Increased recognition from the top down,
      especially for the states and field offices, since they are doing
      the work that is making NRCS successful. Formal recognition to all
      employees of states that make goals and successfully manage their
      budgets!

4967. Reduce workload. Good employees can go to the civilian sector and
      get the same pay for doing less in many occations.

4968. A good supervisor education/training communication promotion
      opportunities

4969. actually put into practice a genuine form of total quality
      management

4970. Seek more diverse employees who can bring new insights into the
      organization.

4971. Job satisfaction

4972. Greater emphasis on personal development; recognition that more
      tasks/assignments on each employee does not necessarily mean they
      are gaining greater experience.

4973. Recognition, opportunity for advancement, diversity of work
      experience.

4974. Communicate effectively, keep motivated with challanges and reward
      for accomplishments.

4975. Make opportunities for advancement based on merit.

4976. less stress, more time to do a quality job, better organization
      and less crisis mgmnt

4977. Listen to their opinions and ACT upon their ideas.

4978. PORVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO EXCELL, AND REWARD THOSE WHO DO

4979. Good pay, good benefits, compete with private sector for obtaining
      young competent employees

4980. Yearly honest recognition for work by means of written letters
      outlining what the employee did that year. Yearly bonus awards.
      Field offices to stop complaining what the State Office does not
      do for them and start complemting us for what we are doing. We
      have needs too that don\'t get met, and we keep working hard to do
      our best. Bring in new staff several years in advance before
      someone retires to be trained properly to gain that knowledge.

4981. Make it clear what the

4982. Job satisfaction and recognition of a job well done.

4983. Reduce the political manuvering by agency leadership both within
      local offices, states and national offices. Not reorganizing the
      agency each time we change management. Require a high level of
      management training of individuals before selection for a
      management position. Individuals would need to pass the management
      training with a certain score to be considered for any management
      position. Right now managers many times are chosen because they
      are part of the good-old-boy network in the agency not because of
      any management skills at all.

4984. Wages that are Competitive with the market.

4985. More money and better retirement.

4986. Pay the

4987. I think it is a combination of things, but mostly importantly job
      satisfaction and pay are what will attract and retain good
      employees.

4988. Hire Quality and promote on quality not on the amount of time they
      worked

4989. Allow them to do their job and not be

4990. By providing an atmosphere that encourages employees to move up.

4991. Give them the best tools available

4992. Place them in jobs where they can apply and increase knowledge and
      ability, have a demonstrated interest, in locations that are
      suitable to their interests. AND, pay them well for duty stations
      that are not so desirable.

4993. Reward them for their accomplishments, be fair and equitable, do
      not use punitive measures to

4994. Quit making them move all the time! The mobility program is a
      crock of crap. Employees want oppotunities to advance in their
      careers, but they shouldn\'t have to move accross the country to
      do so. All the experience in the world dealing with issues in the
      East are not going to do anybody in the West a damn bit of good.
      We need supervisors and leaders who havn\'t lost touch with what
      happens in the field office and people who understand local needs
      and concerns. Not some office trained person from half way accross
      the country.

4995. Ability to advance in commutting area.

4996. Quit moving people around for them to advance. I have been with
      the agency only since March 2005 and we have gone through 3
      planners because they had to move to advance. Also we have a
      person who never went through the hiring process but was brought
      in. This has caused some hard feelings and was not fair to this
      new employee. I truly doubt he will stay.

4997. Treat them more like people and less like tools to get the job
      done.

4998. Keep them Happy. Promote positive attitudes and enviroment.

4999. Respect of the employee and consideration that the agency may not
      be the number one thing in the persons life. Make an environment
      that helps the employee be happy, productive and positive. Lately
      the agency has done just the opposite of this. Additional stress
      has been placed upon employees due to technology changes. These
      changes have been poorly planned for the field and have come at a
      blistering pace.

5000. Deal with problem employees directly. NRCS has a tendency to use
      the

5001. 1\) Clearly define expectations for the position 2) Pay should
      correlate to the job duties/responsibilities and also be
      consistent with pay for similar positions in other agencies 3)
      Clearly lay out career plan options/tracks for employees\--After
      four years with the NRCS, I still am unsure what the agency does
      (I am not a planner), so do not have the necessary background to
      form a career plan, hence my current situation of looking at
      opportunities with other agencies. After attending several
      trainings and meetings with other NRCS employees (in non-planner
      disciplines), this appears to be a larger national issue.

5002. Reward them for a job well done. As a soils scientist one office
      is expected to do twice the work as another office with the same
      number of people, yet is the one office recongnized? A simple
      thank you would be nice.

5003. Reduce mobility requirement and promote in place if so determined.
      Treat all area/field staff equally. All area staff should be at
      the same grade. All D.C should be at the same grade, if workload
      is comparible.

5004. Increase pay when major or extra workload is assigned. Example -
      In Utah many Conservationists were made District Conservationists
      which increased their workload by 2X in many cases and they never
      received any type of compensation for the increased workload. In
      the privite sector, a increase in workload and responsibility is
      rewarded. Here they keep pileing it on to the point of exaustion,
      then they still expect you to do more with less time and help.

5005. Recognition

5006. increase pay and train managers.

5007. Good communication, not allowing politics to hamper actual work in
      the field- field personnel are the ones who deal daily with the
      public. If something changes furhter up the line we are the ones
      who get to take the heat out in the field. Good employees will not
      put up with that. Perhaps taking more responsibility for mistakes
      would help or giving reasonable turnaround times for programs.
      Please try to understand how your decisions affect the workload in
      the field.

5008. Do not stop promoting across the board in order to force moves of
      young employees who don\'t want to move and ignore the ones that
      do want to move and be promoted.

5009. Only recognize people doing excellent, ie no blanket awards. Hire
      people based on their knowledge and skills and don\'t even
      consider or ask about sex or minority status.

5010. Keep them challenged but not overburdened. Be honest and
      consistent in hiring, promotion, and awards. Find ways to suppport
      individual employee interests and they\'ll find a way to support
      you. Support emloyees interest to move or stay put. It need not be
      considered a sin to choose stability vs mobility. Provide some
      opportunity to promote in place. Back up needed encouragement to
      move with monetary incentive to do so. All to often it is a
      financial step backwards to move even with promotion because of
      the cost of living issues. Many of our people want to live in
      rural communities but most of the opportunity for advancment moves
      them to the city. Keep program policy and change simple. I feel
      the agency has had great opportunity with EQIP and CSP programs
      and other programs but we keep making it more and more complicated
      to manage. In short we\'ve had great opportunity and messed it up
      so much we have trouble understanding whats going on and its nigh
      impossible to explain it to the people in our communities.

5011. I feel that the way to keep good hard working employees is for
      management to show consideration for the employees they have. I
      feel that not enough emphasis is put into employees. For any
      origination employees are its greatest resource. I feel this
      mentality is not present in NRCS. I feel that personal issues,
      such as family and other life interests, are never taken into
      consideration when a decision is made regarding an employee. I do
      not mean to say that the agency can always consider personal
      issues in a decision but some effort in considering personal
      issues would increase employee morale. When a person feels that
      the organization respects him or her as a person, instead of a
      number, they feel more dedication to the organization. I feel that
      giving some regard to personal issues of an employee would greatly
      benefit the organization. Employee morale would increase; this in
      turn would increase quantity and quality of the work being
      preformed. I feel that no sensitivity is considered when handling
      issues that greatly affect employeeÆs personal issues.

5012. Continue paying employees a good wage. Provide a stable,
      predictable work environment, that is not constantly in danger due
      to changes in political weather. Hire more employees so that we
      are not all doing the work of 3 employees each.

5013. Receiving pay/advancement in line with the amount of work done.

5014. Treat them like they are valued and not just a commodity. Reward
      productivity not just the position discription. Many employees are
      working far beyond their job discriptions and duties as assigned.
      Example DC\'s GS 11\'s with the new payment and contracting
      responsibilities along with their regular planning far exceed the
      11 classification based on complexity and responsiblity.

5015. Quit hiring so many incometent minorities for the soal purpose of
      filling quotas.

5016. After employee\'s reach the GS-11 level. Allow them to stay in
      place if the employee desires.

5017. Competitive salaries, benefits, promotions, and awards

5018. Keep field employees in the field. Hire new employees/promote
      employees while the retiring are still in the position, so there
      is some cross training. Increase the pay scale. In California you
      have to think about getting a different job, just because it is
      hard to live with a family and house on this salary.

5019. Occasional recognition for doing a good job, and not moving them
      around for no apparent good reason except to show them that they
      can.

5020. Give them a challange and then not nit pick them to death.

5021. Provide a fair and equitable workplace.

5022. Management needs to remember that we work for our clients
      (cooperators). Getting conservation ON THE GROUND not IN THE
      FILES.

5023. More involvement of supervisor and/or mentor in developing a
      strong career development plan. Also need to look at position
      levels compared to other USDA agencies. NRCS positions seem to be
      generally graded lower i.e. no GS 14 positions available in the
      field/state offices - very flat organization. Also, administrative
      series needs more career development opportunities, and these
      positions seem to be at lower grades than sister agencies like
      Rural Development and Forest Service.

5024. Find ways to be flexible with job schedules especially for women
      with small children. Part-time professional jobs are really
      needed. It is rare to have anything other than an admin assistant
      job be part-time. Part-time jobs also benefit the agency because
      employee benefits etc. are not as expensive. Additionally, you can
      use two people\'s strengths and talents to work together in job
      sharing situations.

5025. At the field level (which is what I can address), it is vital to
      maintain the link between what we do and the actual conservation
      of natural resources. When it seems that all we are doing is
      chasing paper and not affectting what is happening on the ground,
      people get discouraged and less productive.

5026. I beleive the pay for performance is an excellent way to reward
      those who work and warn those who perform less. When no action is
      taken against those who don\'t work to their potential, there is
      less motivation for those who do.

5027. Organize program delivery so that we can deliver a complete
      product. We are writing contracts we can not service within NRCS.
      We are not allowed an adequate budget for TSP\'s. We have angry
      upset clients who have legal recourse against us because of poor
      planning at the national level. When we are set up to flounder and
      fail like this it makes us bitter

5028. Make sure the employee feels that the work is worthwhile and feels
      rewarded for doing it.

5029. Caring. Know what an employee does as a work load, etc..

5030. Keep getting conservation on the ground.

5031. Give merit increases for Training recieved inhouse or formal
      outside. Continue to build people up with positive feedback not
      negative.

5032. give them credit for their accomplishments and treat them as
      valuable employees.

5033. make employees feel like they are a valuable resource. Telling
      someone is one thing, following through with actions is something
      different.

5034. Encourage management to consider non-traditional paths for
      advancement. For example, not everyone can move for
      promotions\--especially in the case of married people. If someone
      works in an area with a diverse and accelerated workload that
      gives them experience to qualify for higher grades. Why can\'t
      they be promoted? Managers need to give their longer term
      employees opportunities for details. Because I have been in my
      field office for several years I have more contracts than newer
      employees. I am not considered for or asked to go on details
      because I need to stay around to take care of my contracts.

5035. Better Management, better pay,

5036. Do not micromanage.

5037. Recognize them for what they contribute to the agency, trust them
      to do the job they are hired to do.

5038. Good pay, recognition for quality work, and quality leadership.

5039. Provide competitive pay and job securtity

5040. Competitive pay, Recognition, Most people remain working for the
      NRCS because they like the work and the customers they are
      serving.

5041. express gratitude when employee is doing a good job, give
      employees opportunities to improve

5042. Make them feel appreciated.

5043. Provide open communication and provide opportunities to advancy

5044. Don\'t over work, over stress and under recognize them. Wow,
      that\'s whats happening right now!!!

5045. Recruit motivated employees, get current employees to be allowed
      to use all of their skills, give them opportunities to try new
      things and appreciate them for taking on new tasks.

5046. pay

5047. Positive reinforcement.

5048. Teach managers not to micro-manage. Insure that

5049. Give them opportunity to give input towards things that could be
      improved in their work environment.

5050. Allow technical people and specialist to work with producers in
      the field rather than burying them with program work and planning.

5051. Honesty and consistency with expectations.

5052. good pay and benefits, along with satisfying work with the ability
      to voice and or change poor working conditions

5053. develop career pathway

5054. Get back to field work and positive reinforcement for job done.

5055. Good question.

5056. Promote people baesd on their skills and not on who they know.

5057. Cease forcing moves on employees GS-8 and below. Hold supervisors
      accountable when they abuse their authority, especially toward
      lower employees. Listen to lower level employees when they try to
      communicate problems they see in upper management, take them
      seriously. Punish employees who engage in slander and
      back-stabbing campaigns against others, particularly lower level
      employees. Nurture our Technicians more, those who gave this
      agency its great reputation. Chief needs to stand up to Congress
      and give them the real scoop (if he even knows it himself) of the
      real work being done at the field level rather than acquiesce on
      every ridiculous demand from Congress. Perhaps this criticism is
      unfair but that\'s what it looks like from down here!

5058. support an adequate workforce by hiring staff. reduce tasks that
      are critical to accomplishing the agency\'s mission

5059. Reduce workload by hiring additional staff and making existing
      employees accountible for their share of the workload. Two of our
      best (young) engineers have left the agency due to extreame
      workload and having to pick up slack of other lessor performing
      employees.

5060. quit rewarding mediocrity!!!Start rewarding the hard workers who
      accomplish something in a day instead of the people who sit around
      and do nothing.

5061. Promotion potential for good field staff and technical
      specialists. Less reliance on moving for promotion.

5062. More field work - one on one in the field with opertators.

5063. Make sure they have enough to do and are allowed some
      responsibility in their jobs. As a newer employee, mentoring and
      in depth training from senior employees would be much appreciated.

5064. Cash awards from in state are budgeted nationally to avoid
      skipping cash awards in budget shortfall years.

5065. Make sure they are qualified for the job in the first place. Allow
      some flexibility to move people if they are in a poor job match.
      We tend to keep people that are not suited for the job they are in
      without options. There may be something else in the agency they
      are better suited for. Restore career counciling/mentoring by
      someone outside the work station. Supervisors should be good
      mentors and career counselors but that is not always the case or
      there may be someone else the employee relates to better or feels
      less threatened by.

5066. pay and recognition

5067. Provide administrative support so that employees are not overly
      burdoned with administrative and data entry activities, and have
      time to do high priority workload items.

5068. More quality training and less office time.

5069. Let them work more with what they were trained to do, not just
      administrative work that seems to dominate their time.

5070. Improve pay. Employees generally join the agency because of a
      belief in the work we do and how we do it, and generally leave the
      agency because they can receive 1.5 times the pay from the private
      sector.

5071. Increase pay especially in high cost of living areas.

5072. Pay them well Keep them interested in the work Hire excellent
      supervisors

5073. Stronger involvment of technical staff in management role/process.
      Reduce the polarity or dichotomy, i.e., either technical or
      management.

5074. good training

5075. Proper training and encouragement to do job well and
      acknowledgement of accomplishments.

5076. get good ones in the beginning - attitude is everything more
      flexible in awards, pay, promotions

5077. Get out of office and visit customer\'s business.

5078. Make it possible to achieve a higher grade within states. I have
      been with the agency about 14 months and have already maxed out on
      grade within the state for my position as an engineer. To achieve
      a higher grade I\'ll have to move to a different state or even a
      different agency.

5079. Provide financial incentives, frequent awards, and even
      non-monetary recognition for seasoned employees

5080. Improving job satisfaction, which for most, would be to spend more
      time in the field working with producers getting conservation on
      the land, and also building relationships. We\'re spending way too
      much time behind a computer screen. We\'ve got to break this cycle
      or the NRCS is doomed!

5081. Meaningfull work, little bureaucracy, adequate pay

5082. Adequate funding, training, equipment to complete the job.

5083. job satisfaction

5084. Increase pay and provide opportunities to go the field more often.
      Get away from being desk jockeys and contracting officiers. NRCS
      has lost its creditability with producers as a technical
      clearinghouse and is viewed as a arm of the FSA that pumps out the
      money.

5085. compromise, help over come some hurdles and offer better pay.

5086. Provide them with interesting work, a stable work environment and
      adequate pay.

5087. Maintain a Grade level that allows for reward of experience,
      skills and cost of living.

5088. Wages must be comparable to private industry. Must have good
      health bennefits. Must find ways to keep employees from becoming
      over stressed because we seem to be taking on greater work loads
      with less people.

5089. accountability, all employees should be held acountable for their
      work. otherwise good employees will leave because they see that
      some workers are not accountable and not professional in their
      work.

5090. Support from leadership and team players.

5091. Treat them like human beings.

5092. Do a better job of stopping

5093. More oppertunities for advancement

5094. Increase pay and benefits.

5095. Get them off the computer and into the field.

5096. hire more employees / reduce workload. Increase pay.

5097. Start listening to what they are telling managment

5098. Promotion Opportunities

5099. Hire supervisors who already have real leadership skills and the
      sensitivity it takes to understand their employees NOT hire
      supervisors based upon their technical ability and then send them
      off to supervisor school. This kind of supervisor doesnt have an
      inkling of how to lead, how to be a role model, how to counsel
      employees, and how to be NRCS Team Leader. Leaders are born not
      made by Supervisor Training courses. Poor supervisors lead to
      severe job stress, major depression, employee transfers.

5100. As a field office employee I was hired to do field work. I
      understand that with field work comes office time, however I do
      not believe that field visits can be replaced by mapping programs
      and phone calls. I feel that management may be a little out of
      touch with how the field offices function, what they need (and
      don\'t need), and the complexities of getting conservation on the
      ground. Also I don\'t think people feel that they have the
      security of working for the government that they used to - without
      that sense of security someone young coming into the agnecy is
      going to keep their eyes open for other opportunties.

5101. Offer a Salary and Benefit package that can compete with the
      private sector.

5102. Make them feel as if they and their work are important, that the
      agency cares about their well-being.

5103. Allow them to do the type of work they were hired to do.

5104. Empowerment and adequate training at all levels. NRCS is too top
      heavy; too many in management and not eouogh in the getting the
      job done department.

5105. Provide an equitable workload to reduce opportunity for errors and
      reduce stress.

5106. Give them the tools to do the job. Don\'t release computer
      programs that are not fully developed, and then keep changing as
      they are developed to the point where they actually work and do
      what was promised. At least every 5th year there is a budget
      crunch with all training being cancelled, travel being cancelled,
      purches being put on hold, and talk of LWOP or RIFs. This early on
      this year in Washington State we were told we were possiby
      \>\$3,000,000 in the red, while Oregon State was \$100,000 in the
      red. Why the disparity? Employees with NRCS OR are going to
      training while employees with NRCS WA are staying home. Why? Fix
      the budget process!

5107. Provide them with the means (authority, technical expertise) to do
      their jobs. Have them do the technical job they were hired for,
      not a program or data manager.

5108. For tech. higher pay and respect.

5109. Letting the field employee\'s do their work, using the training
      and education they received for their particular field of
      interest. Understanding that our jobs increasingly involve pushing
      paper, it should be understood by our management that most of us
      got into our job because we enjoy the discipline and that means
      being able to spend time in the field doing our jobs.

5110. Competetive wages and benifits.

5111. Allow promotion potential

5112. quality managers, quality training, ensuring a sense of
      accomplishment, challenge, responsibility and ownership of job

5113. revise pay scale for people with highly specialized skills

5114. Provide quality work environments that include support systems
      with managers that have time to manage people and issues and not
      spend most of their time on ProTracts.

5115. Eliminate the additional paper workload that is more for
      protecting the agency from lawsuits. Simplify!!

5116. Having opportunities for advancement in a career

5117. Hire more employees; drastically increase salaries

5118. Provide more opportunities to apply technical skills - there is a
      very top-heavy amount of administrative workload for field
      personnel

5119. Discipline and fire incompetent and disinterested employees,
      opening job vacancies for competent employees.

5120. Increas salaries as much as possible, increase training for new
      programs and increase all employee or all discipline training
      sessions. New hires are overwhelmed at the amount of computer
      work, so if programs can be streamlined that would help.

5121. Awards and recognition for jobs well done. Leadership training and
      cross training.

5122. Let technical people stay technical \... not limit promotions to
      management options (generally at 9-12 levels). If they would have
      wanted to be managers they would not have picked a technical field
      to start with.

5123. Treat everyone fairly and do not give credit where credit is not
      due.

5124. Provide positions with career advancement opportunities. Provide

5125. They have to feel supported by supervisors and they must feel
      satisfied with the job, pay and benefits. Retention bonuses are a
      good tool as well.

5126. provide rewards and encouragement for work well done

5127. \- Create a career advancement ladder. - Treat employees as valued
      members of the organization. - Work schedule flexibility is
      critical supported at the state level. - Ability to hire more
      staff, moral is at it\'s lowest since I

5128. Keep them engaged in the mission of the agency. Provide / use more
      incentives to encourage mobility, especially to fill vacancies in
      other states and/or organizational levels

5129. Maintaining high quality professional standards

5130. Flexible hours; professional training and development.

5131. Provide realistic expectation to employees when they start
      working - there is a lot of paperwork, contracts, and data entry,
      and not that much field work. The newcomers need to know that.
      Don\'t let them get disillusioned by the overwhelming workload.
      Provide flexibility in filling jobs with different series, so
      resources we currently have can move around and up in the
      organization as experienced staff retire. For example, just
      because I\'m not a soil conservationist does not mean I couldn\'t
      do the ASCT for Operations job. State Cons should be from any job
      series, as long as they can manage and lead and know how to
      surround themselves with expert technical staff. Be more creative.

5132. Hire additional employees to adequately address the current
      workload. Personnel are hitting the wall in terms of meeting the
      current job demands.

5133. Provide the best equipment and technology when it becomes
      available, not 2-3 years old

5134. opportunities for achieving personal goals while being recognized
      as a valued and needed productive assess for accomplishing the
      agency mission.

5135. Keep politics out of the agency

5136. Don\'t keep them as term employees for extended amounts of time to
      avoid paying their insurance. Don\'t withhold promotions for
      political/relational reasons.

5137. Provide promotion opportunities in their current locale by
      expanding responsibilities to neighboring counties/areas.

5138. Keep pay levels comparable to the private sector

5139. Challenging jobs with reward for accomplishments

5140. SUPERVISORS NEED TO SUPERVISE, RECOGNIZE & PROMOTE THE TALENT OF
      THE GOOD AND GET RID OF THE REST

5141. Pay, benefits, job satisfaction, recognition, and appreciation.
      The work forces have been cut to an extreme. Employees work more
      at a desk instead of the field work, farmers prefer more
      interaction with a person.

5142. Show that they are appreciated for the work they do.

5143. Honestly communicate with them; empower them (information is
      power); NRCS is an agency that is supposed to deal one on one (in
      the field) with clients; let\'s get back to doing that!!

5144. A positive human resources experience will stop the flow out the
      escape hatch for new employees. Adequate compenstaion and positive
      reinforcement will keep employees.

5145. allow for creative thinking and implementation

5146. Appropriate staffing to workload.

5147. Provide the support and training need to complete the agencies
      mission.

5148. Recognition

5149. you need to make them feel valued and important

5150. Keep expectations realistic\...don\'t burn them out.

5151. Stop promoting/rewarding employees that perform poorly.
      Supervisors need to have the guts to give poor performance reviews
      and get rid of the bad employees\--otherwise the good employees
      are viewed in the same light as the bad which leads to resentment
      towards the agency.

5152. Pay and benefit incentives for those who consistently execute
      their duties professionally and accomplish fair and well
      established goals.

5153. Inprove employee moral and offer carrier advancment opportunities.

5154. Allow them to demonstrate innovation and responsibility.

5155. Developing a

5156. Job opportunities, credit for experience, re-shaping the merit
      promotion program to allow for credit for and internal advancement
      for experience (giving less emphasis on education).

5157. Insentives

5158. Salary and reduced work load, staying the course not deviating
      from start to finish of a program

5159. Reduce workload by hireing adequate staff and provide the funding
      to do our jobs.

5160. Recognition of doing above average good work

5161. By allowing them input in how the job is accomplished and
      listening to that input.

5162. Offer them good pay and benifits, improve moral, improve working
      conditions, improve how the chain of command operates, don\'t
      change the story, keep and set reasonable deadlines\... etc\....

5163. Provide tools and training to assist in workload completion and
      maintaining an atmosphere that encourages problem solving
      innovation.

5164. Adequate pay. Keep politically-correct (socialism/communism)
      garbage out of government and our lives!

5165. Focus on the Field-level of NRCS by providing top-notch tools and
      office features and training, matched by competent managerial
      skills and leadership that is empowered to lead.

5166. Saying Thank You from the top down when a job is well-done.

5167. Continue to recognize them for a job well done, both with monetary
      and non-monetary recognition.

5168. Recognize their abilities and compensate accordingly.

5169. Balance technical training to achieve high level of competency
      with new projects to keep employees challenged and learning new
      skills

5170. Provide training, good working environment.

5171. Compensation equal to other Federal agencies. Some within USDA pay
      and promote at higher levels.

5172. More help, less programs, get back to the basics.

5173. Make them feel as though they are needed, and that their input is
      valid.

5174. Allow people to work in their areas of expertise or skill; i.e.
      soil cons & techs working primarily in the field with customers,
      not managing contracts or doing other admin. type duties.

5175. Reward them for accomplishments.

5176. Show and effort to keep employees. I know managers who make no
      effort to keep employees in an area. This additude it hard to
      develope a local program.

5177. eliminate the top-down, program-driven, management.

5178. Avoid consistent work overload. When workload keeps you from
      accomplishing all that you\'re responsible for on a regular basis,
      work becomes less rewarding.

5179. Reduce the ammount of time they must spend using computer
      applications that do not work as well, or do as the pre-relaese

5180. upward mobility within the agency.

5181. Reward good performance, challenge employees by giving more
      responsibility when ready, having opportunities to develop working
      relationships as well as personal with fellow employees.

5182. Pay conmensorite with private industry.

5183. Let technical people do technical work rather than trying to make
      them administrators and contract specialists.

5184. Managers that are realistic when it comes to work assignments and
      goals.

5185. Give them the flexibility to complete their jobs in the most
      efficient manner. More flexibility in work locations to
      accommodate 2-career families (very possible with tele-commuting)

5186. Keep them satisfied, challenged and motivated.

5187. Stability and pay

5188. I have always been the quite up beat and had a good outlook. It
      has been quite difficult these last few years dealing with the
      negativity of count downers who sour the work atmosphere. I am
      young and am not a count downer as I call those who are retiring.
      I am discourage but yet I understand the underlying cause of these
      feelings. NRCSers ar quite burned out on change right now. We have
      reorganized repeatedly trying different styles only to discover
      that they did not work. In the mean time we have problems on the
      customer front as well as the employee morale. It is time for us
      to get back to the basics and there is quite a need to flatten the
      lines of communication and organizational structure. I will sit
      for days, weeks, months, and years waiting for answers that never
      come as the chain of command is too long and I never hear back or
      I get an answer in writing only to see management do a 180 and I
      am left with a disaster. My concern runs deep as I hear the
      frustrations from student trainees and I do everything in my power
      to keep them upbeat and have them hang in there as it is my hope
      that things will get better. We have a lot going for us but we do
      need to get back to the basics. And what do I mean by that? Well,
      first I would focus on organizational structure. The traditional
      DC in every office, with an Area Office, and a State Office worked
      very well. That model was highly successful in carring out or
      mission and I have never seen anything come close to it since. We
      need to go back to that in order to succeed to the level that we
      need to. We need to improve or systematically flatten the lines of
      communication so that anwers to vital questions at the field
      level. If you only knew what I have to go though to get an answer
      you would understand. It is inefficient. Secondly, we need to look
      at positions descriptions and grade level to make sure that we
      have the right skills for the job. If I need a licenced
      Professional Engineer to do the work then a PE stamp needs to be
      part of a Poistion Description otherwise I cannot get anything
      done. We need to look at grade levels of Technicians to make sure
      that there are nines or elevens in place if the skill level is
      needed at that location. Next we need IT tools that work and
      reality based deadlines that are focused on good customer service.
      I know that is a mouthful and I will explain. I cannot tell you
      how many times I have seen our tools fail us over the last two
      years. There would be many a days of no progress going through the
      never ending hoops to get an answer but the deadlines did not
      change. I lost valuable time that I could not get back That was
      frustrating and caused tremendous stress. Next we need to
      recapture our customer focus. We should be taking a hard look at
      every decision that we make and asking our selves how it will
      improve customer service. Where I am, I see our immediate
      leadership not interacting with customers to the level that they
      should. Leadership needs to participate in the process in order to
      make good decisions or be willing to take the recommendations of
      those closest to the issue and run with them. In the end you will
      get a better decision because it would be a factually based
      informed decision. There clearly needs to be more decision making
      at the lowest level possible. Next we need to make those folks who
      are not

5189. Improve and simplify tools such as protracts and assure that we
      have time to do both a quality job and achieve production goals
      and eliminate out-sourcing which costs the government more and
      reduces the quality of conservation.

5190. Good training and clear guidance as to what is going on with
      respect to budgets, program objectives, technical developments,
      and local concerns. I think that work is

5191. Combine all the programs into one

5192. The employee needs the tools to help the land owner apply
      conservation on the ground. These tools include technical
      abilities and backing from administration to help the existing
      programs run smoothly.

5193. Don\'t over task them.

5194. Good training and positve recognition

5195. make pay more sensitive to local cost of living

5196. Treat them better than they are being treated right now. The
      recognition program stinks in our state. Employees are being
      expected to do more and more and are being recognized less and
      less. Eliminate the barriers that are continually put in place
      that keep us from getting our jobs done. Managers need to be less
      nit picky about the little things and work to help us take care of
      getting conservation on the ground.

5197. Better pay and higher quality of work which includes more field
      time for technical employees.

5198. If we allow a person to do something that matters, they will be
      more likely to stay with us.

5199. Don\'t make it so difficult to recognize the work accomplishments
      of a good employee. Reward and promote.

5200. Recognize their achievements and provide opportunities to grow

5201. Keeping them challenged through growth opportunities.

5202. Promote by merit, not by special emphasis agendas

5203. Proper training that relevent to NRCS scope and good supportive
      program from the national to field level.

5204. Communicate clear standards for excellence in management and
      technical performance and be responsive if employees are not
      meeting standards

5205. Get back to what we do best - technical assistance

5206. Look for way to recognize their talent and pay them according to
      their abilities.

5207. Be open to suggestions and accomodating wherever possible. Many
      new employees are eager to do what is best for the agency and yet
      when they may have a request for the agency to

5208. Give them work in keeping with their skills. Satisfying the needs
      of computer databases does not lead to satisfaction of the soul.

5209. Make opportunities for advancement less restrictive. For example,
      why not waive upper level college course requirements in order to
      consider promoting an employee who may not have taken the
      necessary classes but has several years\' experience working for
      NRCS and can still do the job? Also, requirements for RC&D
      Coordinator positions should match the actual work being done. If
      a current employee has quite a bit of economic development and
      marketing experience but hasn\'t taken college science classes,
      they don\'t qualify for that job even though the position in my
      state has little to do with soils, biology, etc.

5210. open communications, providing challenging job opportunities with
      upward mobility, rewarding those that show loyalty

5211. Don\'t dilute NRCS\'s mission. Most people start working for NRCS
      because they believe in natural resources conservation, not
      because of benefits or job security.

5212. Keep the pay and benefits competitive with private sector

5213. Less

5214. Foster a friendly and supportive work environment

5215. In California, cost of living is expensive and ever increasing.
      The San Joaquin Valley area needs to have a Locality Pay Area
      established.

5216. Giving responsibility and authority to do the job.

5217. assign them to a slot that they want to work.

5218. Ensure they feel acknowledged/appreciated for the good work they
      are doing.

5219. Training opportunities that broaden the employees experience.
      Acknowledgement of positive and professional work levels

5220. make salaries on par with private industry. Recognize job
      performance with bonuses and promotion

5221. Division of workload to more employees.

5222. It will be a combination of reward through the ability to increase
      pay, and a feeling of adequate help by increased workforce.

5223. Let employees know historical ideas and passions of what has made
      NRCS great then remind employees what is done now is equally or
      possibly more important.

5224. Better pay. Many of the people that are not retiring are leaving
      for a postion that pays better.

5225. Treat people with respect. Give grade increases when they are
      qualified and meet the criteria. Keep people well trained and up
      to date on new technologies and techniques.

5226. HIre people compatible with job requirements, probvide fair and
      clear career ladder, grade people fairly and without arbitrary
      caps on specific grades that limit compesation regardless of work
      level. Evaluate and expand much more frequently the high rate
      geographic areas. HIgh cost areas have gone far beyond what the
      federal government has recognized in the last few years.

5227. Good benefits and pay

5228. Competitive pay, bonuses, and benefits.

5229. Full-time employment with benefits.

5230. Keep them interested and don\'t take away any benefits. More pay
      raises.

5231. Have pay comparable to the private sector and reward employees for
      production, geared more like a business operation.

5232. A strong sense of mission coupled with the means to achieve one\'s
      goals.

5233. Increase special locality pay areas to be commensurate to actual
      cost of living.

5234. Better pay, better training, receive traininig before rather than
      after, be certified and trained as a manager/supervisor before
      getting a promotion as manager or supervisor.

5235. Provide continued opportunities to update/improve individual
      skills.

5236. The agency needs to permit good employees to actually provide
      technical assistance and work with people and their resource
      issues as determined at the county level. Currently all we do is
      shovel out money chasing resource issues that many people at the
      county level don\'t feel shoould be a priority.

5237. Encourage responsibility for generating superior relationships and
      products.

5238. Stop, as an agency, trying to be all things to all people. We can
      not do it all, yet, we are expected to. This causes burn out. The
      programs are much to complex and we are expected to know
      everything. It is impossible. Workload is killing us, as well as
      computer work.

5239. Take the stress off. Reduce the extreme presure in the field.

5240. Better pay, more recognition for achievements, and better
      communication. Less focus on

5241. make them feel needed and wanted

5242. hire better managers. Hire people for the work they can and will
      do, not for what thier resume says.

5243. Make sure that managers that supervise people at the field level
      are honest and competent in their profession. When their not it
      reflects on the whole agency, and the growth and development of
      the people they supervise.

5244. recognize good work and training opportunities in leadership and
      management

5245. slow down the

5246. Example, knowledge, direction and leadership.

5247. Leadership that empowers based on merit and qualities.

5248. Praise is the cheapest reward, however, there doesn\'t seem to be
      enough to go around. Not everyone needs a monetary reward,
      sometimes a pat on the back or recognition for a job well done
      means more and is more satisfying.

5249. Decrease the bureaucracy so that more conservation can be put on
      the ground. This would increase job satisfaction.

5250. Have a higher promational level. Right now a GS 12, is about as
      high as the promation potential is in the NRCS. Other agencies
      tend to be higher.

5251. DOn\'t just make work for the sake of making work. For instance,
      the Conservation Pilot Program is make work for us because it has
      to formalize the assistance that we provide to landowners when a
      simple visit may be all that is necessary. THere are times when
      landowners want technical assistance and not have to fill out a
      workbook or lots of paperwork.

5252. Pay and training

5253. don\'t hire technical people and then have them do contracting

5254. Pay cannot be ignored, but I also think that keeping things
      interesting/dynamic at the workplace is also necessary.

5255. not sure

5256. Pay them more.

5257. Allowing employees to have some freedom and flexibility to work on
      projects that interest them and they enjoy.

5258. Recognize them. Recognize those individuals that continue year
      after year to shoulder the workload but because they do not fit
      into one of those special categories never receive any
      recognition. Oh! ya they get their annual spot awards for
      outstanding performance but are passed over when it comes time for
      promotions (Grade Increases). Time and time again employees with
      minimul time and experience are promoted because they are special,
      while those individuals that shoulder the workload faithfully year
      after year are past over. Please consider reduing the pay scale
      because it does not really reflect what we do in relationship to
      the private sector. Nepotism is rampent through out our agency,
      that is Nepotism as defined by Webster II New Revised Dictionary
      (Property of U.S. Government:

5259. To keep them satisfied with their career goals.

5260. Dont micro manage your good empoyees, and listen to them when they
      have a concern, whether or not you think it is valid. To many
      supervisor\'s hide behind the chain of command instead of using
      it\'s power. You want to keep good employees, respect them and the
      job they do!

5261. Recognition for work done well. Recognition includes promotions
      when appropriate, as well as more informal forms of recognition.

5262. More coordination between the State and District offices

5263. Drop-kick this totally chaotic, unworkable EQIP program in favor
      of what worked in the past! EQIP is being directed by people
      totally out of touch with the reality on the ground; for example:
      the ag customers are asking for engineering, but Engineers
      Quitting or Interred Prematurely! And being replaced with what?
      Pay us fairly. Give us some control over our careers. Direct the
      agency toward agriculture, away from all those pie-in-the-sky
      ideas; e.g. dupe-group politics,

5264. 1\) Give awards when they are earned & don\'t skimp on the cash
      awards they aren\'t that much in terms of government spending. 2)
      Train leadership to do little things to show appreciation to
      employees (i.e. pizza parties, plagues, a day off, etc.) 3) Stay
      technically sound. The agency cannot compromise technical quality
      to meet a political agenda and retain good employees. The agency
      must side with technical quality under all circumstances.

5265. Continue a secure retirement program and provide expanded work
      experience by authorizing employees to temporarily work on
      projects in other areas.

5266. In California, the problem is pay and affordable housing. Very few
      can move because of high housing costs. Spouses are working and
      have to quit their jobs if you move.

5267. decrease gap in pay between public and privete sector, allow
      telecommunting

5268. Adequate pay based on prevailing wages.

5269. Better pay and less time sitting in front of a computer

5270. Regional pay scale.

5271. Pay them a living wage and acknowledge the important work
      individuals are performing on a daily basis.

5272. Higher pay and opportunities to take details to learn about jobs
      they may be interested in - at the appropriate time in their
      career (employee determined)

5273. Give them flexibility to do their job.

5274. Not sure if the question is about what I would like to see or what
      exists right now. If what I like to see: we need more career
      development, more incentives for retention in certain disciplines.
      Need more flexibility so that for certain job categories and
      levels, employees can stay in their states, rather than having to
      move to NHQ (it is hard to move a family). More details would
      help, too. We don\'t really have career development programs any
      more.

5275. Stop killing us with these new programs that are not field tried
      and tested. the time training, retraining and retraining is such a
      waste. Get us back in the field.

5276. Keep our agency technically orientated, versus administratively
      orientated. 2. Maximize the amount of time our employees spend in
      the field working with our clients. This is what employees expect
      when they come work for us. 3. Make sure locality pay adjustments
      are realistic. In many parts of California, they do not come close
      to making up for the cost of living. Not only does this make it
      difficult for our existing employees, it reduces the pool of
      qualified candidates for new positions. People simply can\'t
      afford to work for us in many parts of the country.

5277. Any form of appreciation including a simple thank you at the end
      of the day. Job satisfaction and feeling appreciated are most
      important. My philosophy has always been,

5278. Good pay and benefits

5279. Merit rewards. Show appreciation for their hard work.

5280. Remove barriers that prevent technical people from doing the jobs
      they are trained to do. Reduce administrative burden and
      cumbersome and unreliable computer programs that reduce employee
      productivity and job satisfaction. Continue to recognize and
      promote technically competent & productive employees.

5281. Proper hiring of employees

5282. Reduce the amount of paperwork and let us do our jobs rather than
      sitting around filling out spreadsheets.

5283. Hire them on full time and reward them.

5284. Establish permanent positions for employees instead of this unfair
      temporary stuff. It isnot fair to the supervisors or the
      employees.

5285. People who work in natural resources generally start with a
      passion for what they are doing. A combination of challenges at
      work and a balanced work/home life are essential to keeping that
      passion alive.

5286. Provide the flow of information to the all levels, especially the
      field, so folks feel involved.

5287. emphasis on technical skill development as well as equitable
      career development

5288. Good pay and benefits!

5289. Replace recent huge admin workload increase associated with Farm
      Bill contracts with technical planning assistance skills to help
      landowners do better conservation planning.

5290. Continue to provide training. All members of a field office should
      receive a certain amount of training in administrative matters.
      Our field offices need clerical assistance IF they are to continue
      to do all administrative reporting along with the accountability.

5291. less hostile supervisors and more job-specific, rather than
      general training

5292. By being a fair, honest, and pleasant natured employer who offers
      pay comparable to the private sector.

5293. Recognition of accomplishments.

5294. Maintaining an excellent, family friendly work environment, while
      allowing for personal growth at the individaul level.

5295. Reduce frustration of implemented programs with changing policies
      or opinions.

5296. MAKING THEM FEEL THEY ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE AND THAT THEIR WORK
      IS IMPORTANT.

5297. Increased Pay, opportunities to advance without relocation.

5298. Compensation that is fair and equitable and consistent with
      private sector pay scales. Compensation needs to take into account
      the cost-of-living more than it presently does.

5299. Be competive with the private sector. Take the administration part
      of EQIP and give it back to FSA

5300. Stop giving them so much administrative duties. Many of us did not
      attend a four year college to push paper.

5301. I don\'t know

5302. Create a work place where accomplishment is rewarded vs. kissing
      up to the boss. Create a work place that is open, honest and
      actually helps the employee do their job. Stop ignorning well
      known bosses who are horrible to work for, and help them become
      better for themselves and the Agency. Foster a work place where
      all employees treat each other with decency and respect by not
      allowing supervisors who treat their employees badly to continue
      to do so.

5303. Reduce the administrative burden placed on field office staff.
      Roll most of the Farm Bill programs into one. Reduce the amount of
      policy guidance comimng out of the state office. There is so much
      information regarding programs adiministration, it is sometimes
      hard to keep up with. Increase to COLA to match housing prices in
      a given area or provide housing assistance in high cost areas. For
      example, in several CA counties, the median price for existing
      homes is close to \$600,000. For employees new to CA or first time
      buyers in the state, it seems quite challenging to find decent,
      affordable housing.

5304. Fairness in all things.

5305. more money

5306. There are decisions being made at state level that benifits the
      ones makeing the decisions and not the ones under them.Look at
      employees needs and not theres.

5307. pay a good wage and don\'t over tax them with a work load that can
      not be acomplished most employees want to do a good job on there
      work and be able to finish a job prior to a mandated deadline to
      accomplish 10 other things

5308. pay

5309. Ensure adequate staff are available in field offices to address
      workload and increase pay for employees not in a professional
      series.

5310. Let them be involved in decision making.

5311. Pay well and don\'t screw around with good employees

5312. Get rid of deadwood - they are morale killers. 2. Continue to hire
      from outside the agency when new job skills are important instead
      of moving people up when they are not interested or suited to job
      needs, i.e. RECRUIT. Human resource staff are invisible. And
      senior managers never seem to think about recruiting talent when
      they see it (outside of the office).

5313. Allow supervisors more time to work with new employees and worry
      less about office workload.

5314. Job satisfaction and competitive pay.

5315. Field level people are expected to be flawless at too many types
      of activities like natural resource knowledge, contract
      administration, computer technology,etc. The conservation planning
      process is waaaaayyy too cumbersome. There is a balance between
      CYA and efficiency, and we are far over the CYA line. I worry
      about the amount of documentation we do being a barrier to keeping
      young people in the agency.

5316. have identifiable consequenses for dishonesty, cheating, and
      lazyness. It appears that those who are not honest with their work
      ethic are never punished. Time off without pay and perhaps letting
      people go may promote a better work environment and hinder the
      feeling of mediocracy.

5317. Try not to reassign them

5318. Give employees credit for the hard work they do. Field Offices get
      very little respect.

5319. Within the natural resource sector, provide natural resource
      professionals the opportunity to do resource work. Hire
      administrative staffs to administer farm bill and conservation
      program contracts. Do not burden natural resource
      professionals(Range Cons., Soil Cons.,Agronomists, Biologists)
      with conservation program administration (non-technical).

5320. Clear direction of goals, employee accountability, minimizing
      crisis and micro management.

5321. Increase Pay levels to compete with natural resources private
      industry

5322. Incentives, where I work there seems to be no incentive to do a
      good job, everyone gets the same reward.

5323. Having a component of tasks that are fun do do and accomplish.

5324. I find that a happy work inviorment is a productive work place.

5325. Reward good managers and technical people with the staff necessary
      to get job done!!!!!

5326. Competitive wages (eliminate step 10 in all series and grades -
      why is their a salary cap?); better health care benfits (include
      dental and vision in the standard option at an affordable cost -
      eliminate supplemental policies); Reward employees who have
      sacrificed their time and money to obtain a 4-yr. degree - don\'t

5327. Listen to them.

5328. Higher starting wage, higher pay in current positions. The gold
      mines in our area pay much more and attract any potential
      candidates that may be interested in working for our agency. Also,
      listen to the good employees - provide good training before they
      are required to perform the required tasks.

5329. managers that are facilitators more than dictators

5330. Better but less management.

5331. Don\'t overload with work.

5332. ALWAYS allow employees to move ahead and support them

5333. Provide job oppertunities.

5334. better management to use time efficiently

5335. Stop making technical people do a bankers job (having field
      personel write contracts)

5336. Pay them well, and recognize employees who are more valuable than
      others.

5337. job satisfaction

5338. Make sure NRCS is the place of choice to go work.

5339. Increase salaries and promotion potential. True go getters do not
      like to be held back by time restrictions on promotions, all
      promotions should be based on merit alone and those promotions
      should be given when they are deserved.

5340. Increase salaries and grade levels especially for the field
      positions ie District Conservationists and use of bonuses or
      incentive pay

5341. Less paperwork/computer work and more on the ground conservation
      work with producers/land owners which is what the producer wants
      also.

5342. Making sure term employees are hired on a permanent basis

5343. Pay comparable to private sector

5344. Setting goals and establishing personal resposibility

5345. Train a new employee by the experience of the employee vacating
      the position

5346. Time for more technical assistance - not being program driven as
      with EQIP. New hires from college grads who la l filled their tool
      box, but lack people skills and personal family and financial
      planning sense. Going from college broke to making good money has
      some pitfalls. Provide some early counseling to new hires and
      their significant other about some of these issues. A happy camper
      at home makes for a more teachable and pleasant coworker.

5347. to better pay and have better leaders in some areas

5348. Allowing promotions in GS levels without requiring the employee to
      move, if the employee is performing at that GS level.

5349. Need a higher pay scale for DC\', planners and Technicians.

5350. We need more staff in the field offices to complete tasks and be
      more thorough. We have little time for giving ecological technical
      assistance to our customers.

5351. Salary and benefits that are as good or better than the private
      sector.

5352. Be more efficient. The people that are very efficient won\'t last
      because the government is to slow and inefficient, thus causing
      them to end up back in the private sector. The government is hard
      to work for because nothing gets done and when it does a person
      had to sighn there name fifty times. Also upper management needs
      to be in the field, so they have a clue whats going on. A lot of
      comman sense would sure help within the agency.

5353. Maintain the agency mission and goals. Put conservation on the
      ground as the highest priority. Recognize employees and reward
      them for performance and utilize skills and abilities through
      details and assignments.

5354. Providing opportunities for training to employees in ALL levels,
      not just supervisors and state personnel. Whether is on the job
      training or formal.

5355. Treat people equity.

5356. Mny employees loose interest in their jobs. Mnagers must address
      this problem. Furthermore, many managers do not really manage
      people or projects. Putting time in on the job or minority status
      should not be the primary reasons for advancement.

5357. Bring pay back in line with private sector.

5358. I feel that the employment and upward mobility opportunities
      available are better than they used to be and this does keep more
      good employees. Field and soil survey offices located such that
      employees are not asked to move frequently is also a consideration
      when aiming to keep good employees.

5359. Make them feel they are doing a good job, keep them busy, provide
      them with the tools needed, etc.

5360. Pay incentives up with the private sector

5361. Reward employees who do well.

5362. be honest with them, most good employee are dedicated to the
      agency but leave because of the BS and brown nosing that still
      exist. Managers need to known not all people are the same or like
      to be micro managed or do thing just to feed supervisor ego or
      profection.

5363. by not holding back what their abilites are

5364. Less paperwork and more on the ground conservation.

5365. respect

5366. Supervisiors need to give credit where credit is due. An under
      appriceated employee will often leave either the state or the
      agency all together.

5367. younger staff members are looking for the monies. older staff
      members are looking for stability of a job.

5368. Remember the peons once in a while. The state level should sponsor
      a lunch once or twice a year at the local field offices. Mostly
      all we want is to be recognized and feel we are appreciated and
      are contributing to the greater good, both for the agency and for
      the public at large. Here at the field level we feel we are
      forgotton because we are not up in the face of the managerial
      staff. Free food, and a little recognition.

5369. Employees need structure, leadership, and recognition. Focusing on
      these issues will help immensely. Additionally, stop allowing
      PC\'ness dictate promotions and work environment. It seems as
      though logic/reason has taken a backseat to being PC\...or
      worse\...appearing to be PC. It\'s important to be fair, but at
      the moment\...PC\'ness far and away outweighs other factors.

5370. Making sure their voices are heard and are acted upon in a
      constructive manner so that they feel the work they do is
      important.

5371. Leadership should learn how to lead and not have Power trips

5372. Better Pay

5373. Have a good support system from which new employees can receive
      information, and provide training when requested.

5374. Empowerment

5375. Provide an interesting rewarding workplace with good salary and
      benefits

5376. Sustaining a sense of ownership and pride in them for what they do
      and continued gestures of appreciation.

5377. Sense of Respondcibilites and Field Work

5378. Keeping the professional image that the NRCS has had in the ppast,
      and not allowing unproffesional persons to keep thier jobs.

5379. Incentives

5380. Not rewarding or keeping poor employees

5381. The primary way to keep good employees is to give them good
      training, be very honest about promotions, and keep an honest open
      ended conversation with new employees. Supervisors must have the
      time to be able to spend with new employees.

5382. being able to talk about employee moving on to higher positions

5383. Hiring those people most qualified for the job, rather than trying
      to fill quotas based on race, skin color, nationality, etc.

5384. Money

5385. Compensate them well for their work. Also, treat the employees a
      people and understand that they have families and other
      responsiblities outside of their jobs. One way to do this is in
      the areas that the employees are placed - try to work with them
      when moving them to new areas. NRCS loses quite a few people when
      they try to relocate them to areas that the people simply cannot
      go.

5386. Proper training needs to be provided to new employees.

5387. Having the employees to do a good job.

5388. Limit amount of programs - Create programs that are realistic.
      With limited work force we cannot work a large vaiety of programs.

5389. Pay them what they are worth. Technicians carry offices and are
      UNDERPAID!!!

5390. Eliminate poor leadership.

5391. Management decisions based on best service to clients, and
      consideration to employees needs, rather than based on personal
      benefit and preference.

5392. Do not overwhelm them with

5393. Make sure they receive training and give them a chance to do the
      job.

5394. Don\'t move new employees after a year or two at one office.
      Health insurance could be better, cost and benefits.

5395. Keep them up to date with technology, hire people to work with
      current NRCS employees that have backgrounds in agriculture and
      want to do the job and quit trying to hire people to fill mandated
      minority positions

5396. Catch-up with private sector pay and work schedules.

5397. Raise Pay

5398. Enabling job satisfaction

5399. Better pay and better leadership, more teamwork and less

5400. Provide work detail assignments which are challenging and
      enlightening, both within and outside the state.

5401. Let them work for and with competent supervisors and employees.

5402. It seems that mid-career employees in their 40s are being passed
      over for younger employees in some positions as they are thought
      to be happy in their present position. When the mid-career person
      does apply for a position, it seems that management prefers to
      leave them where they are at as they

5403. Pay Incentives

5404. Good managers that help develope employee skills to help the
      employee move up in grade and position.

5405. Provide a work environment that is conducive to using present
      skills within a cooperative team atmosphere and providing
      opportunities to learn new skills and open new doors of
      opportunity. Promote healthy interaction and training in
      interpersonal skills.

5406. better pay

5407. Provide adequate help(manpower) and reduce paper work.

5408. Stop overloading us with programs to administer or pay more.

5409. Ensure that they have the ability to move up the career-ladder

5410. recognize the job that they are doing and promote those that earn
      their positions through hard work\--promote those for what they
      know, not who they know

5411. Award them on the good work that they do with their clientile that
      they are serving.

5412. Money either as awards or pay

5413. Treat Fairly

5414. Higher Pay and stop applying so much pressure which causes so much
      stress.

5415. Better praise for doing a good job,not just a average job.

5416. Promoting advancement opportunities. Surveys such as this one.
      Hiring persons to do a job, allowing them the creativity to
      perform that job and allowing them to be compensated for the level
      at which they are performing the tasks of that job, regardless of
      their location and/or GS-level limitations.

5417. DO NOT MOVE THEM ALL OVER THE STATE!!!!!!!!!!

5418. Training and knowledge of programs

5419. Maintain/improve retirement and health benefits, consider
      comparative wages with private sector.

5420. Recognize employees for there true accomplishments and strengths.
      Not awarded because they are favorites or most liked. Especially
      new employees who work under less productive supervisors. Good
      employees are sometimes hidden in the shadows of less productive
      supervisors who do not polish their employees.

5421. Hire the right people and do not hire them because of their race
      or sex.

5422. Do not relocate an employee that is very specialized and
      knowlegable of a unique region to a duty station that is unrelated
      to the employees interest unless it is absolutely necessary.

5423. Communicate with them. Don\'t keep any more secrets from the field
      office than are absolutely necessary. Be honest. Promote
      supervisors (GS-13 and above) who are

5424. Awarding recognition where recognition is due. This would involve
      management looking closer at distant and less popular sites with
      an NRCS or USDA service center.

5425. Give them the opurtunity to do conservation and minimize the
      amount of paper work that has little or nothing to do with
      conversation. Get the rules and regs to us earl and stick to it.

5426. Strive for high job satisfaction, with reasonable pay.

5427. Better pay and better training

5428. Keep them from being over loaded. Provide strong consistant
      leadership that keep them from doing the same job over again
      because of a change in the rules for a program.

5429. Let the employees do what they were trained to do. Get
      conservation on the ground instead of in the computer. Merit
      program is good.

5430. Allowing employees to work in locations of thier choice.

5431. I think the ideas of Competetive Sourcing and Technical Service
      Providers should be abandoned. I have been working with the NRCS
      for over 25 years and I don\'t believe there could be a worse
      detriment to hiring and/or keeping good employees than to tell
      them they could be replaced by

5432. Higher pay.

5433. Treat good workers well. Advance people with good attitudes and
      good work ethics. Get rid of the

5434. job satisfaction and pay\\benifits

5435. INCREASE PAY

5436. Help them to meet personal needs. Location.

5437. Fair promotions and pay increases. Simplify paperwork and computer
      programs/data entry.

5438. The main way I can see is to maintain as much consistency as
      possible. We generally take change rather hard.

5439. Provide good quality training

5440. Match the pay of the private sector

5441. Improve job satisfaction thru better training (or allow us to
      increase job proficiency by reducing rate of program changes), and
      by assuring work goals are resonable and attainable

5442. Having good leadership

5443. BETTER PAY, MERIT PROTIONS FOR JOB WELL DONE. REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF
      BEAURACARCY AND PAPERWORK. LET US WORK WITH THE PROCDUCERS LIKE WE
      USED TO 30 YRS AGO. NEW EMPLOYEES BEING PROMOTED HAVE NEVER WORKED
      ONE ON ONE WITH PRODUCERS OUT IN THE FIELD. HAVE THEM WORK ABOUT 5
      YEARS IN THE FIELD BEFORE BEING PROMOTED TO MANAGERIAL POSITIONS.

5444. Pay needs to be equivalent to the private sector. New employees
      have a hard time learning their job with the constant change in
      programs, software etc. Older employees have a hard time
      understanding and adjusting to new software and hardware.

5445. Increase salaries of lower grade employees especially at field
      office levels.

5446. Maintain a competitive wage with private industry.

5447. increased pay

5448. Look for professionalism and technical expertise. Modern
      management is a joke.

5449. Good NRCS employees typically have a preference to living
      locality. Placement of employees has a range that is much too
      large, especially in Texas. We in fact waste our and the agencies
      time by placing range managers in forests and foresters in
      deserts. There is indeed a benefit to short details to such
      locations with good training. However, long term positioning
      causes a lack of interest for the job. Employees pursue certain
      degrees in college for a reason. This agency has a tendency to
      remove us from are area of expertise and interest. Technical
      employees on a whole are spending a majority of their time being
      secretaries. This is a great way to undo any technical training
      that we have gained from our education and past experience. As a
      whole we promote those who are willing to move. Usually those who
      are most willing to move are less serious about job performance in
      general and are less trustworthy / faithful employees. Especially
      with this agency, our best employees have grown up in an
      agricultural background, have a desire to continue that relation
      (working farm or ranch) and also have strong family ties. These
      employees that are well grounded tend to be the best grounded
      employees. They are the one\'s that can actually be trusted and
      are also the best managers. They usually have an interest in
      training younger employees also. In general, agency training is
      poor because those who often hold training sessions lack
      competency, this is often because of the promotion system. OJT is
      very much lacking because managers have little time for it.

5450. Recruit high quality employees with ag. backgrounds. Look at
      starting salaries for new employees.

5451. Good benefits, pay, and knowledgeable staff to work along side

5452. Actions(salary, recognition, fair personnel decisions and
      actions)to improve moral and convey a feeling employees are
      important because of their abilities and achievements and not
      because of other non associated performance elements/aspects.

5453. Proper Training, Recognition for work and good wages.

5454. To keep young people you have to pay more and less governmental
      run around.

5455. Pay,job advancement, and location.

5456. Support of employees. Awards. Job placement and location. Work
      environment.

5457. pay

5458. Substantilally reduce unproductive work\--shuffling paper for
      someone to look at and file.

5459. Provide better training - not just computers!

5460. Develop a management program and stay with it. It\'s okay to make
      improvements but don\'t change the system every couple years.

5461. Allow them to do the job as they were trained.

5462. Screening new hires more closely and providing appraisal process.

5463. Increase pay and let employees work and live in areas that they
      are more content.

5464. Recognization of accomplishments. A

5465. stop changing the computing environment every year.

5466. Better training hands on, more personal training, less dependence
      on computers.

5467. Recognition of employees who are doing a good/great job. People
      like to hear/know that they are doing a good/great job. It
      encourages them.

5468. Increase salary, benefits.

5469. Hard to say. Some want to stay right where they\'re at and others
      like myself would like to have more opportunities for detail
      assignments in different states.

5470. Employ

5471. Clear Goals We need people that can work with people. Computers
      are a tool, not the answer.

5472. training and more training

5473. Treat them fairly.

5474. The technical people will stay if they get to keep doing real work
      rather than to dilute their time with program and administrative
      nonsense.

5475. Reward them for doing a good job.

5476. Provide a functional career ladder within states as well as within
      the national sceme. Stop rolling out programs before rules are
      established and pilot projects have run their course. Balance
      workload demands with field people required to do them. Stage
      program sign-up so people are not takeing applications for
      multiple programs at the same time. Improve employee benefits and
      pay. Competetive pay is a must.

5477. Pay equivalant to civil jobs

5478. Equal opertunity

5479. Disciplining team supervisors who are not doing their jobs.

5480. Recognizing goals accomplished and technical apptitude.

5481. Make sure that all employees receive the appropriate training and
      that they are promoted on time have all the necessary requirments
      to move on to the next level.

5482. Good pay and recognition for good work.

5483. Recognition & Reward. Recognize these employees & reward them
      either with pay increase or cash award.

5484. increase pay

5485. Train them properly on new programs & practices. Give them a
      sufficient amount of time to learn.

5486. stability in locations worked

5487. Competitive Pay, and promotions.

5488. Hire people based on their competence.

5489. Better pay and less red tape on doing your job

5490. Emphasize strong technical competancy for upper level leadership.
      Make sure all who make management and program decisions have field
      experience so they can understand the realities of what goes on in
      the small communities and the dynamics employees and their
      families sometime have to deal with. Regionalize programs to place
      the entire country on a more level playing field when it comes to
      oppurtunities and program restraints.

5491. Pay federal workers according to law rather than cutting back each
      year as has been done for the last 20 years under three different
      efforts to equalize pay with private sector.

5492. Provide raises and merit awards. Make sure good employees are
      rewarded for the hard work that they do.

5493. Be sensitive to their personal needs. If they desire to be close
      to a certain location make an attempt to place them within at
      least 200 miles of this location if possible.

5494. Some employees have special geographical needs, the agency needs
      to be condsiderate of those needs.

5495. Allow employees to choose geographical locations if personal
      circumstances prove necessary.

5496. Shift some of the time spent on computers to employees trained to
      be computer people allowing field personnel to work with
      landowners instead of spending 90% of time trying to figure out
      some complicated computer program.

5497. Benefits, Raises, and Pay are great. Employees with computer
      skills need to be hired.

5498. Support and reconition

5499. Increase salaries to compete with the private sector.

5500. Field Driven Conservation Initiatives

5501. Identify and develop employee strengths and utilize those
      strengths; supervisors should have the ability to show employee
      appreciation based on merit and performance rather than social /
      personal contacts.

5502. hire good employees to start

5503. Quality control of training received and working relationship
      between employee and supervisor.

5504. Assigning as best as possible where an employee would like to be
      stationed at

5505. Upper level managers are out of touch with what is happening in
      the field. Young employees see this. Upper management wants one
      thing and in reality, field office is doing something else.

5506. Ensure that new employees are getting the necessary training to be
      competitive in the job pool.

5507. Promotions and pay increase.

5508. Increase pay.

5509. More personal freedom in doing your job without management input.

5510. Better on the job training.

5511. Reward them for a good job with QSI and spot awards. Keep them
      active with new activities and situations.

5512. Increase pay, better health benefits, reduce employee cost for
      health insurance (like postal workers), leave retirement unchanged
      with out treats of increasing age requirements

5513. Listen to field employees and bring the technical scientists pay
      more in line with private sector.

5514. Allow for career advancement without requiring relocations/moves.

5515. Training. And More Training. If good employees don\'t want to work
      in an area, but another indivual wants to be there. Management,
      should key end on this fact. A happy employee, becomes a long term
      employee.

5516. Increase beginning pay scale for non-engineering employees.

5517. Have good benefits for the employees, make sure the employee sees
      an opportunuty for advancement.

5518. The general public needs to know what we do and who we are so when
      our name is spoken in association with the agency, a sense of
      pride will ensue.

5519. Salary, Promotions

5520. Career advancement

5521. Provide incentives in a fair manner so as the person who gets the
      job done is rewarded and not some one who\'s turn it is to be
      recognized. More times than not, the wrong person gets rewarded
      for substandard performance!

5522. Pay, location and treatment

5523. Recogniton of job well done.

5524. Provide multiple opportunities for employees to apply for postions
      that suit their skills;

5525. Provide more new employees. Current staff is unable to meet all
      required workload. Various tsp\'s can help in some cases; in
      others, they cause too much extra work.

5526. Have good working relations between employees and supervisors.

5527. Allow them to give input and actually consider their input. Don\'t
      reward individuals that don\'t deserve recognition. Allow
      employees to help accomplish the mission of the NRCS and do the
      best possible in the interest of conservation.

5528. Match the grade system for each dicipline with the private sector.

5529. Improve the quality of managers. This can be done by doing 360
      evaluations of all offices.

5530. Give the employees the training to be able to use the tools
      available proficiently.

5531. Competitive pay raises with private sector. Maintain and improve
      benefits available.

5532. give them a feeling that they are appreciated

5533. Comparable pay/benefits with private sector

5534. reward based on merit

5535. I feel that budget restraints are forcing employees to look
      elseware for employment

5536. Comparable benefits of private sector addressing family issues,
      accomodating for these other options for promotions other than
      always moving

5537. recognition, feed-back, flexibility

5538. pay better or at least competitive with private sector

5539. better pay, training, and promotional opportunities

5540. Reimburse employees (new and current) for college tuition

5541. Put them where they enjoy working and give them the tools and
      responsibility to perform.

5542. treat others, no matter what the grade, the way you want to be
      treated

5543. Show them that they are valued by merit awards, quality pay, good
      working conditions, good benefits and flexible work schedules.

5544. Pay commensurate with private sector, Appropriate pay for current
      job responsibilities, Continue to provide excellent benefits,
      promotion opportunities, less red tape.

5545. Giving employees opportunities to serve on teams or details, to
      learn new things. Challenging employees with greater and realistic
      workloads. Provide investments in training for good employees.

5546. Promotion potential within series; or, ability to qualify in other
      series to gain promotions.

5547. Higher pay. GS-9 field scientist? Why bother with the government
      at a GS-9 when the private sector pays better.

5548. Pay, recognition (awards), accomplishable objectives (workload),
      pleasent environment.

5549. Provide a good working environment without excessive redtape and

5550. Acknowledgment and recognition (by management) of employee real
      contributions and work effort and management making better use of
      staff skills and technical expertise.

5551. Better initiating roles and specific responsibilities pertaining
      to specific department hired into. If you are new to Govt. ways,
      seeking out your own questions and answers is not a way to achieve
      it and it causes frustration.

5552. Monetary awards for a job well done.

5553. Leadership, recognization based on skills and performance

5554. Relieve the workload - We have much more money now for programs
      than ever before with fewer people to administer. TSPs provide
      very little help in most jobs.

5555. Offer more leadership development programs

5556. Not hiring contractors\--Giving good WAE employees permanant
      positions so that they arent looking elsewhere for stability.

5557. Comparable pay and benefits with the private sector.

5558. Pay

5559. I don\'t know.

5560. Help them move up! Increase their skills and responsibilities
      within the agency based on their abilities.

5561. Keeping the pay scale competitive with private companies.

5562. Having good logical managers. Not those promoted to get them out
      of the field.

5563. Hire supervisors who are technically sound, job oriented
      professionals with the ability to communicate well with people. Do
      not promote employees to upper levels based solely on friendship,
      gender, or ethnicity.

5564. Better training, working longer with a mentor who is truly
      competent at their job

5565. Provide award incentives for those that are doing a good job.

5566. Ensure new hires are highly qualified. Competency and
      accountability build agency-wide morale. NOBODY gets fired.

5567. Provide high quality techinical training. Must then hold employees
      accountable for the work.

5568. Pay them well, look after their benefits, and encourage them in
      the things they best while opening avenues for training in the
      areas where they are weaker.

5569. By hiring good employees from the college or professional level.

5570. No.5 above does not have an answer that I consider accurate. The
      selection I picked is what I think

5571. Salary and other incentives. Especially for young employees who
      enjoy the comfort of a consistent paycheck but see the
      opportunities available in the private sector and tend to leave
      the service.

5572. Award and/or promote employee on job performed. Not on race or sex
      or quota.

5573. Provide more training.

5574. Provide good technical training through OJT and formal training.
      Employees need to know how to plan and apply practices to provide
      confidence in their ability to work with producers. Computers are
      good work tools but that is all they are, a tool to provide
      service to our customers. Job satisfaction comes from planning and
      applying conservation and seeing the results of our work and a
      satisfied customer.

5575. Find employees with agriculture background.

5576. By taking care of the people who take care of you. Asking for
      input from employees and acting on their ideas.

5577. information

5578. Most of all, cooperating with employees\' needs of duty location,
      especially when spouses careers are involved. This is very
      difficult for women who typically follow their husbands\' careers.
      Also, treating all employees fairly and with respect, giving
      employees the proper tools required to do their jobs effectively,
      and giving all employees equal opportunities to advance based on
      performance.

5579. To keep the good employees, the agency should get rid of the poor
      performing employees; this would help end the frustration of
      lesser quality employees getting the same pay and recognition as
      the good performing employees.

5580. Stop overloading the field with reports and added responsibilities
      and increase pay scale at the field level.

5581. Keep them up to date with training.

5582. Increase pay for the job they are performing. Hire enough
      employees to do the job in the locations they are assigned. If
      workload and program partcipatation is there put the employees
      there to handle the job.

5583. Be more sensitive to individual employee needs-it cannot always be
      what is best for the agency only. A happy employee is a productive
      one. This is a new day and age-moving people just to be moving
      them is way out of date and not practical.

5584. Acknowledge quality in work ethic and production.

5585. improve health benefits

5586. By not being TOTALLY DEPENDENT on the computer.

5587. Hire the best possible employees and concentrate on what we are
      supposed to be about\--conserving the natural resources.

5588. Allow more time for one on one training in the field for new
      employees on the job and less emphasis on pushing programs while
      they are learning.

5589. Don\'t overwork them by being understaffed.

5590. Good steady pay raises. Praises for doing a good job.

5591. Allow employees the opportunity to gain promotions while
      maintaining a stable family life in one location. Fathers hate to
      move thier family from one home to another just to gain a
      financial and position promotion.

5592. Personal satisfaction and taking family into account. By hiring
      new employees and training them for two years is fine. However
      demanding that they move twice before being able to become
      permanent is terrible. You are training people then uprooting them
      from an area they have become familiar with and comfortable. How
      is one able to make connections and build bonds with producers if
      they are uprooted. Take employees that have families into
      consideration. Or they might be taken into consideration even
      though there is not suppose to be any favortism?

5593. Reward those that go beyond the call of duty in meeting the
      workload demands. Allow older employees that could retire to be
      able to work part time schedules. Older employees carry a wealth
      of knowledge with them as they walk out the door the last time. It
      would be a benifit to both the Agency and the retiring employee to
      be able to continue to work part time and help train new
      employees. And I don\'t mean to volentary but be able to at least
      receive a pay check. Also, our cost of living calculation is out
      dated when compared to private companies. We don\'t get pay raises
      and cost of living increases do not keep us competitave with the
      private sector.

5594. Keep them motivated and give them new opportunities by giving them
      the chance to prove themselves. Give them positive Leaders and
      Good positive Coaching so that they can learn to overcome mistakes
      made alone the way.

5595. Reward good performance, discipline poor performance

5596. Promotions when earned; recognition of good work

5597. keep employee motivated. Quality training

5598. By promoting them

5599. Improve leadership skills of our managers and leaders. Hire
      agriculture people to lead our agency, not politicians.

5600. better pay

5601. More money\...\...\.....

5602. Keep pay level competitive with private industry alternatives.

5603. Always having the incentive to get promotions on merit and not who
      you know.

5604. Better pay

5605. Offering work details in different parts of the state and maybe
      other states. Employees may find they like working in certain
      parts of the U.S. working with certain types of natural resources.
      Asking employees what parts of the country they might want to work
      in. With a short work detail in an area that the employee has
      never been explosed to, the employee may decide that he or she may
      want to work there in the future. If not, they employee will get
      an experience of what other employees work with that they may
      never of had before. Like someone working in Colorado that does
      snow surveys, getting the chance to work with an office on the
      coast of Texas that works with wetlands.

5606. 1.Lesson our dependance on computers. 2. The current performance
      reporting system with inflated goals is very burdensome and
      counter productive on the field level.

5607. Compensation

5608. Provide a postive enviroment, and stability work place.

5609. Find employees with good basic skills, good sense.

5610. Keep them satisfied, busy, and good pay

5611. Keep the work environment a place that employees feel that they
      actually want to be there

5612. Reduce dependency of the agency on the computer. Make sure the
      newer employees learn to read the land and know how to read a map
      and find themselves without the total dependence on a GPS. Hire
      good people that desire to work with landusers and not just want
      to climb the ladder. Keep some good people in the field by paying
      them what they are worth. This agency was built around assisting
      farmers, ranchers, and others on protecting and conserving our
      natural resources and the environment along with developing a
      resource base in good land users/monitors. We are a triangle that
      is getting turned upside down or becoming a circle.
      Promotion/rewards are based too much on gender and race. Why not
      promote or reward or even hire based on the old KSA\'s than on
      some beefed up Civil Rights idea. You have special recognition for
      every ethnic group but not for white men! We need to also get back
      to using our people effeciently. How many private companies have
      every employee do all the same jobs? We are so afraid of ourselves
      that we no longer train employees to do their job but, let them do
      what they want. Personal initiative is pushed aside and lazy
      employees that don\'t want to work just learn how to operate a
      computer and this machine

5613. 1.Make each person feel like he or she is part of the team
      2.Continue to have training session and hand on training. 3.Keep
      work interesting not boring, good pay and benefits

5614. Better pay.

5615. Treat all employees the same. No preferred treatment due to race
      or gender. Make it easier to remove non-productive employees.

5616. Improve the pay scale compared to the private sector.

5617. Do away with the team concept.

5618. Let them have a say in where they want to go after training
      instead of just telling them this is where you are going.

5619. Reward them for a job well done.

5620. Quit changing everything every year. We are inefficiently trained,
      inadequately trained then turned loose on technology. Need to go
      back to GPCP days.

5621. Do not overload them with multiple programs with the same
      deadline.

5622. Most employees begin their careers at the field level. Even the
      best of those employees become discouraged when an already heavy
      workload is increased via new demands placed upon them from
      above - especially when those new demands do not involve tangible
      evidence that our customers are better served. To keep good
      people, Management\'s expectations must be weighed against what is
      realistically possible to achieve at the field level.

5623. Reduce bureaucracy.

5624. top pay and benefits

5625. Provide job satisfaction. Increase grades and/or pay.

5626. Give supervisors more strength and protection in taking action
      against sub-standard employees. At present it is almost impossible
      to remove a poor employee based on performance. Retention of poor
      employees is demoralizing to supervisors and coworkers. Remove
      poor employees and reward good employees.

5627. improve benefits and pay

5628. Less computer work and more field work.

5629. treat employees fairly; provide good equipment; eliminate
      overbearing supervisors who only have

5630. Let people work in the general area they want to.

5631. Benefits need to be improved as well as salary. Compared to the
      private sector we are behind but I grew up working in the fields
      of West Texas so my job is easiler that it was when I was growing
      up.

5632. Allow employees to have a satisfied life outside of work. Whether
      it is working close to family, or just not taking up all of an
      employees time with work.

5633. recognition of a job well done

5634. Raise pay and provide more recognition

5635. Give them training to do their job.

5636. Get rid of the freeloaders and reward the hard workers.

5637. Provide a defined supervisory chain of leadership for guidance and
      a system to get feed-back and answers to problems associated with
      customers at field office level.

5638. We have lost a lot of people because they do not want to move;
      when you are hired they tell you that you hve to move. so I quess
      the employees do not believe them are what. For newer employees
      you should move them every year so them won\'t grow accustom that
      area and also they learn what different area are involved in,
      because if they stay in one area they only know that areas needs
      and do not want to move.

5639. Allow the employee to provide in the field services to our clients
      in a structure, format procedures that are not computer based were
      planning can be performed at the office.

5640. Get rid of poor employees and base pay on production

5641. Quit changing the computer systems we use in the field

5642. competitive pay/benefits

5643. Training

5644. Keep them happy.

5645. Initially hire employees that are skilled, familiar, and educated
      in the type of work the NRCS. Don\'t hire based on demographic
      needs.

5646. Good training and comparable pay with private sector.

5647. Keep the pay up, send them to interesting workload offices, and
      get rid of the incompetent employees. No one wants to continue to
      work for an organization that will promote up or keep people that
      do not want to do their job or refuse to do their job.

5648. Better pay Flexible working conditions

5649. Keeping politic off the field, when someone call their politician
      about a low priority job.

5650. Reward effort. I see some non-management or sub-professional
      employees routinely doing less work than I do and they are a
      higher grade than I am.

5651. No Opinion.

5652. Good pay and benifits. Clear, understandable and achievable
      direction and goals for our agency.

5653. Better pay and more training

5654. Give all the training that time will allow.

5655. higher pay

5656. Offer better pay. Actually have employees working on giving
      technical assistance on conserving soil and water, not
      administrating programs and cooking numbers so that higher ups and
      elected officals look good to the American public.

5657. Listen to their ideas. Reward them for good work. Promote from
      within.

5658. Listen to the employee. Ask what kind of training they feel they
      need.

5659. Pay needs to adjusted to compete w/ private sector

5660. Good pay, good benefits and good leadership that will stand behind
      a decision.

5661. pay equal to private sector

5662. Promoting the best that want to move up. Allow soil
      conservationist to stay in that position if they want to for a
      career and don\'t require they become district conservationist if
      they don\'t want to manage.

5663. Work with employees more on desired working locations instead of
      forcing employees to move to places they do not desire and
      normally soon quit.

5664. Higher pay and positive reinforcement by supervisors!

5665. Positive leadership, and direction of programs without constantly
      changing the instructions once the program is underway. We need
      the leadership to accept responsibility of the decisionns in
      programs, not the

5666. Benefits program.

5667. good leadership

5668. To not be overloaded and geeting stressed out.

5669. Benefits and pay

5670. Input on how best to meet agency mission and getting away from the
      program based technical delivery system that actually rewards poor
      technical delivery, shoddy workmans ship and extreme abuse of
      technicalities in program guidance, and agency policy, all in the
      name of maximizing the dollars delivered to the public not for
      conservation applied.

5671. In my case I have 32 years of service. I have more than excelled
      in every position I\'ve been in but I have not been promoted since
      1978 and no one can adequately explain why. So making sure that
      good people are not overlooked would be a good start. Otherwise
      young employees are going to bale out long before they reach my
      age.

5672. Increase pay, Promotions awarded to the most qualified. Recognize
      the skills and abilities of older employees.

5673. FAMILY WORK ENVIRONMENT

5674. MORE FEILD WORK, BIOLOGICAL DUTIES, AGRICULTURAL DUTIES WE WERE
      ALL EDUCATED TO DO.

5675. The first way to retain good employees is to provide them with
      salary and benefits commensurate with their skills and abilities.
      The pay for many technical positions, especially engineers, is
      simply not competitive with private industry. If pay were more
      competitive with private industry, we would not have the current
      stream of young engineers leaving our doors to make real money
      after NRCS trains them. The second way to retain good employees is
      to make it easier to get rid of bad employees. Underachievers.
      There is an apparent epidemic of incompetency and indifference in
      the agency. It is extremely frustrating for a motivated person to
      see mediocre people

5676. Recognition, responsibility,new challenges.

5677. Question 5 does not give the full range of answers necessary to
      provide honest input, yet the survey will not go to the next
      screen without an endorsement that promotions are based on either
      management merit or technical merit. I have observed what appear
      to be other criteria for promotion.

5678. Good office moral, respect, relationship of coworkers and
      excellent management skills from leadership team.

5679. Put good managers in managerial positions and good technical
      people in technical postions. Just because a person is a good
      technically does not that person a good supervisor.

5680. Development of individual\'s career technical and managerial
      should be equally across all employees, not much at management
      level.

5681. Consistency in HR policy. Maintain funding support to insure
      innovation and high quality in technical arena. Recognize
      performance frequently in small ways and less frequently in \$\$
      ways.

5682. Let them know how important they are.

5683. Job Satisfaction! In the field, there is too much to accomplish
      without the satisfaction of a job well done. There isn\'t time,
      anymore, and we\'ve changed the importance of

5684. Keep the bureaucratic burden to a minimum.

5685. Invest in training all employees equally. Compete with the private
      sector in salary ranges so that NRCS could retain the individuals
      who are technically sound.

5686. Open communication and scheduled trainings.

5687. Making sure their work and living enviroment is a confortable one.

5688. make sure him and his family are not in danger

5689. Promoting based on merit & Professional development

5690. Instill a sense of belonging and value for NRCS on an individual
      level. Appreciate each individuals unique skills and reward
      positive actions when you can.

5691. Rewards based on performance and accomplishments

5692. Let them know that they are appreciated and an important memeber
      of their team.

5693. Good working conditions and pay.

5694. By having competitive salarys and benefits compared to private
      organizations and flexible work schedules.

5695. good pay and maintaining excellent benefits.

5696. Promotions

5697. Treat them decent, offer opportunities for advancement, make
      promotions, awards, etc. more equitable.

5698. Recognize their efforts through pay and award system with
      knnowledge of their peers.

5699. family friendly leave policies, flexible work schedule, more
      part-time positions available, increased opportunities for
      training

5700. Quit reorganizing every 5 years.

5701. Responsibility, reward, training

5702. Pay, motivational work environment

5703. Pay and rewards for lower grades (1-8); Personal recognition for
      higher grades (9-15)

5704. Better wages

5705. Good Benefits

5706. More opportunities for promotion

5707. To promote them

5708. Acknowledge employee\'s strengths and allow them to use them.

5709. Strong and fair management.

5710. I am working in a soils laboratory. 3/4 of the technicians have
      maxed out on grade level. There is no opportunity for advancement.
      Give us opportunities for advancement within out field.

5711. ?

5712. Publicly recognize their good work and pay them more

5713. Management needs to be fair when making decisions on training,
      promotions, and other opportunities to gain experience in
      higher-graded positions.

5714. Integrity

5715. Create a culture within which creativity and forward-thinking are
      acknowledged and considered. Eliminate all forms of favoritism.

5716. good working environment \-- good wages \-- good supervisors

5717. Better pay and listening to their needs in the jobs that they do.

5718. Committment from managers , team and moral building.

5719. Encourage technical excellence - reward this work by the
      recognition it deserves (this is not necessarily awards or
      promotions) but recognition by management.

5720. Include science in decision making.

5721. Show appreciation for work well done.

5722. No Opionion

5723. Challenging jobs with an Agency that employees are proud to a part
      of

5724. Make sure the pay and benefits are competitive with the private
      sector for similar types of jobs.

5725. important and meaningful challenges, good training, good
      communications, thoughtful long-range planning backed up by
      consistent tactical actions to achieve long-range goals

5726. Salary, benefits, opportunities, positive working conditions

5727. Provide good leadership

5728. Reward technical competence

5729. Treat them fairly, with respect (honestly listen to their ideas),
      reward technical excellence and promote based on integrety and
      substance rather than the extent they say yes, pay them well.

5730. Treat everyone fairly instead of so much favoritism by managers.

5731. Provide a challenging work environment where a common vision is
      shared.

5732. Pay and recognition

5733. Good training, Good leadership, Good assignments

5734. Recognize their skills and abilities and then use them. Give
      employees an opportunity to grow by letting them be on
      teams/committees instead of having the same old people given all
      the opportunities. Recognize the potential an employee has and
      invest in educating them so they can develop new skills and
      improve on existing skills. Reward employees fairly. Stop giving
      higher level employees big award after big award for doing their
      job and never recognizing lower grade employees. Stop promoting
      telecommuting in writing but not in actions. Develop career
      ladders for all disciplines.

5735. benefits, flexibility

5736. Let them be managed by leaders and not lead by managers.

5737. Provide excellent leadership with clearly stated vision and
      resources to accomplish it

5738. better on the job training

5739. Incentives such as monetary awards, training, and promotion
      potential.

5740. More training opportunities; consistency amongst states on policy
      (spending, promotions, management decisions, etc.); higher grade
      level opportunities (re-classification options)

5741. Performance rewards and outstanding training and support.

5742. Maintain/improve benefits, flexible schedules, family-friendly
      leave policies, child care, recognition/awards/training

5743. Keep the morale up and meet the needs of the employees as they
      meet the needs of NRCS.

5744. Give them recogniztion for the work they do. Too many employees
      are given extra work (ex: ISSPOC, DCCAC, etc) and are expected to
      complete those duties in addition to their other numerous and
      diverse job duties without being given consideration for the
      demands of their pre-existing work load. When these employees
      voice their concerns about the additional work, stress, demands on
      their time, and technology learning curve, managers don\'t try to
      help find solutions. The lower-graded employees are left with huge
      workloads, little recognition, and no documentation to prove they
      do the work (no mention of it in PDs, no MOUs in their OPF, and no
      awards for a job well done). The result is a general feeling of
      job dissatisfaction.

5745. recognition and/or rewards for work well done and incentives

5746. Invest in them both through education and self-worth activities
      (training). Support them in opportunities to better themselves for
      the organization. Recognize their worth everytime you can. Be
      sincere. Given them credit for the work that they do. We reap what
      we sow. :)

5747. Pay and Satisfying Jobs

5748. Providing advancement opportunities.

5749. Offer more competative wages, better health and dental

5750. recognition; not necessarily monetary, but some type of reward
      system for a job well done

5751. Treat them with respect and enpower them to do their work without

5752. Flexibility in schedules - especially younger employees who are
      raising their kids\.....usually under a dual career format

5753. Make them a part of the decisionmaking process. Employees need to
      know that what the agency does makes a difference for the
      resources, clients and our partnerships. Most are so rapped up in
      the delivery of program they have little or no time to plan for
      the future of conservation.

5754. Improved pay, reduce stress, and reward based on merit

5755. Overtly recognize excellence, provide flexibility for them in the
      workplace, prepare them for and support them in advancement of
      their careers, and demonstrate trust in them.

5756. Provide challenges and opportunities to learn and grow as an
      employee. Acknowledgment of work completed. Mentoring. Open door
      supervision, employees need to understand what is expected and
      supervisors need to allow for exchanges and encourage team work.

5757. Give thme opportunites of diverse work assignments. Relieve some
      of the pressures of the job.

5758. training and opportunity. Provide outlets to pursuade advancement.

5759. Most of our employees want to

5760. Cease the practice of promoting incompetent employees to
      managerial positions. It is quite obvious that many, if not most,
      promotions are based on ethnicity, gender, or race instead of
      technical or managerial competency.

5761. To promote employees based on knowledge, skills, and
      abilities,(competency) rather than on the basis of race, gender,
      or ethnicity

5762. Level the playing field for merit promotions. Agency is playing
      the

5763. Provide all the necessary resources, tools, accomodating work
      environment, and flexibility, to keep the employee happy.

5764. Giving out awards to people who deserve them.

5765. Start hiring qualified individuals for positions. One position
      that I applied for was filled by an individual that was not nor
      had ever been a civil service emnployee. I have 25+ years of
      service, the activities listed in question 4, and was still passed
      over.

5766. Lead with involvement early in the project giving advice,
      recommendations, and coaching then empower subordinates. Avoid
      lack of involvement early then dictating with limited knowledge of
      the circumstances, opportunities, and difficulties. We all need a
      living, but beyond that, we focus on accomplishment in what we\'re
      good at doing. Natural Resource people usually enter this field
      because we love it!

5767. decent compensation, positive working environment, encouragement
      from managers

5768. Give them responsibility and authority.

5769. Give them the training that they need and have good communication
      between all employees.

5770. Don\'t put unqualified or unseasoned employees in a job that will
      overwhelm them. They will get frustrated and leave for something
      else. Also, show them fairness and equality in the agency.

5771. job satisfaction

5772. Make sure that the money is there for training and the best
      updated eqipment to get the job done in an efficent timely manner.

5773. Give them the skills they need, promote and pay better, quit
      promoting based on status.

5774. treat them as the agency\'s important asset

5775. Providing training and man hours to do our jobs. (e.g. community
      base needs are hard press to be met as CTA fund are cut short)

5776. Get rid of the seat-warmers who haven\'t performed for years. Pay
      the high-performers more. Hold management accountable for
      performance in their jobs.

5777. The immediate supervisor has a tremendous influence on whether an
      employee will stay. The supervisor needs to maintain order in the
      office, be competent at the technical aspects, and allow the
      employee opportunites to develop. The supervisor should hold the
      employee accountable, but shield the employees from unnecessary
      stress.

5778. Actually reward people for how well they do their job and not just
      because they\'ve been in the job for a number of years. Pay
      banding would be helpful so that people who are in positions where
      they can\'t move up unless they move to a different state can be
      rewarded for exceptional performance.

5779. Job recognition, making employees feel good about themselves,
      making employees feel important

5780. Reduce political agendas in the agency\'s work.

5781. Allowing employees to advance to other positions.

5782. Empower the employee. - Top down design and control is killing
      creativity and initiative.

5783. Keep them challenged with new and satisfying assignments.

5784. Opportunity for advancement with on the job and formal training
      opportunities.

5785. Provide training that is agency specific. Get ride of or fix
      technology that don\'t work. (IAS)

5786. We must not get too wrapped up in impossible levels of
      bureaucracy, need engineering pay to be more commensurate with
      private industry, supervisors need to do a much better job of
      recognizing top performers and disciplining or getting rid of
      below average and problem employees. This will make for much
      higher morale which will in turn result in more productivity.

5787. Get rid of bad managers

5788. Get rid of bad employees.

5789. Competetive wages with private sector and improved budget process
      so that offices know what funds are going to be available for
      programs instead of using pure speculation.

5790. Equality of benefits received if two individuals were recruited
      similiarly (i.e. Return Rights)

5791. Salary raise

5792. add more benefits.

5793. It is imperative that supervisors be honest with employees.

5794. Raising the the grade levels employees are able to achieve.

5795. Dont turn us into cynics by wasting taxpayers money. Reinventing
      the wheel time and time again or keeping programs that are
      finished but keep on going like the energizer bunny.

5796. Provide equal treatment under the Law regarding advancement.
      Superiors need to know and understand that Laws are different
      regarding Veterans and non-Veterans. In field offices where there
      has been only 2 people, A supervisor tends to dictate their own
      rules when it comes to the subordinate because no one at higher
      levels knows whats really going on. It becomes a selfish and
      self-centered atmosphere which takes away the desire for one to
      learn, much less, want to stay with the Agency

5797. Keep flexibility of jobs to ensure field time.

5798. Have good supervisors that will treat employees fair and take into
      consideration their ideas no matter if he or she is a new employee
      just out of college or a 30 year employee.

5799. Recognize and reward technical competence rather than bureaucratic
      prowess

5800. Training, award and promotion.

5801. better on the job training and direction.

5802. Self worth, pay, benefits, job security, job location.

5803. Recognition & promotion based technical & managerial qualities as
      opposed to filling racial & gender quotas.

5804. Merit and Pay and Job Security

5805. Make them feel like they are part of the team, listen to their
      ideas, satisfy their needs, and keep them happy. Include them in
      field trips to see what their work is accomplishing and give them
      a break from the normal routine.

5806. National leadership needs to understand the type of work we do
      beter. Lower leadership needs beter leadership skills. Also an
      beter apprasal process needs implemented.

5807. Recognize and reward genuine job skills and give those employees
      that perform at high performance levels more sense of job
      ownership and security.

5808. Equal pay for equal work. When someone is doing little to no work
      and receiving equal or more pay it leads to disgruntled employees.

5809. Better Leadership/management,more merit awards/recognition, &
      higher pay.

      1.  Offer a survey that is more than

5810. PAY !!!

5811. keep them satisfied

5812. Give them a sence of worth. Give them steady pay increases.

5813. More pay.

5814. recognition of good work, not how many dollars they contract
      reduce their stress, they want to be out in the field not
      contracting

5815. Sense of accomplishment along with pay and workplace satisfaction

5816. Consistant recognition, and awatds; promotions, training

5817. Think things through before creating deadlines so they are
      realistic goals.

5818. being more consistent in recognizing all employees at the same
      level as equal, not based on favoritism

5819. Equal pay for equal work, respectful treatment, and challenging
      work assignments. Feeling like they are making a contribution and
      not being a bureaucratic paper pusher. Seeing non performers being
      removed rather than reassigned, regardless of their grade level or
      race.

5820. Recognition of a job well done or projects done in timely &
      professional manner

5821. Recognize the ability of present staff.

5822. Give training as needed & promote regularly as experience permits.

5823. Let the technical employees be technical and not used to pass
      money though. Get out of program administration and allow
      techncial professionals to be professional

5824. Providing a career ladder for a series. Setting standards for all
      (USA) Personnel employees to follow instead of them making a quess
      as to what is in a series and what is not as far as college
      courses are concerned.

5825. Provide new challenges, opportunities

5826. Exemplify privacy in the all Administrative areas of government
      and treat everyone fairly.

5827. Regain our ethics and integrity and demonstrate that leadership is
      committed to ethics and integrity.

5828. Treat them with respect. Listen to them. Reward exceptional
      performance. Require each employee to achieve fully successful
      performance, and encourage exceeds or outstanding performance.
      Build carrers, instead of secretly destroying carrers. Formal
      training should be for all,instead of a select few that you want
      promote.

5829. Provide meaningful work with the possibility for advancement

5830. Train them correctly so they know how to do their jobs well and
      reward them regularly to keep them motivated.

5831. Poor leadership

5832. help support their goal, listen, give change to move up in series,
      give opportunity to do the work they interested, check if they get
      paid fair

5833. Selection of qualified applicants instead of preferential
      non-qualified selection.

5834. Look after the well being of the employees and their families.

5835. Hire and train new employees. Make the mission and objectives of
      the agency clear. Let employees know what type of work they will
      be doing (by position description) 5 years down the road. Will
      they be program administrators or providers of technical
      assistance to customers?

5836. Empower the individual within a professional field of competence.

5837. Appreciation for the work they accomplish.

5838. Compensate them for their efforts.

5839. Being constient with policies

5840. Provide training opportunities. Reward exceptional performance.

5841. Recognition and rewards for jobs accomplishments.

5842. Demonstrate to employees that they are valued by the organization.

5843. Increase technical integrity

5844. Treat them fairly, give them excellent managers, and realize if
      the first two are in place, they do not need to be micromanaged.

5845. Promote without requiring mobility.

5846. Treat them fairly and promote on the basis of competence.

5847. Keep them confident by providing a sense of job security. People
      usually don\'t leave the NRCS because of bad job enviroments, but
      because they can get insecurety in the private sector with more
      pay. Considering econmic Elliot Waves the next two year are going
      to lean toward job securtiy.

5848. Good working environment and demonstrating that EVERY employee
      matters!

5849. Please provide upward mobility positions. 1105 Series should go to
      a grade 10.

5850. Provide them with job satisfaction by adequately training them in
      the technical aspects of the job, emphasizing respect for
      technical excellence, and paying technical specialists as well as
      or better than managers.

5851. Keep them feeling like the agency likes what they are doing.

5852. By looking at employeers who are working for the agency now, who
      possess some of the skills that are needed for various jobs that
      are being performed by people who are close to retirement and
      start transition those who are left at the agency to start
      training to move in to those spots when they come available.

5853. Promoting and training good managers. Pay grades that are
      comparable to the private sector. Opportunities for training.
      Opportunities for advancement.

5854. Allowing them to feel that they are making a difference in the
      quality of the environment and improving the quality of life of
      others.

5855. Keep producing good managers and providing opportunities for new
      and interesting work.

5856. Providing a clear and understandable career latter for advancement

5857. Dorp IT services and let us do our own as in the past.

5858. Interesting job assignments

5859. Good pay and benefits

5860. no comment

5861. Provide stability by developing career ladder procedures.

5862. increase pay

5863. Better supervision; helping a person advance in their careers.
      Supervisors/managers/Training Officer where I work are not doing
      that!

5864. Provide them great training.

5865. Stop outsourcing them.

5866. Notice and reward high performing employees

5867. provide meaningful work on projects that are funded by congress

5868. Providing a work environment that challenges their technical
      training.

5869. Make recognition and rewards truly based on merit.

5870. Allow time for family and personal life in addition to time for
      extreme work - need a balance. Working outside - must schedule in
      actual field related work at all levels.

5871. acknowledging their accomplishments, holding them acountable for
      their assignments, and provide a friendly and open workplace

5872. Pay almost always works, but reducing the amount of

5873. Show your appreciation. I have had good supervisors who showed you
      appreciation and others who could care less.

5874. Need to pay salaries comparable to the private sector to maintain
      good employee\'s, especially at the entry level positions

5875. providing promotion potential

5876. Relevant project assignments with gradually increases in
      responsibility along with acknowledgement of accomplishments

5877. Providing training to state conservationists and division and
      center supervisors on adaptive management.

5878. Provide true equal opportunities for all employees and not just
      targeted minorities. Diversity is necessary but the agency often
      goes over board.

5879. Effective leadership. Too many times we place technical employees
      in leadership positions without appropriate management background
      or training.

5880. Find a training and career ladder. We have lost most NRCS
      economists hired in the last 15 years because of lack of any
      promotion potencial. We also have only one GS-11 trainee in the
      country.

5881. Hiring people that have a passion for their job and promoting them
      accordingly to there performance which will be high if they are
      enjoying what they are doing.

5882. 1\. listen to the input from employees, 2. take action to help
      employees accomplish the job 3. fill vacancies quickly when
      possible to ellimimate additional duties on already over worked
      employees 4. Clear direction on where the agency is going and
      directions on how employees can be a part of the move

5883. ability to communicate with vendors of software without being
      certified trainer\...training employees to use new software when
      actually performing duties while using software/hardware not 12
      months before and 12 months after

5884. Pay them better.

5885. Recognition of work performed, not having others recieving
      recognition for work they didn\'t do.

5886. Work environment

5887. Challenging but interesting tasks that makes a different in our
      conservation mindset.

5888. Put the best people in jobs of responsibility

5889. Respect the fact that we work for a living and that we need to get
      paid to live. Remove the unwritten discrimination law -

5890. Better managers that have some knowledge in what the staff that
      they are managing does. Respect and recognition.

5891. More motivation and sense of accomplishing something instead of
      just being drones in the system. Better pay for the lower graded
      people.

5892. I love working for NRCS. Where I work, management does a superior
      job of trying to make us happy.

5893. job opportunities in the series, pay for work, rating system to
      allow for awards, travel to conferences and better communication

5894. promotions,incentives

5895. Relax some of the series requirments. There are many highly
      qualified people who can not advance because of a lack of paper
      training. Though qualified for a job by experience and ability the
      job series is outside their degree field making it near impossible
      to get through HR.

5896. Be fair with yearly awards. Give awards to the people that
      actually work. Get rid of favoratism.

5897. Develop and implement a career development program for existing
      employees and not just for new ones.

5898. Career ladder

5899. Good supervior -employee relations, training, timely advancement,
      and good working environment.

5900. Develope and Offer assisted promotion programs

5901. Promotions and training opportunities.

5902. Give them a career ladder which enables them to have a chance to
      advance.

5903. advancement opportunities, have a say in NRCS policies, decisions,
      pay, better local management

5904. Provide the same investment and recognition into the
      Administration side of the agency as given to the Program side.
      When both Sides are given the same recognition the employees
      provide and give respect to each other as oppose to superiority
      over one side of the agency. I understand that NRCS is a program
      driven agency, however, the Admin. side of the agency is equally
      as important to providing customer service to getting the mission
      goal of NRCS to our internal and external customer accomplished.

5905. Lead, motivate, delegate and empower

5906. create better career paths

5907. Improving leadership skills would be beneficial. I am uninspired
      by my leaders and typically shocked by how poorly they convey
      their message.

5908. I am often frustated with top level management\'s decision making.
      At times, it seems that no one can make a decision. Other times,
      the least feasible and productive choice is selected. These bad
      decisions cost us in time and money that could have been better
      spent. This occurs most frequently in Information Technology. NRCS
      needs to be more savvy in its\' decision making.

5909. Competitive salaries, flexible work hours.

5910. Good solid focused mission with all participants feeling a part
      and able to make contributions to overall services or products.
      Competitive salaries, benefits, and bonuses that create an
      incentive environment and receognize good work.

5911. Establish clear career paths, tie those to training, & fund.

5912. Fairness in Position classifications, Additional Training, IDPs
      that are used and valued as a way to supoort Agency Human capital
      requrements, Better rating system, recognition of performance.

5913. Have equipment that works well most of the time.

5914. Give them a feeling of job security, a76\'s tell us our work
      isn\'t important to political minded people

5915. career ladder

5916. Pay them at a level comenserate with their education level and
      performance level.

5917. technical training, leadership training

5918. Work assignments that are interesting and have a clear impact and
      purpose

5919. Ensuring that Merit Promotion has integrity

5920. Cash Awards and promotions.

5921. Pay and benfites equal to the privite sector, however many of our
      jobs have no privite sector counterparts. In those cases pay and
      benfites equal to the best match of jobs.

5922. marketing

5923. Promote from within instead of always looking outside the agency
      or technical center.

5924. Provide contemporary training pertaining to their job position and
      responsibilities.

5925. Promote those that actually do something, rather than those that
      sit on their asses and take credit for what others do.

5926. Give them the authority to make decisions as well as the
      responsibility for the job they are doing.

5927. Give authority to go with responsibities. More use of common sense
      by upper management.

5928. Make sure they are enlisted into the jobs that best match ther
      skills and interests.

5929. Employees need to feel valued and must receive adequate training
      and mentoring for that to happen. We have, at least here, been lax
      on training in the past and often promoted people based on

5930. Recognizing initiatives taken by employee and helping them to
      develop job skills for career advancement and promotion

5931. Ample opportunity for promotion potential; Competitive
      salary/raises

5932. Keep down down the red tape and recognition

5933. Give them REALISTIC GOALS, recognise them for their
      accomplishments and make sure that employees that do not pull
      their weight are dealt with.

5934. USDA is inbred, they only promote tunnel visioned robots who are
      incabable of independent thought or logical reasoning. That is why
      I resigned the first time (when I worked for USFS) I came back to
      work for NRCS thinking they would appreciate the years of real
      world experience and the PhD that I have. I think I\'m a good
      employee, but it is hard for me to justify continuing to work for
      NRCS when my knowlege and professional experience are
      unappreciated. Why should I keep working for NRCS when I have so
      much to offer and less qualified individuals are selected for
      positions ahead of me? You keep good employees by promoting the
      ones who have earned the promotion and will advance the agency.

5935. Job satisfaction. Federal pay is quite reasonable. Currently, what
      NRCS has going for it is we have a positive and practical mission
      and the flexibility to achieve it.

5936. Be more flexible and return to techincal conservation instead of
      program delivery

5937. Offer the older employees more steps to advance after they have
      reached the step 10 level in their GS ranking. Their are no
      incentives to stay around when you have been at a step 10 for the
      last 10 years.

5938. Working on getting the bad ones out.

5939. Granting a good work environment of respect and consideration
      between all employees and supervisors; and encouraging
      comunication.

5940. Not over burden employees with extra work.

5941. Recognition of the employee efforts.

5942. Increasing alternatives for cross training jobs outside employees
      office.

5943. Keep them happy!

5944. Recognize their merits.

5945. Provide oportunities to improved knowledge and training on the
      work area and others in order to be prepare for higher positions.
      Maintain employees proud of their work through proper and timely
      recognition of excellent work.

5946. Allowing them to work from home 3-4 days a week. Boosting the
      morale and giving incentives according to results achieved.

5947. Release of stress.

5948. Reduced reports, a lot of conference, and prioritize the due dates
      all is important and all have due date.

5949. Technical and managerial training

5950. Pay and benefits

5951. Managers should not be difficult to work for and should be
      understanding of family situations requiring the employee to take
      leave.

5952. Incentives/Awards/Training/A positive working environment

5953. Good compensation and adherence to a consistent mechanism for
      recognizing outstanding work

5954. Keeping up the spirit of everyone.

5955. Flexibility to perform duties (i.e. no micro-management)and
      flexibility in work schedules (telework, PT work, etc.)

5956. Keep the focus on getting the job done \-- all too often we
      recognize employees for activities that have nothing to do with
      performance goals or technical contributions. Also, do away with
      the NRCS sponsorship of employee organizations (special groups) -
      all it does is alienate the rest and take the focus off the job to
      be done. When we have to do without field and technical people, it
      is hard to support these expenditures.

5957. Pay, Promotion, recognition of job well done, health care
      providers

5958. hire competent people fire incompetent

5959. Keeping the government pay scale up with inflation. Promotion and
      Merits are based on job performance as opposed to budget and
      kissing up.

5960. Continue to improve products and services. The happiest employees
      are those who feel that they are providing very good, high quality
      products which the public really wants (eg. Soil Scientists).

5961. A fair working enviorment and better managers.

5962. Provide them with the training and mgt development needed to
      succeed; then provide them with sufficient support in their job.

5963. Pay/awards/promotions should be based on performance. I see
      numerous employees with poor work habits being rewarded due to who
      they know or their status as a minority.

5964. Challenge them and then reward them when they perform well

5965. Recognize and reward really good employees. Provide them with the
      information they need to know \-- why they are doing their
      job\--what role they play in their work and the agency. Good
      employees are usually high achievers. High achievers need constant
      communication. Our supervisors need to learn how to recognize what
      motivates the good employees and then do it. It won\'t be the same
      for everyone. Our Leadership needs to recognize that if our
      employees and staffs fail, so do they. We all fail. We need to
      provide opportunities for our employees to recieve higher
      education in areas that are needed in the agency. Sort of like a
      journey man or woman. The Airforce has an excellent program on how
      leaders are selected and trained. The Department of Terroris
      Retention has a program where they have employees that are
      journeyman. Their positions are 7/9/12/13. That employee doesn\'t
      have to compete as long as they are performing. This may not work
      in all NRCS positions. We value the fact that our employees have
      that

5966. Establishing quality leadership and management in career positions
      provides a strong base for respect to develop within the agency.
      When employees respect management, they are willing to perform and
      exceed expectations. Communication, action, and follow up are
      essential elements needed in the states, to be successful in
      connecting with the field level employees. I have had the
      opportunity to work in many states and with several employees at
      various levels and it is disappointing to see the low moral and
      respect for our leadership.

5967. Employees need recognition for a job well done. Employees are
      discouraged when they see Average employees (who may be favorites
      or friends of the supervisor) receive awards every year for not
      doing anything beyond what is expected.

5968. Stop promoting people that are not qualified for managerial
      positions (from field offices to headquarters).

5969. Good guidance from NHQ so employees aren\'t frustrated with their
      tasks; encourage an atmosphere of cooperativeness and helpfulness
      between agency employees; training for advancement;
      acknowledgement of superior work;

5970. Giving credit to a job well done.

5971. Reward them based on their performance. Promote them based upon
      the skills and abilities, not their race or gender.

5972. Don\'t act as though you can\'t wait for older people to retire.
      They are the knowledge base of agency operations.

5973. Having promotion potential to higher graded levels within their
      own state.

5974. Promote NRCS more to the general public. Elicit more interacting
      between employees on work as well as non-work items. Get to know
      each other better. Some managers try to treat the lower level
      employees as

5975. Pay according to their value, with opportunites for skill
      development.

5976. Recognize those who are good and address the poor performance of
      those who are not.

5977. Recognize their contributions\--even when they aren\'t scientific

5978. Reward those who do well AND get rid of those who are
      retired-in-place.

5979. Get out the good ol boy mode and treat people with honesty and
      fairness.

5980. Strong management and support staffs at all levels who know the
      agency, its programs, etc. that release correct information, and
      give support the field employees; i.e., not giving different
      answers to the same question depending the day; or given something
      to be implemented and but given no guidance which eventually makes
      employees look bad in the eyes of the customers.

5981. Treating everyone the same way and rewards only when warranted.

5982. Provide clear instructions on what is expected from the employee.

5983. Better promotion opportunities for technicians (higher pay grade)
      and possibility for Soil Conservationists to become GS-11 woring
      as a technical person rather than having to become a manager where
      many do not have the proper disposition or personality.

5984. Recognize employees for good performance. Keep decision making at
      the lowest possible level and back employees in their decisions.
      Watch workload distribution.

5985. Give them a career ladder and show fairness in job selections and
      promotions

5986. Flexible work schedules and good benefits

5987. Show them that they have a chance to reach their goals by
      structuring the organization in such a way as to make that
      possible.

5988. Appreciate them, train them, give them the tools they need.

5989. total fairness in all aspects of the agency, better benefits.

5990. Reduce, as much as possible, the bureacracy burdens.

5991. Recognize them as assets to the organization rather than potential
      liabilities that need to be monitored and controlled.

5992. flexible work schedules

5993. Accountability and hiring competency.

5994. provide challenging and rewarding work, provide support of other
      staff and management, reward good workers

5995. Think outside the box and be flexible

5996. More career ladder opportunities at all levels.

5997. Pay, Responsibilities, Work Environment

5998. Flexible work schedules

5999. Recognition now and then that their contribution is valuable and
      important. Keeping the job interesting by varying work assignments
      and offering the opportunity for details and work assignments
      outside of their normal duty station.

6000. Recognize and appreciate good work; deal with problem employees
      individually; offer early retirements regularly to assist in
      attrition for employees just waiting out their time allowing for
      the employment of more motivated individuals.

6001. Rewarding those that actually apply our programs to the ground
      more than those that oversee the work being done. There are a lot
      of employees that are definitly underpaid for what they do on a
      day to day basis. Their job titles do not reflect the kind or
      amount of work they are required to do.

6002. Designate training locations with good trainers and give them the
      opportunity to determine if new employees will make good
      employees.

6003. Not cancelling training every time the budget gets tight

6004. Trust, Training, Less Reporting, More Personal Flexibility,
      Increase Salaries

6005. Keep pace with the private sector on technology and salary.

6006. Have the ability to fire just plain bad supervisors, or at least
      not allow them to oversee others. Just cause they\'ve been around
      for a while doesn\'t make them good trainers of new employees.

6007. Hire those people who are sincere about the work. Some people use
      this agency as a temporary assignment or steping stone. Instill a
      good work ethic. Difficult with some of todays young people.

6008. Make sure that people who are not showing technical or managerial
      competence are given adequate feedback about their performance and
      not just moved up or out to address personnel issues.

6009. Recognize that long term quality products should not be sacrificed
      for short term quantitative goals.

6010. Provide formal training, detail opportunities, and opportunites to
      adjust or change career tracks within the agency.

6011. Provide proper work environment: challenge staff with specific
      tasks and provide the managerial support, followup, guidance to
      meet those challanges, and recognize those that step up and meet
      that challenge. Provide the financial/staff support to get the job
      done in a professional and timely manner. Management
      provide/recognize the need for professional improvement via
      organizations outside the agency. Somehow keep the job fun,
      challenging, and rewarding (personnal development or financial).

6012. Make sure they feel satisfied and make a difference by their work
      on the short and long-term.

6013. Job satisfaction

6014. Identify opportunities to take advantage of their skills and
      abilities; use them to their potential

6015. Recognize that high producers cannot be lumped with the mass of

6016. Fair award system

6017. More effective and public recognition of good work

6018. First is to allow them to do their job. I have a work load that
      should be very heavy, however, I am never given the work, instead,
      I end up doing

6019. Allow actual EEO Rights for all, not just the jerks whom think
      they have to violate others to prove (power mungers) they can! Get
      rid of the

6020. Those employees I have oversight for, I try to make them feel I am
      supporting them to do their job, always treat them with respect
      and dignity.

6021. Job satisfaction; needed training, current computer programs and
      hardware

6022. Locate employyes in areas they are happy in; Give them the proper
      training and tools to do there job with.

6023. Listen to suggestions & complaints.

6024. Having a good career ladder in place.

6025. Employees need to be challenged; not overwhemed by bureaucratic
      aspects of job; all series and grades need to have equal
      advancement opportunities; pay needs to be adjusted to the private
      sector. (we lose a lot of young people because of pay issues)

6026. Awards.

6027. Make sure there are realistic work goals and try to keep an even
      and predictable budget. Promote from within when possible.

6028. Quit using gender bias\'s\...\...\...\...\...\....

6029. Ensure employees are qulified prior to promotion. Too often now
      the chosen employee doesn\'t have to be qulified, just the chosen
      one and the position will be modified to suit the employee.

6030. Better recognition and rewards. Not overwhelming with deadlines at
      the same time.

6031. Have them trained in the field under

6032. Give them the mission and stay true to the mission with as little
      vagueness as possible in relation to program and agency integrity.
      Do not politicize our work as much. Do not make this a political
      agency.

6033. Allow soil cons to think and reason through issues instead of
      producing a computer program for every little aspect of the job.
      Also there has to be a point where you can\'t expect more and more
      EQIP dollars to be spent faster and faster without loosing control
      of the whole system and decreasing in the quality of work.

6034. Pay, benefits, awards need to be comparable to private sector.

6035. Make them feel like their contributions are rewarded and
      non-performers are disciplined.

6036. Reward good employees and fire the dead weight, don\'t bury good
      workers with impossible work goals because of

6037. Opportunities for advancement and good pay.

6038. Good work environment & compensation for work done.

6039. Listen to what your employees are saying.

6040. Providing the training and tools necessary to do the job.

6041. Reduce workload to a level that improves quality and gives
      employee a sense of doing good work.

6042. Provide decent leadership, for a change. Most employees feel that
      the \'politically\' appointed leaders/managers are only interested
      in reducing costs (our jobs) rather than working toward the
      objectives that Congress set for the agency. In conclusion,
      employees would appreciate managers that are as concerned with
      value provided as with cost \--employee oriented managers rather
      than \'bean counters\'.

6043. It should be technical ability, compitence, and intergrity.

6044. Balance out the need for some multiple location experience with
      the local expertise that develops when someone wants to stay in
      one general location a long time (i.e. no forced moves or
      retribution for not moving!)

6045. Adequate pay and benefits, fair treatment, and challenging work
      that results in a sense of accomplishment.

6046. Continue to challenge them in areas they are most interested, make
      sure we are placing employees in areas they are most proficient.
      We also need to make sure we are comparable to the private sector
      in terms of pay scales.

6047. Keep them motivated by praise and recognition

6048. Get back to our mission of working with produers on overall plan
      of conservation instead of administering \$\$ contracts.

6049. stand behind the employee, encourage them for training/competence,
      dedicated employee to begin with

6050. Positive and effective communication.

6051. continued emphasis on conservation, back to the basics

6052. positive reinforcement.

6053. Job satisfaction. Pay commensurate with the private sector.

6054. Keeping them all involved in all activities and updates.

6055. Try to keep changes to the minimum. All the changes in programs
      and computer programs are discouraging.

6056. Let us know we are appreciated through rewards and increase pay
      benefits.

6057. promotion, good working conditions, reduced redtape

6058. Pay

6059. Use a more efficient evaluation system that can help identify the
      employees with high potential

6060. With a better salary scale.

6061. Increase salary according to their skills, academic preparation,
      job resposability, knowledge on specific area, life risk level
      doing the job and nature job enviroment

6062. Have a full staff on each field office.

6063. Motivation, not necessarly extra payment but, recognition,
      appreciation letters, promotion, etc.

6064. Training, appropiate and good equipment for do the job, good
      networking in both directions (upper level, down level)field
      supportetc.

6065. Need To have Some principles In agriculture

6066. Training, promotions and good salary.

6067. Promoting and or raising pay.

6068. increase salary

6069. Trainings

6070. Recognize their overall working potential and give opportunity to
      advance in different working environment.

6071. Protection the soil and water for good production.

6072. Allowing funds of time for college for potential candidates to
      grow on the agency from the lower grades. IE technicians

6073. Promote employees according real knowlegde, experience and
      education.

6074. Accomplishment recognition at all levels (managers and employees)
      based on production, not on performance, because performance is
      many times subject to supervisor\'s criteria, not on a comparisson
      with other employees production.

6075. Work conditions and salary

6076. Good working conditions.

6077. Promotion, Recognition, awardness and good pay. Manager keep in
      mind that employee have knowledge too.

6078. recognition of employees good accomplishments wether they are
      small or big.

6079. More cross series opportunities. It is more difficult than anytime
      in the agency to change series because too many selecting
      officials only care about your protracts, eqip, toolkit,
      experience. These things are not that difficult too learn. Right
      now I have a MBA and MS completed within the last 10 years at my
      expense. I am not very promotable within NRCS because I am a GS-12
      RC&D Coordinator. I am always looking outside the agency.

6080. Be fair and honest with our employees. Promote them for their good
      work.

6081. recognize their accomplishments and listen to their concerns when
      they voice them. Work with them instead of dictating to them. Make
      them a part of the decision making process.

6082. Employees must have supervisor\'s support. There also needs to
      have clear policy defined from NHQ. The lack of policy and
      direction has created a system of chaos with states operating
      independantly and no consistent application of policy. There needs
      to be strong leadership that is willing to make decisions - there
      is a current lack which creates difficulty for good employees to
      do their job.

6083. Clearly defining goals for both professional requirements and
      mission statements of the agency.

6084. Give them a career path, tell them their duties, give them the
      tools (hardware, software & training) they need to not only
      succeed but grow; give them the opportunity to advance

6085. Recognition

6086. Motivation, rewards, recognition.

6087. Reward those who deserve it and make slackers accountable for
      their actions (or lack of).

6088. Don\'t bog them down with so much bean counting. Distribute the
      work more evenly, it seems that some people have way too much work
      and others seem to have very little responsibility.

6089. Help employees set good long-term career goals and then provide
      training/details/mentors that will help them reach their goals.

6090. Make the employees accountable for their actions.

6091. provide means of providing comparable work for comparable pay,

6092. Promotions, and cross training.

6093. Flexibility, Training and advancement opportunity

6094. Trust, honesty, valuing diversity, flexibility, thinking outside
      of the norm

6095. Focus human resources in the field, decrease NHQ and State Office
      employees.

6096. Do not provide unrealistic expectations of duties at the field
      level. The prodction level employees are overworked.

6097. Getting back to the basics of conservation on the land by working
      directly with clients

6098. keep them happy

6099. Incentive pay

6100. Recognize out of box ideas and implement; reward those ideas

6101. provide more opportunities for promotions

6102. Open and frequent communication, employee accomodation, and
      employee satisfaction.

6103. Ability to advance levels while staying in the same location. More
      challenges: opportunity to lead a team or supervise other
      employees, more technical staff time at the field offices so fo
      employees feel they are serving clients well.

6104. Keeping good employees such as young Soil Conservationist\'s
      requires mandatory, frequent and improved training in the field
      such as basic engineering skills, conservation planning and the
      most imnportant(visually) identify physical characteristics of the
      land so one is able to plan accordingly with the training that is
      offered. Teaching Work Ethic is an important aspect of training
      too for the new employees of generation X.

6105. Determine an employee\'s strengths and let their work develop
      around those strengths.

6106. A primary way is to keep on having these surveys and really listen
      to the answers and comments.

6107. Clear goals with consistent leadership on decision making.

6108. To promote or increase wages for those employees that have a good
      technical background and good work ethic. Also, we need to stop
      changing planning software every few years, employees get used to
      a system and then it is changed and must spend a lot of time
      learning a new system.

6109. Good pay and benefits - flexibility and support from supervisors

6110. keep them trained and enthusiastic about their work. Make the job
      seem like it has purpose and importance. Let the employee feel
      they are making a difference rather than chasing their tails
      through endless reporting programs. Set priorities and stick with
      them\--in this day and age everything is a priority\--Pick
      something! NOt everything is a priority. Provide guidance on how
      to accomplish these priorities.

6111. Flexible career paths. Lose the idea of moving employees often.
      Rcognise that not all employees want or are suitable for managment
      positions. They are still extreamly valuable employees in this
      technical agency. Reward them.

6112. Better training

6113. having employees set career goals and employee development goals
      and allow them and encourage them to take the necessary training,
      details, etc. to achieve those goals. Proper compensation for the
      area that they are stationed in.

6114. competitive pay, and continuing education opportunities

6115. Keep their moral high. If there are barriers to that, fix them.

6116. Question #5 is a loaded question and is not structured to allow me
      to answer the way I want to. My answer is that sometimes selection
      are made for other reasons. I have observed a select position
      being filled by what appeared to me to be outright cronyism. A
      recent very choice position was filled essentially without
      competition (announced as a CTEP for a 7 day period). Other highly
      qualified individuals were outright excluded from competition by
      the way the job was advertised. The way this was handled has
      adversely affected the moral of several individuals excluded from
      the selection process. It also has created hard feelings about the
      individual who was selected. This selection also seeds doubt that
      I or other qualified employees will be allowed to fairly compete
      for any positions in the future. I makes me feel like I may as
      well just move on.

6117. Good Pay, Flexibity to make good/aceptable decision that work. So
      as to create harmony in their community or area.

6118. Increase loyalty to employees, reduce pressures to change
      locations, keep the scheduling flexibility, get decent affordable
      dental coverage

6119. Follow through with promises/plans.

6120. Supervisors need to encouraged to hand out more incentive awards
      that recognize good work. \$250 bonus as an annual

6121. Increase pay and treat everyone with respect even the newer
      employees. Don\'t promote problem managers just to get them out of
      the way so they cant supervise anyone anymore.

6122. Reduce stress of frequent rule changes and very short time lines
      on program announcement and contract development

6123. The pay system is good. Recognition for technical competance is
      not where it should be. Older technical folks are not recognized
      the same as

6124. Provide quality leadership that believes in promoting from within
      the ranks. NRCS should think more outside the box in terms of
      human capital and promote those employees who show initiative.
      Also, it would be nice if the \'pay for performance\' worked its
      way down the ranks. We are stuck in the \'we pay everyone in the
      same position the same otherwise the counterparts would get
      upset\'. This is fine when they are performing the same or similar
      tasks. When someone is truly performing outside their scope, that
      should be recognized with promotion potential, no matter what the
      \'norm\' is.

6125. Offer promotion opportunity and necassary training.

6126. Keep personal feelings out of whether or not a person is capable
      of doing a job, is promoted, or receives an award.

6127. Keep them interested in their job by not covering them up with too
      many programs/tasks to accomplish. Be reasonable with the
      deadlines and demands with short notices.

6128. Foster more ways to cross train employees so people can develop
      multiple skill sets.

6129. Recognition for a job well done and less short time frames to get
      work completed.

6130. Maintain technical skills to assist landowners in conservation
      work.

6131. 1\. Hire good employees 2. Quit hiring based on quotas (I know we
      say we don\'t\... but we do) 3. Train the employees. 4. Change the
      culture for promotion. The culture states that only one GS-13 can
      be in a section and that is the section leader. However, other
      agencies my have numerous technical specialists at the GS-13, 14,
      and even 15 levels. They may even be the same grade as their
      supervisor. However, they recognize the different responsibilities
      and roles. Perhaps someone should be promoted based on their value
      to the agency.

6132. Opportunities for advancement, awards and incentives, training
      opportunities, tuition assistance

6133. Continuing to award performance. Dealing with controversial issues
      as they arise rather than sweeping them under the rug. Terminating
      problem employees rather than moving them to a different location.
      Recognizing good employees by assisting those employees to excel.

6134. Reward, provide goals to work towards, and keep expectations
      reasonable.

6135. A first-rate work environment and angency sponsored educational
      opportunities.

6136. Show appreciation for thier work.

6137. Employees normally do not leave their jobs, they leave their
      supervisors.

6138. PROVIDE FUNDING FOR UNDERGRADUTE DEGREES

6139. To let them hear that they are doing a good job, to let them know
      when they are making a contribution above and beyond normal. To
      involve them in new and different work, when possible.

6140. Provide better career ladders for technical people

6141. More one-on-one training, and on the job training.

6142. Promotion potential and development. Pay increases.

6143. Promote and reward based on work proformance - not who\'s the last
      person to get one, or did we make sure that the same amount of
      A\'s and B\'s got a award.

6144. Put strong managers in key positions. Make managers make employees
      more responsible for their actions. Relieve poor performers of
      duties and put them in soil conservationist positions.

6145. Increase salary at a competitive rate with Private Industry and
      keeping communication lines open between Upper Management and
      Field Office Staff

6146. Treat them well and trust them more.

6147. Allowing the employees that have good technical skills to utilize
      those abilities in the field rather than wasting these skills in
      the office managing the computer for bean counters.

6148. Keep the good benifits, give raises and awards in a timely manner
      when deserved, and allow them to select the location of their
      position. Need more time in the field with the landowner and less
      time on the computer.

6149. Treat everyone as equals. Do not give favor to employees of a
      certain ethnic background preference.

6150. Be competitive with other agencies and the private sector on pay
      and the way jobs are rated. Also improve job satisfaction by
      limiting mandates from NHQ and allowing more field input on policy
      development.

6151. Reduce the paperwork and red tape.

6152. pay

6153. Promoting those who deserve it.

6154. Give them credit by promotion for the work they are doing instead
      of what they might do.

6155. let bad employees go enstead of giving them promotions and trying
      to put them in positions to keep them in the background.

6156. Promote people for the good work they are doing, fire the people
      that will not make the grade and not promote them.

6157. Not being a female or a minority!!!!

6158. Ensure pay is equivilant to private sector for same work.

6159. Keep them involved, train them on existing systems (especially
      those they work with frequently), provide for professional
      development, and maintain standards.

6160. Actually practice what we preach. EEO do not give a person a job
      just because of there race. It leads to very disatisified
      employees when this happens. Do not hire a person for a position
      with out advertiseing it to see if some one else in the agency or
      state would be more qualified and like to apply. It would also be
      nice to have some one you could talk to about the way your
      supervisor does his job and differential treatment. When it is
      placed before his superior because you donot have a degree it is
      discounted.

6161. Treat them better

6162. at the professional level nothing needs to change, at the non
      professional level employees, at least in your state, need to be
      treated as professional also, mostly they are just treated as
      someone that could be replaced at the drop of a hat.

6163. Developing a work force that is dedicated to our cause

6164. awareness of employee abilities and job level advancement that
      recognizes those abilities

6165. Make awards and recognition merit based instead of favorite based.

6166. Increase grade level for position. These very differently by state
      for same position and workload. Maintian Flex time hours, which
      helps as a reward when long hours have to be worked to get the job
      done.

6167. To continue to be a technical agency.

6168. Most potential employees of NRCS are technically trained in
      agricultural related fields. They would be better satisfied if
      they could do more technical work than administrative.

6169. pay increases for field level employees, especially technicians
      and less admin work at the field level

6170. Through promotions/advancement.

6171. Overhaul the grading system\...\...grades are TOO low for the
      responsibility given in this line of work

6172. 1\. Providing salaries to government employees that are similar to
      employees int he privayte sector that are doing the same type of
      work. 2. Although ALL organizations have employee

6173. There is too much uncertainty. Programs are started before the
      final rules & regs are handed down making more work. Farm bill too
      big. Present staff can\'t handle it.

6174. Recognize verbally & with personal notes those in the field -
      where the rubber meets the road - who work so hard to accomplish
      ALL the goals that everyone else sets for them.

6175. Demonstrating a purpose for the agency and the relationship to its
      employees.

6176. support in the efforts of the field office staff, that have been
      given a very tough job to do

6177. Provide a stable working environment free of restructing fears,
      consolidations, merger rumors. Also provide

6178. Stop putting management positions in technical job series.

6179. Seriously address the excessive

6180. Reward them.

6181. provide training to keep up with the GIS field AND develop program
      applications to keep the employees

6182. Salary

6183. Satisfaction with the job they do. Conservation on the land

6184. pay and benefits comparable to the private sector.

6185. Hiring technical people to do technical work (i.e. conservation
      planning) and hiring administrative people to do the contracts and
      administrative work.

6186. Hire backgrounds other than soil scientists to diversify NRCS
      workforce. Continue with strong continuing education/training.
      Identify achievable career ladders. Stay apolitical. Reward true
      accomplishments.

6187. permit employees eligible for retirement to continue to work part
      time at their present grade level, without negatively affecting
      their retirement annuity.

6188. Offer and accomodate training to the individuals learning style,
      keeping flexibiliy in the training methods and times.

6189. Reduce rigid and unfair bureaucratic policies

6190. Good compensation.

6191. Increase salary.

6192. Reduce the number of programs. Burnout is in its early stages and
      young people are looking at how hard experienced DCs are working
      and they are not liking what they see (long hours and too many
      programs to manage effectively).

6193. Stay technical

6194. recognize ability and promote and reward accordingly

6195. Pay them more and provide good professional training

6196. Provide regular, pertinent training Provide increased staffing \$
      for additional mandates and programs that are sent down by the
      national office

6197. I HOPE SOMEONE READS THIS, AND FOLLOWS UP! The only way to keep
      good help is to treat them well and have them supervised and
      managed by COMPETENT WORKERS. We have employees in supervisor jobs
      and manager positions that are incompetent. They have no
      experience, technically or personally. They were merely put in
      these position not based on experience but, To meet the agencys
      goals. We all have to pay for this.

6198. Stop increasing employee\'s duties without an increase in grade or
      a promotion. Have promotion potential at a person\'s current
      position.

6199. Relize in this day and age that people aren\'t as able to move
      around and don\'t penilize them if they don\'t. For instance not
      promoting.

6200. Higher levels of compensation for technical competence.

6201. advancement based on merit and recognition.

6202. Have opportunities for employees to move up

6203. Overload/stress of too many tasks. Position Descriptions need to
      be tailored to the job roles and functions the employee is trained
      for and actually doing. There are far too many jobs/tasks
      assigned - that pop-up endlessly, but are not evaluated/properly
      weighted in the year-end performance evaluation. I like being a
      team player, and

6204. Raise the pay. Pay is inadequate in the northeast to compete with
      private sector or to maintain a decent standard of living, as
      compared to other areas of the country.

6205. Do not require employees to get country-wide experience by moving
      from state to state. It seems this is a criteria for advancement
      and it is difficult in today\'s world where many households
      comprise dual careers. There are also issues of divorce and joint
      custody of children which may require an employee choosing between
      losing custody of his/her children in order to move around to gain
      experience for advancement. I think providing employees with
      opportunities to participate in short-term details in other states
      could fulfill the agency\'s desire for its employees to gain
      experience throughout the country. Another benefit the agency
      could institute is the family work-schedule\-- once referred to as
      the mommy schedule. Under such a work plan an employee could work
      a 30-hour work week, 9 am to 3 pm and still be considered full
      time with health and retirement benefits. If the position requires
      more attention, an intern could be hired to work under the
      supervision of the emplooyee. The intern would earn a lower pay
      and could be trained to perform less technical duties associated
      with the position. Such a policy would enable the agency to
      maintain well qualified and trained staff members who are happy
      with their employment, the job would still get done and done at a
      lower cost, and the upcoming younger work force would get training
      as interns.

6206. Keep bureaucratic policies to a minimum, allow for creative
      implementation of mission, pay based on merit and competence and
      increase benefits (health, dental, child care, etc.).

6207. Accomadate flexible schedules.

6208. create incentives (financial and personal career growth based)that
      keep highly skilled and motivated individuals in the agency and
      not lost to private sector

6209. Appreciate them and facilitate personal development

6210. Better Pay! Better Promotion Potential!

6211. Refrain from overloading employees (fill vacancies ASAP), give
      Christmas or merit based bonuses like the private sector to all
      employees - not just the upper echelon, make sure managers have
      technical qualifications for the division or staff they will
      manage, DO NOT convert State Conservationist jobs to political
      appointments: while we have had some good Chiefs recently, it
      would be a morality sinker if someone was appointed to a state for
      a short term and didn\'t know much about conservation. They would
      be supervising many technical employees and need some experience
      with those fields.

6212. Value them. More and more signals are sent indicating they are
      expendible.

6213. Less cronyism; less promotion of diversity;

6214. Providing a variety of challenging assignments and rewarding
      excellent performance

6215. Exceptional performance/service need to be rewarded in a
      meaningful manner.

6216. Award them for the good work they\'re already doing. Stop
      promoting people who you simply want out of your office, but
      don\'t have the adequate \'documentation\' to fire them! Stop
      putting the cart before the horse when you roll out new
      technology! PS - if allowed, I would have not answered #5. I
      don\'t feel that any of those things are the basis for why
      employees are promoted.

6217. Good pay and better job satification

6218. Headquarters should do more testing of tools before issuing them
      to the states and having the states find the problems. Manuals are
      issued after the programs are in the state thereby causing the
      employees to flaunder needlessly.

6219. Manageable workload and the enough people to do the job. Currently
      the situation in the field offices is not acceptable. The DCs are
      spending too much time processing payments and with other admin
      duties brought on by NRCS taking on FSA duties. We are losing
      their technical expertise as they are not out in the field with
      new employees. The new employees are having to figure it out by
      themselves. Reduce the Boom and Bust cycle of farm bill funds. It
      is not conducive to following planning policy.

6220. I don\'t know why many stay unless the alternative is worse.

6221. We are extremely thin of personnel in the states. Additional
      workforce is needed to ensure that programs are delivered and
      administered

6222. stop making us to two different jobs when we are qualified for
      just one

6223. Not being as program oriented as the agency currently is and,
      instead, actually suporting real conservation needs.

6224. Good, decisive, timely leadership in every level. High turn-over
      rates are a result of poorly managed departments. Policies need to
      be well defined and actually implemented. Reward good performance.

6225. Workload with the EQIP program is overwhelming at the FO level.
      Need to reduce the administrative burden associated with EQIP at
      the FO level and get employees back out in the field addressing
      resource problems.

6226. Engage employees in the type of work that they feel most
      passionate about. My example would be that Planners would do more
      planning and less administration work(ie payments).

6227. Allow employees to excell at technical expertise. Avoid creating a
      feeling amoung employees that all they are for is to create Farm
      Bill contracts so we can get money to clients. Workloads often are
      overwhelming, even for those that have excellent organizational
      skills. This is creating a

6228. The primary work is meaningful. All the evidence to support why
      the agency is doing a good job mainly serves politicians. There is
      too much of that kind of work.

6229. Keep the employees interested in the job by filling positions with
      technically sound people, and not necessarily those with just
      \'good\' management skills. This helps to keep the workload from
      overloading.

6230. NRCS needs employees due workload and every year the budget for
      employees get cut. In addition NRCS needs update equipment and
      needs adequate office space.

6231. Better pay. The private sector pays more for the same caliber of
      work. Better tools. It is very frustrating when one doesn\'t have
      the necessary tools for the job. NRCS has improved dramatically in
      this area over the last decade.

6232. higher pay and more monetary recognition for doing basic job
      tasks.

6233. New concepts, ideas, and technology.

6234. Provide funding and access to training, details, and on the job
      experience in areas that will increase employee skills, knowledge,
      and marketability. This training and experience should not be
      limited to the employee\'s position description. Provide an
      achievable career ladder to all employees (up to GS-12) regardless
      of position/specialty. We especially need more opportunites for
      technical specialists. Focus NRCS goals more on development of
      technology and technology transfer. Provide realistic workloads
      and deadlines, so that employees are pressured to work
      uncompensated overtime. Reduce distances and time required for
      travel.

6235. Fair pay and enough staff to do the job

6236. Recognize their achievement Promote them

6237. Having good Leadership

6238. Functionality\...the better job we do, the higher the morale, the
      greater the productivity\... and so on. If we\'re not spiraling
      up, we\'re spiraling down!

6239. The expectations must meet the job description and pay level.
      Today most employees in the field feel overworked. Field people
      are expected to do and know almost everything. There is anxiety
      because there are so many rules and processes to follow.

6240. The best employees need to feel that they are doing something that
      has REAL meaning; that will help to make the world a better place.
      We are currently evaluated by how much money we can shovel out the
      door; good, bad or indifferent.

6241. Give equal pay for equal work Keep communication open and keep all
      involved

6242. Provide pay base upon the provide sector pay rate

6243. Pay them for the amount of job responsibility thay are performing
      at.

6244. At the field level, we have to feel that we still DO GOOD WORK -
      that what we do matters and makes a difference to the people we
      serve and the lands we affect. Strong leaders that understand
      this, that have integrity and a firm direction and purpose are
      important to make this happen. The biggest bummer of this job is
      the bureaucracy and the politics. Sometimes it feels like all we
      are expected to do is to spend the money and give Congress what
      they want to see, which doesn\'t always reflect what is needed or
      happening on the ground. Leadership at all levels also needs to
      LISTEN, UNDERSTAND and RESPOND to problems and issues raised by
      the field staff.

6245. Make them feel good about their work. Cut out some of the
      reduntant paper work.

6246. Always acknowledge an employee when the job is done well. Make an
      employee feel appreciated.

6247. Focus on leading technologies beging applied to the land, and
      investing in research and development, not just dlivery of
      programs.

6248. Meet the pay of the privat sector

6249. Provide meaningful training opportunities for newly hired staff.
      Encourage and hire progressive minded employees. Create career
      goals and objectives and reward employees for reaching their
      respective goals and objectives. Re-work the chain of command to
      allow more opportunities for lower grade employees to work with
      and have stronger relationships with knowledge superior staff
      before they retire.

6250. We need to have good people recruited and train them properly - I
      have been an active recruiter but with the recent changes in the
      qualifications for SOIL CONSERVATIONIST - we have lost some of the
      people that I recruited - I am NOT MOTIVATED anymore to recruit
      people!

6251. Positive feedback

6252. Remain fair in promotions and pay must keep up with the private
      sector.

6253. NRCS use to feel like a family now employees are treated like
      disliked step children

6254. pay them

6255. Let people be agressive and innovative in caarying out their
      duties and allowed to fail without being condemned. As long as
      what they are doing is ethical and furthering the mission of the
      agency. Be sure to promote people based on merit not on someone\'s
      political connections or

6256. Allow them to be conservationists and conservation planners
      instead of program administrators and clerk typists.

6257. Appropriate pay for the job they are performing, and recognition
      for a job well done.

6258. Higher grade levels. More bottom up input allowed. More technical
      training and opportunities to use knowledge. Hire more clerical
      help. Conservationists are now becoming highly paid clerks.

6259. Less workload, recognition of true accomplishments.

6260. Give them a right treatmnet and the right salary

6261. Give credit where credit is due, show respect for & use employee
      abilities, stop pampering to be politically correct, show some
      backbone when it comes to nonfunctioning employees, remove the pay
      differences between long term employees who worked up the ranks &
      new hires who start where it use to take several years to get to &
      are not able to work without supervision\...people want respect,
      to feel useful, to be paid well & to be treated equally

6262. Be more a tooned to there needs for promotion in the location
      where they want to be rather then making them move to get the
      advancement then offering there previous job at a higher level
      then before. Work with the person to make sure there goals are
      being considered for the job goals they have set for thier selfs.

6263. good Pay

6264. Keep the pay and benefits competitive with what can be made in the
      private sector

6265. For technical employees, it would be to free them from the
      administrative workload of cost share programs, so they can do the
      technical part of assisting land users to make informed decisions.

6266. Raise pay

6267. Selecting qualified leaders. Selecting person with better
      leadership qualities.

6268. Equitable Pay

6269. mentor and support by supervisor. recognize quality work - going
      beyond what is expected.

6270. Higher Pay Scale.

6271. Provide a work environment where they enjoy their work, are
      recognized for their contribution, receive timely quality
      guidance, and needed training with pay on par with industry.

6272. Benefits

6273. Using common sense in developing procedures. Recognizing the need
      for human help in the offices. Focus on the things the taxpayers
      want and we deliver best.

6274. Cleary communicate objectives and rationale for achieving them.

6275. Recognition

6276. staying focused on the mission and not changing directions from
      Washington every election

6277. A good employee always looks for ways to better himself and the
      agency he works for. (always looking).

6278. Supporting their work. Having a clear mission and allowing
      employees to contribute to the mission.

6279. Drop the policy

6280. job satification

6281. Have fair and competent supervisors.

6282. Hire qualified, educated employees from the beginning that are
      willing and eager to work and learn a job, not just draw a
      paycheck. I answered question 5 because it would not let me
      continue without it, but I did not agree with any of the
      particular answers as a whole. I don\'t know why most employees
      are promoted when they are. Not that I agree or disagree with all,
      but some I see no reason for.

6283. accomplishing the mission and not doing politics with conservation

6284. competitive wages, strong benefit packages and strong leadership.

6285. Increase pay

6286. Reduce job stress by reducing the work load. Employees are being
      asked to do more and more as other employees retire or transfer
      because there are fewer employees but the same workload.

6287. To encourage teleworking since employees are not as mobile as they
      were when I began my career. I have been asking for teleworking
      for 18 months now and my supervisors tell me that Bruce Knight
      does not allow teleworking. I own a ranch and commute weekly to my
      office location in order to sit in front of a computer - you want
      to keep employees such as me - allow and tell your managers to
      encourage teleworking.

6288. Already NRCS is very understanding with the leave program,
      especially for people who have children. I feel this is really
      important for families. I do think that the health insurance could
      be better for people who don\'t live in a large city.

6289. training and promotional

6290. By increasing the awareness of the importance of conservation and
      the environment in the US

6291. Telework where possible. Let them work more one on one with
      landowners and get away from the office and the desk.

6292. I have only been employed a short time, but the job and situation
      should keep them.

6293. By continuing to give present and future employees opportunities
      to give their opinions concerning the state of the agency.

6294. Stop SR Mgmt misleading employees

6295. Connect to a supervisor that provides a proffesional
      climate,communicate expectations & provide the best training for
      the given tasks. While a new employee is deciding if this is the
      type of longtime career they want to pursue.

6296. Reduce bureaucracy, encourage innovation, provide needed support
      (information technology, training, etc.)

6297. Agency manages relocation costs from national account thus
      ensuring that vacancies are filled from

6298. listen to them, don\'t dictate, weed out incompetence

6299. Higher pay grades. NRCS seems to have the lowest pay grades for
      the technical career fields which causes employees to always be
      looking for higher pay-grade jobs with other agencies.

6300. Talk to these employees and find out what their short term and
      long term goals are. If they fit within NRCS initiative, assist
      these employees with the necessary tools to help them in the
      achievement.

6301. make sure they feel that they are valued as individuals

6302. Keep Pay high as possible; encourage employees to be challenged
      each day; promote good employees and give them the freedom to do
      their job. Most complaints today deal with spending too much time
      working on the computer and not enough time working in the field.
      Good employees quit NRCS because of being hired as a soil
      conservationist to be out doing field conservaton work and then
      actually only doing 100% of their time as computer entry. Are they
      conservationist or are they high paid computer entry secretaries.

6303. Provide positive feedback and incentives for good work and support
      employee efforts to improve their own knowledge and skills

6304. Provide for input that is seriously considered. Open dialog.

6305. Allow them to pursue their individual goals.

6306. Be honest

6307. Reduce the amount of redundent work. I have three logins and
      passwords to enter before I can check my e-mail.

6308. Reward those who perform well.

6309. Challenges, yet providing tools to accomplish and finish any and
      all challenge placed in your work. The tools of the job should be
      up to date and not lagging behind the private sector.

6310. A cooperative work environment and recognition of actual time
      involved to produce the product quality expected of the field
      staff.

6311. Allow them to make a difference.

6312. Recognize the abilities of the employees doing their assignments
      and get rid of those who can\'t or won\'t perform.

6313. Training and appreciation.

6314. Set realistic goals, support reasonable taskloads, do conservation
      for the right reasons (not because NRCS needs 15% kickback on each
      Program contract to fund its workforce).

6315. Take steps to install or re-install a high level of
      professionalism and technical expertise among younger employees.
      They have to believe their work is valuable and doing good for the
      land. They have to work with landusers one on one so they have a
      sense of accomplishment when jobs are completed. Setting in front
      of computers for days on end gives little satisfaction. Removing
      need for technical expertise and the challenge to attain it leaves
      little incentive to get you enthused to come to work and strive
      for excellence. Reward them when they do good jobs. The continuing
      evolvement of doing more with less has to change. No one worth
      their salt wants the stress of cutting corners, perform at all
      costs and losing technical perfection at the cost of

6316. incentives

6317. With good supervision and line-of-command support. Several of my
      Supervisors have had few or no people-skills or supervisor-skills
      (i.e. tact, sensitivity) and wanted to have approval of every
      move. One or two Supervisors have been excellent - with open door
      policies, sincere listeners, and good delegators of authority for
      tasks. Line-of-command support (up and down) for what is

6318. The most effective way to keep good employees is to allow them to
      do their jobs without interference of burdensome procedural tasks
      and redundant reporting. This is the single most significant
      source of frustration for NRCS employees.

6319. Showing a sense of fairness and equal opportunity

6320. It seems to me that some of our most talented people fail to apply
      for promotions because of the impact of a move on their personal
      lives. It is my opinion that one frequently occurring aspect of
      advancement is you are probably single, divorced or have a spouse
      that has a low level career. Capable people tend to marry other
      capable people that may have a career that is not mobile. Often
      the government pay is significantly less than the spouse\'s income
      outside the government. I beleive the internet offers a solution
      to this problem. Cooperating scientists are capable of working
      remotely and interdependently, fully recognising when the
      situation requires travel. The methods of evaluation of
      performance must be based on work accomplished. This suggestion
      goes beyond telecommuting.

6321. Be more flexible in the requirements for moves, relocations and
      transfers. Do not force young employees to move to places they
      don\'t want to go. Many will quit first.

6322. Provide adequate training and closer supervision that includes
      recognition and awards.

6323. To reward them with advancement - particularly a highly trained
      and technically experienced individual - particularly if that
      individual has high ratings AND performs quality work - in
      otherwords, promote your good employees instead of always bringing
      in fresh college grads who have to be trained by the very same
      person who IS skilled and trained - only to watch them advance
      rapidly because you trained them (or possibly move on to the
      private sector). This is doubly frustrating when the one training
      also has a 4 year degree but no advancement.

6324. Provide with adequate personnel help, good tools, resources,
      salaries.

6325. Reward them for working beyond their job duties. Promote them
      according to thier job skills.

6326. Recognition/awards and higher pay

6327. make sure that pay is more in line with that of private sector

6328. Provide meaningful work, allow time to develop skills, eliminate
      quota hiring

6329. Provide professional challenges and a stable work environment
      where creativity is encouraged and rewarded.

6330. Fire the bad employees

6331. Interesting/challenging job.

6332. Keep them challenged, trained, and equiped as a part of a team
      working towards a common vision.

6333. Salary

6334. Allow us to be flexible enough in our respective field offices to
      meet the required needs of our locale, and not what the agency
      says is important. Our good employees want to use their good
      common sense to know what is needed locally in the way of
      assistance needed. This would greatly help employee morale and
      satisfaction. Also, it would be nice if we didn\'t have to
      CONSTANTLY worry about progress/goals as a way of getting a good
      performance appraisal. If what we in NRCS do is supposed to be so
      good for the nation and so appreciated\...then why do we have to
      tie pay to direct charge hours in a year\'s time, and also have so
      much of our performance appraisal tied to

6335. Higher Pay

6336. recognize good work they are doing and also recognize and assist
      those employees that do not perform

6337. stop promoting and relocating employees in the state that do not
      do their job very unfair to the employees that take their jobs
      seriously. Also when there is a employee that has taken money from
      employees they supervise should not be allowed to continue getting
      paid should be placed on LWOP until OIG investigation is complete
      and if they determine evidence is there employee should be
      terminated. It does not set good with employees when they look at
      this situation and think well if this employee is still getting
      paid it doesn\'t matter what employees do because management is
      not going to do anything about it or anything else. Promote
      employees that have been given additional technical duties and
      this would be a big boost for those employees that provide 110% to
      their job and for once think that management cares.

6338. Recognition, providing a good working environment

6339. Increase salaries to reflect closer to private sector

6340. Good Pay and Benefits and not take them away at orjust before
      retirement

6341. pay them well, give more awards for good work.

6342. Provide comparable financial incentives for superior performance
      as that in the private sector.

6343. Decrease computer-oriented work and increase emphasis on working
      with individual customers.

6344. Recognize true excellence and committment to our agency\'s
      mission.

6345. Working on things that actually make a difference the lives of
      citizens or in conserving our natural resources. Instead of
      working on numbers or eye wash.

6346. Provide them with training opportunities throughout their career.
      Many of the older employees seem to be struggling with newer
      technology. In addition to this, newer employees should be brought
      on and Supervised by people that want to train and help these
      newer employees grow. Compensation will also keep retention levels
      high.

6347. Increased Pay.

6348. Career opportunities

6349. Utilize all the HR tools that we have at our disposal to reatin
      the best employees

6350. recognize what they do - make them feel like they are needed.

6351. Good pay and stable work location for young and maturing families.
      Also provide assistance for two-income families to locate good job
      for spouses.

6352. Have supervisors that will provide leadership and support to their
      employees. The National NRCS leadership needs to read these
      surveys and listen to the field more often!

6353. Improve communcation with employees, develop comprehensive
      understanding of employee working environments and workloads,
      identify non-contributing employees and strive to staff functions
      at appropriate levels. Currently, there is a very wide variation
      the workloads for different offices and functions.

6354. Promote those that are competent, not those who are minorities.
      Promoting the incompetent makes the competent feel that their
      skills are not valued by the agency.

6355. Managers can listen to what is happening in the field and deal
      with those concerns so that field employees will be more
      satisfied.

6356. Provide pay that is compatible with the private sector for
      similiar work

6357. Make sure there is a sense of accomplishment for employees, keep
      salaries competitive, keep employees active in training/education.

6358. Don\'t treat employees as interchangeable and/or disposable. It\'s
      a mistake to constantly move employees because they are simply
      filling an empty position. Many real positions take expertise that
      cannot be gained with job hopping every 9-16 months. It\'s
      interesting to note in question 5 above that

6359. Give them meaningful jobs and pay them accordingly.

6360. Reward them financially for good performance and make them feel
      they have input into the management of the organization.

6361. Accomplishing goals and being recognized for doing so. Many times
      paper work ties up my time, when I should be in the field helping
      clients achieve conservation goals.

6362. Be creative in providing opportunities for career advancement that
      benefit both the agency and the employees.

6363. Provide a challenging and rewarding job environment. Promote based
      on skills and abilities and best qualified. Not based so much on
      being in the right place at the right time, race or gender, or
      other ambiguous reasons.

6364. Employees need to be challenged, valued and above all trusted.
      This will evolve into true leadership, and employees will
      appreciate that. Employees also need to be rewarded for
      performing. The agency need to figure out how to eliminate bad
      actors. This will definitely increase morale.

6365. Work with employees to meet thier needs and challenges

6366. Job satisfaction

6367. Offer incentives/pay comperable to what they could get in the
      private sector.

6368. treat fair

6369. Recognition of an outstanding job.

6370. Cross training X Deputy Areas

6371. Offer them details and incentives. When you ask for input, don\'t
      already have your mind made up. Respect and listen to those with
      years of experience and knowledge.

6372. promote, reward and encourage employees

6373. Appropritae recognition, rewards, and assignments

6374. Promote and develop good hard working individuals based on merit
      and accomplishments.

6375. challenging work

6376. Pay for actual duties performed

6377. empower them ensure that they have time to do the job

6378. Opportunities to develop professionally\--either upward or
      laterally, telecommuting/flexible hours

6379. Recognize those employees that are productive and give the
      unproductive employees promotion potential and specialized
      training.

6380. Focus on the long-term conservation mission of the agency rather
      than supporting the political agenda of the current administration
      (either party)

6381. Recognize that the workforce and society have changed from when
      NRCS started 70 years ago. Recognize that two income families are
      not as mobile as those currently in leadership ranks. Be flexible
      when it comes to hours of duty, training, etc.

6382. Giving the opportunities to develop their current skills by OJT
      combined with course taken during business hours.

6383. get rid of the poor performers and others with poor work ethic \--
      that would improve morale and make way for strong performers

6384. to adequately train employees

6385. Put them in leadership positions, provide them feedback and learn
      from their experiences to make the process better

6386. Reward good work. Awards given are very small and given to all. Do
      not keep rewarding those who don\'t deserve it.

6387. Promote based on experience and merit

6388. Balance out the scales. Hire and Promote based on KSA. If good
      employees are losing out to other good employees that\'s usually
      exceptable, but to lose out to someone you know is not qualified
      is a hard pill to swallow.

6389. Reduce the individual workload. Hire more field office staff which
      includes administrative staff to assit in contracting workload at
      the field level not the state level

6390. Good Leadership and training opportunities for promotions

6391. Career Enhancement Opportunities

6392. Promote them on what they know, not who they know. KSAs can be
      deceiving

6393. Offer Telework opportunities for NHQ positions.

6394. Opportunites for advancement.

6395. Keep promises and don\'t hold up thier promotions. Be fair with
      the employee and when hired explain the steps they need to get
      promoted and how they fit in the team. Been here a year and still
      confused as to what my job is. It keeps changing day to day and I
      can not get my arms around it like I want to do to a professional
      job.

6396. investing in continuing education and leadership dev opportunities

6397. Regular promotions and awards.

6398. On question 5 I answered

6399. Occassional promotions and appropriate rewards.

6400. Challenge employees with satsifying work. Take action on
      unsatisfactory employees.

6401. Be the best agency we can be. People want to be associated with
      winners. Have a vision, not just a to do list of getting dollars
      out the door, but what we hope to accomplish for the long-term
      good of the natural resources

6402. Ensure that their work is truly meaningful. Remove incompetent
      supervisors. Quit jerking them around and changing policy on a
      weekly basis. Only release tools that are fully tested and work,
      ie; tools that make the job easier and the staff more efficient
      and effective and not simply to satisfy someone up the food chain.

6403. Provide challenging opportunities.

6404. pay experience

6405. More flexible work arrangements. Work at home days, or satellite
      offices.

6406. Opportunities for career enhancement,on the job training and
      details to other mission areas.

6407. Challenge them, give them the tools and flexibility to do their
      job, don\'t require excessive report generation, don\'t count
      pennies and overlook dollars.

6408. Pay and recognition

6409. Provide challenging jobs that are properly recognized and rewarded

6410. Provide them satisfying work in their fields of expertise,
      opportunities to network with their colleagues and peers (not
      necessarily requiring travel) without burdening them with
      excessive paperwork management that could be handled by others

6411. Fairness in recognition of accomplishments

6412. Let them do their job free of politicical influence and leadership
      incompetence.

6413. Retention bonuses; telecommuting part time; pay for a final move
      in exchange for

6414. Keep and increase monetary awards. Talk of

6415. Meaningful work with a sense of accomplishment.

6416. Make relocations to area of choice, both in and outside employees
      current duty station, easier and a positive request.

6417. Judge employees fairly and reward the best, and motivate the rest.

6418. Make it obvious through actions, rather than just saying, that our
      human resources our most valued asset. This involves much more
      interest in each person and their capabilities/desires than is
      presently existing.

6419. rewarding employees based on true merit

6420. Reward good employees for their performance. Steer lear from the

6421. Offer lines of career advancement coupled with appropriate pay.

6422. Provide adequate training and promotion opportunities.

6423. Offer more opportunities for advancement and movement among
      staffs. Offer complete training programs for all new employees
      relevant to their field, whether they are starting out in the
      state/field offices or NHQ. Offer better medical/dental benefits
      that are comparable to those offered in the private sector, and
      make it possible for people to come into Federal Govt. at higher
      salaries and better vacation hours (why would someone who has a
      job the equivalent of a GS-12/13, leave their job where they have
      3-4 full weeks off, for the Fed. where they\'ll only get 2.5
      weeks)?

6424. Take appropriate action with

6425. Reward and recognize them for their technical competence. Managers
      are a dime a dozen, they come and go, most are so-so,
      occassionally some are good, and a good number are bad, but
      technical experts are jewels.

6426. Acknowledge the effort of all employees that are working hard.
      Provide more training. Management needs to look at how many and
      often \'high priority\' need for information is requested. Turn
      around expectations at NHQ are getting out of control. Lack of
      time to do a good job - now everything is a rush job and quality
      is decreasing. This will make conscientous employees look for
      other work. Very frustrating to have to do a \'half baked\' job
      due to time constraints.

6427. Provide job satisfaction, by keeping staff informed and empowering
      staff to make decisions.

6428. 5\. None of the above 7. Let employees have a say in who and where
      they\'d like to work instead of just placing them. Also look at
      the talent you already have before you hire outside of NRCS.

6429. Provide training, career advancements, and readily available
      mentors will help keep new and current good employees interested
      in NRCS.

6430. Take the opportunity to listen to their thoughts and vision
      concerning the agency. In addition, capture their goals and
      desires and assist in getting them to the next level in reaching
      those goals.

6431. Improve overall agency morale.

6432. Too much political posturing. Let\'s leave that to others and let
      us provide sound technical information to policy makers (who can
      throw it out if they so choose).

6433. Decrease the bureaucracy and micromangement; unfortuately much of
      this is generated outside NRCS and may be beyond NRCS\'s control.

6434. No pre-judgement, pre-selections, preferential treatment,
      substitution of education for experience (a master\'s or doctorate
      does not give you experience, it simply means that you are
      teachable, and once what you\'ve learned it only implies that you
      are able to impart to others or put into practice what you\'ve
      learned), do a better job of screening before hiring (what kind of
      work ethic does the person posess), and by all means re-read what
      Petronius said in the first century.

6435. Opportunities for advancement.

6436. Set clear goals; hire fairly; promote fairly; treat employees with
      respect.

6437. Agency management should open dialogue with experienced employees
      about how to share their experiences with newer employees. Small
      spot awards are OK but there should be other ways to show how
      valuable the older, experienced NRCS employees really are to the
      agency\'s conservation legacy. Rather, there appears to be an ever
      increasing workload on the experienced employees to fill current
      gaps in staffing without the benefit of utilizing their experience
      to mentor newer staff. The

6438. Have a connection to a mission they believe in.

6439. Meeting the career needs of its employees. Enabling them to
      develop more managerially beyond their technical expertise

6440. Provide incentives for good employees to join SES ranks; increase
      staff so we don\'t have to work so many extra hours just to keep
      up with things. Our hours don\'t get counted because it\'s illegal
      to work them, but the work still has to get done and we care
      enough to want to get it done. But it\'s a burn-out proposition.
      Some areas may need to provide more responsibility to employees,
      too, or at least allow them to participate sometimes in the
      decisionmaking. This is not a problem where I am, and it\'s
      something I highly value about this job. Federal policies overall
      make it less attractive to work for the Federal government.
      Retirement system for FERS employees not so good, for example.

6441. Employee recognition and incentives, promotion potential,
      accountability, confidentiality, adequate training, upward
      mobility.

6442. recognition

6443. Being fair with everybody. Making everybody feel important no
      matter what their job is.

6444. promote from within - reward performance

6445. Strong leadership that is willing to promote conservation rather
      than spin.

6446. More professionalism; Finding the right people with the skills and
      abilities to manage people & programs and represent the agency;
      Only hire managers who understand balance between family & job &
      life

6447. Providing opportunities to work on projects that they can take
      ownership in.

6448. Keep them involved in current hot topics. Don\'t pidgeon hole them
      to one task.

6449. Use the Merit Promotion System instead of the crony system.

6450. RECOGNITION. NOT BEING IGNORED

6451. Make some positions developmental/trainee, instead of advertising
      positions are the full performance level.

6452. More career development opportunities; managerial and supervisory
      accountability in areas of conduct, integrity, work ethic and
      operational and program procedures.

6453. Agency needs to start taking appropriate disciplinary/adverse
      action against the poor performers and not work the others to
      death.

6454. Promote a culture where integrity, professionalism, and trust is
      valued.

6455. Train lower graded employees to replace senior level employees.
      Abolish discrimination with regard to hiring and promoting
      employees. Also look closely at award system. Abolish unfair award
      practices. Most higher level employees are awarded more money than
      lower graded employees and the lower graded employees are doing
      the bulk of the work. In a nutshell just practice equal
      opportunity and fairness.

6456. To promote a fair and equitable work environment.

6457. Clear expectations with advancement and pay tied to those
      expectations on a measurable basis that precludes favoritism,
      discrimination or reverse-discrimination.

6458. Provide employees the tools they need to do their job and empower
      them to do the job without micro supervision. NOTE: I HAD TO PUT
      AN ANSWER ON NUMBER 5, BUT MY CHOICE WAS NOT LISTED. MOST
      EMPLOYEES ARE PROMOTED BECAUSE OF POLITICS AND WHO THEY KNOW, NOT
      WHAT THEY KNOW.

6459. Stop the micromanagement and give employees an opportunity to do
      their jobs with the resources and tools they need

6460. Reward the best, encourage the rest.

6461. Develop programs and incentives for all the employees of NRCS not
      just managers and leaders (Program Assistant, we are part of the
      agency, and why are our jobs being downgraded and managers and
      leaders are being promoted. Our job is just as important as
      theirs, everyone cannot be a leader or mananger. So does NRCS
      think that were important enough to invest in?

6462. Improve the level and compentencey of managers. We have very few
      leaders, people that can promote performance and enspire
      confidence. The use of Schedule C employees has deminished the
      quality of leadership, and ensure the FEMA syndrome is alive and
      well in NRCS. Political employees have no other objective in mind
      than to serve the current administion and thus a very short term
      view of the agency and its employees. This is contagious.

6463. Promotion, training, recognition and fair treatment.

6464. Treat everyone fair and be concerned about the well being of all
      employees - NHQ, Field, high or lower grade. We don\'t seem to
      care about the ones we see everyday.

6465. Give them meaningful work from their perspective and the
      agency\'s. Give them tools and time to do the work. Allow wide
      participation in the thinking and doing parts of the the work.

6466. Create an environment where many people are participating in
      emerging activities and priorities \-- share the love and demand
      that people produce.

6467. Recognize they are overworked. Take stuff off the plate rather
      than continuing to add. To not establish unrealistic expectations
      to which employees can only fail.

6468. Making sure they are challenged and feel they are important.
      Actually I think we do pretty good in this area and don\'r see a
      lot of staff leaving for outside jobs.

6469. Recruit top people with actual job openings and hire quickly in
      the winter, pay hike for professional positions, retain in stable
      location in towns that are not small population. Promote the best.

6470. Workload management.

6471. Training, advancement opportunities and adequate space to work.

6472. Develop advance opportunities from within agency.

6473. Providing an environment for success

6474. Acknowledgement of skills and superior performance

6475. I think strong, consistent and fair leadership would be the
      primary way. Also offering nonmonetary benefits that will
      accommodate their lifestyle, for example as a single parent with
      young kids, I would like to be able to telework, have
      administrative granted to attention school meetings, etc.

6476. Allowing creativity and transparency. Open opportunity to career
      development including job trainee programs, details, and
      shadowing.

6477. Improved upward mobility path.

6478. Reduce stress and inefficiencies caused by extreme mangerial
      requirements.

6479. Allow for more autonomy\--often too many managers in the mix
      create obstacles to getting the job done accurately, logically,
      and efficiently. Appreciate, value and utilize diveristy\--not
      only across gender lines but also race and ethnicity. Hold
      managers accountable that show favoritism and preferential
      treatment or are just poor supervisors.

6480. Quit hiring and promoting underachievers just because they belong
      to a minority, are female, and/or score high as affirmitive action
      candidates and started at the field level. Instead hire well
      educated graduates and post graduates from highly rated
      agricultural universities. Then promote them on the basis of
      competence, achievements, and leadership instead of their race,
      sex, or sexual orientation as is the current norm.

6481. Continue moving in the direction we are going as an agency.

6482. Through recognition and promotions.

6483. Take care of them and give them praise for good things done.

6484. Recognition of accomplishments Non monetary rewards - parking
      space, time off, etc Compensation Training Telework option - as a
      real possibility, not just something we say

6485. Demand technical expertise. Demand more scientific degrees instead
      of general degrees. Also make sure they are trained by teh best
      field offices. The best way to ruin a good employee is to put them
      in fron of a computer instead of allowing them to grow
      technically.

6486. As new employees will strong educational backgrounds and skill
      sets enter the government from private or non-profit sectors
      recognize their value and leverage their abilities to benefit the
      challenges of the organization. Welcome new employees from
      external entities and make them feel like they are part of the
      team. Create a new employee partners program and pair them up with
      a seasoned government employee who can help them transition.
      Provide them with the necessary tools within 30 days of their
      arrival (i.e. new computer and printer, name plates,etc.) Create
      standards of performance inclusive of key attributes of
      professionalism in the workplace. Be fair to all employees.
      Recognize and reward good performance. Manage non performers.

6487. Decent Salary and training opportunities

6488. Ensure that they feel like they are making a contribution

6489. reward extra efforts by employees, before management

6490. Ensure managers work activiely towards giving underperformers
      opportunity and incentive to improve so that they can carry their
      portion of the workload.

6491. Empowerment

6492. Get away of the buddies system and select individual base on their
      abilities, skills and knowledge. We should have interviews to
      slect individule for jobs with an outside agency.

6493. Communication and motivation.

6494. Meaningful work, recognition, and pay.

6495. make a tangible commitment to training and continued advancement,
      personal and professional

6496. To make students permanent employees.

6497. Incentives, pay, awards, meaningful work, listen to them

6498. Be sensitive to commuting times if they will be double due to
      management\'s decision to move duty station.

6499. 1\. Increase job salary to better reflect cost of living in the
      immediate surrounding DC area. It is my personal belief that
      federal employees should be able to support a family financially
      within an hour commute time to a DC area job site. 2. Offer
      training and orientation for those individuals coming into higher
      graded positions (example - employees coming from consulting
      agencies and graduate school). NRCS places a lot of value on
      coming up through the ranks, field office to state office to
      headquarters. If NRCS wants to stay competitive, new procedures
      must be developed to bring qualified mid-career individuals into
      step with the NRCS

6500. Provide stimulating job assignments where the employee knows
      he/she is making a contribution instead of being told they are
      making a contribution.

6501. Show concern to the employees and listen to what they have to say.
      The supervisors are not always right and they do have the
      opportunity to make every employee miserable.

6502. Improve salary comensurate with responsibilities, improve benefits
      such as health insurance

6503. Promotions/recogonition/awards

6504. Show them that they are valued; that going the extra step is
      appreciated; don\'t reward poor perfomers; hire supervisors and
      managers that have people skills

6505. Let them know they count, that what they do is important and that
      the issues that cause them stress are recognized and you
      (publically) attempt to deal with them.

6506. Flexible work locations (telecommuting), strong accountability
      equal for all employees, strong emphasis on training & career
      development.

6507. Formal training and upward mobility opportunities.

6508. providing training and opportunities for feedback on key personnel
      issues.

6509. Respect that most NRCS employees are professionals, rely upon
      their professional judgement, and recognize that as professionals
      they will return flexibility to address personal issues with
      loyalty and dedication to accomplishing Agency mission in an
      exceptional manner.

6510. Incentives

6511. make sure they contiuing opportunity to grow and to be recognized
      (and not necessarily monetarily)

6512. Show them that they are necessary to help the Agency to meet its
      Mission. This can be done by improving communication to the Field
      Office level and showing all employees where they fit in the

6513. Match employee performance to accountability and then recognize
      good performance.

6514. Good Training and Job satifaction.

6515. Ask the real

6516. Make sure that supervisors are technically competent yet know how
      to work with and understand their employees. Managers should be
      willing to listen to their employees and thank them for their
      input. Oh, supervisors should allow and encourage input. Thank you
      for a job well done and then appropriate compensation will go a
      long way in employee satisfaction.

6517. NC

6518. Proper recognition. Awards benefits. Upward mobility for jobs well
      done. Recognition.

6519. By being more family friendly and offering work alternatives such
      as job sharing.

6520. Eliminate political correctness as a basis for job selection or
      promotion.

6521. Keep them all equal in their pay and duties when doing the same
      work.

6522. Good employees will stay if provided with recognition and reward
      for the exceptional work they do. As well, good employees will not
      stay, or will become discouraged with the agency when they
      continually see \'bad\' or sub-par employees being retained,
      getting promotions, and moving up the system because managers fear
      that suits/grievances will be filed if they are disciplined.

6523. Treating them as part of the team instead of alienating them with
      micro-management, desk monitoring, and flawed andi incorrect
      in-house training on critical responsibilities

6524. Recognition of work, efforts, and accomplishments.

6525. Advise all employees of

6526. Providing work opportunities that seem meaningful to the mission
      and that best take advantage of the skills that employees enjoy
      performing the most. People want to feel they are contributing
      productively to something that matters in the bigger scheme of
      things, that they can apply and demonstrate their skills to a
      useful end and be sufficiently, but not excessively, challenged by
      their efforts. Employees should be encouraged to generate their
      own ideas and be permitted to work independently to achieve them,
      but also non-formalized mentoring should be encouraged. It\'s
      important that mentoring not be formalized to allow the greatest
      flexibility and to permit better ideas to surface more
      spontaneously.

6527. Constant challenges that allow a person to grow.

6528. Have them work on meaningful projects with other dedicated
      professionals who believe in the mission of the agency. We
      routingly do two things to our employees. We either do not
      challenge the best and brightest or we work our best and brightest
      to death. In general we are understaffed and we burn out our good
      employees. We have unequal expectations of different groups within
      our workforce which is a major frustration for most of our staffs.

6529. Give them self satisfaction.

6530. Treat them with respect. Adhere to leave policies that are
      interpreted consistantly by all managers. Allow everyone to
      contribute and receive credit. Maintain a reasonable career
      ladder-no promotion ceilings!

6531. Treat them with respect and provide the best tools to do their
      job.

6532. Getting out and listening to their needs and also provide the
      right tools for the job. IE Have they ever asked Technicians and
      Soil Cons how they use toolkit to do thier job.

6533. Get rid of the poor supervisors, allow good workers flexibility to
      do their jobs, and reward good workers and not friends and cronies

6534. Making communication with any level of management accessible to
      all; participatory management and leadership where applicable;
      keep employees informed

6535. Stop promoting the problem employees and then placing them in
      management position. Most NRCS managers have poor leadership
      skills and interpersonal skills. Which runs good, hard working
      employees away!

6536. Empowering employees

6537. Provide opportunities for mid level employees to bridge the gap of
      grade levels. Be able to transition into the next higher GS series
      based on merit.

6538. Reconize their work. Do what you can to help them to reach their
      career goals.

6539. Hire/promote managers who are skilled at managing people well.
      Provide administrative support that is competent and willing to
      work Use flexible work schedules, work locations and pay to retain
      and attract employees. Mobility (to get promoted) is a major issue
      for some employees

6540. providing the technical skills and promotion

6541. Provide challenging and interesting work for employees. Offer
      praise, opportunities, and incentitives for good work.

6542. Promote and reward good employees, they should not have to request
      desk audit or seek outside employment to get promoted

6543. Get away from politics and get back to basics! Incourage different
      ideas and not select people because they will agree with
      managements ideas! Stop bending over to doing nothing about the

6544. Recognize those employees via the award system while not doing the
      same for the not so good employees. (This is not a recomendation
      for pay banding).

6545. Place employees in offices where their expertise is utilized most
      effectively.

6546. Treat them fair

6547. Show a little more appreciation. Remember the positive side of
      work done and release/not dwell the ocassional negivative.

6548. (NHQ)Provide a responsive, accountable support system (financial,
      procurement, and human resources staff)and give senior executives
      and managers real empowerment to manage their fund allocations. 2.
      Provide, NRCS-wid, intensive university/private-sector supported
      management curriculum and build a formal management apprenticeship
      program.

6549. Recognition of the good job they are doing and providing
      opportunities to advance.

6550. Be honest. Do not say one thing and then the action does not line
      up with what you say.

6551. Pay, recognition,

6552. Employ managers with knowledge of HR and its rules and
      regualtions. Give managers training in supervision

6553. Fair promotion opportunity. Adequate training. Treat with dignity
      and respect.

6554. The mission of the agency must be important to society, and it
      should be clear to each employee how they are contributing to that
      mission.

6555. Offer more career advancement opportunities and continue to
      receive feedback form your employees.

6556. Appropriate recognition for work done above required work
      performence. Supervisors with good people skills. Proper tools
      with effective and timely training. To many times training is
      provided several months before the new tools are provided and by
      then employees need retraining. This is a waste of time and money.
      Keep up with technology. And most importantly is to have the
      people were the work is to reduce overloading already over worked
      staff.

6557. Select individuals who are qualified for positions rather than
      selecting because you need to place that person in a position or
      friend.

6558. Give them incentives.

6559. Initiate 360 degree performance appriasals, communicate leadership
      critical priorities,

6560. the ability to work in other areas/ cross training

6561. Give them responsibility comensurate with their job duties and
      ability to make decisions that affect their work. Encourage
      creativity and innovation.

6562. Recognition, Awards, Promotion

6563. Provide flexible work schedules and telecommuting opportunities.

6564. Recognize and promote employees from within across the board in a
      fair and equal bases. Too often, in NRCS persons are promoted by
      their connections and not their ability. Black females are not
      promoted within the Agency at all. Before and after re-org,
      Blacks, especially females are not recognized, offered the
      opportunity, or provided a support base for upward mobility.

6565. have an honest agency with honest management

6566. Career Growth Opportunities

6567. Make sure that a GOOD employee is allowed to grow to their full
      potential. A good employee is not going to be stagnant for long.
      If they do remain stagnant they will no longer be a good employee.

6568. Pay and job satisfaction

6569. Treat everybody fairly.

6570. Train our experienced technical employees to become better
      managers and trainers. Managers need to recognize and award good
      work rather than awarding everyone. Awarding everyone promotes
      complacency.

6571. Support and promote involvement in professional societies.

6572. Demonstrate how important they are to the agency by exhibiting
      authentic kindness, care, and concern towards their personal and
      professional success.

6573. better communication, understanding of diversity, women

6574. Don\'t overburden program managers (e.g. soil conservationists)
      with excess paperwork.

6575. Allowing more input from employees.

6576. Leadership. With good leadership, a good employee will realize
      that even though NRCS has a large workload progress can be done
      efficiently and in a timely manner. Only time will recognize a
      leader\'s leadership.

6577. The best way to encourage and keep good employees is to give them
      a sense of accomplishment and stability. The salary should also
      match up with the skills and knowledge that the individual has,
      and not so much the time on the job. Because many new jobs require
      technical expertise, those who show exceptional abilities should
      be rewarded for their contributions. This will entise others to
      emulate their abilities and contribute to the betterment of the
      agency as a whole.

6578. The private sector pays more and other branches of government
      offer higher pay for similar work performed.

6579. Allow the pay to increase without requiring location changes for
      those employees who are doing excellent work where they are and
      want to stay.

6580. Good pay, good managers.

6581. Having good managers and better pay.

6582. By letting good technicaly sound employess advance into positions
      of authority and be able to do what is right and correct.

6583. Providing good training for new employees.

6584. better pay and less work

6585. Pay them comprable to the private sector as much as feasible,
      provide timely training, continue with good benefits package.

6586. For employees to be satisfied, they need to be able to perform the
      job they were hired for - planning and working with producers for
      soil cons, engineering for engineers, range work for range
      specialists, etc. There is too much paperwork/computer work for
      people in positions that are suppose to focus on the producer.
      Hire people where paperwork/computer work is their job
      description. Then the job that frustrates many will be able to
      satisfy someone.

6587. Recognition

6588. Recognize and reward an employee\'s good work. Too many times
      rewards are given to employee\'s who are only doing what they are
      supposed to do.

6589. Help NRCS employees understand they are well paid for the work
      they do. It seems many NRCS employees do not recognize the
      financial realities of working in the natural sciences, and have
      unrealistic expectations about pay.

6590. 1)To pay them a good wage 2) To always have work for them to do so
      they are not bored 3) To perform the duties which actually falls
      under there job descriptions

6591. Salary consistent with comparable jobs in the private sector and
      room for growth within a geographic region (we often make people
      move around too much)

6592. From what I have seen, retention (especially at higher grades) is
      good.

6593. For those of us nearing retirement age, it may be too late. The
      only way to keep us is through pay incentives. New employees will
      benefit tremendously with all of the people retiring\...which will
      mean less qualified, less experienced employees. For some of us it
      took 10 or more years to reach GS-11; and this was due to not
      being smart enough it was due to no positions available and NRCS
      was not willing to change the grade structure. New GS-11/12 will
      be less experienced. National and State management has reverted
      back to the old days of not being progressive. When employees
      merit a grade increase, National and State management are not
      there to help you accomplish this, they are there to tell you

6594. Simplify, simplify, simplify

6595. Competitive salary

6596. Allow people with technical interests and expertise to practice
      their skills rather than forcing them to attend to contracts and
      paperwork. Reduce the amount of red tape associated with
      administering Farm Bill programs or hire accountants and contract
      managers to deal with the program contracts.

6597. Make the pay more competitive.

6598. Incentives and higher pay

6599. PRovide them with opportunities of upward mobility while
      minimizing personal sacrifice to their home and community.

6600. Request their input in job selections.

6601. Recognize them for the jobs they do. Give tech. spec. a career
      ladder above GS -12 in state.

6602. Flexibility in schooling, job location.

6603. Give them the respect they deserve as human beings

6604. Training, and recognition for accomplishments.

6605. Taking th etime to provide adequate formal and OJT trainig i all
      facits - technical, communications, salesmanship skills, etc. so
      that they can do their jobs efficiently and with a level of
      comfort.

6606. Rewarding competence, actively dealing with problem employees,
      promoting employees who are competent. We sometimes place
      employees in positions for the wrong reasons. Pay is often not
      enough in high cost areas in spite of COLA.

6607. Seek out natural leaders and convince them to apply for managerial
      positions. Be cautious about promoting people based on

6608. Reward good work and counsel poor performance regardless of who
      the employee may

6609. Better pay and career advancement opportunities.

6610. more appreciation from above

6611. Be in tune with individual needs. Each supervisor should be able
      to know what makes their employees tick - is it

6612. Provide them necessary training and support.

6613. Interesting work, satisfactory pay, good work environment, good
      tools and periodic training appropriate for the individual.

6614. Rewarding us for our work whether in the form of increased grade
      levels/pay and giving us dental and optical coverage as well as
      our existing medical coverage. Why cover the primary health but
      neglect the teeth and eyes???

6615. Allow them to do the kind of work they desire and are educated in.

6616. Continue the culture of multidisciplinary work and developing
      programs with full participation of the NRCS staff and our local
      partners. Excel in the staff training and the adoption of new
      technologyt among our customers. Maintain a good balance between
      implementing the programs mandated by each Farm Bill and our core
      values and the overall implementation of excellent Technical
      Assistance programs. Provide experienced staff the opportunity to
      work overseas, which is one of the atractions of working for the
      private sector.

6617. Match career expectations and agency goals

6618. Our pay is much lower than private sector jobs in this area.

6619. Good/great supervisors, great Leadership Team, promotions

6620. Good leadership

6621. Promotion potential, pay which competes with the private sector
      especially in high cost of living states, better benefits packages
      with dental, eye, more vacation time, technical tools that are
      more state of the art.

6622. treat them fairly and give them opportunities to grow

6623. Ensure the employees feel valued, heard, recongnized, and are
      making a difference

6624. More pay. The federal government is not competitive with the
      private sector as it relates to pay and beneifts. Therefore, it is
      difficult to retain good employees and darn near impossible to
      recruit competent indiviuals to work for our agency.

6625. Recognizing the efforts of the employees abilities and work
      output. I have only been with NRCS for a short period of time and
      I came from USDA FS, I have found this to be very comforting to
      see the respect and recognition from Supervisors and Management
      for the individuals achievements.

6626. Verbal recognition of appreciation and pay equal to that of
      counter parts in other federal agencies.

6627. Provide opportunities to temporarily work in other offices and in
      more advanced positions.

6628. Provide up-to-date training as close to one-on-one as possible.

6629. good pay\...relative to their locality and business sector pay
      scales. Management/leadership training early in their career.

6630. Mentoring and recognition of good work. The sense of doing needed
      work is inherent in what the agency does.

6631. Pay enough to live comfortably. Reward hardworking term/temporary
      employess to make them pernament

6632. feelings of accomplishing something worthwhile

6633. DO NOT OVER LOAD THE EMPLOYEES, WE NEED HELP, NOT MORE PROJECTS
      WITH LESS EMPLOYEES OR TIME TO PERFORM THE PROJECTS!!

6634. pay them what their worth

6635. The pay is excellent. Promotion potential is good and faster than
      most federal agencies. The variety of work is extremely varied and
      often we are put in the position of distributing expertise to
      growers outside of our field of study. Little or no quality
      control is being implemented in this area, and training is not a
      prerequisite for acting as \'expert\'. More rigorous training and
      certification should be required on the job before an employee is
      expected to perform their duties in the field, or the whole thing
      will turn into a circus and we will loose credibility with our
      growers.

6636. Nearly all state and field level employees are severely
      overworked, stressed, etc. You must either hire more help or
      reduce workload. We are burned out.

6637. Try to understand the needs of younger employees. Do not
      underestimate their abilities.

6638. treat them with true dignity and respect - pay them competitively
      within their state and local pay rates. the current locality pay
      for some areas is way behind.

6639. Increase pay and bonus

6640. Opportunity to advance at the local level. Many employees, new
      employees in particular, take higher paying jobs outside the
      agency so that they can remain in the same geographic area and
      meet personal income goals.

6641. Making the wages competitive.

6642. Reward good work. Use OTI to weed out the rest.

6643. Provide training, provide variety, provide promotion
      opportunities.

6644. Accurately identifying what they do and how well they do it.

6645. Good management is the key to keeping good employees working. Good
      management that does not micro-manage. I know good employees that
      are trying to get out because they work for poor managers that do
      not recognized their hard work.

6646. Offer continued educational opportunities, fair compensation, and
      varied work experiences.

6647. Providing opportunities to work on challenging tasks rather than
      on routine tasks which often don\'t result in a clear
      accomplishment. Too often we work on new initiatives or plans that
      don\'t go beyond the development of a document. Additionally, it
      seems that more and more program management responsibility is
      pushed down to the technical staff without any real training or
      clear direction. Its sink or swim.

6648. 1\. Increase temp. cross-training detail opportunites within
      agency 2. Increase financial incentives for obtaining advanced
      degrees and professional certification/licensing related to job
      description

6649. This is age old but here goes: a real salary, regcognition of true
      superiority, and a career path that recognizes we deliver a
      technical product.

6650. Allow them to freedom to be creative and flexible and work to
      their potential.

6651. reward employees more often; offer extra benefits such as same
      site daycare, reduced rates at health clubs in work vicinity,
      small rewards such as certificate for chair massage, dinner out,
      etc.

6652. Allow more time to put conservation on the ground at the field
      level. Greatly reduce unrealistic due date expectations and
      demands.

6653. I think we do a good job of retention. Most people stay with NRCS
      once they are hired. Our mission is our strength in keeping good
      folks of board.

6654. Train supervisors/managers to be effective leaders and motivate
      employees to stay.

6655. Making sure they are recognized for their hard work and dedication
      to the service.

6656. To offer good leadership at the level they are working. Fair
      supervison is a plus, along with the opportunity to advance in
      their careers without having to be mobile.

6657. Show them that you appreciate them and care about what they think.

6658. More incentives.

6659. Understand first and foremost, they are humans and their lives do
      not revolve a two week schedule. Accept responsibility for their
      actions and not try to intimidate employees with policy. Should be
      more diverse in promotion practices. Realize that everyone does
      not participate in the

6660. Since the federal workforce has been reduced, the lower grade
      levels are now doing more of the technical and complex work, and
      is not getting the grade level to compensate for those type
      duties. The primary way to keep good hard working employees is to
      cause the grade levels to have upward mobility,(for example GS
      999-7/9/11). When there is only one grade level to a position, the
      employee ends up doing much more and beyond that grade level, and
      often ends up stuck at the one level for 15 years, because no
      opportunities has become available for them to be promoted or
      move, which is often the case in an area that jobs are far few and
      between. Also I think the agency should promote within their
      agency, and first within their department. If a position comes
      available within, the person that has been there assisting with
      the same type work, should be given that opportunity to advance,
      before anyone on the outside is considered even if it means
      training that individual to move into that spot, because if anyone
      comes in from the outside they will need to be trained as well, so
      why not give that person that\'s been there all along that chance.
      Funding for training should all ways be available, so that lower
      grades can get training to advance out of those lower grade, and
      authorization for funding should be at a higher level than state
      office. Supervisors and managers should have continuing education
      and training on possessing good leadership skills, so that the
      workplace will be an enjoyable place to be.

6661. Have good managers in the highest levels, i.e. State
      Conservationists

6662. pay increases, job security, and consitent programs

6663. Managers need higher technical competence\-\-\--

6664. develop a competitive agency-wide developmental program for
      technical and non-technical disciplines designed to meet current
      and future agency needs and implement fairly. Discontinue
      non-competitive developmental/detail practices.

6665. Treat us with respect and keep us in the

6666. Get rid of poor supervisors, more training and monitoring of
      current supervisors.

6667. Keep them satisfied with their jobs by creating a positive working
      environment.

6668. scale back computers and computer systems that dont work

6669. opportunities for promotion in every field. No dead end areas

6670. To place better management/leadership in supervisoral roles to
      help guide the younger employees throughout their careers

6671. Treat them with respect

6672. Pay and job opportunities

6673. JOB SATISFACTION

6674. Give them the equipment, supplies, time, travel, and other
      resources they need to do the very best work. Don\'t micro-manage.

6675. Reward the hard workers. Stop being so politically correct. Our
      main focus should be conserving natural resources, not so much
      sociology.

6676. Question 5 is biased because it does not allow for a proper
      answer. The answer would be

6677. By using the merit system

6678. Clear goals, tools and resources to accomplish goals,
      communication.

6679. Maintaining federal employee benefits, FEHB, FERS, etc. Make
      salaries more competitive.

6680. Combine farm bill programs, stop changing computer software, need
      a better way to deliver operating budgets and forming goals

6681. Placing highly motivated leaders. This Agency has many good
      people, let\'s promote those proven leaders.

6682. Offer responsibilities and tasks comparable to those of the
      private sector, and provide some job security.

6683. have clear goals; provide tangible support (i.e., equipment,
      tools, training and assistance necessary to get the job done);
      reuqire management that truly understands what it is asking the
      workforce to do; express appreciation when due

6684. Better management training. Better use of honesty and integrity by
      leaders. A greater emphasis adn appreciation of on performance and
      results.

6685. Develop good communication between upper management and field
      level personnel. Treated with respect and reward them when
      appropriate.

6686. The agency needs to give employees the chance to do their best and
      achieve their career goals. We need to give employees the
      opportunity to advance to the highest level they are capable of
      achieving. But along with that we need to feel that we are making
      a difference, and that we are making the world a better place for
      ourselves and our children.

6687. Pay

6688. Be realistic in expectations of employees, and supervisors as
      well.

6689. Do not know.

6690. Provide them with up-to-date tools to do their jobs and training
      that is timely and professionally delivered.

6691. Make sure they have the training needed to perform their duties.
      Improve the internal communication from supervisor to staff.

6692. Equitable treatment

6693. Let them do their job and give them what they need to do it.

6694. Improve the working environment. Reward good work and hold people
      accountable.

6695. Place employees in the positions were their strengths are.

6696. Sense of purpose and decent pay

6697. recognize them often for the unique benefits they provide just by
      doing their job.

6698. 1\. Provide more recognition for good work. 2. Tolerate less poor
      performance.

6699. Incentives and morale boosters

6700. good communication and rewarding employees and teams when they do
      a good job.

6701. Recognition and good communication

6702. Fair pay, don\'t overload the hard workers.

6703. Respect

6704. Focus more on the technical assistance and less on programs. Give
      them computer tools that work.

6705. Competitive salaries with the private sector.

6706. Training and more help.

6707. Providing challenging assignments and rewarding success.

6708. Make sure that they know that their contributions are valued by
      management and by the people they serve.

6709. Provide equal opportunity for advancement. Recognition of
      outstanding performance.

6710. Provide leadership training for supervisors so they know how to
      interact with employees in ways that enhance productivity & boost
      morale

6711. Better pay to keep up with private sector, particularly in
      engineering.

6712. Pay and flexibility

6713. Provide cross training for optional career paths.

6714. We need more precise direction from HQ section level.Its
      frustrating when I can\'t get someone to give me the ways and
      means to solve a problem.

6715. Have feedback sessions and give the support your employee needs.

6716. Need to be more flexible about requiring people to be mobil for
      promotion potential. Need to allow people to detail instead of
      having to be mobil .

6717. Recognize them and promote them when possible.

6718. I don\'t know.

6719. Fair treatment by supervisor,good work location and promotions.

6720. More pay increases for the employees who are doing the quality
      work.

6721. Reward competency

6722. Recognize extra work and achievements.

6723. Allowing them to

6724. Provide state-of-the-art equipment & technology and the necessary
      training to properly utilize it.

6725. Maintain formal training opportunities for employees. Continue to
      boost employee morale by offering merit-based promotions, awards,
      recognition.

6726. Within the framework of the Agency, make employees feel valued and
      compensated accordingly. Seek out opportunities to recognize their
      accomplishments in a more widespread manner.

6727. Providing training to further their knowledge connected to their
      duties. Recognizing their accomplishments. In some cases, reducing
      their workload by hiring competent employees in areas that have
      too few employees, thus reducing their stress.

6728. Management should foster open communications with their employees
      and pay for more team building activities. Employees should also
      be rewarded based on their contributions to the agency and if an
      employee has reached the maximum pay for the job they are in,
      managers should figure a way to increase their income during the
      year so that they aren\'t tempted to move somewhere else.

6729. Giving them the time to work independently with proper
      supervision. Promote competetively rather than status.

6730. pay equal to private industry & promotion of good qualified
      females past GS-12 positions

6731. Hire and promote tehnically sound, fair, and hard-working staff
      that others respect and enjoy working with.

6732. more focus on technical/core mission of agency, and less on
      political or social issues - tail shouldn\'t wag the dog

6733. Recognize and reward the high achievers through an unbiased
      system.

6734. Recognize employee accomplishments. Promote employees who deserve
      being promoted. Most of all be fair, honest, and open, stay true
      to your word. Don\'t tell people one thing and tell others
      something different, be consistant in how you make decisions and
      treat others. Never let others take the blame for your mistakes.
      Don\'t be afraid to lead and make mistakes. Never let good
      employees fail\...if they fail we all fail. Don\'t put unrealistic
      goals on individuals. Adopt the team approach, we are one family.
      I can go on and on.

6735. competitive pay and benefits

6736. Pay them as professionals

6737. Improve communication, share concerns/issues at all levels so
      non-managerial have a better understanding of the reasons behind
      decisions. Why is it necessary for staff to have multi-state
      experience before being selected for leadership positions. Those
      that are committed to taking care of their resources and putting
      conservation on the land can achieve that by staying in one state
      longer that moving every 2 years. We have forgotten to take care
      of the \'Human Factor\' in our agency. Leadership does not portray
      a positive image\...they should set a better example.

6738. Placing supervisors with the best people skills in those
      positions.

6739. Give them a salary commensurate with the private sector and make
      them feel worthwhile

6740. Promote them.

6741. Pay and fair and equitable treatment

6742. Recognition and pay.

6743. Distribute the work fairly, pay them fairly, treat them fairly,
      Reward them for good work in a timely mannor. On Question 5 the
      main reason employees are promoted is because of who they know not
      what they know. I have seen very competent people passed over for
      promotion for someone the supervisor knows who does not have near
      the knowledge of the other candidates.

6744. Maintaining our technical competence.

6745. Demonstrate fruitful efficiency, nonbiassedly. Train people for
      the proper use of the \$millions of equipment/software so it\'s
      used to it\'s potential. Not a grade or certificate- real training
      to really get true results\... proper line weights of printouts,
      total station surveys\' cut/fills automation, etc\... Forget
      sadness over DUPLICATION of AutoCAD efforts, try multiplying X 50
      STATES, and even worse - - it\'s multiplied within states too. The
      computer\'s meant to save us time. It\'s taking more time than
      it\'s worth because hardly any of us are on the

6746. employees need to believe the work they do is important and that
      they can fully contribite to completion of meaningful work

6747. Good incentives, job security, promotion potential, other job
      opportunities

6748. Training Career Development Chance at promotions

6749. satisfying work with good working conditions (reasonable
      expectations)

6750. stable position lots of thanks yous. let them work hours thy want
      and off site. e communte

6751. Be sure that the employee doing any job, has all of the training
      to do that job correctly and efficiently

6752. Giving them the opportunity of advancement.

6753. Good supervisors, skilled in leadership and technical expertise.
      Being one or the other does not work well. The employee will, most
      of the time, do the best job he/she can when he/she knows the
      supervisor is supportive.

6754. promotion, awards, good leadership advice

6755. Offer existing employees the opportunity for more job
      responsibilities and pay or promote them for the extra effort.
      Another way to keep good employees working for NRCS is to
      encourage them to apply for NRCS vacancies outside of their
      existing job series and when evaluating candidates, put more
      emphasis on job experiences and skills acquired from working over
      a period of time rather than 4-5 years of schoolwork that was
      probably taken over 20 years.

6756. Have a better way to tell us how much money is budgeted for our
      work. Getting the information in March is unacceptable.

6757. Although promotions, merit increases, and awards are a necessary
      motivation to keep good employees it does not motivate employees
      on a day to day basis. Satisfaction with the work they are doing,
      their interaction with peers and superiors, and having adequate
      control over their work products will motivate employees and keep
      them with NRCS.

6758. Give them responsibility and pay them adequately for it.

6759. Improve salary and promote/reward monetarialy based on merit. Make
      employee retention and training a high budget priority at all
      levels. Promote/hire the best people for the position (based on
      technical and managerial skills not social engineering
      requirements).

6760. Eliminate micromanagers, show a willingness to work with an
      employee when dealing with family crises and job location.

6761. Salary increases

6762. NRCS works with Farmers and Ranchers. We do not have to be on the
      cutting edge of computer technology. The time spent on learning
      the computer technology that is

6763. Good Pay and special rewards. Allow them to do what they like to
      do and make them do alot of it.

6764. Pay employees proportional to the kind and complexity of work
      performed. Increase the numbers of people in the federal workforce
      to spread the ever increasing workload around more fairly.

6765. Pay more, improve benefits

6766. Let them know early on in their careers the potential for
      advancement and how to advance. Not all supervisors provide the
      information needed to move ahead.

6767. Acknowledge the employees that are doing a good job.

6768. Making sure they are recognized for additional work they do.
      (Special Projects)

6769. Meaningful work, modern tools and information, minimal bureaucracy
      and removing poor functioning employees.

6770. quien saba

6771. Promote the qualified, quit playing the

6772. I believe that job satisfaction, not money, is how we maintain the
      good employees. We must continue to make a difference on the land
      and treat all employees with respect.

6773. Having a leadership team with good technical competency and
      managerial qualities (see above) and communicates with the staff
      regarding the mission in all aspects.

6774. More training and prmotion opportunities.

6775. Listening to them and giving them appreciation.

6776. Better leadership and management who communicate agency goals and
      direction clearly to all agengy levels.

6777. Pay them decent money at lower pay grades.

6778. Treat ALL employees fairly.

6779. Treat them fairly and give them equal opportunity

6780. Treat them fairly and quit promoting on non-merit basis.

6781. Promotions

6782. Civil Right and EEO

6783. Recognition based on technical competence.

6784. Treat all employees equally without regard to ethnic background.
      Overwhelming preferential treatment for minorities (hiring and
      promotions) was, is, and always will be a pile of crap. When
      we\'re asked to say the Pledge of Allegiance in a foreign
      language, that is truly crossing the line. Maybe we should have
      looked outside to see what flag was flying on our flagpole!! How
      totally pathetic! signed: Caucasian male, (war baby about to
      retire). Thank God.

6785. Support and guidance from leadership. Not by rewarding all
      employees at same grade level.

6786. Being acknowlege for the work they do and be given an award.

6787. communication from the top to the bottom. many supervisors think
      they are superior to the rest of the workforce!!

6788. Pay

6789. Helping people find their niche.

6790. Respect.

6791. Continue to provide good training. Diversify the employees
      experience when possible, keep the employees informed and
      compliment, reward and or praise employees when deserved.

6792. Increase pay.

6793. Better criteria to identify between those that can truly manage
      and those that can talk the talk but have no idea as to what their
      doing. To manage and be affective you need people skills not
      personal goals.

6794. Fairness, equal treatment, and non-discrimination of origin. The
      answer to number five is not listed, in this state you are promote
      because of the last name and nationality.

6795. Continued supervisory training and re-enforcement by higher level
      supervisors. There is still too much \'good ole boy or girl\'
      system.

6796. Need Supervisors that are willing to give poor ratings to
      worthless employees, that drag our agency down. And good ratings
      for those who deserve it.

6797. Not overload them with too much work and unrealistic deadlines.

6798. Rewards/Recognition

6799. More technical and management training is needed, especially for
      employees who have a position level to become supervisors.
      Promotion to managerial positions is prevented in many cases by a
      lack of available training opportunities required for the desired
      job. Many employees may seek to find rewarding work elsewhere
      because of the inability to advance. Also an increase of salary
      will help to keep good employees. Thank you!

6800. The feeling of self-worth and accomplishing important duties.
      Knowing that what we do is important and that we make a
      difference.

6801. Hire more good employees.

6802. Acknowledge thier excellent work with over \$1000 bonuses

6803. Question 5: really feel in many situations it is not any of the
      answers, but rather as a result of the employee messing up, filing
      grivance, or the good ole buddy system. Keeping good employees=pay
      them for the work load they are achieving, whether it be technical
      or administrative, increase workforce diversity, be fair and
      equitable in terms of hiring-promotions-training opportunities.

6804. Match employees skills with the type of work needed or desired.
      Employees in our agency start out with tecnical training and
      eventually move to managerial positions. Selection is based on the
      success with technical skills with the hope that managerial skills
      will be developed based on performance in the technical field.
      Simply stated, if you are good at what you are doing and enjoy the
      work than find a way to reward employees at that location or site.
      Flexible work places should be part of the norm and not the
      exception. It may even reduce overhead by not needing as many
      rural offices. Employees would work out of their homes.
      Flexibility! Maintain pay scale with the private sector.

6805. In my case, I have received adequate recognition and up till 2
      years ago was very appreciative of my NRCS career. At that point I
      had 27 years in the service. Since then, after experiencing very
      partial hiring practices for promotional jobs, not hiring the best
      qualified, providing laterals to select individuals, I\'m not
      nearly as satisfied. Efforts to improve this situation only cause
      reprisals and heartache, and those doing it get away with it.

6806. Let them do their jobs.

6807. Provide training skills, opportunity, track progress, review
      career goals and promote employees that want to be promoted to key
      positions within the agency and possibly other agencies etc.

6808. Pay incentives in accordance with an employees contributions to
      the Service.

6809. Put the employee where they want to be located and in the area
      they want to work.

6810. Reward employee for Technical Skills and for

6811. Monetary and nonmonetary recognition and rewards. Hires, awards,
      and promotions that demonstrate commitment to workforce diversity
      and inclusiveness.

6812. Reward for accomplishments not your racial background

6813. Start treating employees fairly - it seems many are being promoted
      based on ethnicity before they are really competent for the job.
      Equality across genders and races is very important, but they way
      the agency seems to be managing, many more competent employees are
      being passed over.

6814. Promote the good workers and get rid of the bad ones we seem to
      have the screw-up move-up thing going on.

6815. Freedom to be creative in solving traditional problems,
      recognition for worked accomplished.

6816. Liking the work that you do; chance for promotion; competitive
      salaries; professional work environment

6817. less computer work, more in the field with producers

6818. Lessen paperwork so employees have more time to devote to the
      technical/field end of our jobs.

6819. Pay more and update the job descriptions. Most of our day to day
      activities are out of date and most of our offices do not use new
      and up to date technology.

6820. Be fair and equitable in the hiring process.. This needs to
      improve..

6821. Keep things family friendly and allow more alternate work sites.
      With technology we have today, where we work should not be that
      big an issue as long as the job gets done.

6822. Trust your employeees and treat them as people with lives and
      needs not pawns to be manipulated so as to accomplish someone
      elses goals.

6823. Allowing technical employees the opportunity to work with private
      landowners in a technical way. Not administering programs or using
      money as a carrot.

6824. provide a way for valuable contributions to our society

6825. Offer them challenging opportunities that do not conflict with
      their family.

6826. Good leadership. Upper Management should not ignore poor
      performance in

6827. Pay and benefits

6828. Cut down on organizational redundancy and the complexity of
      programs & processes to get work done.

6829. PAY THEM ACCORDING TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

6830. By making sure

6831. Giving them the opportunity to advance by letting them do details
      to learn about other work and procedures that goes on here at this
      agency.

6832. Don\'t direct reassign them

6833. Good working environment, flex time important. Make sure the
      employees receive their promotions.

6834. Keep them in positions that they have been trained to do or have
      learned through school to accomplish. Keep them in a good working
      environment.

6835. be receptive to new ideas and innovation don\'t be policy wonks

6836. Keep them challenged and recongnize good work. Promote people who
      are successful at the position they are at now.

6837. Provide them with opportunities to develop both their technical
      skills AND their managerial skills. Good employees want to produce
      high quality work and need the support of their managers and the
      agency at large to develop the skills and abilities. Programs and
      opportunities that support graduate and post-graduate education
      and training are an important part of employee development but
      these programs need to be coupled with managerial experience
      employee advancemnt opportunities. The worst thing for an employee
      is to feel like the work they do is under-valued, the effort they
      make is under-appreciated, and the pay they receive is
      sub-standard.

6838. Keep them well informed. Treat all equally.

6839. Provide leaders that understand the volume of work and then the
      leadership, training and tools that are efficient(ARC-GIS, etc.)to
      get the job done.

6840. Stop trouncing training budgets. Pay for education at
      universities.

6841. Be truely responsive to individual needs

6842. Training and rewards for good work.

6843. Keep a close eye on field office level supervisors. The

6844. Pay! 5. Please rate what you think is the basis for why employees
      are promoted. We appear to be promoting folks who are failures in
      their careers. We need turnover of management and the promotion of
      folks who understand what our customers need and have the energy
      to GET THE JOB DONE. Upper level management needs to be in-touch
      with our customers and partners.

6845. Increases pay in areas where locality pay does not reflect the
      cost of living. For example NHQ.

6846. Soil Conservation Techician and District Conservationist pay needs
      to be closer with SCT being paid more.

6847. Listen to their concerns and ideas.

6848. Acknowledge accomplishments of individuals

6849. Meaningful, interesting work.

6850. Set high standards when training and set goals for emploies to
      accomplish.

6851. recognize and promote the positions doing the actual

6852. Have enough personnel working along with you to carry over the
      programs

6853. Keep the workload for employees manageable so that there is not a
      constant feeling of

6854. Management should reward these employees accordingly based on
      merit and job competency.

6855. Make sure the pay is adequate

6856. Be competative with other agencies in regard to pay scale. The
      NRCS is very conservative when it comes to pay and other agencies
      are attracting our great employee because of the better pay they
      receive for a job that isn\'t much different from what they do for
      us.

6857. Same pay, access to technical tools and technology as in the
      private sector

6858. Having good strong management that understands our purpose and
      mission and being able to communicate with employees. To many
      people have been moved up the latter because of there lack of
      performance at there current level and the only action to remove
      them was at a higher level instead of moving them out of the
      system or giving them other responsibilities at a lower pay level.

6859. Reward productive employees. Minimize unnecessary bureaucracy.

6860. Recognition of their worth in the job they currently occupy and a
      fair shot at promotions.

6861. Good work conditions and good pay.

6862. increase salaries to be competitive with the private sector and
      decrease the government red-tape nonsense

6863. Timely training. More field level inclusion in decision making.

6864. Promotion Potential/pay

6865. Reduce job stress associated with over workloads

6866. Reward the best, encourage the rest, and get rid of the dead
      weight. Continuing to promote & give raises to those that make
      everyone\'s life difficult because of their shortcomings is
      extremely deflating to those that work hard and produce!

6867. Rewarding them and giving them opportunity for improvement.

6868. Continuous Training, Leadership Development and an excellent
      mentoring program.

6869. Treat them fairly and use surveys like to this to truly make a
      difference instead of an impression.

6870. When employees do a good job, be sure to provide encouragment to
      them and be appreciated in what they do.

6871. Loyalty and fairness

6872. Treat them with respect and dignity and show respect for their
      family and personal needs.

6873. Allow the work to be done at the state level without micromanaging
      from the regional and nhq level

6874. recognize technical expertise and reward them for that expertise;
      give them respect they deserve; encourage initiative

6875. motivation and promotions

6876. Communications.

6877. In todays environment we expct most of our employees to be real
      leaders. Most of them need more leadership and computer training.

6878. Rewards both and praise.

6879. Encourage professionalism in all employees. Enforce codes of
      conduct. Minimize reassignments that are not requested.

6880. Better work environment of supportive supervisors. Reduce tie on
      wild goose chases. Mgt. at NHQ burns employees out doing fire
      drills that result in no change, are forgotten before the work is
      finalzied, and overkill.

6881. With management being more open and letting employees know how the
      agency is doing.

6882. Employ enough personnel to do the job at hand. Too many employees
      have no help and demands for their services are high.

6883. Develop better leadership. Employees with good leaders have hope
      for a better career. The hope employees feel translates into a
      more fulfilling career.

6884. Have realistic goals. Provide positive feedback and encouragement
      rather than threats of reprisals for goals not met.

6885. Expose them to as many aspects of the agency as possible. Make
      sure they understand the mission of the the agency in a way they
      can identify.

6886. Pay them more

6887. be flexible, adjust to the employee, don\'t always make employee
      situation adjust to the agency.

6888. Empower them to do their job,pay better and set clear and
      atainable goals. Also hold employees acountable whe they do not
      real goals

6889. Cut out the junk politics and do the work. Make the leadership
      relaize that they are outdated in field skills and do not realize
      what the field employees are facing

6890. clearer understanding of their role in the agency and how their
      efforts produce benefits for the nation.

6891. Establish a strong career ladder for advancement. Base promotion
      on actual perfromance and not on need for

6892. Increase the level of compensation.

6893. Hire the best qualified applicants and promote only the best
      qualified applicants

6894. don\'t promote bad employees

6895. Congress to pass a Pay Act. Benefits are not that much better than
      industry. Generous leave and holidays don\'t mean much if you
      can\'t afford to go place or do things when you have them.

6896. Give us opportunities to continue learning, growing, and gaining
      different experiences.

6897. We place too much emphasis on

6898. Help them feel good about their work and outlook for the future.

6899. The NRCS should provide more training, less bureaucracy, and less
      demands on its employees to do more with less in order to retain
      good employees.

6900. By addressing the employees strengths and allowing more creative
      use of their talents in achieving the goals of NRCS

6901. Make thier work gratifying, and promote those with high levels of
      competence and merit.

6902. Base promotion and reward more on technical and managerial ability
      and less on who\'s who in politics.

6903. Keep employees motivated,treat them well, reward them often for
      job well done.