# DLA results on federal survey show favorable employee opinions of agency

/ Published Sept. 28, 2016

Defense Logistics Agency employees view their organization more favorably than employees of many other Defense Department or federal government agencies, according to survey results released this month.

The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey is administered by the Office of Personnel Management each year. The 2016 results were released Sept. 20. More than 950 DLA employees took the survey – out of a random sampling of about 6,000 who received it – earlier in 2016. 

Eighty-four percent of DLA respondents understood how their work relates to the agency’s goals and priorities, and 85 percent said they believe they are held accountable for achieving results. 

“DLA’s results show the agency is continuing to move in a good direction in meeting the ‘People and Culture’ goals in the 2015-2022 DLA Strategic Plan, particularly the objective to ‘Foster an environment and organizational culture where DLA employees are valued and high-performing,’” DLA Human Resources Director Brad Bunn said.

Bunn noted that DLA’s survey results showed a slight positive uptick from the 2015 FEVS results. In addition, DLA’s 2016 results were more positive than federal government averages on 81 of 84 survey items. 

In particular, DLA scored favorably in the areas of telework and health and wellness programs. Eighty-six percent of DLA employees who responded to the survey said they are satisfied with the agency’s telework program, compared to 73 percent of DoD respondents. And 95 percent of DLA respondents indicated they are satisfied with the agency’s health and wellness programs, compared to 84 percent of DoD respondents. 

“These responses show DLA employees believe they can achieve a healthy balance between their work and home lives, and they reflect positively on our leaders’ commitment to DLA being an employer of choice within the federal government.”

DLA’s results also reflect favorably on the “Fortify Workforce Resiliency” objective in the “People and Culture” Goal Area. DLA officials are continuing efforts to ensure resources are in place to help the workforce cope with adversity, Bunn said. 

“Positive results in this area over several years of this survey show how resilient DLA employees are,” he said. “The survey results tell us our employees have remained committed to their jobs, mission and customers despite stressors like sequestration and downsizing.”

Still, the news from the survey report wasn’t all positive. Two areas that identify opportunities for improvement fall under performance management. Only 31 percent of respondents believe that steps are taken to deal with poor performers, and 20 percent said they believe pay raises depend on how well employees perform their jobs. 

“Like many other federal government agencies, our employees were less positive about opportunities for promotion, as well as whether they believe hiring choices were based solely on merit,” Bunn said. “We’ve been working to address these perceptions and will continue those efforts.”

Each year, FEVS results inform the annual ranking of Best Places to Work, as compiled by the Partnership for Public Service. DLA Human Resources officials will also use the FEVS to validate results of the 2016 DLA Culture Survey.

“Areas that have consistent results between the two surveys reinforce each other and help us more definitively identify our strengths and weaknesses,” Bunn said. “This, in turn, helps us prioritize efforts to improve our organizational culture through a robust Culture Action Planning process.”