Enhancing Employee Engagement for Organizational Excellence

1. USDA Executive Forum OMB Perspective on Employee Engagement & Organizational Performance March 25, 2015

2. Designing and Executing President’s Management Agenda ECONOMIC GROWTH EFFECTIVENESS Deliver world-class services to citizens and businesses Open government assets as a platform for innovation, job creation, and economic growth Delivering World-Class Customer Service Open Data to Spark Innovation Ramping Up Smarter IT Delivery Accelerate Lab-to-Market PEOPLE & CULTURE Unlock the talent of the workforce we have and build the one we need for tomorrow EFFICIENCY/VALUE Create a culture of excellence and engagement to enable higher performance Increase the value and quality of core operations Expand Shared Services Build a world-class Federal management team, starting with the SES Buy as One Through Category Management Enable agencies to hire the best talent from all segments of society Refine Cost and Quality Benchmarks Drive Productivity & Cost Savings

3. Designing and Executing President’s Management Agenda ECONOMIC GROWTH EFFECTIVENESS Open government assets as a platform for innovation, job creation, and economic growth Deliver world-class services to citizens and businesses Open Data to Spark Innovation Delivering World-Class Customer Service Accelerate Lab-to-Market Ramping Up Smarter IT Delivery PEOPLE & CULTURE Unlock the talent of the workforce we have and build the one we need for tomorrow EFFICIENCY/VALUE Create a culture of excellence and engagement to enable higher performance Increase the value and quality of core operations Expand Shared Services Buy as One Through Category Management Refine Cost and Quality Benchmarks Enable agencies to hire the best talent from all segments of society Drive Productivity & Cost Savings

4. Employee Engagement “The employee’s sense of purpose that is evident in their display of dedication, persistence, and effort in their work or overall attachment to their organization and its mission.”

5. Employee Engagement Matters High levels of employee engagement lead to: In both the private and public sector, an employee’s investment in the mission of their organization is closely related to the organization’s overall performance. • 2.5 times higher revenue • 40% lower turnover • 35% higher productivity • Engaged employees display greater dedication, persistence, and effort in their work, and better serve their customers—whether they are consumers or taxpayers.

6. Employee Engagement Create a culture of excellence and engagement to enable higher performance • Driving Greater Employee Engagement • Q1 2015 Progress Update (Performance.gov) • Supported agencies’ employee engagement improvement actions for targeted subcomponents • WH Forum to share best practices on improving employee engagement • Increased Employee Viewpoint Survey data users from 985 to 2,435 • OPM/OMB/PPO joint guidance on strengthening employee engagement Goal for 2016: Raise Governmentwide rate from 63% to 67%

7. Employee EngagementMyths and Truths Truth • Engagement is Local; No Single Solution Works Myth • You can just tell me the single thing I need to do to improve Employee Engagement • OMB is Not Requiring Agency Reporting • This is just another reporting requirement from OMB • OMB is trying to tell me how to manage my agency • Agencies determine their own focus, with some choosing innovation, inclusion, performance management or training • My agency overall scores are strong, so I don’t have to worry about it • Each Agency Has High and Low Engagement • USDA’s Engagement Scores Range from 60%-87% • USDA’s Leaders Lead Scores Range from 42%-86%

8. December 9 Senior Leadership Event with the President “[W]e need the best and brightest of coming generations to serve.  And that’s why those of us who believe that government can and must be a force for good…those of us who believe in both individual initiative, but also the common good – we’ve got to work harder to make sure that government works.” – President Obama, December 9, 2014 “We have to constantly ask ourselves, how can we serve Americans better?  How can we yank this government into the 21st century and make it smarter and faster and more responsive?” – President Obama, December 9, 2014 “Glenda Owens, a federal employee for 30 years and a senior executive for 13 years, said Obama’s speech was “right on point” and a “good morale booster” after so much other talk “devaluing” government employees. “This was good for us,” the Interior Department employee said.” – Joe Davidson, Washington Post

9. December 9 Senior Leadership Event Cabinet Secretaries Panel “You are now leaders of people… I don’t need you to be the best engineer in the organization, I need you to lead people… and in order to do that, they’ve got to know that you trust them, and the only way they’ll know that is if you turn to them and ask their counsel.” – NASA Administrator Bolden “It has to be real, it can’t be symbolic. It means your actions, not just words. One person cannot engage with tens of thousands of employees, it requires your entire team to reach out.” – Secretary Pritzker

10. Resources for Improving Engagement • UnlockTalent.Gov: All SES Have Accounts, need agency leadership to encourage use

11. Resources for Improving Engagement • EVS Online Tool and OPM Reports

12. USDA Employee Engagement USDA 2014 Employee Engagement Index Scores USDA’s Overall Employee Engagement Index Score year to year

13. General USDA Engagement Impressions • Strong support from the Secretary and Senior Leadership Demonstrates Commitment (Key topic at January cabinet meeting) • High response rate creates great foundation for engagement success • Large Agencies with many Bureaus & funding sources CAN have employee engagement success

14. Questions to Ask Yourself • What actions might USDA Senior Leaders take within their own organizations to improve the scores of Senior Leaders? • How have USDA Senior Leaders persuaded senior managers and first line supervisors to integrate engagement activities into their day-to-day operations instead of seeing it as a service provided by HR? • How do you make the case that employee satisfaction and engagement are effective strategies to achieve business results?