Government Agencies: Stop Sitting On EX Insights
Governments have more employee data but aren’t translating it into insights or action. That was a key finding in our Forrester report, Government Employee Experience In 2021, in which we describe global government employee experience (EX) trends. As in previous years, we cut Forrester’s future of work (FoW) survey data for government employees and compared results with average scores combining government and non-government sectors.
Our unsurprising finding: Government EX still lags behind the all-sector average in key areas. As a sobering example, 52% of US employees across all sectors believe, “My company is always there for me when I need it,” whereas just 38% of US government employees agree.
There’s plenty to be done to improve government EX. Forrester’s FoW survey has a relatively narrow focus — on empowerment, inspiration, or enablement (or some combination of the three). But it’s worth recognizing that agencies increasingly come to us with existing EX survey data and need guidance to derive actionable insights. For example:
- In the US, there is year-over-year agency and national data from the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) or even the Federal Pulse Survey.
- Outside the US, there is survey data from the Australian Public Service (APS) employee census or the United Kingdom’s Civil Service People Survey.
If you have results from these or our FoW survey, you have directional evidence on how to improve your employees’ experiences, including engagement, culture, leadership, and wellness. And we in the future of work practice at Forrester are here to help translate your EX data into insights and action.