The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been recognized as the "Most Improved" place to work among very large federal agencies in the Partnership for Public Service's 2022 Best Places to Work rankings, the agency announced April 12.
"This continues USDA’s path of steady improvement towards becoming a Great Place to Work for Everyone, with the Department now ranked at 12th among very large agencies in the Best Places to Work Rankings, up from the 16th place ranking in 2020," the agency states in the news release.
USDA leadership under the Biden administration has worked to make the agency a Best Place to Work by developing multiple employee-engagement programs; all-employee town halls; creating action plans to implement improvements throughout the USDA; and reiterating a "commitment to listen to USDA’s employees and develop policies and practices that build an inclusive, healthy and responsive culture," according to the news release.
The agency stated the positive results were the "culmination of a persistent, multi-year effort by staff across the Mission Areas, staff offices and agencies, the Office of Human Resources (OHRM), and the USDA’s leadership team working together to create an environment that engages employees and cultivates an exceptional workforce representative of the diverse communities and cultures we serve."
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reported a high response rate from USDA employees to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), which was conducted between May and July 2022. USDA's final adjusted response rate was better than large agency peers and government-wide percentages by double digits, the release reports.
The 2022 OPM FEVS surveyed participating, non-political, full-time and part-time, permanent and intermittent federal employees working as of November 2021. OPM sent 86,568 USDA employees a survey invitation with 43,332 employees responding, according to the release, resulting in a nearly four percent increase to the 2022 final adjusted response rate (50.06%) compared to the 2021 final adjusted response rate (46.40%).
“At USDA, we are committed to reaching new heights by cultivating a workplace environment that is collaborative, service-oriented, mission-centered, healthy, and inclusive,” USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack said in the release.
“I am pleased to see these results as we strive to live up to our moniker as ‘the People’s Department,’" Vilsack said, "and we will continue to move forward with a strong commitment to making improvements on behalf of all employees, attracting talent that represents the diversity of America, and putting people at the center of everything we do.”
