U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

What is the Federal Human Capital Survey?
Who Participated in the Survey?
How Was the Survey Sample Designed and Selected?
How Was the Survey Administered?
Website Description

What is the Federal Human Capital Survey?

The Federal Human Capital Survey is a tool that measures employees' perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions characterizing successful organizations are present in their agencies. The first administration of this ground-breaking survey took place in 2002. It was conducted again in 2004, 2006 and 2008. The survey:

• Provides general indicators of how well the Federal Government is running its human resources management systems.
• Serves as a tool for OPM to assess individual agencies and their progress toward "green" status on Strategic Management of Human Capital under the President's Management Agenda.
• Gives senior managers critical information to answer the question: What can I do to make my agency work better?

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Who Participated in the Survey?

The Federal Human Capital Survey was administered to full-time, permanent employees of the major agencies represented on the President's Management Council (PMC) and the small/independent agencies that accepted an invitation to participate in the survey.

PMC Agencies

• Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Department of Commerce (Commerce)
• Department of Defense (DoD)
• Department of the Army (Army)
• Department of the Navy (Navy)
• Department of the Air Force (Air Force)
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
• U.S. Marine Corps (Marines)
• Department of Education (Education)
• Department of Energy (Energy)
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS, new in 2004)
• Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Department of the Interior (Interior)
• Department of Justice (Justice)
• Department of Labor (Labor)
• Department of State (State)
• Department of Transportation (DOT)
• Department of the Treasury (Treasury)
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
• United States Agency for International Development (AID)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• General Services Administration (GSA)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
• Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
• Small Business Administration (SBA)
• Social Security Administration (SSA)

Small/Independent Agencies

• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
• African Development Foundation
• American Battle Monuments Commission
• Broadcasting Board of Governors
• Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
• Commission on Fine Arts
• Commission on Civil Rights
• Committee for Purchase from People who are Blind
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission
• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Corporation for National and Community Service
• Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency
• Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Export-Import Bank of the United States
• Federal Communications Commission
• Federal Election Commission
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Federal Housing Finance Board
• Federal Labor Relations Authority
• Federal Maritime Commission
• Federal Retirement Thrift Savings Board
• Federal Trade Commission
• Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation
• Inter-American Foundation
• International Boundary and Water Commission
• James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
• Marine Mammal Commission
• Merit Systems Protection Board
• National Archives and Records Administration
• National Capital Planning Commission
• National Council on Disability
• National Credit Union Administration
• National Endowment for the Arts
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• National Indian Gaming Commission
• National Labor Relations Board
• National Mediation Board
• National Transportation Safety Board
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board
• Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
• Office of Government Ethics
• Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
• Office of U.S. Trade Representative
• Overseas Private Investment Corporation
• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
• Postal Regulatory Commission
• Railroad Retirement Board
• Securities and Exchange Commission
• Selective Service System
• Surface Transportation Board
• Trade and Development Agency
• U.S. International Trade Commission

These agencies comprise approximately 97 percent of the executive branch workforce.

Of the 417,128 employees receiving surveys, 212,223 completed the survey for a Governmentwide response rate of 51 percent.

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How Was the Survey Sample Designed and Selected?

OPM designed the survey to produce valid results representing Governmentwide Federal employees as well as employees in individual Federal agencies and subagencies. In addition, the sample was designed to produce results by supervisory status (non-supervisor, supervisor, and executive).

A statistically valid sample was drawn for each of these agencies, so that each could have its own set of results. In most agencies, samples were also drawn for agency subcomponents with 1,500 employees, or more. Samples were inflated to reflect an expected 40% response rate. The sample was also stratified by supervisor status: non-supervisors, supervisors and managers, and executives.

For the 2008 administration, various agencies requested additional sampling to better help them address human capital-related questions they felt required in-depth investigating, as well as to ease survey communication efforts (smaller agencies chose to administer the survey to their entire agency rather than explain to the small percentage of employees not included in the initial, stratified random sample).

Because of the differing response rates among the various demographic groups completing the survey, the data were weighted to further ensure that the results are statistically unbiased. In this way, adjustments to response rates could be made to account for over- and under-represented groups within the sample. For example, the gender, age, and agency of the respondents do not exactly reflect their actual distribution in the Federal workforce. In the case of supervisors and executives, response levels are over-represented due to stratified random sampling techniques.

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How Was the Survey Administered?

• The survey was conducted electronically on the Internet, with employees notified by email of their selection for the sample.
• Paper versions of the survey were provided to a limited number of employees who did not have access to the Internet survey.
• Electronic administration facilitated the distribution, completion, and collection of the survey.
• To encourage higher response rates, OPM extended survey deadlines and sent multiple follow-up letters to sample members. OPM also provided agencies with sample communications and helped them develop an internal communication plan. These efforts contributed to an overall high response rate.
• Sampled employees could email Help Center staff for assistance if they had any questions about the survey or individual survey items. They also had the option of calling a toll-free number for survey assistance.
• Of the 417,128 employees receiving surveys, 212,223 completed the survey for a Governmentwide response rate of 51 percent.

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