If you’re not a job seeker or a public employee, why should you care about the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government?
Based on the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) and produced by the Partnership for Public Service and the Boston Consulting Group, the rankings rate government agencies on a variety of factors.
But what does it mean for the average taxpayer? “The public deserves great government, and Best Places offers a road map for how to get there,” said Max Stier, the partnership’s president and CEO.
This project is being published in collaboration with the Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group, which together produce the annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings. The rankings are based on the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey conducted by the Office of Personnel Management and 14 other agencies’ independent surveys.
Surveys make one thing clear: “Current leadership and mission are the two biggest drivers of Best Places scores,” according to Stier. Election years have little impact on current scores, which were based on last year’s data.
Stier added, “I hope the results will be used by the president and by Congress to hold leaders accountable for their stewardship of the federal workforce.”
There’s much to be done on that front.
Take Congress, for example, essentially Uncle Sam’s board of directors. It is the prime example of an institution that needs to be held accountable for the government’s performance. Capitol Hill’s repeated inability to pass budgets on time severely hampers the ability of agencies to plan, prepare and perform.
The “most important reason” government doesn’t perform better, Stier said, is leaders “have not prioritized the investments necessary to improve the performance over time. And in general, those are people issues.
“We can and should do better,” he added, “and the public would benefit enormously if leaders truly prioritized the health of the organizations they run.”
— Joe Davidson
Story continues below advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Story continues below advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Large (15,000 or more employees)
1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Founded: 1958
- Employees: 18,000 full- and part-time; 35,000 contractors
- Head of agency: Bill Nelson
- More about this ranking
This is the 12th year NASA placed No. 1 in this category, and the accomplishments keep coming: Frank Rubio became the first American astronaut to spend more than a year in space, samples returned from an asteroid for examination, and the agency established multiple ways of sharing climate data and fostered relationships with international partners. Four astronauts are set to travel back to the moon on the Artemis II mission. “We operate as a crew,” said Administrator Bill Nelson last year about his immediate team, Col. Pam Melroy and Bob Cabana, and the rest of NASA employees. “We have to depend on each other. I’m the fellow responsible, but I give credit to them.”
2. Department of Health and Human Services
3. Intelligence Community
4. Commerce Department
5. Department of Veterans Affairs
6. Transportation Department
8. Interior Department
9. Department of the Army
10. Department of the Air Force
Story continues below advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Story continues below advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Midsize (1,000-14,999 employees)
1. Government Accountability Office
- Founded: 1921
- Employees: 3,429 full time; 95 part-time
- Head of agency: Gene Dodaro
- More about this ranking
With a 96 percent retention rate and a frequent spot in the top five of the annual survey, GAO seems to practice the good management techniques it promotes through its multiple reports and reviews. Subjects range in scope and subject matter, from modernizing the Coast Guard air fleets for search and rescue missions to analyzing the role of the Federal Home Loan Banks during the time Silicon Valley Bank failed. The agency also reviews federal rulemaking in accordance with the Congressional Review Act. Its leader, Gene Dodaro, is celebrating his 50th year at the agency, the last 15 years as the comptroller.
2. General Services Administration
3. Securities and Exchange Commission
4. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
5. Environmental Protection Agency
6. Energy Department
7. Small Business Administration
8. National Science Foundation
9 (tie). Federal Trade Commission
9 (tie). National Credit Union Administration
9 (tie). Office of Personnel Management
Story continues below advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Story continues below advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Small agencies (100-1,000 employees)
1. National Indian Gaming Commission
- Founded: 1988
- Employees: 129 full-time
- Head of agency: Vacant
- More about this ranking
This is the first time the NIGC is in the top 10. Regulating over 500 gambling businesses, the NIGC offers everything from classes about cybersecurity to financial literacy to help businesses manage their books better. The goal is to to teach financial and legal management while ensuring tribes are the primary beneficiaries of the revenue the businesses bring in ($40.9 billion in gross revenue in fiscal year 2023).
2. National Endowment for the Humanities
3. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
4. Office of Special Counsel
5. Farm Credit Administration
6. Federal Labor Relations Authority
7. Selective Service System
8. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
9. Office of Management and Budget
10. U.S. International Trade Commission
Story continues below advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Story continues below advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Subcomponents
1. Office of Negotiations and Restructuring, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
John Hanley and his team have been allocating funds from the sale of real estate owned by the Sears company to ensure that money went toward employee pensions. With private companies and government programs like the American Rescue Plan keeping the PBGC busy, it has been more important than ever for Hanley to divide the work equitably. “I want to make certain that we don’t have people who end up taking too much singular responsibility on a matter,” he said.
2. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, Department of Defense
3. Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
4. Office of Government-wide Policy Review (OGP) Office of the Associate Administrator, General Services Administration
5. Office of the Chief Financial Officer, National Credit Union Administration
6. Office of the Chief Financial Officer, General Services Administration
7. Office of the Inspector General, National Science Foundation
8. Office of GSA IT, General Services Administration
9. Office of the Executive Director, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
10. Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
About this story
This project is being published in collaboration with the Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group, which together produce the annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings.
During the past 23 years, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service has been dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. We work across administrations to help transform the way government works by providing agencies with the data insights they need to succeed, developing effective leaders, inspiring the next generation to public service, facilitating smooth presidential transitions and recognizing exceptional federal employees. Visit ourpublicservice.org, follow us @PublicService and subscribe today to get the latest federal news, information on upcoming Partnership programs and events, and more.
The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings, produced by the Partnership for Public Service and BCG, offer the most comprehensive assessment of how federal public servants view their jobs and workplaces, providing employee perspectives on leadership, pay, innovation, work-life balance and other issues. The rankings are based on the Best Places to Work employee engagement and satisfaction score, and calculated using a proprietary model developed in 2003 when the rankings began. The employee engagement and satisfaction score is derived from a subset of questions in OPM’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and additional individual agency surveys. The 2023 rankings include 532 federal agencies and subcomponents, the most in the history of Best Places to Work. This is the 18th edition of the rankings.
BCG is a global management consulting firm dedicated to advising clients in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. We partner with our clients to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their challenges and transform their enterprises so that they achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations and secure lasting results. In our work with the federal government, BCG is recognized for bringing commercial insights and best practices to our public sector clients. To learn more, visit bcg.com.
Reporting and picture editing by Bronwen Latimer. Additional reporting by Jakob Bowen. Copy editing by Jordan Melendrez and Anne Kenderdine.
Design by Shikha Subramaniam and Talia Trackim. Design editing by Matt Callahan, Chloe Meister and Brian Gross. Audience engagement by Maite Fernandez. Project editing by Marian Chia-Ming Liu.
correction
In the first version of this article, we mistakenly referred to Matt Christiansen as a commissioner. This article has been updated.
correction
An incorrect photo accompanied the card for Office of Chief Financial Officer with the PBGC.
This project is being published in collaboration with the Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group, which together produce the annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings. The rankings are based on the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey conducted by the Office of Personnel Management and 14 other agencies’ independent surveys.
