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 in 2002 set a baseline for ongoing assessment in the Federal Government. 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 survey was administered to full-time, permanent employees of 29 major agencies represented on the President's Management Council (PMC) and 44 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)
• U.S. 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)
• 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 (ACHP)
• Architectural and Transportation Barrier Compliance Board (Access Board)
• Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)
• Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB)
• Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR)
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
• Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)
• Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
• Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank)
• Farm Credit Administration (FCA)
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
• Federal Election Commission (FEC)
• Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB)
• Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA)
• Federal Maritime Commission (FMC)
• Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
• Institute of Museum Library Services (IMLS)
• Inter-American Foundation (IAF)
• Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)
• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
• National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
• National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
• National Mediation Board (NMB)
• National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
• Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB)
• Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC)
• Office of Government Ethics (OGE)
• Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation (ONHIR)
• Office of Special Counsel (OSC)
• Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
• Peace Corps (PC)
• Postal Rate Commission (PRC)
• Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• Selective Service Commission (SSC)
• U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
• U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
• U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)

There were 277 subagencies participating in the survey.

Participating agencies comprise 93 percent of the Executive branch workforce.

More than 147,000 Federal employees returned completed or nearly complete surveys between September and early December 2004.

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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 2004 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).

In addition, because of the law in section 1128 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 108-136, November 24, 2003) which requires agencies to assess and report annually, OPM extended an invitation to participate in the Federal Human Capital Survey to all small and independent agencies. Forty-four of the small and independent agencies chose to participate in the survey effort. The survey was administered as a census to these agencies.

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 or preferred a paper version.
• 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 play. These efforts contributed to an overall higher response rate and almost a 50% increase in the number of participants in the 2004 FHCS over 2002.
• 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.

The 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey was conducted primarily electronically. OPM distributed paper versions of the survey to components of agencies that did not have electronic access (e.g., TSA, Bureau of Engraving and Printing). Over 275,000 Federal employees were given the opportunity to complete the survey. Close to 150,000 took the opportunity and provided their perceptions about the various areas related to human capital management, resulting in a 54 percent response rate.

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