Survey: DHS doesn't reward innovation

Although most Homeland Security Department civil servants are generally satisfied with their jobs, barely a third of them believe that the department rewards creativity and innovation, according an annual survey.

DHS compiled the results of 67,957 responses to a questionnaire it had sent out  in late 2009 to 166,094 permanent, civilian employees. The respondents track mostly track with the proportions of the total DHS workforce, survey authors state, although a slighty higher proportion of supervisors and white employees completed the survey.

"The lowest scores (i.e., greater than 35 percent unfavorable) are on questions concerning confidence in leadership and performance culture," states a summary of the survey results.

However, questions related to job satisfaction produced a 63 percent favorable rating--employees who said they "strongly agree" or "agree" with job satisfaction-related statement. 

The statement that provoked the least favorable response was "pay raises depend on how well employees perform their jobs," to which only 24 percent could strongly agree or agree.

A DHS attempt to create a pay-for-performance human resources system was scrapped in October 2008 after Congress pulled funding for the effort, known as MaxHR.

Thirty percent of respondents responded favorable to the statement that "creativity and innovation are rewarded."

The statement that garnered the most support - with 91 percent signaling assent - was "the work I do is important."

For more:
- see a summary of the survey results (.pdf)

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