accenture federal services · retaining talent, including lack of career development and attractive...

Accenture Federal Services

US Federal Workforce:

A Pulse Check on Today’s

Human Capital Challenges

September 2015

Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved. 2

In July 2015, Accenture Federal Services conducted an online survey of

US federal agency human capital executives and other C-suite-level

officers.

The purpose of the survey was to gain insights into the human capital

challenges federal agencies are facing, specifically in the areas of

attracting and retaining younger workers, drivers of employee

engagement, and the effective use of human capital data and analytics.

Results are based on an online survey of 219 US federal executives from

more than 50 defense and civilian agencies.

Accenture Federal Services

US Federal Human Capital Survey

• Key findings

• Detailed Survey Results

• Methodology

• Appendix

Content



• Organizations are facing talent-related challenges in achieving their workforce vision:

– 16 percent of executives surveyed mention retaining top talent as the No. 1 challenge,

and 14 percent of executives mention attracting new talent as the No. 1 challenge.

– Civilian agencies face greater challenges in driving employee engagement whereas

defense agencies seem to face greater challenges in retaining top talent.

– There is general agreement on the top challenges between HR executives and the

rest of the C Suite, but some disagreement on the challenges of retaining top talent

and planning for future workforce needs.

• Federal executives foresee a range of challenges in attracting and retaining talent,

including lack of career development (18%) and attractive competing offers (18%).

• Federal executives in defense and civilian agencies identified a differing set of

challenges:

– Lack of career development opportunities is a bigger challenge among defense

agencies, while a lack of mobility within organizations is a bigger challenge to civilian

agencies.

– Similarly C-suite executives identify challenges in providing a career path.

Key Findings

Challenges Agencies Face


• Federal executives identified a range of changes deemed necessary for easier

and faster recruitment and promotion of talent:

– Defense agencies identified better-defined employee learning opportunities

(29%) and a clearer employee value proposition (22%).

– For civilian agencies, priorities are better-defined skill sets and

competencies (25%) and a streamlined application process (26%).

• HR and C-suite executives agree on the need for a streamlined application

process (~24%):

– HR leadership believes better-defined skill sets and competencies (24%) are

also important.

– C-suite executives think better-defined career paths (22%) are key to

improving recruitment and promotion.

Key Findings

Changes Desired


• Nine out of 10 federal executives are optimistic that their agency will be able to develop

the next generation of leaders over the next three years.

– This optimism implies that agencies have processes in place to overcome the top

challenges identified in attracting and/or retaining talent, as well as for faster

recruitment and promotion of talent.

• Seventy percent of federal executives view future retirement of federal employees as a

positive development.

– This positive impact is seen in their ability to attract and promote new talent (71%) and

less in areas like reducing workforce budget (9%).

– This widespread optimism seems to suggest that these executives have greater

confidence in handling issues like lack of succession planning, which are a cause of

concern for their less optimistic counterparts.

• Nine out of 10 federal executives are optimistic about retaining the next generation of

millennials.

• Federal executives identified specific steps that their agencies should take to attract and

retain millennials. Establishing a flexible work environment (20%), and increased use of

social media (15%) are the key steps.

Key Findings

Attracting and Retaining Talent


• Federal executives, however, acknowledge that their agencies have to improve

in a wide range of areas.

• For more than half of the executives, employee engagement has a major

impact on their organizations’ productivity, implying a direct impact on

bottom-line results and their ability to deliver services to citizens, and/or

achieve their mission.

– However, the majority of federal executives (64%) are confident about the

actions taken by their agency to address employee engagement.

• Federal executives believe that their agencies should take different steps to

address employee engagement. While flexible work environment and use of

social media are important to attract millennials, positive culture (23%) and

better opportunities (18%) play a greater role in improving employee

engagement.

Key Findings

Attracting and Retaining Talent (continued)


• Federal executives are generally confident about forecasting their hiring needs.

– However, they feel that there are some challenges to be overcome, as not more

than half of the executives surveyed are confident of forecasting their hiring

needs accurately.

– Significant improvement is required in forecasting areas like attracting and retaining

talent (20%), onboarding new employees (20%), hiring (19%), and forecasting talent

needs for the next one to five years (19%).

• There is agreement between HR and C-suite executives on areas requiring improvement,

including establishing career development paths, identifying mission-critical skills, and

articulating the employee value proposition.

• HR executives also think improvements are required in forecasting recruitment needs for

the next one to five years, and improving onboarding.

– Identifying mission-critical skills was thought by 64 percent of HR executives to be in

need of at least some improvement. This is in line with their earlier response that

better-defined skill sets and competencies are important for recruiting and

promoting talent.

• Federal executives identified effective use of data as important to understanding their key

workforce and talent challenges, and also to improve their forecasting abilities.

Key Findings

Forecasting Data

• Key findings


• Methodology

• Appendix

Content



While organizations face a host of challenges in achieving their

workforce vision, talent-related challenges are more prevalent

Q1. What are the top three challenges your organization has in achieving its

workforce vision?

Sample base = All respondents

Retaining top talent

Driving employee engagement

Attracting new talent

Building leadership talent

Developing learning programs to create a

skilled workforce

Planning for future workforce needs

Addressing workforce competencies

Competing on compensation with the

private sector

Defining retirement eligibility

16%

15%

5%

7%

9%

9%

13%

13%

14%

Rank 1


Civilian agencies face greater challenges in driving employee

engagement, while defense agencies and those in C-suite

functions face greater challenges in retaining top talent

Q1. What are the top three challenges your organization has in achieving its

workforce vision?



Driving employee

engagement

Attracting new talent

Building leadership talent

Developing learning

programs to create a

skilled workforce

Addressing workforce

competencies

Planning for future

workforce needs

Competing on compensation

with the private sector

Defining retirement eligibility 5%

4%

8%

5%

10%

7%

9%

10%

12%

15%

12%

15%

14%

14%

18%

8%

12%

22%

CivilianDefense

1%

7%

8%

6%

5%

11%

11%

8%

14%

12%

15%

12%

14%

14%

11%

16%

20%

13%

C SuiteHR

Rank 1


Executives foresee a range of challenges in attracting and

retaining talent, including lack of career development and

attractive competing offers

Q2. Select your organization’s top three challenges in attracting and/or retaining

top talent.


8%

18%

18%

16%

15%

9%

16%

Lack of career development

Attractive competing offers from

other organizations

Lengthy hiring timeline

Lack of mobility within the organization

Lack of career paths

Lack of leadership support and engagement

Lack of onboarding

Rank 1

Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved. 13Sample base = All respondents

10%

9%

8%

15%

15%

18%

11%

7%

16%

18%

19%

16%

16%

22%

Defense Civilian

8%

8%

8%

9%

22%

11%

13%

17%

15%

17%

16%

19%

19%

18%

C-SuiteHR

Rank 1

Lack of career development

Attractive competing offers from

other organizations

Lengthy hiring timeline

Lack of mobility within the

organization

Lack of career paths

Lack of leadership support and

engagement

Lack of onboarding

Lack of career development opportunities is a bigger challenge among defense

agencies, while a lack of mobility within organizations is a bigger challenge to

civilian agencies. Similarly, C-suite executives identify challenges in providing a

career path

Q2. Select your organization’s top three challenges in attracting and/or retaining

top talent.


Executives identified changes deemed necessary for easier and

faster recruitment and promotion of talent

Q3. What changes are necessary for easier and faster recruiting and promotion of

talent across the federal government?


16%

18%

20%

21%

23%

Rank 1

Streamlined application process

Defined skill sets and competencies across

the organization

Defined employee learning opportunities

Defined career paths across the organization

Articulated employee value proposition


Defense agencies identified better-defined employee learning opportunities and a

clearer employee value proposition, whereas for civilian agencies, priorities are

better-defined skill sets and competencies, and streamlined application processes

Q3. What changes are necessary for easier and faster recruiting and promotion of

talent across the federal government?


14%

22%

20%

15%

15%

29%

25%

14%

26%

18%

CivilianDefense

16%

16%

16%

22%

20%

18%

19%

24%

24%

23%

HR C Suite

Rank 1

Streamlined application

process

Defined skill sets and

competencies across

the organization

Defined employee

learning opportunities

Defined career paths

across the organization

Articulated employee

value proposition


Executives are optimistic…implying that they have processes in place to

overcome the top challenges identified in attracting and/or retaining

talent, as well as for faster recruitment and promotion of talent

Q4. How optimistic are you that your agency will be able to develop the next

generation of leaders given the current state of your workforce over the next

three years?


9%

69%

20%

2%

Optimistic

Very pessimistic

Very optimistic

Pessimistic

89% Very Optimistic + Optimistic

Defense 96%

Civilian 86%

Optimism is relatively higher among

executives from defense agencies


One-third of federal employees being eligible for retirement is viewed as a

positive development; with the perceived benefit of attracting and promoting new

talent—implying greater confidence in handling issues like succession planning

Q5. Over the next three years, a third of federal

employees are projected to be eligible for retirement.

What is your view on the impact of these retirements on

your organization?

21%

11%

68%Positive Impact

No Impact

Negative Impact

Lack of succession

planning

Lack of knowledge

management

Loss of mission-critical

skills

26%

24%

50%

Q7. Why do you expect a negative impact

from the high level of retirement expected

in the next three years?

Q6. Why do you expect a positive impact

from the high level of retirement expected

in the next three years?

20%

9%

71%Will bring in and/or

promote new talent

Will allow new skills sets

to be brought into

the organization

Will decrease workforce

budget



While executives identified the need to improve in key areas for

recruiting and retaining talent, nine out of 10 are optimistic about

retaining the next generation of millennials

Q8. How optimistic are you that your agency will be able to retain the next

generation of millennials given the current state of your workforce in the next

three years?


9%

70%

20%

1%Very pessimistic

Optimistic

Pessimistic

Very optimistic

90%


21%

21%

14%

12%

12%

12%

11%

10%

9%

7%

11%

6%

7%

8%

25%

21%

14%

12%

12%

11%

9%

9%

9%

8%

8%

6%

6%

5%

Education

Healthcare Provider

Media & Entertainment

Government – State or Local

Communications

Government – Federal

Electronics & High Tech

Finance, including Banking and CapitalMarkets

Retail

Travel

Biotechnology

Legal

Management Consulting

Pharmaceuticals

2015 (n=1,002)

2013/2014 (n=1,001)

The value of job security is increasing among college graduates, which

may be a favorable development for federal agencies and cause for

optimism in terms of millennial retention

What are your top industries or sector choices for work? (For comparison, taken

from Accenture 2015 College Graduate Employment Survey.)


• 74 percent of grads expect to be with their first

job for at least three years, up from 43 percent

of 2013‒14 graduates

• Almost a third of grads expect to be with an

employer for more than five yearsSource: Accenture 2015 College Graduate Employment Survey


When thinking about millennials, executives identified establishing a flexible work

environment and increased use of social media as bigger drivers; followed by a

streamlined and transparent hiring process and areas of professional development

Q9. Based on a 2014 OPM report, millennials represent only 16 percent of the

federal workforce and leave the federal workforce at a higher rate. What should

your agency be doing to attract and retain millennials?


8%

9%

11%

11%

20%

12%

13%

15%

Rank 1

Flexible work environment established

Increased use of social media

Streamlined, more transparent

hiring process

Ability to gain experience across different

areas within the organization

Focus on a results-oriented and

innovative culture

Defined professional development and

training opportunities

Career paths defined across organization to

show opportunities

Updated performance management

approaches (e.g., more real-time feedback)

http://www.fedview.opm.gov/2014FILES/FEVS_MillennialsReport.pdf


While defense and civilian agencies seem to be in close agreement, HR executives

expect their agencies to establish a flexible work environment and define career

paths, whereas C-suite executives place greater importance on results-oriented and

innovative culture

Q9. Based on a 2014 OPM report, millennials represent only 16 percent of the

federal workforce and leave the federal workforce at a higher rate. What should

your agency be doing to attract and retain millennials?


21%

8%

8%

10%

7%

11%

10%

10%

14%

12%

12%

13%

12%

15%

15%

19%

CivilianDefense

15%

16%

21%

13%

15%

8%

9%

6%

10%

11%

10%

15%

9%

14%

11%

13%

C SuiteHR

Flexible work environment

established

Increased use of social media

Streamlined, more

transparent hiring process

Ability to gain experience

across different areas within

the organization

Focus on a results-oriented

and innovative culture

Defined professional

development and training

opportunities

Career paths defined across

organization to show

opportunities

Updated performance

management approaches

(e.g., more real-time feedback)

Rank 1

http://www.fedview.opm.gov/2014FILES/FEVS_MillennialsReport.pdf


Summary of Rank—1

Q1. Top three challenges your

organization has in achieving its

workforce vision?



Driving employee

engagement

Attracting new

talent

Building leadership

talent

Developing learning

programs to create

a skilled workforce

Planning for future

workforce needs

Addressing

workforce

competencies

Competing on

compensation with

the private sector

Defining retirement

eligibility

16%

15%

5%

7%

9%

9%

13%

13%

14%

Rank 1

Q2. Organization’s top three

challenges in attracting

and/or retaining top talent?

8%

18%

18%

16%

15%

9%

16%

Lack of career

development

Attractive

competing

offers from

other

organizations

Lengthy hiring

timeline

Lack of

mobility within

the

organization

Lack of career

paths

Lack of

leadership

support and

engagement

Lack of

onboarding

Q3. Changes necessary for

easier and faster recruiting and

promotion of talent across the

federal government?

16%

18%

20%

21%

23%Streamlined

application

process

Defined skill sets

and competencies

across the

organization

Defined employee

learning

opportunities

Defined career

paths across the

organization

Articulated

employee value

proposition

Q9. What should your agency be doing

to attract and retain millennials?

8%

9%

11%

11%

20%

12%

13%

15%

Flexible work environment

established

Increased use of social

media

Streamlined, more

transparent hiring process

Ability to gain experience

across different areas within

the organization

Focus on a results-oriented

and innovative culture

Defined professional

development and training

opportunities

Career paths defined across

organization to show

opportunities

Updated performance

management approaches

(e.g., more real-time

feedback)


While there is optimism in their ability to develop the next generation of leaders,

over 60 percent of executives feel at least some improvement is needed across a

wide range of areas for their agency to identify and develop the next generation

of leaders

Q10. How well is your agency performing on the following regarding the

identification and development of the next generation of leaders?

13%

16%

21%

18%

16%

18%

48%

45%

41%

45%

49%

47%

39%

39%

38%

37%

35%

35%

Leadership skills development

Leadership behavior development

Succession planning

Leadership career path definition

Leadership recruitment

Executive coaching


Processes are in place and successfulSome improvement is neededSignificant improvement is needed


Both defense and civilian agency respondents believe improvement is

needed most in the area of leadership recruitment, leadership skills

development and executive coaching

Q10. How well is your agency performing on the following regarding the

identification and development of the next generation of leaders?

42%

47%

42% 44%

38%

37%

48%

40%

37%

40%

41% 44%

Leadership skills

development

Leadership

behavior

development

Succession

planning

Leadership career

path definition

Leadership

recruitment

Executive coaching


Some improvement is needed

Processes are in place and successful

49%

50% 31%

34%

35%

51%

41% 37%

34%

37%

49%

49%

49%

45% 40%

36%

38%

49%

46% 34%

36%

39%

48%

46%

49%

51% 27%

33%

41%

47%

32% 44%

39%

41%

41%

43%

Defense Civilian HR C Suite

In general, civilian agency respondents cited a greater

need for some improvement across all areas surveyed.


For more than half of the executives, employee engagement has had a major impact

on their organizations’ productivity, implying a direct impact on bottom line results

and their ability to deliver services to citizens, and/or achieve their mission

Q11. Based on the results of the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey,

federal employee engagement is 64 percent. What has been the major impact of

employee engagement within your organization?

58%

52%

41%

33%

29%

4%


Impact on productivity

Impact on career tenure

Impact on morale

Impact on attrition

Impact on absenteeism

No impact—employee

engagement does not

impact my organization

Engagement impact

on career tenure

was also rated high

by respondents,

indicating

engagement may be

a key driver of

knowledge retention,

experience and

leadership

capabilities.

http://www.fedview.opm.gov/


A majority of executives are confident about the actions taken by their

agency to address employee engagement, but the confidence is less

clear with civilian agencies

Q12. What do you think of the action your agency has taken regarding employee

engagement issues?


6%

30%

64%Relevant and effective

actions are taken

Actions are taken but

they are not relevant

or effective

No or insufficient

action taken

Relevant and efficient actions are taken

Defense 75%

Civilian 58%

Just over half of civilian agency

executives are confident about the

actions taken by their agency.


While work environment is important in attracting millennials, other factors

play as much or a greater role in improving employee engagement

Q13. What is your organization doing, or should be doing, to address

employee engagement?


23%

9%

16%

17%

17%

18%

Rank 1

Development of a positive culture (e.g.,

employee commitment to the mission,

employee relationships)

Opportunities (e.g., role rotation,

learning programs)

Sustained leadership (e.g., consistent

leadership across organization)

Compensation and awards

Work environment (e.g., telework)

Brand and reputation

Copyright © 2015 Accenture All rights reserved. 28Sample base = All respondents

9%

25%

22%

15%

19%

19%

16%

19%

16%

8%

17%

14%

CivilianDefense

24%

16%

19%

16%

5%

19%

13%

16%

20%

24%

11%

15%

C SuiteHR

Rank 1

Development of a positive culture

(e.g., employee commitment to the

mission, employee relationships)

Opportunities (e.g., role rotation,

learning programs)

Sustained leadership (e.g.,

consistent leadership across

organization)

Compensation and awards

Work environment (e.g., telework)

Brand and reputation

While there is close agreement between defense and civilian agencies

on what actions are most important to increase employee engagement,

sustained leadership is more important to C-suite executives

Q13. What is your organization doing, or should be doing, to address employee

engagement?


While executives are generally optimistic about their ability to forecast

their hiring needs, there are some challenges to be overcome, and only

half or less are confident of forecasting these needs accurately

Q14. How do you rate your ability to forecast each of the following based on

available data and relevant analysis process?

15%

8%

7%

8%

44%

44%

44%

47%

41%

48%

49%

45%

Employees leaving the organization in the

next six months to one year due

to attrition

Employees leaving the organization in the

next one to five years due to retirement

Employees the agency will need to hire to

fill resource gaps due to attrition

and retirement

Employee skill sets required in the next

five years


I can accurately forecast all of this informationI can forecast some of this informationI cannot forecast this information at all


Identifying current recruitment needs

Identifying current skills gaps

Succession planning

Identifying current training needs

Performance management

Hiring

Attracting and recruiting new talent

Forecasting recruitment needs 1‒5 years into the future

Forecasting current training needs 1‒5 years into the

future

Onboarding new employees

Identifying mission-critical skill sets

Articulating the employee value proposition

Establishing career development paths

Forecasting talent needs 1‒5 years into the future

Needed improvement is identified in areas like attracting and recruiting new

talent, onboarding new employees, hiring and forecasting talent needs

Q15. How effective do you feel your organization is at:

15%

13%

18%

15%

14%

19%

20%

11%

18%

20%

15%

15%

16%

19%

44%

47%

43%

46%

48%

43%

42%

52%

45%

43%

49%

52%

52%

49%

41%

40%

39%

39%

38%

38%

38%

37%

37%

37%

36%

33%

32%

32%


Processes are in place and successfulSignificant improvement is needed Some improvement is needed


Identifying current recruitment needs

Identifying current skills gaps

Succession planning

Identifying current training needs

Performance management

Hiring

Attracting and recruiting new talent

Forecasting recruitment needs 1‒5 years into the

future

Forecasting current training needs 1–5 years into

the future

Onboarding new employees

Identifying mission-critical skill sets

Articulating the employee value proposition

Establishing career development paths

Forecasting talent needs 1‒5 years into the future

HR and other C-suite executives differ in their view of their ability to

forecast some areas of recruiting and talent management for

their organization

Q15. How effective do you feel your organization is at:

45% 38%

46% 41%

44%

39%

46% 43%

46% 36%

44% 38%

61% 31%

49%

36%

34%

49%

52%

36%

33%

51% 36%

50%

32%

29%

51%

46%

Sample base = All respondentsSome improvement is needed

Processes are in place and successful

38%47%

54%

51% 34%

47% 35%

33% 44%

38% 39%

37% 47%

30%

41%39%

39%

49% 34%

39% 46%

44%46%

34%51%

38%42%

42%

HR C Suite


Executives identified effective use of data (employee metrics,

organization, etc.) to understand their key workforce and talent

challenges, and also to improve their forecasting abilities

Q16. How important are each of the following data to understand your key

workforce and talent challenges and opportunities?

8%

16%

17%

47%

50%

53%

52%

44%

49%

47%

43%

40%

37%

37%

32%

1%

5%

2%

1%

3%

3%

2%

5%


Not important at all Not very important CriticalImportant

Employee metrics (e.g., performance/promotion

history, compensation and rewards,

skills/competencies, training history)

Organization (e.g., total headcount breakdown,

contractor ratio)

Employee movements (e.g., lateral movements,

attrition, recruitment, current and expected

retirements)

Role information (e.g., role title, grade, level)

Employee demographic (e.g., age, gender, tenure)

Surveys (e.g., Federal Viewpoint Survey)

6%

• Key findings


• Methodology

• Appendix

Content



• Sample: 219 interviews

• Approach: Online*

• Time Frame: June‒July 2015

• Vendor: McGuire Research

Methodology

Agency Type

Defense 73 33%

Civilian 146 67%

Total 219 100%

Job Title

HR 140 64%

C Suite 79 36%

Total 219 100%

* One interview was conducted via telephone

• Key findings


• Methodology

• Appendix

Content



Free Text Responses

Q17. (For executives who identified as not being head of HR.) If you were the

Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for a day, what three actions would

you take?

Employee reward

and recognition

programs

I'd remove the

situations in which

racist employees

would interact with

one another

Eliminate the age

restriction on

hiring

Promote

from within

Increase the

salaries

Clear

guidance on

retirement

benefits


Tenure

Q18. How long have you been working for this agency?

5%

31%

35%

21%

8%


Less than 1 year

Between 1 and 3 years



More than 10 years

Average tenure: 4.4 years


Number of employees

Q19. How many employees do you have in your agency?

29%

36%

23%

7%

5%


Less than 1,000

Between 1,000 and 5,000



More than 20,000


List of agencies

Defense

Missile Defense Agency (MDA) 6

Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) 5

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 5

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) 5

Defense Acquisition University 5

Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) 5

Defense Security Service (DSS) 5

Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) 5

Southern Command (SOCOM) 5

Other Defense 27

Total 73

Civilian

Census Bureau 6

Department of Agriculture (USDA) 6

Department of Education (ED) 6

U.S. Postal Service (USPS) 6

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 5

Immigration and Customs Enforcement 5

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 5

Other Civilian 107

Total 73

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