Chapter 2: Bridging the Job Satisfaction Gap: What U.S. Federal Leaders Need to Know

From the Book: The Refractive Thinker®: Vol. VIII: Effective Business Practices for Motivation and Communication

Summary

Leaders of large organizations confront significant challenges when communicating with employees. In the U.S. federal government where supervisors and employees operate within a geographically dispersed bureaucracy, communication is complex and often ineffective. In The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, U.S. federal employees were less satisfied and less engaged than employees in similar organizations in the U. S. private sector. Facing unprecedented financial and national security issues, discouraged U.S. federal employees quit in record numbers, a phenomenon known as retirement tsunami (Rosenberg, 2009b).

U.S. federal agencies protect the common welfare of the citizens and visitors to the United States. To fulfill responsibilities, U.S. federal employees must understand the critical nature of performance in governmental operations, particularly in national security agencies. The purpose of the mixed-methods study was to investigate the relationship between supervisor communication and employee performance and morale.