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Partnership for Public Service, Boston Consulting Group and The Washington Post unveil top performers in 2022 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® rankings

March 28, 2023

NASA, GAO, and CBO rank among top agencies  

WASHINGTON – The nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in collaboration with The Washington Post, today released an advanced look at a segment of the 2022 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® rankings and data. This special edition features the rankings of the top 10 agencies in four categories—large, midsize, and small agencies as well their subcomponents. 

NASA was ranked number one as the Best Place to Work among large federal agencies for the 11th consecutive year while the Government Accountability Office holds on to its first place ranking for midsize agencies for the third year in a row. The Congressional Budget Office secured the top spot for small agencies. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s Office of Negotiations and Restructuring rounded out the list of winners, topping the agency subcomponents list for the first time.  

“Our government faces daunting challenges and tremendous opportunities in the coming year at a time when public trust in government remains low,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “Having a highly motivated and engaged workforce is critical for rebuilding that trust through an effective government. These top agencies set the standard for employee engagement in the federal government.” 

The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings measure whether employees would recommend their agencies as good places to work and whether they are satisfied with their jobs and organizations. Most of the data used to develop the rankings was collected by the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey in June and July 2022. Additional data came from individual agency surveys conducted between June and November of 2022.  

During that timeframe, agency leaders were making difficult decisions about whether employees should return to the office or work remotely part-or-full-time due to the pandemic, leaving the workforce in flux. Employees also were uncertain about pay raises for 2023 amid soaring inflation, while a number of agencies faced increased demands to implement major legislative initiatives. 
 
“While we continue to adopt new working models, it is critical we actively provide public sector leaders with the upskilling opportunities and tools they need to drive the mission,” said Brooke Bollyky, leader of BCG’s Public Sector Practice in North America. “The progress we’ve seen thus far underscores the continued importance of applying this approach within the public sector.” 

In addition to the top ranked agencies,  today’s preview also includes government-wide employee ratings on several workplace issues. These reflect employee perceptions of their work-life balance, how they feel about the performance of their agency and work unit, and whether they understand their agency’s goals and priorities, and agree with performance feedback.  

The agency performance category score for 2022 is 78.0 out of 100, demonstrating that three quarters of those surveyed believe their agency is achieving its mission. Employees also gave high marks in the work-life balance category with a score of 72.3, which reflects the extent to which employees consider their workloads reasonable and feasible, 

“When we think of the federal government, it is easy to think of it as one place, or even one idea, but we would be wrong, as over 2 million people work all over the country in a variety of jobs,” said Bronwen Latimer, editor of Top Workplaces at The Washington Post. “We’re excited to highlight these great agencies at the highest levels of the government – we benefit from their work, and, this time, we take notice.” 

This preview will be followed by a release of the complete Best Places to Work rankings on April 12, 2023, including the government-wide employee engagement and satisfaction score for 2022, the full rankings for all participating agencies as well as data and analysis regarding a host of critical workplace issues. A complete list of the top 10 rankings in each category is available at bestplacestowork.org and on The Washington Post.

Partnership for Public Service 

During the past 21 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.    

Boston Consulting Group 

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

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