Overview

The Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS) is a bi-annual survey administered by the Office of Personnel Management to a random sample of federal employees within all government agencies.

The FHCS is a tool that measures employees' perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions characterizing successful organizations are present in their agencies. Survey results provide valuable insight into the challenges agency leaders face in ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce and how well they are responding.

In addition, the FHCS features 45 questions addressed by the Annual Employee Survey (AES) prescribed under Title 5, Part 250, Subpart C of the Code of Federal Regulations (5 CFR 250.c).

VA is enthused by the results of the 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey and the progress that is demonstrated. For 75 percent of the survey questions, VA had a higher percentage of positive responses when compared to VA responses to the 2006 Federal Human Capital Survey. Additionally, for 57 percent of the questions, VA positive responses were higher or within one percent of the Governmentwide positive responses. With continued attention to the questions with low or below Governmentwide positive responses, VA hopes to improve its standing when compared to previous VA data and other government agencies.

How the Survey was Conducted

The survey was conducted by means of an online tool directed to a random sample of federal employees nationwide who received emails which contained a one-time-use link to the Web site containing the survey. Completion of the survey is completely voluntary and is conducted anonymously.

Nationwide, approximately 417,000 federal employees were offered the opportunity to partake in the survey, with 212,223 actual completions, resulting in a 50.9% response rate. The Department of Veterans Affairs reported a 52% response rate with 3,283 employees completing out of a possible 6,319.

To learn more about the results of the 2008 survey, Click on the links below:

2008 FHCS VA Results Overview - PowerPoint presentation providing an evaluation of survey data as it pertains to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

2008 FHCS Results - Gives a complete breakdown of all responses to the FHCS. Please note that questions marked with an asterisk denote AES prescribed items. (pdf document)

2008 FHCS Demographics - Breakdown of demographic information as reported by survey respondents. (pdf document)

2008 FHCS VA Trend Report - Summarizes results for each of the 85 questions presented in the survey. (pdf document)

OPM 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey Website - External link to the Office of Personnel Management's FHCS website, providing survey results and analysis for all federal agencies.