WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- A new survey of the staff of U.S. intelligence agencies finds them somewhat more positive than average federal employees about their work.
The survey, which included civilian and military employees of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies and the office of the new Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, was conducted last October. The 50 questions were derived from the government-wide survey conducted by the White House Office of Personnel Management, so that results could be compared with the rest of the federal government.
McConnell's office put a summary of the results on its Web site Tuesday, but could not provide any more detailed data or anyone to comment.
The survey asked employees about cooperation and leadership in the workplace; about their treatment by management; and about whether they liked and valued the work they did.
In most categories related to job satisfaction, performance and leadership, intelligence staff rated themselves as high as or slightly higher than federal employees as a whole.
The results put the intelligence agencies in the top 10 among all federal government employers in those three categories, and in the top five for job satisfaction.
But the staff was also asked some questions not in the government-wide survey, about the impact and goals of the intelligence reform process launched by Congress in 2004 to try to break down barriers between different agencies and impose a single leadership on them.
According to the summary, the questions were designed to gauge "whether employees feel a sense of community" -- defined as "shared mission and values" -- between different agencies, and whether and how closely they work with the staff of other agencies.
"Employees clearly understand that (their) mission depends upon sharing knowledge and collaborating across agencies," states the summary, "However, only a minority report it is easy to work with those outside their agency."
"There is much room for improvement," it concludes.
