IN YOUR WORDS

Findings and next steps from Five Weeks of Feedback

Background

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• The goal of Five Weeks of Feedback was to inform the development of a USDA all-employee site, listening first to what you want so what we build will meet your needs.

• The site is not intended to replace agency-level sites but rather centralize department-wide information and resources.

• Through your survey responses, you told us transparency is key, so we’re sharing these results to keep you in the loop on what we’re doing and why.

• A few of you expressed you aren’t interested in an all-employee site, and we want you to know we heard you. But so many others shared ideas for how the site could help them, so we’re going to test this out, continue to gather your feedback along the way, and aim to create something that will be useful to all.

Things to Kn0w

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• All pictures in this report were sent in by your colleagues as examples of “what USDA Proud looks like to me.” Thanks to all who submitted photos!

• Words in italics are quotes from the surveys or interviews.

• This report contains: • An overview of the data collected• A summary of key findings• Next steps• Contact info for questions / more information

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

DATA LANDSCAPE

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5 weeks of research led to…

16,079

SurveysCompleted

100,000+

Data Points Analyzed

132

Employees Interviewed

255

Employees Signed Up to “Get Involved”

beyond the Survey

5

Respondent Demographics

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13%

87%

13% - National Office87% - Regional, Local, or Field Office

25%

75%

25% - Supervisors75% - Nonsupervisors

40%

60%

<1%

60% - Worked at USDA for 10+ years40% - Less than 10 years<1% - Contractor

Actual USDA population:

13% - DC/MD/VA87% - Other

19% - Supervisors81% - Nonsupervisors

11 years – Average length USDA employees have been with the Department

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Kudos to the agencies with the highest rates of participation…

NASSRMA NRCS

KEY FINDINGS

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You want easy-to-find, centralized

information.

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When asked how you prefer to get information, many of you wrote-in your own response: in one place.

An easy to use, one stop shop

Somewhere they can be referenced in the future

Communications coming from fewer sources - consolidated

Off the top of my head, I must have to access at least 6 sites + email (and there are more, I know)

to ensure that I have done my due diligence to be up-to-date.

For communication, it’s quality over

quantity.

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91% prefer getting information via email

…as long as it’s not too many!

Clear (84%), timely (69%), and relevant (52%) communication is more important

than frequent (7%) communication.

Straight and to the point. No fluff.

And you want information when it matters.

Often times we hear about changes to our programs from the media or from the public. This information often comes

to us weeks prior to receiving communication from the agency heads. That is embarrassing to us as an agency.

You’re interested in resources that help

you do your job.

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Most requested features*:

73%

65%

64%

51%

Department news

Career development opportunities

Leadership updates

Ways to share best practices

* Percentage of respondents who selected the feature in their top 3.

You’d most like to find people in similar jobs (72.5%), with

relevant skills (64%), and possible mentors / mentees (35.5%).

You want to understand and be understood.

You want open communication with leadership...

To know you are heard.I want leadership to truly understand what we do.

To be consulted.We are on the ground administering these programs. We want to be able to do them justice.

To understand the “why.”If someone just gave me a reason, I could know “why” I am having to do things a certain way.

To ensure they understand concerns about morale.We need to know that the Department is aware of the staffing deficiencies throughout the nation.

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You care about your

work.

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Top 3 reasons you’re proud of your work:

• People I serve – 68%• My day-to-day job – 57% • People I work with – 42%

Agree or strongly agree that it’s clear how their work impacts people88%

If you can't get up in the morning energized thinking about how to feed 10 billion people by 2050, you should go back to bed!

The conservation work we do today will help food production now and for future generations...

I have never worked with such a dedicated, selfless group of coworkers.

NOW WHAT? 14

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All-Employee SiteBased on your feedback, we’re looking at ways a USDA all-employee site can…

Centralize resources so you:

• Have fewer sources of information to keep track of

• Know where to go to find what you need

• Can trust the accuracy of the information

Provide a seamless experience with:

• Resources you already use

• A focus on what is relevant to you and your job

Be a place we build together that:

• Reflects your feedback

• Gives you the opportunity to weigh in

• Continually develops to match your needs

What We’re Doing Now

Developing a beta version* of the all-employee site – IN PROGRESSTargeted launch: Fall 2019

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Creating a roadmap for future projects and initiatives based on your feedback –IN PROGRESS

Briefing mission area and Department leadership on campaign findings –COMPLETE

Working with Departmental Administration to improve relevancy and volume of all-employee emails – IN PROGRESS

Providing senior leaders with a checklist for sending clear, concise emails – COMPLETE

Sharing Five Weeks of Feedback findings with all employees – COMPLETE

* A beta version is a work in progress for you to test out and provide feedback on. We’ll use that feedback to continually develop and refine the site so it best meets your needs.

Name the Site

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The top three name options were*….

Employee Web

Weighted average: 2.62

OurUSDA

Weighted average: 2.90

One USDA

Weighted average: 2.97

* Employees were asked to rate the name options on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 5 being their top choice.

THANK YOU!

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We’re SO grateful to everyone who participated –you’ve given us great insight on how to build

something that will be useful to you. Special thanks to the CX Champions who helped execute this campaign!

USDA Office of Customer Experiencecustomerexperience@usda.gov