By Lawson Faulkner
An alarming picture is emerging from the FCC of eroding morale. The Office of Personnel Management has released its 2023 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) for the FCC, and the results show statistically significant declines in key metrics.
Throughout FCC Chair Rebecca Rosenworcel’s tenure, employee enthusiasm, engagement, and respect for senior leadership have steadily declined, suggesting a growing disconnect within the agency’s hierarchy.
Introduced in 2002, the FEVS measures employee viewpoints on leadership, policy implementation, and workplace conduct within federal agencies. This survey serves as an essential tool for employees to voice their opinions on ethical standards, leadership quality, and overall agency effectiveness.
During her time as FCC Chair, Rosenworcel has overseen a steady decline in employee sentiment. When asked whether senior leaders generate high levels of motivation and commitment within the FCC workforce, only 55% of employees agreed. When Chair Rosenworcel first took office in 2021, 62.5% of employees agreed with this same statement, representing a 7.5% reduction in employee motivation during her tenure.
Regarding FCC regulation of employee productivity, participants were asked whether differences in performance are recognized in a meaningful way. Only 52% of participants believed that FCC leadership has meaningfully addressed employee underperformance, a 6.3% decrease during Rosenworcel’s time at the helm.
In addition to these alarming metrics, a number of other survey questions highlight a growing culture of bureaucratic paralysis within the FCC. When asked whether employees can make decisions regarding their own work without permission from management overseers, only 62% of participants agreed. Furthermore, only 64% of employees agreed that arbitrary action, personal favoritism and political coercion were not tolerated within the FCC, showcasing an underlying culture of partisanship and reprisal within the agency.
Interestingly, many questions have only been recently included in the agency’s FEVS, preventing a long-term analysis of additional metrics for FCC dysfunction. For instance, only 54% of employees agreed that approval processes allowed for the timely delivery of work products. Furthermore, only 56% of employees believed that information is openly shared throughout the agency. Without additional data, it is impossible to know whether these issues are byproducts of the Rosenworcel regime, or broader symptoms of long-term FCC troubles.
Regardless, the FCC’s poor performance on key metrics of employee enthusiasm, engagement, and respect for senior leadership offer a strong indictment of Chair Rosenworcel’s leadership. After inheriting an underperforming agency, Chair Rosenworcel has somehow managed to further erode employee morale through management neglect and bureaucratic paralysis. The FCC cannot afford to let this decline continue unchecked. Unless Rosenworcel is able to course-correct, new leadership may be in order.
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