The Voice of the Employee (VOE) survey began in 1999. The survey has had the same focus of gathering employee opinion about the work environment over the years. As the mailing industry changed and we were faced with new challenges, it became necessary to refocus the VOE survey measurement. We needed questions to reflect issues that are critical to organizational success and employee engagement. External research showed a connection between employee engagement and business performance as a stronger indicator than any other measure of employee attitude and business performance.
What is significant about employee engagement? Employee engagement fosters and drives discretionary behavior, eliciting employees’ best ideas and their genuine commitment to the success of our organization. Thus, the result was a revised VOE survey, implemented in fiscal year 2010, that measures employee engagement and asks employees to express their opinions on eight “dimensions”: USPS strategic direction, trust, growth, communication, diversity and respect, commitment, personal safety, and work effort and quality.
The fiscal year 2010 end-of-year results for the VOE survey are completed. More than 340,000 employees — 59 percent of those surveyed — responded. Of those who responded to the survey, 62.3 percent replied favorably to the dimensions. The majority of our employees understand the Postal Service’s strategic direction and how their work affects the organization’s success. Seventy-five percent of employees say they are proud to work for the Postal Service™. Seventy-nine percent are aware of the security measures in the workplace, and the same percentage believes they have been properly trained to do their jobs.
Ensure you and your employees are heard. Make sure all employees are given the opportunity to confidentially complete our employee engagement survey.
— Selection, Evaluation, and Recognition,
Employee Resource Management, 11-4-10
