The 2024 Employee Perspective Survey: We want to hear from you!

Secretary Bunch reminds us that real and meaningful change comes from staff input. By completing the annual Smithsonian Employee Perspective Survey, you make your voice heard.

This week, we launch the 2024 Smithsonian Employee Perspective Survey (SEPS). Every employee who has been with the Smithsonian for at least three months will receive an email invitation to participate. SEPS is an opportunity to share your views about working at the Smithsonian and in your organization. The survey will be available in both English and Spanish.

Each year, SEPS provides me and my leadership team insight into the issues that are on the minds of our employees. Participation is voluntary, and I highly encourage you to complete the survey. Your candid feedback helps us create a work environment that is engaging for all. Your voice is important, and we use the results of the survey to help bring positive change to the organization.   For example:

• The results informed the development of our strategic plan, which includes initiatives focused on survey themes such as creating more professional development opportunities for staff and strengthening collaboration between units.
• One of the persistently low-scoring areas has been the nimbleness of our administrative functions, both at the unit level and centrally. This continues to be an area of focus for the leadership team. We are working to increase efficiencies in processing contract actions, such as releasing new templates for use at the unit level for certain agreements without the need for Office of Contracting review. We continue to streamline our hiring processes and have added new features to the background check process to cut down on the time it takes to onboard staff. We know that we still have work to do in terms of increasing the organization’s agility, and we are committed to continuing these efforts.
• Last year, scores were lower in terms of workplace flexibilities. There is still uncertainty when it comes to best practices on telework and hybrid workplaces. We are not alone; most organizations—private and public—are still trying to find the right balance between in-office and at-home work hours. We will continue to review our posture and adjust as needed.

It is also important to recognize the positive themes from the survey. Particularly heartening are the results reflecting pride in the work that we do. It is important to recognize the efforts by Smithsonian staff across the entire Institution to increase and diffuse knowledge, our core mission in serving the public.

This fall, we will post the overall results of the survey online and, as we did for the first time last year, we will share unit summaries with the employees of all units with 10 or more respondents. As always, your responses will remain confidential; reported information will not be traceable back to you as individuals unless you choose to include personally identifying information in your written comments.

I appreciate all you do for the Smithsonian, and I look forward to learning from your responses.

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