The Best and Worst of U.S. Government Employers

By Kennedy Maize

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The NRC: A Consistent Winner

The NRC’s 2008 ranking is consistent with earlier analyses. Using the OPM data in 2007, the Partnership for Public Service and American University’s Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation created the “Best Places to Work” rankings. The results indicated that the NRC was by far the leader in federal civil service employers, ranking first out of 30 categories ranging from “employee skills/mission match” (a score of 81.3) to “work/life balance” (a score of 73.2). The NRC’s rankings for 2009 are even better.

The agency scored in the top four in every demographic category—over 70% in male, female, 40 and over, under 40, Asian, black or African American, multiracial, and white. At the time of the 2007 survey, the NRC had approximately 3,200 workers—35% women, 65% men, 13% African-American, 4% Hispanic, 6% disabled, 7% Asian, and 0.4% American Indian.

In summary, it looks as if the NRC is doing a lot of things right when it comes to human resources, and has been doing them for quite a long time. Running human resources programs for large federal agencies is a difficult task, but the NRC seems to have mastered the job.

Moving forward, the agency’s biggest HR challenge will be replacing the large number of baby-boomer employees who will retire. And they will retire, because federal employees have a generous retirement option. Many are eligible at 55 years old and 30 years of employment. Although the feds several years ago switched from a defined-benefit program (75% of the highest three years of salary) to a 401(k) approach, the boomers largely fell under the earlier retirement plan and will get defined pensions (which include generous health benefits).

Perhaps the high OPM rankings will help the NRC’s recruitment efforts.

—Kennedy Maize is executive editor of MANAGING POWER.

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