Best Places to Work in the Federal Governement 2007 (header image goes here)
53.3
#206 out of 216

Forest Service (USDA)

Mission: To protect and manage national forests and grasslands. The Forest Service also provides technical and financial assistance to state and private forest landowners, cities, and urban communities, and develops and provides scientific and technical knowledge.

Scores and Rankings

Index Score Score Rank out of 216
  53.3 206
Best in Class Scores Score Rank (out of varied totals)
Employee Skills/Mission Match 75.2 182  of  216
Strategic Management 47.6 209  of  216
Teamwork 70.0 149  of  216
Effective Leadership 46.6 192  of  216
Effective Leadership - Empowerment 43.2 200  of  216
Effective Leadership - Fairness 43.8 139  of  216
Effective Leadership - Leaders 35.3 209  of  216
Effective Leadership - Supervisors 61.8 159  of  216
Performance Based Rewards and Advancement 40.0 201  of  216
Training and Development 59.5 146  of  216
Support for Diversity 62.2 109  of  216
Pay and Benefits 63.4 169  of  216
Family Friendly Culture and Benefits 53.0 62  of  216
Work/Life Balance 52.5 214  of  216
Index Score 2007 Score 2005 Score 2003 Score
  59.9 57.9 60.6
Best in Class Scores 2007 Score 2005 Score 2003 Score
Employee Skills/Mission Match 79.0 78.2 79.9
Strategic Management 51.3 50.5 53.4
Teamwork 72.7 69.0 68.7
Effective Leadership 51.5 49.0 49.8
Performance Based Rewards and Advancement 43.0 39.5 40.2
Training and Development 64.8 65.6 65.8
Support for Diversity 64.0 60.6 65.0
Pay and Benefits 65.1 No data No data
Family Friendly Culture and Benefits 55.5 No data No data
Work/Life Balance 54.6 58.8 60.6
Best in Class Scores 2007 Score 2005 Score 2003 Score
Employee Skills/Mission Match 79.0 78.2 79.9
Strategic Management 51.3 50.5 53.4
Teamwork 72.7 69.0 68.7
Effective Leadership 51.5 49.0 49.8
Performance Based Rewards and Advancement 43.0 39.5 40.2
Training and Development 64.8 65.6 65.8
Support for Diversity 64.0 60.6 65.0
Pay and Benefits 65.1 No data No data
Family Friendly Culture and Benefits 55.5 No data No data
Work/Life Balance 54.6 58.8 60.6
Scores by Demographic Score Rank (out of varied totals)
Female 54.2 194  of  216
Male 52.6 203  of  214
40 and over 53.9 200  of  216
Under 40 50.8 186  of  199
Asian No data No data
Black or African-American 67.2 57  of  188
Hispanic or Latino 49.1 125  of  174
Multi-racial 51.8 30  of  43
White 52.1 203  of  215
American Indian or Native American 52.4 15  of  15
Scores by Demographic 2007 Score 2005 Score 2003 Score
Female No data No data No data
Male No data No data No data
40 and over 59.9 No data No data
Under 40 59.8 No data No data
Asian No data No data No data
Black or African-American 74.1 No data No data
Hispanic or Latino No data No data No data
Multi-racial No data No data No data
White 59.4 No data No data
American Indian or Native American No data No data No data
Scores by Demographic 2007 Score 2005 Score 2003 Score
Female No data No data No data
Male No data No data No data
40 and over No data No data No data
Under 40 No data No data No data
Asian No data No data No data
Black or African-American No data No data No data
Hispanic or Latino No data No data No data
Multi-racial No data No data No data
White No data No data No data
American Indian or Native American No data No data No data

Trends

Index Scores

Best in Class Scores

 




Year Forest Service (USDA) Index Score Subcomponent High Performing Average Subcomponent Average Index Score Subcomponent Low Performing Average
2003 60.6 69.3 61.0 51.9
2005 57.9 73.0 62.9 52.3
2007 59.9 73.8 61.9 49.0
2009 53.3 74.8 64.1 54.0

Comparative Data — Subcomponent Averages

High Performing Average Scores 2003 2005 2007 2009
High Performing Average - Employee Skills 82.4 82.3 83.3 83.4
High Performing Average - Management 65.7 64.6 66.0 66.9
High Performing Average - Teamwork 73.7 77.2 78.7 79.1
High Performing Average - Leadership 57.1 59.9 61.9 62.6
High Performing Average - Rewards and Advancement 53.2 55.8 56.8 58.1
High Performing Average - Training and Development 67.7 70.5 71.3 72.0
High Performing Average - Support for Diversity 69.0 68.9 68.8 70.9
High Performing Average - Pay and Benefits 74.8 76.8
High Performing Average - Family Friendly 57.2 60.0
High Performing Average - Work/Life Balance 72.6 72.1 72.8 72.5
Average Index Scores 2003 2005 2007 2009
Average for Employee Skills 78.4 77.6 77.7 78.5
Average for Management 59.1 56.9 56.6 58.6
Average for Teamwork 67.8 71.1 70.8 72.1
Average for Leadership 49.7 51.7 51.7 53.5
Average for Rewards and Advancement 45.4 47.0 46.9 48.5
Average for Training and Development 58.4 61.0 59.8 61.8
Average for Support for Diversity 61.7 60.0 59.4 62.3
Average for Pay and Benefits 66.4 68.1
Average for Family Friendly 44.8 46.8
Average for Work/Life Balance 66.1 64.6 63.4 64.2
Low Performing Average Score 2003 2005 2007 2009
Low Performing Average - Employee Skills 73.6 72.0 71.1 72.9
Low Performing Average - Management 52.3 48.8 47.4 50.2
Low Performing Average - Teamwork 61.8 65.1 63.3 65.5
Low Performing Average - Leadership 42.9 43.7 41.9 44.8
Low Performing Average - Rewards and Advancement 37.7 38.0 36.3 39.3
Low Performing Average - Training and Development 50.3 51.0 48.1 52.4
Low Performing Average - Support for Diversity 54.7 51.5 49.8 53.1
Low Performing Average - Pay and Benefits 57.2 58.8
Low Performing Average - Family Friendly 33.2 34.7
Low Performing Average - Work/Life Balance 59.4 57.0 54.8 56.0

Workforce Size and Trends

Number of Employees

 

Number of Employees in 2001: 29,552

Number of Employees in 2002: 30,811

Number of Employees in 2003: 31,250

Number of Employees in 2004: 31,353

Number of Employees in 2005: 30,159

Number of Employees in 2006: 29,317

Number of Employees in 2007: 28,839

Number of Employees in 2008: 28,894

Employees joined (2008): 1,477

Percentage joined (2008): 4.37%

Average joined (2004-2008): 1,378

Employees left (2008): 2,286

Percentage left (2008): 7.75%

Average left (2004-2008): 2,497

Rookie ratio (percentage of workforce with less than three years of service): 6.50%

More About the Agency

Headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Other Locations: Nine regional offices across the United States

http://www.fs.fed.us/

Male/Female Demographics Ethiniciy Demographics

Demographics source: FedScope, OPM

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The Best Places to Work rankings — the most comprehensive and authoritative rating of employee satisfaction and commitment in the federal government — are produced by the Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI).

Complete List of Agencies and Subcomponents