Best places to work: Top 10 small federal agencies
The little-known Surface Transportation Board received the highest score in the annual “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” survey — both among small agencies and overall. It’s the sixth year the agency has held the top spot.
“It’s simple really – we hire good people and let them do their work,” Chairman Daniel Elliott III said in a statement when the agency was honored last year. “This award reflects our continuing effort to provide an open and collegial workplace in which agency staff originate, innovate, and excel, while maintaining that important work-life balance.”
The board handles the economic regulation of America’s freight railroads. While it is an independent agency, it is administratively associated with the Transportation Department.
The rankings come from a report issued by Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte. Researchers use data gleaned from the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey as well as their own interviews to put together the annual list. Using answers to three questions, researchers generate an index out of 100 points.
| Rank | Agency | 2014 | 2013 | Change |
| 1 | Surface Transportation Board | 86.8 | 84.7 | 2.10 |
| 2 | Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service | 83.5 | 84.5 | -1.00 |
| 3 | Peace Corps | 82.8 | 78.2 | 4.6 |
| 4 | National Endowment for the Humanities | 82.0 | 84.6 | -2.60 |
| 5 | Federal Labor Relations Authority | 79.2 | 69.7 | 9.50 |
| 6 | Congressional Budget Office | 78.8 | n/a | 0.00 |
| 7 | Overseas Private Investment Corp. | 72.8 | 70.5 | 2.30 |
| 8 | U.S. International Trade Commission | 71.6 | 69.3 | 2.30 |
| 9 | Farm Credit Administration | 71.6 | 70.2 | 1.40 |
| 10 | Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board | 70.5 | 73.7 | -3.20 |
(Credit: Bestplacestowork.org)
More of FedScoop’s coverage on the Best Places to Work list:
Job satisfaction among feds falls to all-time low
Best places to work: Top 10 large federal agencies
