This message from Governor Jay Inslee was sent out to all state employees on April 10, 2018:

Dear fellow state employee,

Thank you for sending me feedback on your employee experience through the annual state employee engagement survey, which gives me the opportunity to hear from thousands of you. A record 47,000 employees (75 percent) responded to the 2017 survey, providing valuable information about their state work experience. This is 10,000 more employees than responded last year and 5,000 more than the previous record in 2015. I am delighted that so many of you shared your responses with me and your agency leaders so we can take steps to improve.

For any organization to succeed, it must tap into the knowledge and expertise of its employees. This is especially true for state government. As state employees, you see every day how well we are doing — or where we can improve— at meeting our mission to provide effective, efficient services to the people of Washington.

That is why I benefit from hearing from you on a regular basis. I need your perspective on how we are doing and whether we are giving you the support you need to do your job well.

The majority of those responding to the survey feel we are doing a good job. Seventy-two percent of employees who took the survey said they are generally satisfied with their job. This marks the greatest proportion of employees satisfied with their job since the topic was added to the survey in 2011.

The top-rated areas, for which 80 percent or more of employees gave positive ratings, were:

• Knowing what is expected of them
• Being treated with dignity and respect by their supervisors
• Knowing how their work contributes to the goals of the agency

With focused and concerted efforts, we have consistently improved scores in these areas since the survey was launched in 2006.

While we can be proud of these results, there is always room for improvement. As was true last year, employees continue to give low ratings in the areas of receiving clear information about change in the agency and using customer feedback to improve work processes. Together with your agency leaders, I invite each of you to work collaboratively to discover new ways to address these gaps and to continue employing Lean management tools to address the causes of these employee concerns. We need to keep making real, measurable improvements that matter to you.

You deserve nothing less, and I pledge to continue working with you and the leadership of your agencies to raise engagement levels.

The statewide survey results are here. Your agency will be sharing its own survey results with you.

Your input is valuable to me and to the work we do on behalf of the people of this great state. Please feel free to share comments with me at OSHRDPolicy@ofm.wa.gov, with your supervisor, or with the human resources office in your agency.

Very truly yours,

Jay Inslee