Navigating the Rankings

Geared toward a broad audience of job seekers, researchers, federal employees and government leaders, Best Places to Work draws on responses from more than 221,000 civil servants to produce detailed rankings of employee engagement across 283 federal agencies and subcomponents.

Best Places also offers a snapshot overview of each agency and subcomponent, trend data on changes since 2003 and 2005, tips and information for job seekers, and expert analysis of what the results mean.

Here is a breakdown of what can be found in the rankings section:

All agencies and subcomponents with 100 or more full-time permanent employees were rated and ranked. Agencies with at least 2,000 full-time permanent employees are included in the "large agency" category. To switch between large agency, small agency and agency subcomponent scores, click on the grey tabs at the top of any table.

Tables can be sorted by rank, agency name, 2007 score, 2005 score and percentage change. To resort the table results, click on the column headers.

There are snapshot overviews of agencies and subcomponents that include workforce size and trends, demographic data, locations, Web links, and a complete list of its 2007 scores and rankings. To access the snapshot overview for an agency or subcomponent, click on its name in any of the tables.

Index Scores: The overall index score measures the performance of agencies and agency subcomponents related to employee satisfaction and engagement.

Best in Class Scores: The Best in Class rankings rate agencies' and subagencies' performance in the aforementioned work environment categories. All 10 categories are listed in the left menu under Best In Class Scores. Click on any category to view those scores.

Scores by Demographic: The demographic categories measure the performance of agencies and agency subcomponents related to employee satisfaction and engagement, according to a given demographic group. Not all agencies have data for demographic groups, due to small sample sizes. All 10 demographic categories are listed in the left menu under Scores By Demographic. Click on any category to view those scores.