JOB-RELATED ATTITUDES OF NEW CIA EMPLOYEES, PART II: GOVERNMENT-WIDE AND INTRA-AGENCY COMPARISONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00780R003700090027-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 35
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 13, 2002
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: February 28, 1969
• Content Type: REPORT

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 Ap
Ap
ovedP
UNCLASSIFIED CONFIDENTIAL G!
SECRET
OFFICIAL ROUTING SLIP
TO
NAME AND ADDRESS
DATE
INITIALS
1
Deputy Director for Support
2
16
3
4
5
6
ACTION
DIRECT REPLY
PREPARE REPLY
APPROVAL
DISPATCH
RECOMMENDATION
COMMENT
FILE
RETURN
CONCURRENCE
INFORMATION
SIGNATURE
Remarks :
Ref: My memorandum to you of 10 January 1969
Attached is a copy of Dr. more
comprehensive analysis of the questionnaire
administered during the Agency's review and
evaluation of career trainee systems.
Also attached is a copy of the report issued
by the Civil Service Commission based on the
participating agencies' submissions.
FOLD HERE TO RETURN TO SENDER
FROM: NAME. ADDRESS AND PHONE NO.
DATE
nF?84- 0"n
CIA-R
17 6
UNCLASSIFIED
-
CONFIDENTIAL
SECRET
FORM NO. 237 Use previous editions
1-67 237
25X1
 0 1 ) / S R F 01 1 S T R I
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JOB-RELATED ATTITUDES OF NEW CIA EMPLOYEES, PART II:
GOVERNMENT-WIDE AND INTRA-AGENCY COMPARISONS
25X1
Office of Medical Services
Assessment and Evaluation Staff
February, 1969
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This report was based on the results of an attitude questionnaire completed
anonymously by 300 young CIA professionals in conjunction with the President's
Program for Talented Youth in the Federal Service. A previous paper ("Job-Related
Attitudes of New CIA Employees", AES Report dated November, 1968), provided a
detailed analysis of the job-related attitudes of this total group of 300; the
purposes of the present paper were: (1) to compare the job-related attitudes of
young CIA professionals with those of young professionals elsewhere in the Federal
Government; (2) to compare the attitudes of CIA Career Trainees with those of
young Agency professionals not in the Career Training Program; and (3) to analyze
the narrative comments which were produced in response to two open-ended job
attitude questions.
Generally, it was found that CIA professionals view their jobs in much the
same light as do other government professionals -- on approximately four-fifths of
the attitude questionnaire's items, no differences emerged. Those few areas where
the CIA group did express somewhat more positive attitudes toward their present
jobs than did the Federal Government group included training, physical surroundings
and working conditions, importance of their organization's goals, the way their
organization is run, and their agency's rules and regulations. Conversely, young
CIA professionals expressed more pessimism concerning their prospects for promotion
than did young professionals elsewhere in government. As for future occupational
plans, over three times as many CIA employees as other government employees intend
to stay with their Agency (L.7 to 13%).
Comparisons between the job attitudes and satisfaction of Agency CTs and
non-CTs revealed that the CT group tended to express the more favorable or
positive sentiments. Job areas in which the attitudes of CTs were decidedly
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more favorable than those of non-CTs included opportunities for advancement,
intrinsic aspects of the work itself, and overall job satisfaction. Finally,
CTs were far more likely than non-CTs (71 to 35%) to indicate that their long-
range career plans were to stay with the CIA.
The open-ended invitations to spell out additional reasons for job
satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and to offer suggestions for change, produced
over 500 comments, a large majority of which were negative (83%). In general,
non-CTs made a larger proportion of negative comments than did CTs. Although
relatively few specific suggestions for changes were made, a large number of
negative feelings were registered toward training, the work itself, opportunities
for advancement,, the Agency's treatment of young employees, and personnel and
placement policies within the Agency. The overall picture that emerged from the
analysis of those open-ended questions should not be viewed, however, in isolation
from the considerably more positive picture which emerged from the analysis of
the objective, multiple-choice attitude survey items; unlike the open-ended
questions, each of the multipls-choice questions was responded to by the entire
sample of 300. Proper perspective and emphasis is best achieved by integrating
the data from both of these types of attitude questions.
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INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper was threefold: (1) to compare the job-related
attitudes of young CIA professionals with the attitudes of young professionals
elsewhere in the Federal Government; (2) to compare the attitudes of CIA Career
Trainees with those of young Agency professionals not in the Career Training
Program (non-CTs); and (3) to analyze the narrative comments which were produced
in response to two open-ended questions in the attitude survey.
Background
The basis for this study was an attitude questionnaire completed
anonymously by 300 young CIA professionals as part of the President's Program
for Talented Youth in the Federal Service. (This program was initiated by
President Johnson to improve the development of new career employees and to
insure that they have the opportunity to participate fully in the work of
their agencies.) The questionnaire was designed to allow new career employees
to express their feelings about their jobs, their work environment, the training
they have received, and to suggest ways of bringing about a greater sense of
personal involvement in the work of their agencies. For purposes of this study,
new career employees included in the CIA sample were defined as, and restricted
to,,those individuals who 1) entered on duty between 1 July 1967 and 30 June 1968;
2) were under age 30 when they entered their jobs; and 3) whose entry-level
position (GS-05,or equivalent or higher) required at least a bachelor's degree.
In order to make ccomparisons between the attitudes of young professionals
in the CIA and those elsewhere in government, results from this questionnaire
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were obtained from the Civil Service Commission on 2882 Federal employees from
47 Federal agencies in the Metropolitan Washington area. These non-CIA Federal
employees met the same requirements (of age, education,, etc.) as those met by
the Agency sample.
The questionnaire itself was divided into several parts. The first 31
items dealt primarily with background and training information. Item 32 was
designed to elicit general feelings about one's job as a whole. The next 14
items (hereafter called indicator items) were designed to tap general attitudes
toward 14 important dimensions of job satisfaction (e.g., salary, promotion
opportunities, etc.). The next 74 items were designed to measure more specific
aspects of job satisfaction within the 14 general dimensions. The following
section of the questionnaire required the respondents to rank order the 14
general dimensions of job satisfaction according to their order of importance
in an "ideal job." The final section invited narrative comments about
additional aspects of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction and suggestions
of possible changes which would provide younger employees with a greater
responsibility, voice, and involvement in the work of their agency.
This paper does not attempt to systematically discuss in absolute terms
the favorableness or unfavorableness of the attitudes of CIA employees; that
was done in an earlier paper (see AES Report dated November, 1968: "Job-Related
Attitudes of New CIA R ployees: A Study Done in Conjunction with the President's
Program for Talented Youth in the Federal Service"). Rather, this paper makes
comparisons between the attitudes of young CIA professionals and those of young
professionals elsewhere in government and between the attitudes of Agency CTs
and non-CTs. Only the analysis of the narratives produced in response to the
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open-ended questions can be considered to give a more or less absolute reading
of the attitudes of young CIA professionals; however, as will be mentioned
later, narratives typically; provide information of a very special nature and
should not be considered independently of the responses to the multiple-choice
attitude items discussed in the previous paper.
COMPARISON OF ATTITUDES CIA VERSUS
GOVERNMENT AS A WHOLE
The most striking finding in this area was the similarity between the
patterns of attitudes expressed by new CIA employees and those expressed by new
employees elsewhere in government. On approximately four-fifths of the ques-
tionnaire's items, no real differences existed. Although there were several
noteworthy exceptions, the overall generalization may be made that new CIA
employees view their jobs in much the same light as do other new government
employees.
Table 1 summarizes those areas where differences did emerge. For eight of
the lip dimensions of job satisfaction tapped by the questionnaire, there were
no differences on any of the items. These dimensions were personal work
accomplishments, feelings toward co-workers, the interestingness and meaningful-
ness of the work itself, supervisor's ability to understand the nature of the
work, treatment by supervisor, impression of job on family and friends, salary,
and recognition received for work. For all items grouped under these eight dimen-
sions, the percentage of CIA employees expressing satisfaction (and dissatis-
faction) did not differ significantly from the corresponding percentages of
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COMPARISONS OF ATTITUDES OF CIA AND OTHER GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ON THE
FOURTEEN DIMENSIONS OF JOB SATISFACTION AND TOWARD THEIR JOBS AS A WHOLE
No Differences between Attitudes o
CIA Employees Expressed More
Other Government Employees
CIA and Other Government Employees
Favorable Attitudes than Other
Expressed More Favorable
Government Employees
Attitudes than CIA Employees
Personal Work Accomplishments
Training (quality and relevance)
Co-Workers (feelings toward)
Physical Surroundings/Working
Conditions
Work Itself -- Interestingness
and Meaningfulness
Importance of Organization's
Goals
Supervisor's Ability to Understand
Nature of Work
Way Organization Is Run
Treatment by Supervisor
Rules and Regulations of Agency
Impression of Job on Family and
Friends
Salary
Recognition Received for Work
Job as a Whole
Note.--On those dimensions where differences emerged between CIA and other Government
employees, not all items within dimensions were differentially answered by CIA and other
Government employees.
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the government-wide sample. In addition, there was no difference between the CIA
and government-wide samples on the rather broad item "How (satisfied) do you feel
about your job as a whole?"
For some questionnaire items on five of the 14 dimensions, significantly
more CIA employees expressed favorable attitudes than government employees in
general.' (This does not mean that for all items on these five dimensions CIA
professionals responded more favorably; on some items there were no significant
differences.)
Training
The largest and most clear-cut differences were found in the area of training.
Sixty-two percent of the CIA sample expressed clear satisfaction with the quality
of their training instructors as compared with only 38% government-wide. Fifty
percent of the CIA sample agreed with the item "My agency has a well-planned
training program for people in my position"; the corresponding figure for other
government employees was 24+%. Comparable differences emerged for items dealing
with the adequacy of training for one's present job (71 vs. 53% satisfaction)
and overall feelings about classroom and on-the-job training (61 vs. 41%
satisfaction). This same general trend emerged in the ostensibly more "objective"
biographical and training information items in Part I of the questionnaire.
Seventy-four percent of CIA's sample strongly indicated that their formal orienta-
tion provided a clear understanding of their agency's role in the Federal system.,
in comparison with only 36% of the government-wide sample. Similarly, over twice
the proportion of CIA employees in comparison with other government employees
indicated that their formal orientation provided a clear understanding of their
1Favorable responses to specific items were defined as those responses which
indicated satisfaction toward existing policies, programs, working conditions, etc.
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agency's internal operations (52 vs. 24+%). Perhaps some of these differences
can be explained simply by the amount of training to which our employees have
been exposed; whereas half the government sample reported no full-time formal
training, only 15% of CIA's sample received no training. Conversely, 11% of
the government sample reported more than six weeks of full-time formal training
in comparison with 50% of CIA's sample. It is likely, however, that more than
just the quantity of training received is responsible for the more favorable
attitudes of CIA employees. As outlined above, significantly larger proportions
of CIA employees than employees in other government agencies responded favorably
to the quality as well as the quantity of their training.
Importance of Organization's Goals
For two of the three items placed in this category, a significantly larger
proportion of CIA employees responded with favorable attitudes. Ninety-three
percent of CIA's sample expressed satisfaction with the importance of their
agency's goals compared with 75% of the government-wide sample. Similarly,
there was greater agreement with the item "My agency has progressive programs"
in CIA (58 to 1+20).
Warr Organization Is Run
For four of the 10 items placed in this category, CIA employees responded
more favorably than did employees in the government-wide sample (the other six
items did not differentiate between groups). A larger proportion of CIA
employees expressed satisfaction with the way their agency is run (53 to 29%),
agreed that their agency is run by people who have good judgment (77 to 50%),
agreed that they can make their ideas known to management (73 to 58%), and did
not feel that their agency is unwilling to act on their ideas which have merit
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(53 to 37%). Clearly., a larger proportion of new CIA professionals perceive
their agency as having competent management.
Rules and Regulations
For both items in this category, CIA professionals expressed greater
satisfaction than was found in the government-wide sample. Seventy-four percent
of CIA's employees voiced satisfaction with the rules and regulations of their
agency compared with 57% in the government-wide sample. Similarly, a larger
percentage of CIA employees disagreed with the statement "My agency's rules and
regulations are unnecessarily strict and rigid" (86 to 68%).
Physical Surroundings/ Working Conditions
Of the nine items designed to measure attitudes toward physical surroundings
and working conditions, three produced significant differences between our
sample and the government-wide sample. All three significant items were more
positively responded to by CIA professionals. Over three-quarters of our
employees agreed that they had access to inexpensive or free parking near work;
only 16% of the government-wide sample had access to such parking. By a margin
of 62 to 15%, our employees expressed greater overall satisfaction with their
physical surroundings and working conditions. Finally, a larger proportion of
the people from other agencies agreed that their office areas are depressing
(4i to 25%). Overall., a larger proportion of our employees appear to be satisfied
with the physical surroundings and working conditions provided them than do
employees in the government generally.
Opportunity for Advancement
Of the 14 dimensions which this questionnaire was designed to measure,
only the dimension "opportunity for advancement" yielded clear-cut results
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indicating greater satisfaction on the part of professionals in other government
agencies. Two of the five items in this category significantly differentiated
between CIA and other government agencies. Whereas only 25% of the government-
wide sample agreed with the item "My rate of advancement will be slower than I
was led to believe," 43% of the CIA sample agreed with this statement. Similarly,
a larger percentage of CIA employees agreed that they would probably advance
more quickly in private industry than in the Federal Government (56 to 1.i%).
It may be that these two discrepancies reflect higher aspirations on the part
of our young employees in comparison with those of other agencies. However, in
view of the finding that nearly 20% more CIA employees indicated that their rate
of promotion will be slower than they were led to believe, it's reasonable to
suspect a failure in communication with our applicants in regard to the actual
promotional policies of CIA.
Long-range Career Plans
In general, the comparisons between the attitudes of CIA professionals
and comparable professionals elsewhere in government cast a favorable light on
CIA policies and people. With the single exception of opportunities for promo-
tion, the attitudes of new CIA professionals were at least as favorable, and in
several instances more favorable, than attitudes of other new government pro-
fessionals. Thus, it comes as no surprise that there is a difference in the
percentage of young professionals who plan to stay with the CIA and the percentage
from other government agencies who plan to stay with their agencies. The magnitude
of this difference, however, is surprising. Forty-seven percent of CIA employees
indicated that their long-range career plans were to stay with their agency; only
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13% of other government employees plan to stay with their agencies, On the other
hand, a smaller proportion of CIA employees plan to stay in government service
if they do leave their agency (8 vs. 25%),
It is likely, of course, that.the unique types of training and experiences
provided by CIA are not as readily transferable outside the Agency -- in govern-
ment or elsewhere -- as the training and experience afforded by other government
agencies. This could explain why a larger percentage of CIA employees than
government employees in general plan to stay with their agency; they perhaps feel
that their options have been reduced. On the other hand, the finding that larger
proportions of CIA people than government people in general expressed positive
attitudes on a number of dimensions -- training, importance of their organization's
goals, the way their organization is run, the rules and regulations of their agency
and their physical surroundings and working conditions -- strongly suggests that
a positive influence is operating as well. In short, while some may plan to stay
primarily because they feel that the options available to them have been reduced,
others probably plan to remain for more positive reasons.
What Is Important in the Ideal Job
It will be recalled that the CSC questionnaires asked employees to rank the
l4 dimensions of job satisfaction in their order of importance in the ideal job.
Table 2 presents a comparison of the ranks obtained from the CIA sample and those
obtained from the government-wide sample. The degree of similarity between these
two lists of ranks is impressive; CIA employees apparently possess values, insofar
as their work is concerned, which are very similar to those of government employees
in general (the rank order correlation between the two lists is .95; a correlation
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TABLE 2
RANKINGS OF THE FOURTEEN DIMENSIONS OF JOB SATISFACTION
IN THEIR ORDER OF IMPORTANCE IN THE "IDEAL JOB"
Rankings fir
CIA Sample
Rankings for
Government S2mD1e
Work Itself
1
1
Personal Work Accomplishments
2
2
Chance for Promotion
3
3
Salary
4
4
Importance of Organization's Goals
5
6
Co-Workers (feelings toward)
6
5
Training (quality and relevance)
7
10
Treatment by Supervisor
8
7
Supervisor's Understanding of My Work
9
9
Way Organization Is Run
10
11
Recognition Received for Work
11
8
Physical Surroundings/Working Conditions
12
12
Organization's Rules and Regulations
13
13
Impression of Job on Family and Friends
14
14
*Rank of 1 is most important; rank of 14 is least important.
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of 1.00 would indicate a perfect relationship).
For only two of the 11i dimensions was there anything approaching substantial
disagreement -- training and recognition received. CIA employees placed a
slightly higher priority on receiving relevant classroom and on-the-job training
(ranked seventh in importance by CIA, tenth by the government-wide sample). On
the other hand, CIA employees placed a slightly lower priority on receiving
recognition for their work (ranked eleventh in importance by CIA, eighth by the
government-wide sample). For the remaining 12 dimensions, the rankings produced
by the CIA and government-wide samples were virtually identical, suggesting that
our employees are seeking the same general types of satisfactions in their work
as are other government employees.
COMPARISON OF JOB-RELATED ATTITUDES OF AGENCY CAREER
TRAINEES AND NON-CAREER TRAINEES
In this section comparisons of job-related attitudes and satisfactions of
CTs and non-CTs are presented, The focus will be primarily on those job dimen-
sions and survey items on which responses of the two Agency groups differed to
a statistically reliable degree. The groups were constituted from the Agency
sample described in an earlier section of this report,
The CT sample consisted of 101 present or former (now assigned) trainees --
91 males and 10 females. The non-CT sample numbered 199 Agency professionals --
136 .males and 63 females. The majority of these non-CTs worked in the Directorate
for Intelligence (N=114); 36 were in the Clandestine Services, 31 in the Directorate
for Science and Technology, and 16 in the Support Services.
On the average, CTs were older than non-CTs -- median age of 28 vs. 24 --
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and were slightly better educated. Whereas 17% of the CTs reported having at
least a master's degree, only 22% of the non-CT group claimed advanced degrees.
On a number of background items dealing with training history and experiences,
the obvious and expected response differences for these two Agency groups
emerged; they will not be discussed here. Perhaps the single most revealing
background difference between the CTs and the non-CTs occurred in response to
a question inquiring about long-range career plans. CTs were twice as likely
as non-CTs (71 vs. 35%) to indicate they intended to stay with the CIA.
On 40 of the 89 survey items dealing specifically with expressed job
attitudes and satisfactions, the CT and non-CT groups responded in a signifi-
cantly different manner. The great majority of these differences, in fact
about 80% of them, involved CTs giving more favorable or positive responses
than non-CTs. The discussion of these response differentials in the following
paragraphs is organized around the several rational clusters of survey items
described in the earlier PIES report, "Job-Related Attitudes of New CIA
Employees."
1. Personal Work Accomplishments
In the area of personal work accomplishments, which would include such
things as whether or not the respondent felt he had successfully accomplished
his work assignments and the degree to which he felt that he was making a real
contribution, CTs and non-CTs responded in essentially the same manner. About
three-quarters of both groups expressed clear satisfaction and 10% clear
dissatisfaction with their accomplishments and contribution.
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II. Classroom and On-the-Job Training
Overall, the two Agency groups expressed about the same degree of satisfac-
tion with the "quality and relevance of the classroom and on-the-job training
they received for their present positions." This is more than a little surprising
when viewed in light of the very considerable differences in the scope and
emphasis on training received by CTs and non-CTs. However, less surprising,
but perhaps more to the point, CTs were far more likely than non-CTs to agree
that the "Agency has a well planned training program." And in a similar vein..
CTs were more likely to acknowledge being asked to participate in the planning
of their career development. Finally, CTs to a greater degree than non-CTs
asserted having experienced a definite growth in skills since entering on duty.
III. Feelings toward Co-Workers
With the exception of CTs claiming slightly greater communality of interest
and attitudes with "fellow workers" than that claimed by non-CTs, both Agency
groups expressed equally high positive regard for their co-workers.
IV. The Work Itself: Interestingness and Meaningfulness
This dimension of job satisfaction perhaps more than any other occasioned
frequent and striking differences between CTs and non-CTs. Nine of the 13
survey items loading on this dimension were responded to significantly differently
by the two groups and in every instance the CTs gave, on the average, the more
favorable responses. Thus, for example, CTs were more likely than non-CTs to
assert that their job required them to be creative, their work did not bore them,
they got challenging, important assignments, and they were not discouraged in
their present job. On this last point it might be noted that fully one-third
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of the non-CTs expressed some degree of discouragement in their present job while
the corresponding percentage for CTs was 13. Note that for the CTs still in
training, questions about jobs, assignments, etc., would have a different meaning
than they would for non-CTs and CTs assigned to operating components.
V. Lly Supervisor's Ability to Understand the Naturebf k! Work
CTs seem to feel very slightly more positive than non-CTs about their
supervisor's ability to understand the nature of their work. Of course, for
a good number of the individuals in the CT sample "the supervisor" was probably
either a Program or Training Officer and Dot a line supervisor. Hence, the
significance of this result is ambiguous.
VI. The Way My Stu ervisor Treats Me
For all intents and purposes, CTs and non-CTs expressed equally high regard
for the way that their "supervisor" treated them. Again, we hasten to caution
that the ambiguous referent for the term "supervisor" for the CT sample makes
this finding of questionable significance.
VII. Impression Ply, Job Makes on Family and Friends
Non-CTs consistently expressed more positive attitudes than CTs toward the
public image of their particular jobs or occupations and of Federal service in
general. One suspects that the nominal cover status assigned to CTs at EOD is
responsible, at least in part, for this group difference in responding. However,
this does not clarify the fact that CTs more than non-CTs felt that the public
looks down on government employees.
VIII. Physical Surroundings and Working Conditions
Basically, CTs and none-CTs expressed similar views and opinions on the set
of items dealing with physical surroundings and working conditions.
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IX. Opportunity for Advancement
CTs claimed far more satisfaction with their opportunities for advancement
in the Agency than did non-CTs. Seventy-five percent of the CTs but only one-
half of the non-CTs expressed clear satisfaction with their chances for promotion.
Somewhat curiously, CTs more than non-CTs asserted that they would probably
advance more quickly in private industry than in government. Thus, while CTs
saw better promotion possibilities than the non-CTs in the private sector,
they expressed more satisfaction than the non-CTs with existing possibilities.
X. Salary
Both Agency groups expressed about the same degree of satisfaction/dissatis-
faction with their salaries. Thus, slightly less than one-half of the CTs and
non-CTs were clearly satisfied and somewhat less than one-third clearly dissatis-
fied with their present salaries. However, as was the case with perceived
chances for promotion, CTs, more than non-CTs, acknowledged that they would
be better off salary-wise outside of the Federal Government.
XI. Recognition for Work
To a small but statistically reliable degree, CTs more than non-CTs felt
that their work (in the case of some CTs, training performance) had been
appropriately and adequately evaluated and recognized.
XII. Importance of Agency's Goals
Whereas both CTs and non-CTs were nearly unanimous (95%) in expressing
satisfaction with and favorable attitudes toward Agency goals, the CT group
was even more extreme than the non-CTs in its expression of positive regard.
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XIII. The Way the Agency Is Run
Of the ten items falling on this dimension., fduzr were responded to in a
significantly different manner by CTs and non-CTs. All of these significant
differences showed the CTs expressing the more favorable attitudes toward the
way the Agency is run., particularly in matters involving communications with
management. Thus, for example, CTs more than non-CTs felt that management
made an effort to solicit their ideas (55 vs. 30%) and that there was not a
communication gap between management and employees (58 vs. 4+1%). CTs and
non-CTs felt pretty much the same concerning Agency personnel programs and
efforts. Roughly 50% of the two Agency groups expressed positive attitudes
and 20% clearly negative ones? the remaining 30% being undecided.
XIV. Agency's Rules and Regulations
No significant differences were found between the responses of CTs and
non-CTs on this job dimension. Unfavorable attitudes toward Agency rules and
regulations were expressed by about only 5% of the groups.
Miscellaneous
Two of the three items in this unnamed category were responded to
differently by CTs and non-CTs. On an item inquiring about "overall job
satisfaction," 75% of the CTs expressed clear satisfaction., 7% clear dissatis-
faction. For non-CTs, the corresponding figures were 58% satisfied, 22%
dissatisfied. Finally., CTs were slightly more likely than non-CTs (56 vs. 4+4%)
to agree with the statement that their job was as good as they thought it
would be when first hired.
In summary,then:?,comparisons between the job attitudes and satisfaction
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of Agency CTs and non-CTs revealed that the CT group tended to express the
more favorable or positive sentiments.
ANALYSIS OF OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Two open-ended or free-response questions were included in the attitude
survey. The first asked employees to discussr.reasons for job satisfaction
and dissatisfaction not covered elsewhere in the questionnaire. The second
question asked for suggested changes "so that younger employees could have a
greater responsibility, voice, and involvement in the work of their agency."
In considering responses made to open-ended questions, it should be
remembered that such responses typically convey a more negative picture than
that conveyed by data from only objective, multiple-choice attitude questions.
This is because persons with strong negative attitudes are more likely to
express their sentiments on open-ended questions than are persons with more
neutral or positive attitudes, Therefore, to insure a balanced view, the
results from the open-ended questions in the attitude survey should be con-
sidered together with the results from the multiple-choice questionnaire items
presented in the earlier paper.
Seventy-four percent of the 300 CIA employees responded to one or both
of these questions, producing a total of 547 comments. The overwhelming
majority of these comments was negative (83% of the total comments). The
remaining comments were classified as either positive (15% of the total comments)
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or neutral (2% of the total comments).- For purposes of analysis, the remarks
of the total Agency sample were divided into those made by Career Trainees
(N-lol) and non-CTs (N-199). Since Agency CTs and non-CTs could be expected
to be exposed to quite different experiences during their first year in the
Agency, it was felt that their responses to these questions should be treated
separately.
Career Trainees
Table 3 presents a classification of the comments made by the 101 CTs to
the open-ended questions. Sixty-four percent of the CTs responded to one or
both questions. (Since individuals frequently made suggestions for changes in
their answers to the first question, as well as the second, responses to both
questions were classified together.) As might be expected for this group, the
largest number of comments concerned training. These comments were quite varied,
ranging from criticisms that training is too long to a suggestion that younger
men should be put in charge of training CTs. One person stated that there is too
much emphasis on the past which serves to stifle initiative and inquiry since
"we are obliged to adhere to tried and true past methods." Two persons argued
for more on-the-job and less classroom training. In general, there were no
was responsible for deriving the classification scheme
and classifying the narrative comments.
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TABLE 3
CLASSIFICATION OF COMMENTS MADE BY 101 CTs TO THE
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Number of
Number of
Number of
Category Negative Comments
Neutral Comments
Positive Comments
Training
16
1
3
Work Itself
4
1
11
Management of Young Employees
13
1
0
Way Agency Is Run
6
0
8
Opportunity for Advancement
11
0
2
Personnel and Placement
10
0
1
Reactions to Older Employees
9
0
0
Treatment by Supervisors
3
0
5
Career Planning
7
0
0
Communication
4
0
1
Initial Interviews
4
0
1
Salary
Transfers and Rotations
2
Feelings toward Co-Workers
1
Supervisor's Understanding of Work
2
Importance of Organization's Goals
1
Physical Surroundings/Working
Conditions
Personal Work Accomplishments
TOTALS
98
37
PERCENTAGES of Total Comments
70
26
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really unique suggestions for changing training.
The work itself drew the second largest number of comments from CTs. In
general, comments were positive (11 of 16) and suggested satisfaction with
present duties. To quote one CT, "(I am) confident I will continue to enjoy
my work." One person, however, likened himself to a "rubber stamp" and said
that he made "pre-determined decisions;" another stated that his work was not
consistently interesting or exciting. One person remarked "We are told we are
the cream of the crop . . . yet jobs we are started on require much less than we
can offer. If we state this, we are snobs; if we don't we are bored . . ."
The Agency's management of young employees drew a sizeable number of
comments, nearly all of which contained some dissatisfaction. Although one
person asserted that "Too much emphasis is given to sounding out new employees,"
nearly all the comments falling into this category implied the opposite. Several
people asserted that younger employees should be provided earlier with greater
responsibilities that challenge their aptitudes and competencies. One individual
noted that he had been entrusted with much more responsibility in the Marines,
another that young professionals deserve more responsible duties than secretarial
work or the reading of files. Overall, the majority of comments in this area
focused on the need for providing CTs with assignments involving some responsibility
-- as one Career Trainee phrased it, "After training the CT should be given a
specific, responsible job and be made to sink or swim."
Several persons' comments were directed toward the general area of how
the Agency is run. This group of comments was mixed, containing about as many
favorable as unfavorable remarks. The comments ranged from obvious satisfaction
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(e.g., "finest Agency in government") to equally obvious dissatisfaction (e.g.,
"too often good ideas not acted upon because of inbred conservatism"). While
one CT described the Agency as "both flexible and pragmatic," another felt
""perplexed by the hierarchy of cob-webbed levels of management and their result-
ing personal conflicts and personality differences." In general, the favorable
comments focused on the overall effectiveness of the Agency while the unfavor-
able comments criticized either the conservatism of the Agency or the dissension
among managers.
The topic "opportunity for advancement" drew several comments, nearly all
of which were negative (only two of 13 comments were positive). The thread
running through nearly all comments criticized the Agency's promotion system
for placing too much emphasis on age and time in grade, neglecting competence
and merit.
The area of personnel and placement practices drew 11 comments, 10 of which
were negative. Several persons complained about the procedure whereby assign-
ments are granted. One person asserted that "No one seems to have answers or
know how to get them concerning my future." Suggestions for improvement
included "Assure that advisors have full information concerning job opportunities
and training plans," "Don't have so many overqualified people," and "Be more
truthful in keeping employees informed concerning personnel changes, slots, and
opportunities." One individual stated there was a need for "an effective and
strong department which will listen to complaints and attempt to do something
about them . . . this department must be responsible to the highest authority
and not personnel people."
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Reactions to older employees drew nine comments, all of which were
negative. The theme running through virtually all of these comments was a
need for more "oldtimers" to retire. As one CT phrased it, there is a need to
"get rid of unimaginative senior employees who occupy positions by seniority
alone." Many of these negative comments may have been motivated by the desire
to open up headroom for younger professionals,,.although this reasoning was not
made explicit by any of the people who made comments on this topic.
All of the remaining categories of comments made by CTs drew relatively
few comments -- on none did more than 8% of the CTs make comments. For this
reason, each of the remaining 11 categories (see Table 3) will not be dis-
cussed separately; only the highlights will be mentioned. For instance, seven
individuals commented about the lack of any systematic career planning. Four
persons asserted that their jobs, as described in their initial interviews,
differed significantly from what their actual jobs turned out to be. In a
comment directed toward the organization's goals, one CT remarked that "New
workers are so far down the organization's plumbing that (the new worker)
doesn't know or care about the Agency's work as a whole." And finally, while
it will be recalled that the majority of young CIA professionals surveyed was
reasonably satisfied with its physical surroundings and working conditions,
one CT commented that for him, working conditions were "almost intolerable" --
he described his office as "drab," "noisYs" and affording "no privacy."
Non-Career Trainees
Table 4 presents a classification of the comments made by the 199 non-CTs
to the open-ended questions of the questionnaire. Seventy-eight percent of the
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TABLE 4
CLASSIFICATION OF COMMENTS MADE BY 199 NON-CTs TO THE
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Number of
Number of
Number of
ry Negative Comments Neutral Comments
Cate o
Positive Comments
_
Work Itself
46
1
15
Opportunity for Advancement
42
Management of Young Employees
29
Training
28
Treatment by Supervisor
17
0
8
Personnel and Placement
23
0
0
Communication
20
0
0
Way Agency Is Run
13
0
6
Initial Interviews
18
0
0
Transfers and Rotations
17
0
0
Career Planning
13
0
1
Reaction to Older Employees
13
0
0
Waste, Duplication, Insufficient Work 12
Salary
10
0
2
Physical Surroundings and Working
Conditions
10
0
2
Two-Year Work Agreement
11
0
0
Planning to Leave Agency
11
0
0
Feelings toward Co-Workers
5
0
5
Importance of Organization's Goals
1
2
3
Cost-of-Living, Living Conditions
5
0
0
Supervisor's Understanding of Work
5
0
0
Personal Work Accomplishments
5
0
0
TOTALS
351
5
48
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non-CTs responded to one or both questions. A comparison of Tables 3 and 4
reveals that a larger proportion of the total number of comments made by non-.CTs
were negative (87% negative for non-CTs, 70% negative for CTs). Comparisons of
the most frequently used categories of comments by CTs and non-CTs reveal
considerable similarity as to the topics of the most frequently voiced comments
of the two groups. With one exception, the six categories which contained the
largest number of comments of the CTs also wre in the list of the six most
frequently used categories for the non-CTs. Furthermore, many of the same points
and arguments found in the comments of the CTs were also present in the comments
of the non-CTs.
The work itself drew more comments from non-CTs than any other topic. In
contrast to the findings for the CT group, the majority of these comments were
negative (71% of the total comments made). Many people complained about dull
and tedious work which lacks challenge and is uncreative. In the words of one
young professional, "some of the jobs are not only boring and tedious but an
insult to the intellect of any college graduate desirous of making a meaningful
contribution." Another phrased the same thought more colloquially: "My job is
a long, continuous bore . . . a junior high school graduate could do my job
and a high school graduate could do all the supervisor's present functions . . .
wasted a year of ray life . . . acrimony is the only feeling I have; to hell with
it . ." With the exception of a few people who voiced obvious satisfaction
with their work, the majority of people making comments in this area felt that
the work was either too easy, too boring, too repetitive, or too unchallenging.
As for measures to improve the "meaningfulness" of the work assigned to young
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professionals, one person suggested that the Agency "give clerical duties to
clerical help; don't have college graduates spending their lives filing cards
so someone else can write a summary." Other suggestions that were made followed
much the same line.
Forty-three comments made by non-CTs were directed toward the topic of
opportunity for advancement; 42 of the comments were negative. The general
consensus of these comments was that promotions are too slow in coming and are
based too heavily on seniority, with little concern given to actual performance.
A number of persons commented unfavorably about politics in promotions, suggesting
that in many cases promotions are based more upon the people one knows than upon
actual performance. Several suggestions were made to improve the present
promotional system, but typically these were not specific -- for example,
"eliminate advancement based on seniority and whom you know." One person suggested
instituting "employee competition" for promotions (without explaining this system
in greater detail). Another argued that the Agency should provide "greater
awareness of potential and chances for advancement." Despite their inability
to provide specific recommendations for change, it is clear that a sizeable
number of our young professionals are quite dissatisfied with the present
promotional mechanism in CIA (the only area, it will be recalled, where attitudes
of young CIA employees are more negative than those of young employees in the
government generally).
The category "management of young employees" contained the third largest
number of comments by non-CTs. The overwhelming majority of these comments
were negative (29 of 32). The major thrust of most of these comments was that
young professionals should be given more responsibility, and their ideas more of
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a hearing by senior Agency managers. Several persons suggested that younger
employees should be allowed and even encouraged to contribute ideas; one person
suggested the formation of a "committee of young professionals" to "meet some
of the supergrade hierarchy and express our viewpoint." In general, the comments
falling in this category expressed or implied a lack of responsiveness on the
part of Agency management to the ideas and talents of the younger professionals.
The topic of training drew 32 comments, 28 of which were negative. No
general theme pervaded these comments; some complained that they received too
much training, others not enough; some felt that their training could have been
improved by broadening its scope to include orientation to components other than
just the one to which they were assigned.
Treatment by one's supervisor drew the fifth largest number of comments
from non-CTs. Of the 25 persons who made comments in this area, 17 were clearly
critical of some aspect of their supervision. These criticisms ran the gamut
from complaints about too close supervision to complaints about supervisors' lack
of interest in their supervisees and their work. To quote one individual,
"encouragement, praise, and criticism are rarely given to an employee until a
critical time such as promotions, fitness reports, etc." To quote another
"supervisors should treat young professionals as though the best interests of
the individual and the Agency are the same."
The personnel and placement policies of the Agency drew 23 negative comments
and no positive ones. The intensity of feeling of a small number of comments
falling in this area was unsurpassed in any of the other categories of responses
to the open-ended questions. For example, one non-CT stated "when I was able
to prove to personnel that I had been lied to . . . a sheet of remarks (was
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placed) in my personnel folder implying that I was a trouble-maker." From
another young professional: ". . . personnel staff highly incompetent; not
only fails to relieve tense job situations, but instead creates them." Most
of the comments falling in this category were more gentle than those of the
two persons just cited, although there was virtually unanimity among the 23
people who offered comments in this area that the personnel and placement
functions of the Agency should be improved. As to the specifics of how im-
provements could be made, there was little agreement; suggestions ranged from the
quite vague "Personnel Office should play it straight" to the more specific
recommendation of a "definite central organization handling promotions and job
assignments; don't leave this to individual components."
The area of communication drew comments from 20 persons -- all of the
comments were critical. The general theme of most of these remarks was a feeling
on the part of young professionals of being cut off from the communication
channels of the Agency. In the words of one individual, "I have a sense of
being isolated in one job, in one office, with not enough contact with others."
To quote another, "it would be helpful to know when decisions are reached;
otherwise there will be divergent opinions on matters already decided . . .
(at present, the young professional) depends on hearsay and rumors." Suggestions
for improving the communication process focused on increasing the amount of
contact between management and young employees through various means -- "bull
sessions," informal meetings, and formal discussions. In general, these
suggestions did not call for management to listen more to what the young employee
is saying -- that type of comment was classified elsewhere. Rather, these
suggestions pointed up a desire of young employees to be given the opportunity
to listen and learn what management is thinking -- its problems, the logic
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Since less than 10% of the non-CCs made comments which fell into each of
the remaining categories (see Table !), these categories will not be discussed
individually; only highlights will be noted` Comments about the way the Agency
is run covered a broad range -- from "Agency is not as bureaucratically rigid
as other agencies" to "Agency is the cheapest organization in government --
(there is a) great deal of pettiness and empire building." All comments about
initial employment interviews were critical and ranged from the relatively mild
"Agency should be more specific in explaining new job opportunities to new
employees," to the considerably less mild "I was told lies before coming on
board." The 17 people who commented about transfers and rotations all complained
about the difficulty (or impossibility) of effecting transfers within the Agency.
All but one of the 14 comments about career planning criticized the Agency for
a lack of any definite career planning. The 13 people who chose to discuss older
employees produced no complimentary remarks -- their comments about "oldtimers"
and "deadwood" were quite similar to those produced by the CTs. Twelve persons
complained of waste, duplication, or insufficient work; e.g., "my office is
overstaffed and underworked . . (it contains) several meaningless positions,"
or "it is my observation that the Federal Government is not concerned with cost,
either in man hours or material expenditures." Eleven non-CTs expressed resentment
about the requirement that they remain on their present jobs for two years. To
quote one individual, the "Agency would get more out of new employees if it did
not insist on using them for two years in jobs nobody else wants. Two years of
suffering with no assurance of a suitable career." Eleven persons outlined clearly
their plans to leave the Agency, with considerable bitterness apparent in several
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of their comments. To quote one person, "will leave Agency in a month to
prepare for a real career in private industry. Thanks to my exposure to
federal bureaucracy, will never return to federal service." The few comments
about co-workers were evenly divided into positive and negative remarks.
The overall impression gained from analysis of the open-ended questions
is a good deal more pessimistic than that conveyed by the objective attitude
items. As pointed out above,, this type of result is not unusual; typically,
those people who choose to contribute to open-ended questions have much stronger
feelings (which are frequently negative) concerning their work or certain
aspects of it than people who make no comments, Therefore, if over-emphasis
is given to these open-ended questions, it is possible to draw too strong
conclusions concerning the extent of discontent-In the Agency. Nevertheless,
the fact that sizeable minorities were concerned enough about various aspects
of their employment to make the acerbic comments that were made should not be
dismissed as inevitable with questionnaires of this type,
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The results of this attitude study are interesting and informative in their
own right---they provide a relatively concentrated glimpse of the feelings and
perceptions of a sizable group of young, relatively inexperienced Agency
professionals. In comparison with the rest,of government, our young professional
employees appear to be reasonably satisfied---yet they feel that there is plenty
of room for improvement as documented by many of the narrative comments and the
differing levels of satisfaction expressed between CTs and non-CTs.
To gain a really comprehensive picture of the attitudes and level of
satisfaction with CIA, additional surveys of this type are needed. The present
study examined the attitudes and feelings of employees who had been with the
organization no longer than 17 months; what are the attitudes and feelings of
employees who have been aboard for 5, 10, 20 and 30 years? Surely the attitudes
of these employees would be based on more experience and less hearsay than those
of a group whose average experience is less than a year. How do the attitudes
of the group of relatively new employees which formed the basis of this study
change over-the years? Do their attitudes become more positive, as many of the
disquieting rumors which abounded in their initial months are dispelled, or do
they become more negative as they learn what their organization is t?really like?"
Answers provided by a series of systematic attitude surveys of this type could
go far toward providing a comprehensive, accurate picture of the organizational
climate of the Agency. Such an overall picture can help provide a sound basis
for decisions by management for improving the general effectiveness of the Agency
and enhancing the careers of those who work here.
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