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Survey Says National Park Service Is Far from the Best Government Agency to Work For

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Employee survey shows there's a little tarnish on the NPS shield.

You'd think that waking up every day in places such as Yellowstone, Olympic, Acadia, Yosemite or Rocky Mountain national parks would be part of a dream job. But a survey of federal employees shows that those working for the National Park Service are far from being the most content with their jobs.

In fact, according to the 2009 Best Places to Work survey, the National Park Service ranks surprisingly close to the bottom of all federal agencies in terms of job satisfaction: out of 216 agencies, the Park Service stood 160th. Topping the list were the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Government Accountability Office.

Why? The respondents pointed to poor training and development, ineffective leaders, poor teamwork, a lack of strategic management, and poor quality of life when it comes to a work/life balance. Distressingly, the Park Service’s overall reputation as a good place to work has gotten worse in recent years, according to the survey, the fourth annual.

While the latest overall index score of 59.8 was a tad higher than last year's 58.2 overall score, it was down from 62.5 noted in 2005 and 64.1 recorded in 2003.

In some specific categories, the Park Service garnered a score of just 38.5 out of 200 on the question of effective leaders, 38.3 out of 185 in the "family friendly culture and benefits" category, and 40.1 out of 200 in "performance based rewards and advancement. While the highest score was a 78.3 out of 120 in "employee skills/mission match," that was down from both the 2005 score of 78.8 and the 2003 score of 81.0 in that category.

The Park Service's National Leadership Council, which is comprised of the agency's director, deputy directors, regional directors, associate directors and assistant directors, says it is working to reverse the trends, but that it won't happen overnight.

"A number of initiatives in the learning and development arena were initiated in 2008 in response to the 2007 ranking. We will continue to focus on carrying these through to completion, as well as identify further workplace enrichment initiatives in the coming months," the leadership council said. "Emphasis in areas such as communication, supervisory skills development, and work-life flexibilities will support the NPS goal of becoming a best place to work in the federal government.

"Combined with the prior survey results (we're having the analysis done right now that compares 2002 with 2004 with 2006 and now 2008), we take the trends seriously and the similarity of responses to certain questions seriously," added the council. "Our training and development revitalization efforts over the past year-and-a-half are a direct result of 2006 results and simply haven't had time to pay off yet in terms of morale impact.

"It is important to note that real change in morale takes sustained effort over a number of years to find out what are the biggest concerns among the large number identified and to come up with meaningful ways to redress those concerns that will result in noticeable differences in the way the workforce perceives the issue."

Some of the concerns, however, were pointed out to the agency back in 2006 when Julie Elmore, then a graduate student working on her master's degree at Duke University, did her thesis project on National Park Service Employee Satisfaction and Employee Retention. That project, in which Ms. Elmore received responses from more than 2,500 Park Service employees, pointed to a number of areas of employee discontent. Some of the comments were quite biting:

* "In my park, I've seen a job created to employ the girlfriend of upper management as well as to move her entire family stateside. ... I watched my former superintendent play solitaire on his office computer for hours as well as to print out reams of paper from the Internet on recipes and ads for buying a boat."

* "We continue to put out large fires but fail to prevent the fires or see the cause."

* "Today's reality is that NPS managers at all levels are forced to concentrate all their energies on 'putting out fires' all day, every day. 'Doing more with less' is no longer an option. If preservation and protection of park lands is still important to the American people, then the case must be made to increase budgets and to hire and retain quality personnel."

* "We need to show pride and recognition to those who do a good job. This motivation goes a long way. We need to build pride again in our mission and our agency. People will see the difference and want to be a part of it. We have to build it from within, person to person, not with a national campaign and button."

* "Quit pulling out leaders and filling with cronies. Hire good people and believe in them. Let them do their work without the fear that they could be removed if a stakeholder isn't happy."

* "I have a short time left before I am eligible for retirement, and cannot wait. I believe in the mission of the National Park Service and it is extremely difficult to watch how that mission has been purposely and effectively corrupted and derogated over the past six years. Ideologues have hired ideologies."

How might the Park Service improve its overall ranking? According to the Best Places to Work survey, effective leadership at the top of the agency is the ticket:

For the fourth time in a row, the primary driver of job satisfaction in the federal space is effective leadership. While this finding is no surprise, the reasons behind it are. In a first, the 2009 Best Places rankings break down which factors shape employees’ views of their leadership. Conventional wisdom holds that the greatest influence on an employee’s satisfaction is his or her immediate supervisor. However, the 2009 Best Places rankings reveal that it is actually the quality of an agency’s senior leadership that has the greatest bearing on employee views.

Comments

Yes, Ron Mackie is on to something about the value of working in the national park service. Like him, meeting so many interesting (and eager !) visitors was a great kick.

Another great thing was the variety of work. From job to job, it was almost as if each was a different career, so many new things did I learn about the world, about education, about management strategies, about working with local communities. I found important friends and colleagues in the community and in the NPS.

One of the very best things: the great majority of people really believed in the Mission of the NPS, and were not there for the money. That led to the good side of the "NPS Family" because you could call nearly anybody, many you may never have met, in any park of central office and find that you were dedicated to the same things. Such people tell you the truth about the situation you are facing and the people involved, and give good ideas on how to do your job well in trying situations.

Another of the good parts of the "Family" is generally there is a homogeneity in commitment to consistent and excellent visitor experiences for all parks, across the Nation. The troubling part of the homogeneity, of course may be the compaints in some of the previous posts about the buddy system.

In my experience, though, I saw very little of it. I had no family or political leaders pulling for me to get in. But I have been supported by wonderful people in the Service throughout my career, even though I had no ties to them.

But I can see how it may look like a buddy system to some people who only see a small part of it. Half the people who joined the NPS when I did got in, though, in 'unusual' ways, because it was so difficult to get in. Often, a typical case, a Seasonal employee who had done excellent work gets a boost to get in. I came in via a technical job, and later was transfered over to a professional one. I have friends who came in as bookkeepers and eventually were moved over to park ranger. All that may look like a buddy system, and is extremely frustrating to those who never get in the career ranks. But the last President who went out of his way to create a professional way to enter the government, that was reflected in the NPS, was Lyndon Johnson. Gradually political and budget pressures on the NPS meant that managers had to go through weird contortions to obtain a staff of believers who also are competent. Training, for the same political and budgetary reasons, also has suffered historically. One value of the old system, you could learn a lot on the job. This is not so true, today.

On the complaint of Anon, above, about how superintendents are selected, I have a somewhat different take as well. When I joined, the typical career ladder for a superintendent was moving up the Park Ranger ranks to Chief Ranger, and then to Superintendent or Deputy. As the world changed, and new skills were required, or as bureaucratic requirements were forced on the NPS by congressional committees or the Office of Management and Budget, there was pressure to hire from outside the ranger ranks, and often the need to bring in superintendents with 'new' skills of resource management, science, cultural resources or partnership-beyond-park-borders.

There is a dark side of this story, too: I was told by an extremely high official in the Ronald Reagan Administration that it was their political goal to split the influence and political power of the Park Rangers by cutting back on the number of divisions in washington managed by Rangers, by pitting 'science' against 'park operations,' by pitting maintenance backlog funding against expansion of new conservation and preservation opportunities, by bringing in people from other Dept. of Interior Agencies and placing them ahead of NPS career professionals in jobs like the Divisions of Park Planning, Resource Managment, and even a whole slew of park superintendencies. I'll never forget when a new superintendent, right out of the Heritage Conservation agency was made superintendent of Ft. McHenry and promptly got volunteer Marine Corps assistance to "flatten" the parade grounds by bulldozing the land with enormous land movers. Up to 11 inches of cultural soil was disturbed with no archeological survey in advance, no 106 Historic Preservation study.

The old homogenious system also meant NPS was weaker for a lack of women and minorities in key positions; many talented women and minorities found their way up different career ladders, and often their previous job was not Chief Ranger. It is true that during the George H. Bush era the two NPS Directors placed numerous people, sometimes because they could be pushed around, sometimes because they were cronies. Sometimes extra layers of the bureaucracy were set up for these people, even in the field, between the Regional Office and the parks. For the most part, when you consider how massively the anti-conservation pressure on the NPS has been for the last 30 years, it is remarkable how well professionalism has held on. Most park superintendents want to do the right thing, and better training is finally being provided to the new superintendents. It is true you occasionally see a strange outbreak from this area or that -- for example the distortion of snowmachine use information from Yellowstone, as revealed in this website, and the need of the new Director to intervene to stop the destructive reorganization in the Northeast Region or the Core Ops program, also revealed here -- but through all these bad times you find professionalism pushing through the carnage like young growth after a fire. The Regional Director in the NE is still telling people he continues to implement his Bush-era 'right-sizing' but few people believe he has Authority. That was lost when the Bush-era Directors were removed (or not retained).

My assessment is the problems in the Service are NOT systematic (built in), but produced by political pressures from people who do not want the NPS to achieve the Mission. My sense is with the greater support of the American people for the NPS Mission, the Service can be trusted to eliminate most of the abuses. Despite its problems, the NPS is a great place to work.


After numerous years of working for private contractors and another federal agency I decided to switch to the NPS a few years ago assuming it would be just fun. The person that hired me said things like I'd be flying around doing herd counts, riding horse, that I'd be hired at a certain grade and that the park service takes care of it's own. What a laugh, none of it was true. It's common knowledge in my division the superintendent is a quota and grossly incompetent. She has an avoidant personality; never happy except when around her pets and openly shows animosity towards those she dislikes. It's cronyism beyond belief, and yes, nepotism too. Pets are being groomed for jobs. The pets are stool pigeons and report the slightest thing they do not like to get the disfavored in trouble. Low ranking seasonals are given authority over full time supervisors. There is a total lack of concern for safety and happiness. Region has increased budgeting with specific high priorities, and the money is not being used as intended. Things I truly miss about the other federal agency I worked for and most of the contractors are that they all wanted us to be happy and safe. Then there are paradigms and micromanagement, if it wasn’t done before it cannot be done now and I have never been so intensely micromanaged. I’m treated like I’m some sort of little dumb kid. My other federal employer wanted new ideas and I was getting perfect appraisals, cash awards and time off awards for thinking outside the box. I was a participant to one of the “anonymous” surveys a couple years ago and blasted management. At the end of the survey it was obvious they knew my pay grade and what park I worked at and I felt I would be reported so I never participated in the telephone questioning triggered by the survey. I occasionally work with other agency employees and contractors that have worked with parks before. They all know something is wrong with the Park Service as they are treated so much differently and see what’s going on. I believe the best remedy for the park service is to either clean it out by starting over at the division chief level on up, or to totally gut the park service and replace it with both private contract management and operation. A couple years ago another employee upon departure that was treated like a moron made a statement I can identify with: "Had I known what his job was all about, I never would have accepted it". Fortunately I work for a narcissist and as long as I tow the line to perfection, swallow the lies and give him daily praise I am somewhat sheltered from the rest.


After reading this article, as well as the comments, I must say I am a bit wary of accepting a job with the National Park Service. I am currently a DoD civilian... is it better to work for the U.S. Army, or for NPS? Now that Obama has proposed freezing the budget, I am more afraid than ever. DoD funding will probably never be cut in my lifetime, whereas NPS funding might be where the ax falls first.


Trust me what this article says is true. I work at a National Historic Site in the North East Region. I have heard it doesn't affect the larger "Parks" such as Grand Canyon. But, it does exist and is only getting worse.


I appreciate the passion so many people have shared on this subject. The NPS draws employees with strong convictions and this is evident.

I guess we have been lucky. Many of the terrible experiences I see related above have not come through our door. I've never seen nepotism involved at work. When there have been incidents of illegal activity, in most cases, action has been taken. In some cases, employees have been fired, in others, not. In this way, the NPS is no different than any other federal agency. We have laws and regulations that protect the Service and the employee. A few bad apples will always get through. In my experience, they tend to be the exception, not the rule.

But, I can say, safely, that in 20 years of service at eight different parks, I could not imagine a better career choice. I look back now on the last two decades and have incredible memories...of dragging dirt roads, fighting fires, flying on helicopters, river rafting, designing curriculum, arresting people, even cleaning toilets. I remember seeing the light go on in a small child's eyes when they finally make the connection and understand what these places mean. I remember pulling people from the river after they've flipped, taking VIPs into the back country, and swearing in a junior ranger. I also have sat with parents after their sons died, holding their hands as they said good bye to their children. I have had the highest highs and the lowest lows - and I have always felt needed. What other job in the world would I have the opportunity to do all of this?

I see in a lot of the letters above that there is a tremendous amount of frustration in the training and lack of support provided by the agency to support the employees. I would suggest that the nature of these jobs and experiences they encompass are so broad that I don't think we can expect the Service to meet all of our training needs - as employees, we end up taking the extra step. This job means taking sacrifices. Rangers take night classes, spend our vacations climbing and studying foreign languages, volunteer at the ER to get more CE credits...we do these things because there is no way the NPS can provide all of these training opportunities. I don't think our jobs are like any other. We have a propensity to burn out - we sleep with the radio on, ready to be called out. We go in early to make sure our shoes are polished and end up staying late to answer another visitor question. We need to look out for each other and for ourselves. If I could fault the agency, maybe this would be it - we allow our employees to give their all and forget to tell them to take a break. We all need a break sometimes.

For someone considering a job in the NPS, I say go for it. Realize that you are going to have to put a lot of energy into it - you may have to pay for your own trainings. You will likely move to various parks in your career. There is no guarantee that your spouse will have a job at the same park. You'll probably live in some houses that will not thrill you. But you will work with some of the greatest people in the world, folks that would give their life to protect you or a park visitor. You'll live in the nation's treasures and will be responsible for protecting them. I can't imagine a better job. Our children see what we do, are frustrated when there is a call out at dinner time, or when we miss a birthday party because papa had to give the evening program. But I know they would both love to grow up to be park rangers.


I concur with the comments of David Smith above. I worked for the NPS for 31 years. Did I have a bad boss or two? Yes, but is that any different than, say, IBM? Were all my training needs met? No, and I would argue that a ranger's job is so complex and varied--and differs from park to park--that it would be impossible to design a training curriculum that met all the contingencies that a ranger might face. Did I put in hours of uncompensated overtime? Sure, but the rewards for assisting visitors or rescuing people or dealing with bad guys more than made up for it.

I was a park superintendent or a regional office Associate Director for at least a decade. During that time, I came in contact with literally hundreds of park managers. As noted above in some of the comments, there were some bad ones, but the number was, in my judgment, incredibly low. Most were involved in the daily struggle to have their park staffs do the three things that have to be done in all parks: preserve and protect resources; provide quality visitor services; and maintain productive relationships with park interest groups. With shrinking staffs and declining budgets, these three tasks became increasingly difficult.

I was also fortunate to be an instructor at the Albright Training Center at Grand Canyon during the time that many new employees were involved in a 10-week course entitled, "Introduction to Park Operations." I was impressed with the quality of the trainees, many of whom went on to occupy significant senior management positions as they progressed through their careers. Did we have some losers? Definitely, but vast majority were compentent and highly motivated.

It is always easy to pay attention to those who complain because the find ways to make their complaints known. The satisfied people are out there doing their jobs. I don't regret for a moment my career choice, and if presented with another opportunity, I would do the same thing. As David Smith said, "I can't imagine a better job."

Rick Smith


I found this article doing research on NPS employees! There is a culture that becomes apparent whenever I deal with them! As an ordinary visitor I see the problems with the NPS as they come through in the interaction. When NPS has a monopoly one has to put up with it, If I could get the product somewhere else, I would! All this explains why the “client” experience is almost always bad when I talk to a NPS employee! There needs to be a change. This past winter I was in Yellowstone and saw a lot of park workers, but nothing getting done. Sitting in their trucks for hours at a time, same place, everyday! (not tracking wolfs, I checked) This seems to happen in all the parks that I visit and that would be most of the parks in the west! Most years they don’t even know how to plow snow on roads that are open in winter! I go to enough parks to see and hear of a NPS culture! So as long as I can go to a park and keep my contact with that “culture” to a minimum, I’ll keep going! I’ll continue to be my sweet self and just ignore the attitude and enjoy my visit! Change needs to come from the top or from the outside and that’s not going to happen because it is deeply entrenched!


Nepotism is at work like never before. It literally cripples operations and the ability of those that value education, are highly skilled and have tireless work ethics from being able to do their jobs. Management, what management? Leadership, is there such a thing here? Independent flotillas drifting aimlessly along, lost.

Wise man say "go grasshopper, go look into the Intermountain Region. And go once more to the mighty Grand Canyon, were you will see it all. Go now grasshopper, go." (Nepotism and Fraternalism at its worst for sure. Oh, and did I mention corruption?) We need Director Jarvis back. Let FEMA take over the spill. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity here. We need to keep thinking change. Let's not blow it! And, good job Mr. Jarvis.

NPS Anonymous


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