Companies and organizations around the world have come to recognize the importance of employee opinions as a leading indicator of the sustainability of an organization. The Gallup Organization has a long history in determining how to efficiently measure and effectively manage employee engagement. Gallup has analyzed data across more than 10,885 business units in 51 organizations and 23 industries and has identified 12 questions that measure employee engagement and link directly to critical performance outcomes. These questions are known as the Gallup Q12. As a method of obtaining your opinions in a viable manner we have commissioned The Gallup Organization to conduct a Q12 survey of all employees in the DAM Divisions. The survey will be distributed on July 8, 2002.

Through the survey, we will be seeking your opinions in order to measure and understand the critical issues in creating a healthy, productive and customer-focused work environment. Results from the survey will be applied to identify key investment targets for growth. Your participation in the study will directly impact the actions selected to improve your work environment and therefore will positively affect employee retention, customer satisfaction and productivity.

Your opinions will be completely confidential; no personal responses will be revealed. Your answers are sent directly to Gallup who compiles the results into a series of reports for the Agency. These reports contain no specifics as to the identity of the participants. After we have received the reports from Gallup, we will use them to start a dialogue about our workplace and to develop action plans to improve our workplace for the benefit of both our customers and ourselves.

It is important to us that the process be efficient. Accordingly, there are only 12 questions, which should only take you a few minutes to respond to. Your responses will provide us with information that is precise and useful -- more so than the information we have gathered in the past under other efforts. We have also arranged for Gallup to provide a hotline that any of us can call to have questions answered during the process. Please do not hesitate to use the service if you need it. Additional information on Gallup Q12 in FSA will also be available on HRD's intranet site at http://dc.ffasintranet.usda.gov/hrd.

In order for this effort to succeed, Gallup must receive a high rate of completed questionnaires. To this end, we all share equally in reaching the goal of 100% participation. Your opinion needs to be heard. I urge you all to take the time to complete this survey.