Despite National Park Service Director Chuck Sams' pledge to focus on raising the morale of his vast workforce, the latest survey of government agencies shows park employees don't feel they're getting the recognition they deserve and continue to be concerned over the Park Service's ability to meet its mission.
"The one thing I've always learned in leadership is it's the people that are most important," Sams told Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia during his confirmation hearing in October 2021. "And therefore helping to improve the morale, listening to the staff, the long-term staff, and figuring out exactly what needs to be done to support them out in the field in order to be the good interpreters they are, to be able to take care of the parks in an appropriate way."
At the time, the 2020 edition of Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey had the Park Service ranked 353rd out of 411 agencies in terms of best federal agencies to work for. The 2022 edition that just came out ranks the Park Service 371st out of 432 agencies surveyed. That "engagement and satisfaction" ranking was derived from employee responses to three questions:
- I recommend my organization as a good place to work.
- Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your job?
- Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your organization?
In terms of recognition for their performance and innovative contributions to their workplaces, the Index Score for Park Service employees who participated in the survey dropped nine points, from 62.0 in the 2021 survey to 53.1 in the latest edition. When questioned on how the employees feel about whether the agency is meeting its mission, the 2022 score was essentially flat compared to the 2021 score.
In other areas, the Park Service ranked:
- 383 out of 431 agencies on the "extent to which employees believe leadership at all levels of the organization generates motivation and commitment, encourages integrity and manages people fairly, while also promoting the professional development, creativity and empowerment of employees."
- 352 out of 432 agencies on "the extent to which employees feel empowered with respect to work processes and how satisfied they are with their involvement in decisions that affect their work."
- 396 out of 432 agencies concerning "the level of respect employees have for senior leaders, satisfaction with the amount of information provided by management and perceptions about senior leaders’ honesty, integrity and ability to motivate employees."
- 400 out of 424 agencies on the question of whether they're satisfied with their salary.
- 406 out of 432 agencies on work-life balance.
- 400 out of 422 agencies regarding "the commitment of an agency and its supervisors to create a workplace that promotes diversity through recruitment, promotion and development opportunities."
- 388 out of 410 agencies on the question of "how informed employees feel about the expectations and goals their leadership sets for them, their teams and their agencies.
Comments
It's a similar issue to teaching. You have to be educated and get into college debt for many of these jobs, and many are actually highly skilled. However, the salaries are low and there is an expectation of working seasonally for quite some time. This is very challenging for many people and leads to massive turnover. The lack of consistency harms teambuilding and workplace dynamics. The good-old-boy issue at some parks have swept serious abuse problems and safety violations under the rug. It also can mean you have lots of backpackers and gear-heads on staff but miss other skills and backgrounds. The seasonal nature of many jobs and the low pay mean that economically struggling people often cannot break into the system, so a worldview can be perpetuated that has some major gaps in understanding. Additionally, parks are often plagued by terrible, terrible behaviors that seem to be getting worse each year. Staff have little power and tourism companies put incredible pressure to prioritize making money over ensuring parks are safe and respected. As a ranger, you may be dealing with rude, belligeren, unsafe visitors, many of which are shooting ads without permits, while dealing with traffic, safety issues, litter, and the harassment of wildlife, all for a low paycheck and often without job consistency. Add to this issues with concessionaire employees. Many of these companies intentionally target people who are willing to work for very little, often people who are desperate, dealing with addiction, or even recruited from halfway houses. These workers make very little money and are isolated from support systems, even when contracts require there to be some counselor on staff (which isn't always). No one is trained to assist these people, who often have serious issues. In some cases, I have had to navigate death threats, drunk and disorderly conduct, domestic violence, and gun threats. The concessionaires have very little care for anything but profits and use their billionaire owners to pressure NPS and other land management agencies and trusts. This can create an environment of highly desperate concessions workers, many of which need significant support, being isolated in a park without their support systems, and no one on staff is remotely trained on how to handle these situations with grace. The addiction struggles in the parks are very real and many people have additional PTSD, yet the supports are low and untrained, low-paid workers are expected to know how to handle these complex situations. But, it is easier for concessionaires to hire desperate, unhoused people who may not understand how isolated the park will be and who end up stranded if they get fired, than pay a living wage or organize their work schedules to where the jobs attract employees who like to adventure and take advantage of the park opportunities. In many cases, concessionaires have middle management bloat that is so careless that the workers don't get much time off, and so abusive that they hermorage workers and end up burning out anyone who stays. That means that NPS staff are handling their own issues and massive tourism companies' isssues. No one is trained for this. The staff have degrees in botany, zoology, parks and rec, outdoor education, biology, conservation, ecology. They aren't trained social workers and therapists and those aren't their job descriptions. But what do you do when yet another person falls or jumps into Grand Canyon? Or someone assaults someone else? Or someone threatens mass violence? Or DV and SA cases? What then?
There isn't even mental health support after a fire or other disaster in most cases. You're just supposed to be okay. What happens when someone gets a concessionaire and NPS confused, thinks you fired them from their dishwasher job, and threatens to kill you? What happens when someone separated from their community supports ends up isolated and working for a hotel in the park and has a mental health crisis? Does Ranger Bobby who runs interpretive talks and star parties know what to do?
We need better responses, better pay, better handling of concessionaires, better support systems available, better expectations of visitors, and better leadership and leadership training.
Same story every year. Things won't be getting better any time soon. From what I am seeing, it has never been easier to get a permanent job in the NPS, but be prepared to take a vow of poverty. The residents of gateway communities have figured out that it is more lucrative to rent to tourists than to rangers. Where I live the BLM and USFS are offering sign up bonuses and retention bonuses to help with the high cost of housing, but not the good old NPS. I could go on and on but I won't. When people ask me about getting into the NPS I tell them that I have to words of advice, don't bother.