Latest Publications

MSPB regularly releases major studies, shorter research briefs, and the Issues of Merit newsletter to assess and evaluate Federal merit system policies, operations, and practices. Periodically, we also administer Federal employee surveys and conduct other forms of stakeholder outreach. Below, you will find the most recent publications, announcements, and other informational materials that may be of interest to our stakeholders.

• Research Recap: Improving Federal Hiring through Better Assessments (September 2025)
  Five Key Strategies for Smarter, Fairer Hiring in Government.
• Research Recap: Tips for a Successful Probationary Period (September 2025)
  Executive Order 14284, Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service, directs agencies to affirmatively certify continued employment would benefit the Federal service.
• Merit Matters - Improving Federal Job Announcements (September 2025)
  
• Research Recap: Research Based Tips for Recruiting (September 2025)
  Recruitment should be from qualified individuals from appropriate sources in an endeavor to achieve a work force from all segments of society, and selection and advancement should be determined solely on the basis of relative ability, knowledge, and skills, after fair and open competition which assures that all receive equal opportunity.
• Research Recap: Improving Job Announcements (September 2025)
  Executive Order 14170 calls for agencies to reform their hiring processes to improve the applicant experience. Agencies can start by improving their job postings. Our research has shown that federal job announcements are often hard to understand and don’t clearly explain what makes each job unique. As a result, applicants often struggle to understand the requirements and apply for roles they’re not qualified for or genuinely interested in.
• Research Brief: Leveraging Tech to Improve Fed Human Capital (September 2025)
  The Merit Systems Protection Board’s (MSPB) Office of Policy and Evaluation (OPE) conducted a comprehensive study on perceptions of the effectiveness and quality of human resources (HR) technology in the federal government, drawing on data from thousands of HR professionals. The findings reveal that while most HR Specialists believe technology supports agency-wide processes like communication and automation, fewer feel it helps manage individual timeliness, work quality, and productivity. Key challenges include system integration, automation gaps, inconsistent access, and limited information technology (IT) support. Leadership and staff perceptions diverge, with leaders consistently rating technology lower, possibly due to broader oversight of responsibilities and awareness of private-sector technology opportunities. This research brief emphasizes that modernization must align with Merit System Principles (MSPs) and avoid Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPPs). It recommends user-centered design processes, robust training, and continuous evaluation to ensure fairness, accessibility, and effectiveness in HR procedures and outcomes. Recent executive orders and OPM’s modernization efforts provide a strategic opportunity to address these challenges and enhance federal HR systems. MSPB offers findings from our HR Workforce Survey to support merit-based HR technology reform.
• Issues of Merit (September 2024)
  
• Sexual Harassment in Federal Workplaces: 2021 Update (June 2023)
  This research brief summarizes the results from MSPB's most recent survey of Federal employees regarding their experiences with sexual harassment, as well as their perspectives on their agencies' efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment. The brief further examines actions that employees took (or chose not to take) in response to sexual harassment and their perceptions of the outcomes of these actions.
• Perceptions of Prohibited Personnel Practices: An Update (February 2023)
  This report uses data from multiple surveys to track the prevalence of perceptions of prohibited personnel practices (PPPs).
• Sexual Harassment in Federal Workplaces: Understanding and Addressing the Problem (December 2022)
  This report examines the prevalence and types of sexual harassment behaviors in Federal workplaces and provides detailed recommendations to agencies regarding how to better prevent and respond to sexual harassment. More inside...
• MSPB Research Agenda 2022-2026 (September 2022)
  MSPB's anticipated research activities for 2022–2026, including a list of topics for possible study.
• Confidence in Ability to Perform Successfully (September 2021)
  This brief examines Federal employees’ Confidence in Ability to Perform Successfully (CAPS). Governmentwide survey results show a relationship between CAPS and how employees think about career paths, work tasks, task outcomes, work-related competencies, and engagement. The brief also presents implications of CAPS for managing work and employee counseling and development. More inside...