This newspaper is now doing just that, using the PSES and other data to rank public service job satisfaction in more than 80 government departments and agencies. Despite clichés about inherently disengaged bureaucrats, this ranking is evidence that the happiest public servants are in workplaces where they can focus on a mission they care about under less distant and impersonal management.

If we look at the top third of organizations in the ranking, it's striking that there are no line departments. With the exception of two central agencies -- Finance and the Privy Council Office (PCO), which I'll come back to later -- all are agencies, boards and commissions. That means they aren't directly led by a minister and have some level of day-to-day independence. Even if we look at the top half of the rankings, only a few of the roughly 20 listed line departments make it in.