| Comment Number: | OL-10100000 |
| Received: | 2/14/2005 1:54:08 PM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
"Pay for Performance" should be a big improvement over the existing system provided that the performance is being properly evaluated by the management. The problem is that the managers may not know how to properly evaluate performance since they work (and may have always worked) in a culture that mainly rewards seniority and image. How will the government train the managers to properly evaluate performance and to ensure that past attitudes on doing things do not improperly affect evaluations? Here is one example problem: We have people here that get plenty of awards, from both inside and outside their organization, for doing things that does very little to help the organization achieve its mission other than make it look good. Meanwhile there are others who accomplish a lot of necessary and important work and recieve little recognition for it. How likely is it, under the existing attitudes, that the more productive worker gets rated higher with the present attitudes in the organization? Another problem: A new person doing a good job is getting paid at a step 1 or 2 rate while a more experienced person getting paid at a step 8 or 9 rate is doing the same job but only slightly better. What method will there be in place to account for what people already make relative to their evaluation? We should not be giving people bigger raises for better performance while they are already getting extra pay for their performance while giving lower raises to others doing only slighlty less though already getting considerably less pay. The existing system was set up to reduce nepotism and improper favortism that used to be rampant in the system over a century ago. Will the new safeguards be adequate to prevent the system from slipping backward to that unfair system? Will the new system reward people for helping the organization achieve its goals that it was created for in the best value to the taxpayer rather than just reward them for looking good no matter how inefficient it is? These are all issues that need to be addressed in proper training of the managers. The upper management needs to constantly assess and oversee the evaluations to prevent the deterioration of what may be a greatly improved system into one that degenerates to something much worse than presently exists.