Comment Number: OL-10500367
Received: 2/16/2005 3:12:02 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:

I wish to comment on the proposed National Security Personnel System. I have several comments – 1. The role of managers in determining pay increases based on mission is based on having good mangers and leadership. In my experience, this is often not the case. Under this system, employees will be highly exposed to the whims and incompetent and unscrupulous managers. No organization or government admits is has poor mangers, but believe me, there are a bunch of them. And, once above a certain level, they are protected. They are never punished for incompetence and rarely for abuses and violations of the current system towards employees. And they will play favorites and punish the undeserving. Unless there is reform, and more importantly, oversight of managerial performance, if they are given far more power to determine pay and other advancement, this system will fail. 2. Managers also will receive “More flexibility to assign employees new or different work.” Again, this is potentially disaster. I have witnessed managers indiscriminately shifting employees around without consulting them and it is devastating to morale and productivity. There is no requirement to consult with an employee or their representatives, and this is a serious problem. 3. It is stated, “Intense training for supervisors & managers planned.” I doubt that this will be implemented. Training funds are the first to be cut, and everyone is strapped right now. Then there are political pressures when an agency appears to be spending lots of money on training – they begin to look like junkets. In addition, no amount of training will help managers who want to game the system and play favorites. 4. The statement that the new system “Prohibits bargaining over procedures in exercising core management rights, but management will consult with unions” is hard to believe. If there is no requirement to listen to them, then there is no reason to even talk to the unions. If they have no power to influence, than any “consulting” will be a waste of time if it happens. We all know that power is what often gets things done in the government, and if you have no power, you are a non entity. In sum, I feel that the implementation of this system will be damaging to workers and will leave them unprotected from political and personal influences. I think we will lose workers rather than improve the workforce. I actually do think that there is a lot of room to improve the current system. It is inefficient and does not always reward excellence. But even within the current system much of what is proposed in the new one can be done. The problem is that to do it under the old system, it takes more time and effort while being much more fair, and many are too lazy to follow through with the old system. The new system is quicker and more powerful, but far, far more subject to abuse.