Comment Number: OL-10500666
Received: 2/18/2005 12:59:55 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:

All of the comments refer to 5CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 RIN 3206-AK76/0790-AH82 NSPS. Subpart C : The NSPS will be a performance-based pay system... I work at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. In the past, we had such a system with disasterous results. In order for such a system to work, managers rating performances must have good morals and be impartial. This has not been the case at our shipyard (in general). We have neputism, the "buddy, buddy system", and extortion (as in managers denying a favorable rating unless the female agrees to "go on a date" with them). Everyone in our shipyard was sent to "Covey training" to learn the "seven habits", to learn to be proactive, and to learn morality. A lot of money was spent and we saw that most "old school, hard line" mentalities could not be changed. I have been here over twenty years and only in the last 5 years or so has some of the awfull behavior mentioned above stopped. It stopped because we went to SAT/UNSAT appraisals and we went to a method where everyone in the shipyard is rewarded evenly for good performance of the shipyard. People who enter into government service do so to serve their country. Most people could make more money in the private sector. Those who do a good job do so because they have good moral values/work ethic. When I did not recieve monetary awards, I still worked hard because our men/women are still going out to sea to defend our country in the ships that we repair. I consistently do work beyond what is required of me knowing that I can only count on my next step increase as a "reward". That is fine, I do not want to have to worry about not getting my next step increase if I refuse to "date" my supervisor, or if I disagree with my supervisor. I look at all of the new young apprentices coming in (already some have been propositioned by their "much older" supervisors) and I fear for their jobs (if they don't play along). The harsh reality is that even in this day and age, if you report such behavior to EEO you will have REPERCUSSIONS. It just isn't worth trying to prove, but it is worth putting up with if you know that they cannot touch your pay. As to the pay pool panel, who will make this up? Men and women? Subpart D : Typically poor behavior or misconduct has been addressed only...... "Poor behavior/misconduct" is very subjective. It involves judgement calls on the part of management. Different people see behavior different ways, even based on sex. For example, Consulting Psychologists Press Inc. puts out personality profiles (Norfolk Naval Shipyard had them do so in certain training courses). A type profile for ENTP states "All thinking type women swim upstream in society, and this can be easily problematic for ENTP women. When the ENTP's objectivity presents itself in an enthusiastic, witty, competitive, argumentative woman, she is not likely to endear herself to most men. The ENTP female frequently has to struggle with traditional female "scripts" that call for a given behavior at a given time. It is the nature of all ENTPs to test the limits of any system or person, especially traditional ones. BUT, ENTP personalities are the least common and the MOST DESIRABLE as they are very inventive objective decision makers who easily convert everything to ideas and schemes. They want all players to get the best and most out of life (good team players). Under the new NSPS, a lot of these type personalities (and others) will be down graded and will leave government service unless they are fortunate enough to have a fair supervisor. Subpart F : I started out as an electrician apprentice, became an electrician mechanic, work leader, work packager, nuclear inspector, and now I am a nuclear/non-nuclear instructor. Under this rule, the shipyard could do away with instructors and I would not be able to go back to any of my previous jobs. I was great at those jobs, that is why I earned promotions. How is that fair and how is that good for Norfolk Naval Shipyard?