| Comment Number: | OL-10500784 |
| Received: | 2/21/2005 6:03:56 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:
In the Federal Register, Vol 70, no.29 , page(?) 7560, the heading of Performance Based Pay: Although I agree that a system that bases pay increases on longevity is not a truely viable system today, I am even more worried about a performanced based system that is based on subjectivity instead of objectively. After serving a 20 year career in the USAF, I am well aware of a performance appraisal system that is near perfect on paper and nearer to a good ol' boy system in real life. I have already seen discrepencies in the current civilian hiring system that shouldn't happen, but do, and I can only imagine how my personal relationship with my superior will far outway my performance. In other words, "if you aint one of the boss's cronies than you aint gettin a good pay raise". Unless the system is made to be objective and not subjective(as humanly possible) than kissing the boss's posterier will be the most direct route to earning your pay raise. Every job will require an evaluation sheet that spells things out in black and white, to a go/no-go standard. What I mean to say is: the employee either did or did not do "X". The answer has to be yes or no. Since the standards for job performance should be the same for all than you should be able to remove as much subjectivity form the evaluation by making it a "yes" or "no" answer. Another way to look at it is to fill in the squares. In a task analysis you decide what tasks are required to complete a job. In the evaluation of that task you should be able to check off a square for employee performance. They either did their job to the standards we rewuire or they didn't. There are other ways to recognize the truly superior performer without degrading others who do the job to the standards they are asked to meet. There are service based jobs, production based jobs, and a mix of those and probably more. The challenge is to guaranty a fair appraisal of an employees performance not a supervisors opinion of that person. Another part of the performance based system must include a system of checks and balances that can go outside of the workplace to give each and every employee the opportunity to present his or her "truths" to the table. We've all heard the story of the three truths: My truth, your truth and the real truth. Well, all to often in a performance based appraisal system there remains only one truth; that of the supervisor. A system of checks where the supervisors supervisor has both sides of the story for each appraisal before it becomes a matter of record should be inplace before this system is activated. The supervisor writing the appraisal should have to document each and every reason for increasing or decreasing a raise. The employee should be able to see or address in writing his or her boss's supervisor to confirm or deny performance statements. There should be a point where if the employee feels that he/she can't get a fair appraisal from inside the unit that an outside agency/unit can be asked to arbitrate. If you have any questions or would like clarification on anything I have said above, please feel free to contact me. I sincerely hope that any change to the civilian system is for the better and not done to bring a product to finish before it has been sufficiently reviewed and more importantly revised.