| Comment Number: | OL-10506179 |
| Received: | 3/11/2005 12:10:02 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:
The NSPS proposal mimics the competitive nature of the private sector. I have worked in a professional capacity for both the governmental and private sector for over 27 years. The main problem I see is that the success of this system will be limited by the current selection process of managers and supervisors. The private sector selects supervisors who develop within the competitive based employee evaluation process. Private sector managers tend to be impersonal, production oriented and encourage competition among employees. In the federal system, supervisors are selected based upon their knowledge of their field of expertise. Managers under the current federal system generally developed within a system of teamwork with success being measured by the group's performance rather than the individual. The years I have worked in the private sector, I have been both the employee and the manager. The competitive atmosphere limited the free exchange of information among professionals and created an environment of distrust. It was not uncommon for an individual's efforts to be sabotaged or their work be discredited for the sole purpose of removing them from competition. In a governmental capacity, the atmosphere was more conducive to team work. Therefore, this new system will have existing managers who will be totally unprepared for this type of evaluation process and employees who will claim discrimination when these managers tried to implement it. The learning curve will be steep and, even if successful, the result mean an end to the creative atmosphere that has resulted in some of the greatest achievements accomplished by our governmental service.