| Comment Number: | OL-10507598 |
| Received: | 3/14/2005 12:58:13 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 reasons that the current system were put in place are still valid today. The federal sector, unlike the private sector, is not driven by profit, hence managers are not instinctively motivated to promote those who enhance the unit's earnings. Instead, managers must reward those who contribute to the mission of the particular federal organization, not those who buddy up to the manager. Many of us who have been in federal service for a number of years recognize that the IMPLEMENTATION of the current system is not always correct; managers sometimes give inflated ratings to their employees to protect them in RIF situations. Managers may not always avail themselves of the remedies CURRENTLY available to them to eliminate poor performers and/or withhold within grade increases. That is the fault of the individual manager and not the fault of the system. The new system will not correct any of the current problems. Instead, it will create a great deal of work for managers in order to substantiate performance assessments. It will pit team members against one another instead of fostering teamwork. And, most importantly, it will remove the protections that the current system was devised for - elimination of cronyism and favortism. If it ain't broke, (and it ain't) don't try to fix it. Train managers to use the system we currently have. In fact, insist that they do so, instead of just passing on poor performers. And, lastly, if you must implement a new system, do it for employees newly entering federal service; it is really unfair to change the rules on long time federal employees who gave up certain rights, and willingly so, when they entered federal service, with the government, in turn, providing certain promises and protections (such as seniority rights in RIF) to them. Please step back and think whether this is really needed change or simply change for change's sake.