| Comment Number: | OL-10507751 |
| Received: | 3/14/2005 2:43:53 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:
From the vague information provided, it is difficult for any concerned employee to make a sound review and recommendation on something so important. As a young employee, I think the program offers many improvements, because with performance-based reviews I don't have to worry about being passed over for recognition after I have worked hard simply because someone else has seniority. I do think that the hardest workers should be rewarded. It's also beneficial for the government as a whole to have such a system because it will likely make the opportunity to hire young people more feasible by competing with industry starting-rate salaries. Since the workforce is beyond the "aging" state, the need for young leaders and fresh ideas is long overdue. This would be a great jump-start for that idea. HOWEVER, all of my concerns for this system revolve around basically one thing: checks and balances on the manager. There is so much left up to the whim of the manager, but who will be there to make sure they are not performing in a lackluster manner? Who will make sure they don't pick their favorites? Who will be monitoring how they set guidelines for their employees so that when they come up for review they have an accurate idea of what the boss' expectations were to begin with? All of these problems exist now on some level, but this new system seems to breed it further. The idea of everything being left up to the boss may be a superb one if your boss is fair and impartial, or even if you're on the blessed side of impartialness, but for those who may not be "yes" men and women, the idea of everything left up to the boss is not the most promising. Instead of more review by a boss that doesn't even interact with the manager on a daily basis, a performance review for managers should be given by the employees, the people who are most knowledgeable about the level of competence a supervisor exudes.