| Comment Number: | OL-10511461 |
| Received: | 3/16/2005 3:37:33 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:
I am very much in favor of the general concepts behind NSPS. But if certain key elements towards implementation are not carried out, it could truly be disastrous. My main concern is on implementation of Pay for Performance. If not done properly, this could result in employees covertly trying to sabatoge one another's work or at least not cooperating with other co-workers. If, however, a team effort is emphasized, and rewards are administered to the team as a team, the prospects for success are much higher. This boils down to the training of supervisors devising methods of implementing Pay for Performance. If a supervisor of a smaller group of employees tries to implement a winner takes all type of reward system, the result would likely be disastrous. Additionally, the assessments should be carried out relatively frequently, say, once per quarter. Nothing is more aggravating to an employee, especially one who sincerely thinks they are doing ok, to find out at the end of a year of work that they didn't do something correctly. Problems in performance MUST be handled in REAL TIME by supervisors. Also, the standards by which an employees performance are measured MUST be transparent and easy to understand. ANY APPEARANCE of favoritism or unfairness or opacity must be sternly rebuked. Finally, there must be some type of internal policing mechanism to address abuses or perceptions of abuse. An appeal mechanism should be installed, not to micromanage the decisions of a supervisor, but to make sure that they are accountable for their actions and decisions. To summarize, the key player in the implementation of the Pay for Performance system is the supervisor. Their decisions on implementation will determine if it is a success or not. Their excellent training is necessary to maximize the prospects for success.