| Comment Number: | OL-10511728 |
| Received: | 3/16/2005 4:59:11 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:
Items in italics/quotes are from the NSPS web site Pay Banding area. “Lengthy, detailed job descriptions will no longer be needed.” So, I presume this means that even those old outdated core documents we currently use that break each position down into its tasks, skills, and knowledge needed at varying levels will be replaced with some “leaner” type of job description (yet to be written) that will lack detail. If you no longer have detailed job descriptions (core documents), how are you going to measure work performance? Merit pay can work well, but only if there is a solid foundation created by relevant job descriptions that clearly outline expectations for performance and put in place the tools to evaluate that performance. Both the employee and the manager need to be aware of how they are going to measure and be measured. “Annual performance increases will be based on performance/contribution, rather than longevity. Larger increases will go to outstanding performers; unacceptable performers will not receive an increase.” I work in an area under spiral one, and 3 of the 4 manager/supervisory positions in my immediate office are vacant and have been for months as of March. People are to be promoted into these positions, and I should expect them to be fully trained to determine my pay raises by this summer? Those measurements are going to be based on “what?” Determining “contribution” under NSPS seems to be just a shot in the dark from the information that is being provided to the workforce, and time is seriously running out to get these tools in place before people need to use them. Seems to me that the supervisors and managers should be trained, and the tools fully defined before we start the implementation of NSPS. While it is very obvious to everyone working in DoD that there are serious deficiencies in the hiring processes and promotion/performance criteria currently used, launching NSPS with the limited planning that we are seeing to fix these problems is a premier case of throwing the baby out with the bath water.