Re: Mr. Einstein

That's the point! He had a "Miracle year." While his genius continued to wrestle with the implications of these breakthroughs, he did not have the same level of genius strike again. If he were being graded on a yearly basis he would have an outstanding in his year of great breakthroughs but only "average" the rest of the time.

It would be unreasonable to expect a "Miracle Year" every year. Even so, I can't imagine anyone but an NSPS rating official ever considering Einstein as "average."

Re: Mr. Einstein

If Einstein was under NSPS, the next year he would come up with c=sqrt(e/m), then M=e/c^2. The possibilities are endless. Way to go Al......

Re: Performance Appraisals

Tell the emplolyees of Lockheed Martin who lost the Deep Water Contract for the Coast Guard. The Government hired them to do the whole shooting match. The same thing the Government would have done and they way overspent their budget. I can't imaging any of those employees being rehired on the next project.

Re: Performance Appraisals

......... and were they replaced by civil servants? No. You really need to read with greater care. You missed the point.

Re: Performance Appraisals

Most of the contractors I have seen are way below average experience and ability compared to the civilians. Most of them are hired as friends or drinking buddies of the contract management. They miss deadlines all the time with no punishment and don’t even have to be at work for all the hours we pay them. But we can’t hire more civilians so we are stuck with the below average producing contractors because that is our only option. Bad management will let contractors slide just as much as they let anyone else.

Re: New system is too subjective

I wish it were true that the supervisor's opinion counted. As NSPS is being executed in my "pay pool," the 1s, 2s, 4s and 5s must be presented to the pay pool board for justification. The board then reviews the quality of the supervisor's write-up and votes on the rating of an employee they don't even know. If the supervisor did a poor job of writing or if the employee does a job not easy to measure, the supervisor is sent back for a re-write or must present more evidence.

Maybe Einstein is a good example... who was qualified to judge the merit of his work at that time? An accountant? A doctor?

So how do we rate intellectual products today? Lines of code? Pages of policy? Dollars spent?

Yes, the supervisor SHOULD have the majority vote. Who better? Or should every Einstein be rated equally?

Re: It's Scary!!!

Your analysis is right on target. In my local area, there is a documented $24,000 gap between public and private sector in my occupational field and my private sector counterpart gets far better benefits (full dental and eye included as part of medical) and huge performance bonuses.

Government has relied far too long on the "nobility of public service" ideaology in which government, as an employer, relies on the good will of citizens to serve in government. This approach may have worked in the JFK era when median home prices were $13,050 and JFK was an inspiring figure; it does not work anymore. As you said, federal employees get tired of the 2-4% annual pay raises offset by increasing insurance premiums.

The current approach of government in recruitment and retention has miserably failed. It is time for government, as an employer, to confront the elephant in the room and recognize, "It's the pay stupid!"