Readers' Comments
Total Comments: 48
Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
Goals, Objectives, and the Everyday Employee
Total Comments: 48
Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
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| F | $12.1775 | +0.0497 | +2.07% |
| C | $9.4002 | -0.9235 | -43.24% |
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| L 2010 | $13.2444 | -0.3625 | -14.33% |
| L Income | $12.4113 | -0.2200 | -7.86% |
December 2, 2008
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measuring the wrong thing
small agency
Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:09 AM
Post Reply
The problem with all these management goals and objectives is that the people who come up with them lack the technical expertise to actually understand what the people on the front line are doing. An agency can measure how many patients a doctor treats in a day, how many briefs an attorney writes in a year, or how many this or that any employee does, but it's much harder to measure how well the tasks are performed. The result is that management rewards doing a lot of something but not doing things well.
Goals, Objectives, and the Everyday Employee
Been Around 34 years
Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:10 AM
Post Reply
Thank you! Just let me do my job, serving the public, and know that I will meet or exceed all your objectives but please don't ask me to track all my work. When the tracking system takes up more of your time than actually doing the job, something is very wrong.
Tickie Counts
INS
Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:13 AM
Post Reply
I worked at an adjudications center. We all had to keep track of how many cases we approved, how many tickies we registered every day/month. We were assigned to different districts, and the assignments were changed periodically. The gal I followed always left me the more complicated cases, those that couldn't be done very quickly. She often led the office postings for production. She never wrote a denial that I was aware of. Denials take time, and a denial was worth no more than a quick-tick approval. She quickly rose through the ranks. I hear she's now a manager. It will not surprise me to hear that she's being called to tesify before Congress that whatever hairbrained scheme HQ has come up with is just wonderful. Only the cheerleaders get to do that.
I don't deny that performance evaluations are a thorny thing. And it is true that the tickie-count system was later abandoned there. Interesting thing: production actually went up when that happened.
I agree!
Department of the Interior
Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:27 AM
Post Reply
I just wish you could make OPM and OMB understand how much time is spent on this drill, and for very little, if any, value added.
GPRA and other contrived goals are useless
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:27 AM
Post Reply
You have absolutely hit the nail on the head. I've never commented on an aritcle before but this one really hit a nerve. I could not agree more that trying to measure employee output is impossible and counterproductive, because it does not allow for the idiosyncrasies of each job. This is a politically motivated effort to try to show that federal employees are being held accountable for improvement. But we don't make widgets that are easily measured. I do not look at my job performance standards except during my performance review. What I strive for is doing my job well and helping my boss, coworkers, and clients as much as possible. Trying to incorporate GPRA or mission goals into my performance elements is a time-wasting exercise.
REALITY
DoD, DAF
Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:32 AM
Post Reply
You are absolutely on the mark. Their need for this measurement system does not stem from requirements to make the performance better, acomplish the total mission or meet specific goals established by people who don't understand what it takes to get the job done for our family, neighbors, fellow taxpayers or our forefathers who gave their lives so we could continue the freedom we so much enjoy. If they need to establish scorecards, strategic objectives, and performance measurements (something the working people feel) then we have evolved into a system of individuals leaders without background or understanding of how their work supports or performs the greater cause. Creating that language depicting that greater cause as a roadmap is somewhat stupid. As Forect Gump said, stupid is as stupid does.
Outstanding!
FAA
Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:48 AM
Post Reply
Robbie - You nailed it! Too bad no one will listen, hopefully we'll see some sanity with the future change.