Readers' Comments
Total Comments: 29
Page 2 of 4
Page 2 of 4
A Modest Proposal For Improving Federal Supervision
Total Comments: 29
Page 2 of 4
Page 2 of 4
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November 21, 2009
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In over their heads
Federal
Mon May 18, 2009 9:59 AM
Post Reply
Since I've been with this particular agency (9 years) I've never had a supervisor that wasn't in over their heads and they have definitely maxed out their incompetency levels.
Year in and Year out these people continue to be rewarded for their failure. Its as though no one at the helm knows what is going on either! It is extremely frustrating for those of us who are competent and are trying to meet the goals of the office. How can one change this? I don't even know who rates my supervisors. That's a better kept secret than those affect national security!
Military Supervisors
DAF
Mon May 18, 2009 10:57 AM
Post Reply
In 8 years of Federal Service with 9 supervisors (all military O-5s) who are not graded on their performance report by how well they execute the civilian supervision program...try getting an appraisal that actually means something. Most years it revolves around expediancy.
Articles regarding the NSPS program in the DoD tend to focus on civilian supervision of civilians. I submit to all that most of us work for active duty personnel.
Training for military members regarding the GS world has always been poor, and NSPS is no different, probably worse. The appraisal process for GS workers can be done with 1 document per year. NSPS demands performance plans with coordinated job objectives and clearly measurable objectives...many positions are very subjective in their nature.
My current boss finds the whole NSPS process painful and useless, but he leaves in a month. I wonder how much interest/training in civilian programs the next O-5 will have? Probably none as well.
Productivity
County Clerk
Mon May 18, 2009 12:18 PM
Post Reply
That is a word you don't see much in the Federal sector. I know that the BLS publishes a productivity measure frequently for the private sector. Why can't supervisors be measured and evaluated on the productivity of their spheres of influence? I think because it is a word foreign to government accountants and manpower folks. With th explosion of technology I would have hoped that productivity numbers would have also exploded. But it seems we can't determine that because it is not measured as far as I know. I hope my mother doesn't find out I'm on this site. She frowns on my partaking in controversial matters.
Supervisory Incompetence
Forest Service
Mon May 18, 2009 1:18 PM
Post Reply
First and foremost, supervisors need to be trained to BE supervisors. Unlike the military where supervisory training is required, in the agency I now work, there's little or no training to be had for first-time supervisors. As a result, we have some decidedly poor supervisors, which leads to poor working conditions, therefore poor morale. If there's no training for supervisors, how can you come up with a comprehensive plan for rating them?
It Needs to Start from the Top
DOD
Mon May 18, 2009 3:19 PM
Post Reply
My sense is that our supervisors give as they, themselves, are receiving. If I receive no meaningful objectives, requirements, or performance standards from my own supervisor, how can I cascade them to my own employees? If I receive no performance feedback from my own supervisor, what does that tell me I should do with my own employees? If my own supervisor requires me to write my own performance rating and tells me to make it whatever results in a Highly Successful, what does that tell me about the importance or level of effort I should put into my own employee's ratings? If my own supervisor isn't being held accountable for fulfilling basic performance management requirements with me, what can I conclude about my having to fulfill these same basic performance requirements with my employees?
Management vs supervision
Air Force
Mon May 18, 2009 10:01 PM
Post Reply
First we need to define these terms. Management and supervision are not the same jobs. And I don't mean that in some philosophical way. For example, I am an engineering manager. I assign work, track results, coordinate among my staff, etc. But I don't supervise anyone -- not one member of my staff. I can't hire, fire, evaluate, or otherwise do any of the supervisory tasks. Their official supervisor is someone else who does not have any of the management responsibilities for the tasks being done. So right there is one major problem to be solved -- authority vs responsibility.
To make matters worse, supervision isn't treated as a job by itself. Rather it's an additional duty added to another full time job. Having been a supervisor in the past, it's frustrating not to have the time to do the job right, especially when you get assigned the job to supervise the problem employee who got transferred over from someone else. That's another full time job in itself.
SUPERVISORS
DOD
Tue May 19, 2009 9:24 AM
Post Reply
The article did address ways to better your work habits but what needs to be discussed is how supervisors need improvement on the way that they treat their employees. They can be rated #1 in their work assignments but the most important thing is how they treat their own employees. This is an area that "their" supervisor does not know anything about. Supervision by ignoring their employees, not saying good morning to their employees, not wanting any relationship on a personal level at all, is unsatisfactory. Maybe a supervisor should pass a psychological test before being promoted to this level.