Let Us Now Praise…Ourselves
Self-appraisals are unreliable but many federal employees are required to do them anyway. It’s a system only an egomaniac or sycophant can appreciate. So, how well did you do last year?
Author: Robbie Kunreuther
Goals, Objectives, and the Everyday Employee
Federal employees who perform civil service work year in and year out do not need to have their evaluations tied to the agency’s strategic planning process.
Why Have Supervisors?
We take our best employees and pay them more money to do less of what made them the best. Moreover, we put them in leadership positions when their leadership skills are often untested and unknown. So how do managers make the investment in their salaries and benefits a worthwhile expense?
Evaluating EEO As If It Really Mattered
Writing a performance standard for EEO is different than in other areas. Here is why it is different and a suggestion for writing a better standard.
“So, Mr. Einstein, what do you plan to come up with next year?”
Performance appraisals are becoming more important to federal employees as pay for performance plans expand. What appraisal techniques work and which ones do not? Absurd performance standards can result if an agency does not pay close attention to how they are being written. Here are suggestions from an expert in the area of writing performance standards.
Appraisals, Objectivity, and the Little Black Book
Controversy continue around pay-for-performance in government despite apprehensions by many employees and supervisors. Successful performance appraisals require a system that works well. The author has a “modest proposal” to help supervisors and managers be more objective in rating employees.
Don’t Want NSPS? Join A Union!
As NSPS is challenged in court, DoD is moving out by scrupulously avoiding unionized employees. This gives thousands of DoD professionals a way out–they can form a bargaining unit.
The Forgotten First Year of Supervision
Serious efforts aimed at improving the competence of supervisors will do more for government than a dozen pay-for-performance systems. Administrative costs of deciding who should get what raises is greater than the total pool of money being divided.
War and Peace: Should You Discipline or Mediate?
The author considers the potential for using mediation to resolve conduct problems where a collaborative approach may prove more successful than a punitive one.
Our Discipline System Needs Corrective Action
The disciplinary system for federal employees is cumbersome and time-consuming. Here are suggestions for fixing the system.
