Robert Kaplan - What Rumsfeld Got Right

[Stevely]

As for NSPS (the reformed system), that is not a done deal either. The AF has gone to it in total. The Army is partially through it; as one looking at it for my future--and working with folks already under it--such laudatory comments are superficial and premature at best, rather like his "transformational efforts.".

Tom

Unfortunately we went into it whole hog at JFCOM. I would call it a reformed system, if by "reformed" one means "worse." At least the way it has been implemented here, there is no real change over the old system, except that you must generate much more paperwork than before. There's a big Kabuki theater made of generating detailed performance plans, measureable and "SMART-aligned" objectives with metrics, and close counseling with your raters through the rating cycle. Then, your highly measurable performance can be compared and properly weighted against your peers in the command, and finally you can reap the big financial rewards due a hard worker (or nothing but punishment if you are a slug) that you couldn't get under the old system. That was how it was sold to us - the new system would reward the good and punish the bad, and if you are good and ambitious, you can gain much greater rewards than under the old GS system.

Unfortunately, you spend loads of time writing and re-writing and re-writing some more your SMART objectives, all of which get ignored as you see yourself getting exactly the same rating as all the other 400 or so civilians in the command, and everyone getting the same payout at the pay pool.

A lot of money and effort spent, a lot of buzzwords and hazy ideas thrown around (many from the business world), frenetic activity and confusion sown in the ranks, all for a questionable and likely non-existent real result at the end. It has Donald Rumsfeld's fingerprints all over it.

Edit: All things considered, I like my job and am certainly thankful to have it - just consider NSPS to be a colossal waste of time and money. The GS system was fine. Just had to get this in here... don't want to leave the impression that next I will complain about sharing rental cars on TDY

[wm]

. . . "'nother stupid personnel system"

Unfortunately we went into it whole hog at JFCOM. I would call it a reformed system, if by "reformed" one means "worse." At least the way it has been implemented here, there is no real change over the old system, except that you must generate much more paperwork than before. There's a big Kabuki theater made of generating detailed performance plans, measureable and "SMART-aligned" objectives with metrics, and close counseling with your raters through the rating cycle. Then, your highly measurable performance can be compared and properly weighted against your peers in the command, and finally you can reap the big financial rewards due a hard worker (or nothing but punishment if you are a slug) that you couldn't get under the old system. That was how it was sold to us - the new system would reward the good and punish the bad, and if you are good and ambitious, you can gain much greater rewards than under the old GS system.

unfortunately, you spend loads of time writing and re-writing and re-writing some more your SMART objectives, all of which get ignored as you see yourself getting exactly the same rating as all the other 400 or so civilians in the command, and everyone getting the same payout at the pay pool.

A lot of money and effort spent, a lot of buzzwords and hazy ideas thrown around (many from the business world), frenetic activity and confusion sown in the ranks, all for a questionable and likely non-existent real result at the end. It has Donald Rumsfeld's fingerprints all over it.

You must not be in a NAGE bargaining unit. Aren't the union employees still exempt from NSPS reorg?
Things are much easier now trying to figure out where you stand in the grade hierarchy and you don't have to wait for years to get a step increase. Seems like a great boon to mankind, especially when you consider how many other hours of possibly productive time were lost attending mandatory training to learn how to write performance objectives and figure out how to apportion "bonus" money across a pay pool. (At my location, they detailed a GS-15 [or is that a YC-3?] for over 2 years just to make sure all the training got done--contractors conducted the training; he just monitored the attendance reports--good thing he didn't have real job to do before that.)
Last time I checked on this program, it is still just as hard to get rid of a substandard performer as it always was.
Sure is great to be a contractor instead of a civil servant.

[Ken White]

...it is still just as hard to get rid of a substandard performer as it always was.

It's almost impossible. Had an employee miss 76 days work out of 180 with no excuses; only took three letters and 18 months to get the firing completed. Then she appealed it. That took another year. We finally won but I'm not sure it was worth the hassle.

Sigh. Congress is so-o-o- helpful...