TOPICS
TOPICS
Report reveals anxiety over new DHS personnel system
Employees at the Homeland Security Department are concerned about fairness and training in the personnel system being implemented at the agency, according to a report released Monday.
The report was produced after a series of focus group meetings with DHS employees between Feb. 24 and March 18. The focus groups were conducted in 10 locations and included 289 agency workers.
When Congress established DHS in 2002, officials were given the power to build their own personnel system. Agency officials are planning to limit the scope of union bargaining, make it easier for managers to discipline poor performers and dismantle the General Schedule pay system in favor of a performance pay framework.
Although the employees were divided into union and nonunion focus groups, they reported the same concerns about the new system.
According to the report, employees are mainly concerned about the possibility of favoritism in a performance pay system, potential inability of supervisors to manage such a system, accountability for managers, availability of funding, time needed to operate the new system and difficulty finding appropriate measures for job success.
Supervisors said they are concerned about the training needed for the new system, the availability of information to answer employee questions and whether the goals of the new system are realistic. Supervisors also reported that they are concerned about the time needed to implement the new system.
National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen M. Kelley said the report shows that the agency is moving too quickly to implement a system that does not have the support of its participants.
"This report reaffirms my belief that DHS is moving forward with a system that is yet undefined and unclear, even to supervisors, and should slow down implementation until it has a structure in place that is understood and accepted by all DHS employees," Kelley said. "NTEU remains concerned that DHS will implement a pay-for-performance system that will be unworkable if artificial implementation deadlines take priority."
Homeland Security officials, however, said the report helps identify areas that need to be specifically addressed during training, which is set to begin in June. DHS spokesman Larry Orluskie said the focus groups worked exactly as they were intended.
"The whole idea of the focus groups was to go out and find out what the concerns are with employees," he said. "It has helped us prepare" for training.
COMMENTS
- I know there is more opposition to the new Pay for Performance System than is being reported, I've talked to a lot of civilian employees & none of them approve of the new system. They or I do NOT believe the Pay for Performance System is an improvement over the present pay system. Why would you allow DHS to master-mind the payroll system when they abused their money within the first year of being and continued to do so with their award system? The same kind of thinking that allowed Bill Clinton to remain in office after he was impeached! Did they honestly think anyone else could do any more damage to our country? Now Defense has cut off negotations with the Unions! Is the voice of the people being heard? Is this DEMOCRATIC(relating to, encompassing, or promoting the interest of the people)? SOCIALISM (a social system in which the producers possess political power and the means of producing and distributing goods)? COMMUNISM (A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy & a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people)? MARXISM-LENINISM (the expansion of Marxism (the economic & political thought toward Communism)to include Lenin's concept of thought that workers could not develop a revolutionary consciousness without the guidance of a vanguard party & that imperialism was a particular stage of capitalist development)? DICTATORSHIP (The office or tenure of a dictator. A state or government under dictatorial rule. Absolute or despotic control or power)? Just food for thought. GovExec.com reader Posted June 9, 2005 1:05 PM
- The pay system for performance isn't working at TSA and now they want to implement it in the rest of DHS. Somebody stop this out of control train! What incentive/step increases were allowed at TSA equaled less than 5% of a staff of 181 employees (6 employees across three airports). The program is fundamentally a good program, there are just too many ways for dishonest people to continue to be dishonest from managers to employees. RW GovExec.com reader Posted June 8, 2005 2:44 PM
- "So What": When you or someone you love is stricken by illness, will you say "so what, what will be will be, get over it"? I doubt that very much. You, like anyone else, will do whatever it takes to get help. People have a right and a duty to speak out against injustice, no matter where it appears. You obviously don't work in DHS, and aren't going to be affected by this issue, so why criticize those who are trying to right this wrong? If the shoe was on the other foot (yours), would you still feel this way? GovExec.com reader Posted June 3, 2005 3:29 PM
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