SES system may pave way for performance-based pay
Shift to pay-for-performance in senior ranks spurs curiosity at lower levels, say panelists at Excellence in Government conference.
The implementation of the Senior Executive Service's pay-for-performance system may serve to ease anxiety among non-SES employees about their looming governmentwide personnel reform, a chief human capital officer said Monday.
Employees are starting to notice their annual rewards for high achievement in the workplace are "much smaller" than the rewards some of the executives in their agencies are receiving under the new system, said Allen Pittman, assistant secretary for human resources in the Veterans Affairs Department. Pittman serves as one of 25 CHCOs who sit on a council to address human resources issues across agencies.
The SES performance-based system is "creating more curiosity, absolutely," among rank-and-file employees about having their own pay tied to job performance, Pittman said.
The system was put into place after Congress passed legislation in November 2003 that eliminated regular cost-of-living adjustments and locality pay for senior executives, instead tying raises to performance evaluations.
The Office of Management and Budget is drafting a piece of legislation called the Working for America Act that would implement personnel reforms, including performance-based pay, for all civil servants.
Even if the SES model has not quelled every concern about impending changes to personnel rules, Reginald Wells, deputy commissioner and CHCO at the Social Security Administration, said the new system has not caused widespread apprehension.
The implementation of the senior level pay-for-performance system has been "remarkably quiet," Wells said. "There has not been a tremendous expression of delight or outrage." Wells said that could be because the SES employees within his agency have generally received high performance ratings.
Pittman and Wells made their remarks Monday in a session at the Excellence in Government conference, which is co-sponsored by Government Executive.
The CHCOs warned that even though implementation of the SES system was relatively quiet, some people were shocked by the change.
Pittman recounted telling an executive who had received "outstanding" reviews throughout his career that he would be rated only slightly above "satisfactory."
"The blood just left his face," Pittman said.