SES performance appraisals should be more honest, OPM says

The days of playing fast and loose with the performance rating system used to measure Senior Executive Service members are over, according to a memo issued Nov. 1 by Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James. OPM records on the fiscal year 2000 performance ratings of federal agencies show that they rated 85 percent of their executives at the highest level allowed, suggesting that they are issuing appraisals with little regard for the quality of an employee's work, James wrote in a memo to heads of all departments and independent agencies. "Federal managers must embrace real accountability to make the evaluations meaningful, that means managers have to be willing to make tough calls and to recognize that not every employee can be rated outstanding or the rating itself becomes meaningless," James said last week during a forum sponsored by the Council for Excellence in Government. "We cannot be afraid of honest appraisals," she said. James is not the first government official to criticize SES performance ratings. In August Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels said the current system of performance appraisals does not reward exemplary work, and that its inaccuracy makes it harder to distinguish those people who really deserve the label of high performer from those who don't. In the memo, James advised political appointees to use the performance management system to hold executives accountable, and to make sure that measurable results, not anecdotes, are used to assess an employee's performance. "Use the appraisal process to reinforce our commitment to results-oriented government," James wrote. "Top management…has to create a climate that demands and sustains excellence." OPM will closely monitor ratings and bonuses in fiscal 2001 and will compile its findings, then release them in a report, James said.