Intelligence community launches executive performance system

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has issued a new directive that will bring senior leaders at the nation's 16 intelligence agencies under a common performance evaluation system.

"As a general proposition, employees like the idea of being evaluated on two dimensions. We think that's a best practice," said Ron Sanders, chief human capital officer at ODNI. "Employees and seniors will be evaluated on what they do and how they do it."

Similar to the performance evaluation system used for employees below the GS-15 level, the process will require intelligence agencies to use six common measurements to rate senior executives. The criteria will be different for lower-grade employees and executives. The executive criteria will focus on problem analysis, information sharing, collaboration and promoting innovation. The new evaluation system is scheduled to be in place by Oct. 1, and agencies are expected to use them for the 2009 appraisal cycle.

Sanders said the criteria were drawn partially from the recommendations of groups that have studied intelligence reform.

"We're using these evaluations to bring about transformation," he said. "For senior executives, we want them to build and leverage collaborative networks across agency boundaries. … In my mind, that's one of the most important leadership characteristics in the [intelligence community], the ability to lead across components where you don't have formal authority."

Sanders said in addition to fostering overall intelligence reform, the appraisal system would promote the intelligence community's joint duty program, designed to teach employees more about how other agencies function. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell announced the program in June 2007.

Sanders said there was anecdotal data that without a common performance evaluation system, employees who went on rotations outside their home agencies were less likely to be promoted, reducing the incentives to take joint duty assignments.

"As a minimum, there will be a core set of requirements for every employee and every senior executive," Sanders said. "Before we issued this, employees who went off on a detail were evaluated by their home agency even though they weren't working there. The gaining agency will actually evaluate the employees on joint duty to them and be responsible for their performance bonus."

Sanders said data show that under the new joint duty program and performance measurement system, promotion rates for employees on joint duty rotations and for employees who stayed in their home agencies were identical.