Performance Awards Reduced

[Scout333]

Performance awards reduced 2011 and 2012

http://www.chcoc.gov/transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalID=3997

[James48843]

Agencies must also reduce award spending for non-SES/SL/ST performance awards and individual contribution awards (e.g., special act) for all employees to no more than one percent of their aggregate salaries.

Hey, no sweat. My bargaining unit has received only 0.45% of salaries as the performance awards system for more than a decade. Cut it to one percent? Heck- that would more than double the amount paid out in my line of work.

[Frixxxx]

:(What are performance awards again?:(

[Scout333]

Could be interesting--
"This memorandum provides guidance applicable to all departments and agencies (referred to collectively as agencies), was developed in consultation with the President’s Management Council, and has been informed by a review of recent agency award practices. This guidance specifically calls on agencies to adopt more rigorous employee performance management processes that incorporate consistent supervisor communication and feedback, establish accountability at all levels, and provide transparent and credible appraisal systems. "

[wwwtractor]

I do not know if it is done now, but I think that psychological testing of management would save a lot of money because when management takes irrational actions it costs a lot of money through lawsuits and waste not to mention making employees mad and non-productive.

[PessOptimist]

I have wondered about these awards since I became a Fed civilian 14 years ago. They would come some years and not come other years. Most of them were, I thought, just for doing the job I was hired to do.

After a few years I figured it out. If a group of people busted ass to fix something that was due to events beyond anyone's control, there was nothing. If a group of people busted ass to complete some project because the time line had been squeezed, there was occasionally something. If nobody busted ass on a big high profile project that stretched out for years, a bonus would be paid, even if the project was late, over budget and not completed.

Last few years, nothing. Usually the awards were from .5% to 2% of annual pay. When the money stream dried up, it amused me to hear the complaining from coworkers about how they would pay for that new whatever.

Do people really budget based on awards and over time? Sorry, off on a rant. End rant.

It appears to me that this program was started to reward the deserving. Then, like everything else it evolved in to a way for people to enhance their salaries.

Reading this thing at http://www.chcoc.gov/transmittals/Tr...smittalID=3997 (http://www.chcoc.gov/transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalID=3997), it looks like senior management covered theirs again. Let's see, 5% of 150K per = $7500. Is there a limit on how many personal awards you can receive per year?

My bottom line is that I think the whole program should be stopped.

About that psychological testing thing. It would never happen. Manager's manager's would then have to be tested and then the whole thing would have to be brushed away after the findings were reported...to a senior manager only of course.

Those actions you see as irrational would not be seen as such by managers, as they were made to further a career and if they turned out badly it was because they "got no support". Managing things by a manager is a secondary job to the position and only necessary if perceived to be needed to advance. Managers have underlings to do the management so they can look for a better job.

PO

[FundSurfer]

Brainless. Limiting to 1% of annual pay is stupid. That means that the low person on the totem pole who is part of a team getting a reward - you know the one who does a lot of the heavy lifting on a project - might get $300. Whereas, the project leader might be elligible for $1000. Managers should not have to look up everyones pay rate to determine award amounts, that's silly. In reality, that is not likely to happen, so everyone on the team gets $250. Now think, most agencies budget a certain amount for awards - what happens when you can only give out 1/4 the amount that you usually do for each award? Right, you give out 4 times as many awards. This dilutes the concept of awards. This at a time when the government is saying to itself that we need to reward folks MORE for performance. Brainless.

The part that really irks me is that SES can still get 5% bonus. That is so backward.

Morale of federal employees is going to go into the dumpster.

A better method would have been to limit non-SES/SL/ST to $1500 and SES/SL/ST to $2500. Then the little guy can get the deserved reward. (I'm not a little guy...)

I do like the idea of giving out more than one award per year. That might be a nice way around this brainless rule. Might be worth a try.

[msymonds]

Why are there performance awards at this point in our economy which is coming closer to default every day? We are following the same tactics as the bankers and all the bonuses they received stealing from the taxpayers. I am ashamed to be a government employee not only because the awards were handed out in a corrupt fashion since the ones who received them should never have gotten them. Also since we are not having a cost of living raise now all incentives should have been frozen. I will let the public know about this-it is only right to let them know how corrupt this" government of the people is ".

[Buster]

Why are there performance awards at this point in our economy which is coming closer to default every day? We are following the same tactics as the bankers and all the bonuses they received stealing from the taxpayers. I am ashamed to be a government employee not only because the awards were handed out in a corrupt fashion since the ones who received them should never have gotten them. Also since we are not having a cost of living raise now all incentives should have been frozen. I will let the public know about this-it is only right to let them know how corrupt this" government of the people is ".


Please QUIT your Government Job so somebody else that would appreciate it can be hired in your place!

[msymonds]

Who are you that feels justified in what you do for a career to tell me to QUIT!!! You are Part of the Corruption even if you are blind to what is happening. I have a constitutional
right to let the public know how their tax dollars are being spent when this economy is suffering the SAME PAIN or more as the GREAT DEPRESSION. WAKE UP!!

[PessOptimist]

Whoa there Mary. Sounds like there may have been some uric acid in your breakfast bowl. Maybe for a while.

Did you ever figure out what your series was? You never posted any replies after April last year. Were you a GS-7 or a WG-7? It is kind of important for any employee to know what their job is supposed to be and what the pay rate is. Did you get down graded to a 5-6?

So many questions you left unanswered. Then you asked a question about why TSP didn't post numbers. Nothing more about your work dilemma. Now you speak about awards and early retirement. I must assume you are still a federal employee.

Good luck with the early retirement and the move north.

I stated in an earlier post I thought the awards program should be stopped, as it has strayed from it's original purpose. It sounds as if you have never enjoyed the benefits of this program. It also sounds as if you are not very happy with your present employment. Perhaps you should objectively examine the past 10 years.

Sounds as if you weren't too pleased with the answer to your post.


Why are there performance awards at this point in our economy which is coming closer to default every day? We are following the same tactics as the bankers and all the bonuses they received stealing from the taxpayers. I am ashamed to be a government employee not only because the awards were handed out in a corrupt fashion since the ones who received them should never have gotten them. Also since we are not having a cost of living raise now all incentives should have been frozen. I will let the public know about this-it is only right to let them know how corrupt this" government of the people is ".


Please QUIT your Government Job so somebody else that would appreciate it can be hired in your place!

Your response attacked someone you don't even know. The response was to your statement about being ashamed to be a government employee. You weren't very clear about why you are ashamed. You state "I am ashamed to be a government employee not only because the awards were handed out in a corrupt fashion since the ones who received them should never have gotten them." and never tell us what the other part of "not only" is.


Who are you that feels justified in what you do for a career to tell me to QUIT!!! You are Part of the Corruption even if you are blind to what is happening. I have a constitutional
right to let the public know how their tax dollars are being spent when this economy is suffering the SAME PAIN or more as the GREAT DEPRESSION. WAKE UP!!

Striking out in that manner and accusing someone of being part of the corruption leads many readers to believe you dislike all federal employees.

Yes it is your right to let the public know whatever you think they should know. It is also your right to defecate in your own bed.

Good luck in your future.

PO

[nnuut]

I was one of the supervisors that had to put up with Government regulations to try and give my employees recognition for their efforts. As many people realize employees need a pat on the back when they over achieve and inspiration when they under achieve, without that they languish in mediocrity and really don't care to excel, that lowers the performance of the whole unit. The majority of the time there isn't sufficient funds to recognize all of the achievers and some get nothing for their efforts while others are rewarded because the system had limited funds and sets limits on the number of employees that can be rewarded while spreading the funds too thinly resulting in just token awards for some that really stood far above the normal performance requirements. On the other side of the problem supervisors were not allowed to evaluate under achievers at their true level, hell I couldn't give anyone Unsatisfactory, it wasn't allowed because of Union pressure and the grievances that resulted in because supervisors actually tried to rate an employee at his true level of performance. Even a marginal performance rating had to be approved by Industrial Relations. So some of the Laggards were more than satisfied with a satisfactory rating and continued to do all they could to get out of work because the supervisor's hands were tied.
I was a first or second level supervisor for over 18 years and the rewards given to good and superior employees was nothing compared to the effort that some put out to protect our country, surely not a Bank Breaker, inadequate, unfair and unworkable. Only at the higher grade levels do employees get unrealistic bonuses and multiple awards just to make the Big Bosses look good. The worker Bees are at the bottom of the list but are the ones that really get the mission accomplished, it's a shame.
New systems like NSPS were implemented and were utter failures making things worse, who came up with that over complicated, expensive, time wasting mess really is a candidate for an Unsatisfactory rating. Don't blame the workers blame Congress!:nuts:
Everyone has their opinion and nothing is wrong with that, let's not take it personal.;)

[FundSurfer]

Wow. Why on earth would you not want to have performance rewards if they can be given out to those who give outstanding effort? MOST of the federal employees that I work with go above and beyond what is required for their job. A few really stand out. Yes, there are laggards that I wish it was easier to get rid of, but they are at the other end of the bell curve. Often the reward given out is way less than what would be needed to truely compensate the emplyees efforts. I'll give you a couple examples: 1. One of my office secretaries retired and another secretary worked late and on weekends to try and catch up with the workload. When I found out how much time she was volunteering, I had to tell her to stop. I could not offer overtime, although I tried. I could and did give her an award that did not come close to the value of her extra effort. 2. An employee came up with a work saving change to a project that ended up saving the government tens of thousands of dollars. The emplyee worked very hard on a justification to management to convice us to make the change. Again, the reward did not come close to the value of the extra effort. I could list many more. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I work with way more dedicated employees than I do laggards.