10/6/09: In a report issued last week, the agency charged with guarding the federal workforce merit principles found that federal agencies have all the tools necessary to deal with performance issues in the federal government, however, the biggest barrier to effective performance management remains poorly-trained supervisors.

NTEU National President Colleen Kelley today called for significant improvements in the training of federal supervisors in managing the performance of their employees.

In the report, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) recommended that the best way to deal with sub-par performers in the federal workplace is to hire good supervisors and train them to manage performance more effectively.

“In my experience, there are not that many poor performers in federal agencies but the issue gets a lot of attention,” said Kelley. “This study shows that there are processes in place; the problem is that supervisors are reluctant to tackle performance issues.”

According to the study, two processes exist to remove poor performers, but supervisors do not use them. “Agencies should recognize that supervisors carry the responsibility for performance management, and therefore, having skilled supervisors is crucial to avoiding the retention of poor performers,” the MSBP said.

“For all the recent talk of performance management in the federal government, this report shows the government already has a system in place to deal with poor performers. The problem is not with the system, it is with the execution,” President Kelley said, noting that the MSPB’s recent report emphasizes that supervisors are the key to improving performance and dealing with poor performers, rather than making statutory changes. 

The MSPB survey of federal managers found more half the respondents reported difficulty in taking performance-based adverse actions, blaming the problems they encounter in creating standards for performance and documenting how well employees are meeting those standards.

“Because the difficulties encountered by supervisors originate in performance management,” the MSPB said, “the solution to addressing poor performance resides there as well, rather than in any particular change to the law.”

The current MSPB report on this important issue is in line with board reports going back to the Clinton administration. The board’s position tracks the view consistently advanced by NTEU that employees deserve to know exactly what is expected of them in the performance of their duties, President Kelley said, and to be told clearly where they are falling short of expectations, if they are, and what they need to do to improve their performance.

“These are clear and important management responsibilities, and not enough training and attention are being given to them,” she said.