Federal Manager's Daily Report

Federal agencies “rarely use the supervisory and managerial probationary period to take action against unsuccessful leaders,” the MSPB has said in a preview of an upcoming report based on a government-wide survey it conducted in 2016.

“Some of the identified barriers can be addressed by changing agency practices, such as extending the length of probationary periods, which can be done at the agency head’s discretion. Others, however, do not have easy solutions. Therefore, the most effective way to improve the cadre of new supervisors is to reduce the likelihood of making a bad hire in the first place, including improving hiring, employee development, and supervisory preparation,” it says.

MSPB outlined the findings in a budget document, noting that it can’t issue a full report until its governing board has a quorum; nominations recently were made to fill the two vacancies on the board.

Supervisory and managerial probationary periods are separate from the initial probationary period that federal employees must serve, and are supposed to be used to evaluate only performance in those new duties, and not technical type skills related to the job. Those deemed not successful generally would be returned to a position comparable to the one they left, not removed.

The House last year passed a bill (HR-4182) to double to two years government-wide the standard probationary periods, including supervisory and managerial probation. That bill has not advanced in the Senate, however.