Federal agencies could make better use of the probationary period for those newly hired as supervisors, MSPB said in a recent publication that underscores findings of previous research.
It said that agencies tend to select employees to become supervisors because of their technical skills; they “understandably want to reward high performing employees with promotions that might not be available outside of supervisory positions.”
“However, a supervisor’s primary responsibility is to accomplish work through others. Therefore, leadership skills are critical to a supervisor’s ability to plan work, communicate organizational goals and policies, guide performance, and make difficult decisions about employee recruitment, retention, development, and appraisal. Unfortunately, it is difficult to assess applicants’ leadership skills through the typical assessment tools that federal agencies use,” it said.
It said that agencies could better use the probationary period required of new supervisors, which can be structured differently than the initial probationary period for those newly hired into the government. For example, it said, the length of the period is up to agency discretion, and an agency may establish different periods for different occupations.
“When used correctly, the probationary period provides the agency a critical opportunity to evaluate how well a supervisor or manager carries out the actual duties of the job before the appointment becomes final. There really is no personnel assessment more accurate than that,” it said.