GAO also cited issues with how supervisors are selected in the first place and later trained. It said some employees promoted to supervisory positions because of their technical skill are not as inclined towards supervision, and performance management can get lost in the shuffle of their new responsibilities.
“According to CHCOs we interviewed, as higher-graded work in the federal government is typically in managerial and supervisory positions, career advancement in many agencies requires that employees take on supervisory responsibilities. However, some employees critical to meeting the agency’s mission are not interested in (or as inclined to conduct) supervisory duties, but are promoted by the agency to increase their pay and to retain them. As a result, some supervisors are not able to effectively conduct performance management activities,” GAO said.
Regarding training, GAO noted that OPM rules require that all supervisors receive certain training within one year, including training on performance management. However, some agencies include that as part of a broad curriculum that also includes issues such as ethics, cybersecurity and an array of human resources policies.
“CHCOs told us that receiving training in this way can be “like drinking from a fire hose” and can be difficult to fully retain, particularly for topics that can benefit from experiential learning, such as dealing with poor performance. Some agencies seek to address this problem by assigning a new supervisor a mentor to assist with ongoing coaching in performance management and in other areas where the supervisor may have limited previous experience,” GAO said.
It also cited an MSPB report finding that agencies may not be using the probationary period for new supervisors as intended. During that time, agencies are supposed to decide whether the individual should remain a supervisor or be returned to a non-supervisory position.
