A new Office of Personnel Management report on the
demographics of the federal workforce includes data on
the use of performance management tools such as awards and
quality step increases, showing that use of those tools
has been relatively flat in recent years, although
increasing slightly in the most recent reporting year.
The use–or non-use–of performance management tools
already available has become an element in the debate in
Congress and elsewhere over whether federal agencies should
be given new authorities to more closely link compensation
and performance. Critics of systems being installed at the
Defense and Homeland Security departments–which the Bush
administration views as a precedent for similar changes
elsewhere–argue that agencies first should concentrate
on using what they have and that there is no need for
sweeping changes such as replacing the general schedule
with pay banding. Administration officials and others who
favor those more basic changes, though, argue that for a
variety of reasons, agency management likely will never
use those authorities fully enough to create a performance
culture in government.
According to the OPM report, agencies in fiscal 2003 gave
out 1,174,018 individual performance cash awards with an
average value of $858 and 197,597 group cash awards with
an average value of $564, up slightly over 2002. There
were another 5,012 individual and 874 group cash
suggestion/incentive awards, with individual awards down
slightly and group awards up slightly. Exact comparisons
cannot be made with pre-2002 awards because of a
reporting change in 2001.
On QSIs, the data show 6,913 being granted in fiscal
2003–313 more than in 2002–with an average value of
$809; over the prior 10 years, the number of such awards
varied between about 55,000 in 1999 to about 68,000
in 1995.
The number of time-off awards in 2003 was 325,251, down
slightly from 2002, with the average number of hours
awarded standing at 14.1. That’s up from 253,452 and an
average of 12.7 hours in 1997.
