Defense officials, acknowledging that the NSPS represents
a culture change in the way DoD operates, say they
recognize the importance of training and that they are
working on development of the training.
Says a DoD document: “Two types of training will be necessary:
Training to implement the system operationally, and training
in what we call ‘soft skills.’ These ‘soft skills’ include
interpersonal communication, team building, and conflict
management to help facilitate interaction between employee
and supervisor, which will be just as critical to the
program’s overall success as the nuts and bolts of the
system. We will ensure every employee and supervisor get
the proper training to make this work. What we hope to see
is increased communication between every supervisor and
employee as they discuss and jointly develop performance
objectives tied to the overall organization’s mission.
This is essential if this new system is to be successful.”
It continued: “The NSPS performance management system is
designed to recognize and reward the performance and
contributions of the DoD civilian workforce, and supervisors
are integral to the overall success of NSPS.
A pay-for-performance system mandates frequent and honest
communication and performance feedback among managers,
supervisors, and employees. NSPS will not be successful
if managers and supervisors cannot effectively communicate
expectations. Managers and supervisors are key to
successful NSPS implementation.”
