Most SESers Rated Highly

About three-fourths of Senior Executive Service members received the highest rating available under their performance appraisal systems in fiscal 2003, the Office of Personnel Management has reported, and more than half of them received what OPM termed “substantial” performance bonuses. The results do not reflect the requirements of the new SES pay-for-performance system that went into effect late last year, which requires agencies make “meaningful distinctions” in the performance ratings and pay of their SES members. OPM noted that many agencies have received certification to increase the base pay of their top-performing SESers and that “we fully expect the results of the 2004 rating cycle to reflect the stringent terms and conditions of an agency’s certification — particularly as a condition precedent for its renewal in 2005.”