Performance Fund Gets Skeptical Greeting

Members of Congress of both parties have reacted with skepticism to the administration’s proposal to create a $500 million fund to reward high-performing employees. The skepticism expressed by members of several committees at recent hearings-and the outright opposition expressed by federal employee unions-mainly focused on mistrust of agency performance evaluation systems that would be used to make the pay-for-performance decisions, and to an extent on the objectivity of individual managers who would have to do the ratings. Concerns also were expressed that the money for such a fund would effectively be carved out of the general pay raise. However, administration officials pitched the idea as a first step toward more closely linking pay to performance and as a first step in reforming the general schedule pay system overall. If such a fund is created, it would have to be done in the budget process that is just now getting fully underway.