Standard ‘Competencies’ Eyed

The Defense Department is considering using standard performance factors, also called “competencies” for white-collar workforce performance assessments that will be at the heart of its planned pay-for-performance system. Such competencies likely will include technical proficiency, critical thinking, cooperation/teamwork, communication, customer focus, management of resources, leadership, and achieving results. For supervisors only, supervision is an additional factors. The department recently surveyed employees to get their views on the relevance of those work factors to their jobs. Under each competency, there could be four or five specific criteria that may be used to assess an employee’s performance in that area. The performance management element has been a major source of controversy over the pending changes at both departments, as well as over the concept of applying pay for performance to other agencies.