Federal Manager's Daily Report: Monday, December 20, 2004 FEDweek is the largest information resource in the federal government with now over one million weekly readers. To Subscribe, Go to http://www.fedweek.com/subscribepopup.htm *********************************************************** Valued Added Service to Our Readers:
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NSPS Spiral One Announced The Defense Department has announced which functions and which locations will be in the first phases of its new "national security personnel system," with an initial group of about 60,000 general schedule line employees and managers in the first phase, set to launch in summer 2005, followed by two more phases of roughly six months each bringing the total to 300,000. In a letter to affected employees, Mary Lacey, the project director, promised that a variety of communications forums, learning events and training sessions on the specifics of NSPS will be provided prior to conversion. An employee handbook and tutorial is promised as well. However, for now the system remains largely undefined, beyond broad principles announced earlier indicating that the system will feature pay banding, pay for performance, hiring and discipline flexibilities and revisions in appeals and labor relations rights. In a document accompanying the announcement, DoD acknowledged that the rules are not expected until sometime in the winter and will not be finalized until the spring. However, it said, "the announcement at this time allows the leadership of those affected organizations to posture themselves and look ahead as much in advance as possible to help prepare Spiral One implementation." Spiral one involves personnel and appeals rights. Changes in labor relations policies are to be implemented department-wide with no phase-in, potentially starting in the summer. 2. Training a Major Element of Reform 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." 3. Some Tinkering Envisioned, But Not a Lot DoD says that there "may be some modest changes that will be necessary" as the NSPS system matures. Once it reaches the 300,000-employee figure, the Pentagon will have to certify that the system meets certain standards set out in the law creating NSPS before it will be allowed to move on to "spiral two"--most of the rest of the department, including wage grade employees--and a potential "spiral three"--DoD laboratories already operating under special personnel authorities. "Our experience with China Lake, our first demonstration project, and the subsequent acquisition and laboratory demonstration projects, has given us a wealth of valuable experience to rely upon in rolling out NSPS, and we expect that any system changes will be modest in scope. For instance, we may identify better ways for training the workforce and may decide to modify training plans," the DoD document says. However, many in employee organizations and on Capitol Hill expect much more significant changes than what is on the order of tinkering with training plans. NSPS will involve significant changes in the way jobs are classified and employees are paid, they note, and likely will raise issues regarding fairness and equal application of ratings. A series of congressional hearings is expected, potentially beginning soon after DoD publishes the proposed rules. Published by FEDweek 11541 Nuckols Rd. Suite D Glen Allen, VA 23059 (804) 288-5321 Website: http://www.fedweek.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are subscribed to federalmanagersdailyreport as [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
