Is NSPS Necessary?

Interesting exchange between review board member and former NTEU president Bob Tobias and NSPS program executive Brad Bunn:

Tobias: It is really a good piece of work that you sponsored, you put together, and you published. I assume from your testimony that you believe NSPS motivates people who are covered by NSPS to increase their performance. What I mean by that, if I'm a level 4 performer, and I produce 1.0, that without NSPS I might produce 0.8 instead of 1.0. My question is, what data is available to support the assumption that this system, as it's currently designed and implemented in DOD, motivates employees to actually increase their performance.

Bunn: Frankly, I don't have a database that shows net increase in performance of either organizations or individuals. We're able to track performance over time of individuals. I mentioned that most of the folks who got a 1 or a 2 improved their performance, or got a higher rating. Whether the system motivated that, we don't have data that says exactly what motivated that. What the system is designed to do was promote a performance culture.