SES pay system said to impede recruitment

Problems in the Senior Executive Service's pay-for-performance system are hampering federal agencies' ability to recruit and retain top employees, according to observers of government.

Pay for top federal officials overlaps that of General Schedule employees, witnesses told lawmakers during a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, adding that pay compression discourages workers at the GS-14 and GS-15 levels from applying for SES positions and taking on additional responsibilities while receiving lower compensation. What's more, senior executives will not see any changes in the system before the end of the two-year federal pay freeze.

"We do believe that right now is not the appropriate time to promote any kind of increase in pay for senior executives," Nancy Kichak, associate director for employee services at the Office of Personnel Management, said at the hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia. "For employee morale purposes, senior executives should be in the same boat as employees. This is a difficult time, and we as senior executives want to be alongside the employees who work for us."

But limiting promised performance awards lowers morale and affects retention to the SES, countered Carol A. Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association. Top officials do not receive the locality pay given to other federal workers and also cannot include performance-based raises in their high-three annuity calculations. An increasingly complex system and the disconnect between performance ratings and pay increases are disincentives for federal workers to join the SES, she said.

"If we don't do something, whether dealing with performance awards or the high three, now that there are 88 separate pay systems in government equivalent to the SES, it's not an attractive place to be," Bonosaro said.

According to Kichak, OPM will be working to improve performance accountability within the SES before moving forward on pay.

"We still have to, in a performance management system, make sure that executives know how the results they are driving to are aligned with agency missions," she told reporters after the hearing. "And we are going to continue to improve that while pay is frozen. We have been reviewing their standards for a long time. There is plenty of room for improvement."

Witnesses also expressed concern about the training available to top executives, as well as the complex hiring process for SES jobs. Currently, agencies take an average of 117 days to bring new SES members on board and require lengthy applications, which deters candidates from applying, they said. Agencies also should continue to devote funds to candidate development programs and improve onboarding and mentoring opportunities to help new employees transition into the SES.

"These are difficult jobs -- high pressure, a lot of work, extra hours and there is risk involved," Kichak testified. "If you are looking for work-life balance, the SES might not be the best place to go. But if you are looking for a challenge and a chance to make a difference, that might be a good place to go."