Holding poor performers accountable can lead to better government

There is a common adage that the federal government should work like the private sector, but that viewpoint doesn’t always hold true because the government’s mission is to serve the public, which is very different than working toward a bottom line.

One place government should mirror the private sector and improve, however, is how it manages its employees. My organization’s polling trust data, for example, shows that over one-quarter of Americans view holding employees more accountable for their performance as one of the top two actions the government could take to become more effective and trustworthy.

Large private sector companies like Walmart, FedEx and Home Depot invest in their people—establishing clear cultural values, employee development programs, and performance appraisal, enforcement and reward systems —and they have incentives that help remove poorly performing employees. 

Unlike the private sector, the current process for addressing poor performers in government is difficult for managers and confusing for employees. While most employees are doing good work on behalf of their agencies, some are underperforming and some need to be fired. This happens in every industry across the private sector. 

At the same time, it is important to ensure that federal employees cannot be fired for politically motivated or unjust reasons, but it also needs to be easier for supervisors to manage performance issues. 

According to the Government Accountability Office, nearly 17,000 federal employees are disciplined or fired for misconduct annually.  But neither federal employees nor the public have confidence that poor performers in government are dealt with properly or that the process works well.

Three critical reforms would begin the process of simplifying and improving the current performance management system and increasing the trust of employees and the public that poor performers are being appropriately managed. Agencies and Congress, where needed, should take the basic steps listed below to deal with poor performers as well as adopt significant reforms on four other important governmental issues outlined in my organization’s recently published Vision for a Better Government.

• Hold managers accountable for employee performance. Agencies should provide managers with training and support on setting performance goals, fairly addressing performance issues, and using disciplinary and removal procedures. Establishing an HR point of contact, performance desk or ombudsperson would be one way to connect employees with the resources and help they need. Agencies should also ensure managers, including members of the Senior Executive Service and political appointees, possess the technical expertise and  the right supervisory skills to lead people.. 

• More effectively use probationary periods to evaluate employees. Managers should be required to determine whether employees are qualified, unqualified or the right fit during their first year on the job. If an employee is not performing well, agencies should  provide them with additional training, move them to a different position or terminate them before the probationary period ends. New hires should not be automatically advanced to full-time employment if their supervisor does not formally decide whether they are qualified or unqualified. 

• Streamline the disciplinary process. If an employee is disciplined or terminated for poor performance or misconduct, there needs to be a quick and streamlined review and appeals system that provides due process protections and ensures decisions are not politically motivated. The process should be easy to understand, leading employees and employers alike to a fair and expeditious resolution. One option would be to limit most types of employee complaints and appeals to a single authority. 

Today, a majority of Americans do not believe the government is accountable for what it does and how it works. At a time when the public is relying on the government to address a set of evolving challenges at home and abroad, this is extremely concerning. 

A government viewed as unresponsive to the public will never fully gain its trust and meet its needs. Agencies need to improve their current performance management processes to help bridge this gap, improve our government’s accountability and impact, and provide the public with the high-performing federal workforce it deserves. 

Jenny Mattingley is the vice president for government affairs at the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, an organization dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy.