Fair game

An ongoing demonstration project at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is a good example of a successful alternative to the traditional merit promotion system, according to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The federal government spends an estimated $238 million each year on the merit promotion process, not including administrative support costs, according to MSPB. To make the program more effective, MSPB recommended in a February 2002 study that federal agencies develop new approaches for assessing job applicants, and share information with employees about potential promotion opportunities and the criteria used to make promotion selections. MSPB also recommended that agencies shift to career ladder promotions and broadband pay systems to help streamline the process, while also ensuring fairness.

About 10 years ago, officials at the Air Force research laboratory decided to pursue a personnel system structured to fit the staff of approximately 2,500 engineers and scientists after several studies found that the merit system didn't fit well, according to Michelle Neuner, the lab's program manager. About 60 engineers and scientists met, and, in 1997, the current demonstration project was implemented.

"Our system was basically designed by and for the people it was for," Neuner said Wednesday. "A lot of thought and a lot of work went into the design of the system and the implementation of the system."

What the group came up with is a program that merged compensation, classification, performance management and broadband pay systems. They simplified the classification system and grouped the General Schedule system into four broadband pay system levels to create a "contribution-based compensation system."

"Managers assess the employees based on their contribution to the organization," Neuner explained. "They have factors and descriptions that they look at to see if the employee is contributing at a specified level, then we look for the difference between contribution and performance."

To add further balance to the process, each employee is rated by a group of supervisors on how they contributed to six critical areas: technical problem solving, communications and reporting, corporate resource management, technology transition and transfer, research and development, business development and leadership and teamwork. Using this method allows supervisors to identify the high performers and compensate them according to their level of contribution to the agency. It also ensures that an employee's performance review is not dependent on the opinions of a lone manager, Neuner said.

In the years since the program's implementation, the average pay increase each year has been a little more than 5 percent, with a handful of employees receiving as much as a 30 percent increase in one year. A spokeswoman for the research lab said the turnover rate among demonstration project employees was 6 percent from 2001 to 2002. The year before it was only slightly higher, at 6.5 percent.

Injured Feds

On Monday, the Bush administration expressed support for legislation introduced last week that seeks to boost retirement benefits for federal workers who are injured on the job.

"The legislation cures a penalty in current law, keeps employees vested in their retirement and workplace, and provides the right incentives to help employees return to work," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employment Standards Administration Victoria A. Lipnic.

Last Thursday, Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Va., chairwoman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, introduced H.R. 978, a bill that would increase the pensions of employees in the Federal Employees Retirement System to make up for contributions lost by employees unable to contribute while out of work and receiving disability payments. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., introduced similar legislation in the Senate.