On Pay for Performance, Rank-and-File Workers Speak Out Anonymously

The Diary's mailbag is stuffed -- with pay issues at the top of the heap.

Columns in late July explored some of the questions being asked by federal employees about pay-for-performance systems underway in the Bush administration. Today's column shares some additional comments from readers interested in how the government compensates and motivates its workforce.

From a federal lawyer who is returning to the private sector:

"I find the current system inflexible and unfair. . . . While my supervisors tout the fact that I have all this experience in senior level management, they don't acknowledge that where it counts -- in my wallet every two weeks.

"I find it unmotivating to get paid a set amount regardless of the quality of my work. . . .

"I've seen some behavior in my short time in the government that probably would have led to firing in the private sector. I leave my government job with greater respect for the work that people do for all of us for nominal pay. At the same time, I am quite disgusted with the waste of money by people who should have been fired long ago."

From a federal scientist:

"Right now, civil service employees are somewhat 'buffered' from politically motivated actions of top management. Employees can openly debate, disagree with the policies and proposed actions of their agencies (within limits, of course) without fear of losing salary (however, there are other ways that management gets even!).

". . . With 'pay for performance' I wonder if I should just please my boss rather than fight for what I believe is right. As a staff scientist, we get into debates all the time. Right now, I feel somewhat protected in these debates. . . . With pay for performance, I will need to balance feeding my family against fighting for the public interest.

"We'll see how I do. . . . I am not optimistic."

From a federal retiree:

"In my immediate organization we had two long-term employees that should have been fired because they did next to no work, leaving their assignments to be shifted to others. I clearly sensed the supervisor did not have the time available to sacrifice mission work in order to increase the priority on needed discipline.