Pay Unrelated to Performance, Workers Say

John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the survey results say less about the current pay system and more about why a performance-based system would not work in federal agencies.

"I think the survey response indicates most federal workers don't trust a system by which they would be compensated or receive raises based on how they are judged on their performance by their managers," Gage said. "Federal workers don't believe that they are compensated based on their performance but on other more subjective factors."

Mark A. Abramson, executive director of the IBM Center for the Business of Government, thinks one solution is to begin the process with the managers. "What government really needs to do now is better train and equip their managers for implementing pay for performance," he said. "The managers are behind, and the government has not spent enough time preparing them for the implementation, because it is going to make their job different and harder."

In performance-based systems, managers should expect to spend more time setting out expectations and talking with each employee about their job goals, Abramson and Risher said.

"Too often managers do not see this as a central part of their jobs," Risher said. "It would be highly advantageous to see their pay at least in part dependent on how well they manage the performance of their people."

Clay Johnson III, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, said federal agencies have started pilot projects to test new personnel practices. By the end of this year, he said at a recent briefing, more rigorous job rating systems will cover about 20 percent of the federal workforce.

One of the obstacles to improving government performance, Johnson said, "is that every employee, from unsatisfactory to outstanding, gets the same annual raise. I think that is an insult to the outstanding employee, and I think that is a miscommunication or an unfair communication to the unsatisfactory employee."

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.