GovernmentExecutive.com

An Air Force employee e-mailed me the following this morning about the Defense personnel reform announcement: "As a government employee for 22+ years, I find myself more than a little frustrated. I take a great deal of pride in the work I do. The new personnel system seems to have more cons than pros for employees. A level playing field is always the preferred way to work with others. Those who are high performers are given awards with their appraisals. Changing the program will only cause anyone not getting raises to resent those who do."

My question (and maybe it's a dumb one) is, how will they know? Over here in the private sector, most people just don't know exactly what their coworkers make, much less how big a raise they receive in any given year. The only way to know is to ask, and that's considered bad form. Of course, many companies have salary schedules that match positions, so you can get a general idea of what people make. But I've never worked in a place where people openly talk about what their raise was. I realize the government culture is very different, and people often openly identify their grade and step levels. But I wonder if that will change in the move to a pay-banding system. Maybe people who have already worked in such systems can enlighten me on this point.