People Persons

It was standing room only at the Excellence in Government session that just ended on the DHS and DoD personnel systems. OPM's Ron Sanders set the stage, saying the departments' systems performance-based pay systems were set to "emerge from the primordial ooze." The audience was, as you can imagine, skeptical of the new approach. The speakers, DHS's Todd Turner and DoD's Charles Abell, looked like they were used to that kind of reaction. They made it clear that their biggest challenge was selling employees on the notion that their managers would actually be trained in how to set goals and standards before employee pay is tied to these objectives. The "common theme" from DHS employees, said Turner: "Is my manager skilled to do this?"

Abell noted that DHS's final regulations are "dangerously close to being finished," with publication due around Sept. 1. At that point, he said, the department will implement the labor relations portion of the new system immediately.

Both Turner and Abell continued to sell the notion that their departments need "flexibility," "nimbleness" and "agility" in human resources management because of the nature of their missions. This is a great way to push the urgency of reform at their departments, but it sure doesn't help the administration from selling the idea of governmentwide reform.