Performance Management: DOD Is Terminating the National Security Personnel System, but Needs a Strategic Plan to Guide Its Design of a New System

摘要

The Department of Defense (DOD) is one of the largest and most complex organizations in the world and faces challenges in managing its human capital-particularly its diverse civilian workforce.1 Our prior work has noted that over time federal positions, including those within DOD, have become increasingly specialized and more highly skilled, resulting in a need for managers to have greater flexibility in hiring and compensating employees.2 As a result, the department took steps-pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004(3)-to provide managers with greater flexibility in hiring and implemented a performance management system that sought to reward civilian employees' performance and contributions to the agencies' missions rather than to reward longevity in a position. Specifically, in 2004, DOD established the National Security Personnel System (NSPS)-a human capital system that significantly redesigned the rules, regulations, and processes that governed the way civilian employees were hired, compensated, and promoted at DOD.4 In 2006, the department began converting its civilian employees to NSPS.