The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Feb. 6 issued a call to government agencies to provide data to OPM by March 7 on current agency employee performance management plans and policies that will inform new rules about getting rid of underperforming workers, and further President Donald Trump’s aim to reshape the Federal workforce.
The directive from OPM to Federal agency and department heads instructs that “all agencies should submit data regarding their performance management plans and policies – including those contained in collective bargaining agreements – and identify any barriers to ensuring that 1) agency performance plans make meaningful distinctions based on relative employee performance and 2) the agency has the ability to swiftly terminate poor performing employees who cannot or will not improve.”
OPM is developing the new employee performance metrics under direction from President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order on Reforming the Federal Hiring Process And Restoring Merit To Government Service, and his Jan. 20 order for a 90-day Federal civilian employee hiring freeze, which contains exceptions for military, national security, and public safety positions.
The Jan. 20 executive order on reforming hiring processes aims to have in place by mid-May a new Federal plan that “brings to the Federal workforce only highly skilled Americans dedicated to the furtherance of American ideals, values, and interests,” and prioritizes “recruitment of individuals committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government.”
An instruction to OPM to establish “clear performance metrics” is part of the Jan. 20 order.
In the Feb. 6 directive to agency heads, OPM said their input should include information on all “employees who received less than a ‘fully successful’ performance rating in the past three years,” and whether they have completed a performance improvement plan within the last 12 months.
OPM also asked for details on “any OPM regulations, agency policies, or terms of collective bargaining agreements applicable to the agency that would impede: a. agency performance plans from making meaningful distinctions based on relative employee performance; or b. the agency’s ability to swiftly separate low-performing employees.”
