DOD TWEAKS NSPS

Source: FedNews Online

The Department of Defense has altered some of the core components of its National Security Personnel System.

NSPS is a performance-based human capital system that would affect approximately 700,000 DoD civilian employees’ pay and classification, performance management, hiring, workforce shaping, disciplinary matters, appeals procedures and labor-management relations.

According to information posted on the NSPS Web site earlier this week, the changes emphasize job objectives and results. Under the current NSPS guidelines, “objectives will clearly create the ‘line of sight’ that shows how individual performance can contribute to organizational goals and will serve as the primary basis for employee ratings.”

Employee ratings will directly affect pay raises, which “will be based on a range of shares tied to the performance rating.”

DoD has yet to publish final NSPS implementing regulations, but the Department expects to release the regulations later this month.

DoD began NSPS last year, but suspended training in early January. (See DOD DELAYS NSPS TRAINING at http://www.fednews-online.com/?publicationId=8765.) The system remains scheduled to be implemented April 30.

Staggered via “Spirals”, a vastly re-worked NSPS Spiral 1.1 will implement approximately 11,000 DoD employees into the system.

Under the latest timeframe:

* Spiral 1.1 will begin April 30, 2006. The rating cycle will extend through October 2006 and the NSPS payout will occur in January 2007.

* Spiral 1.2 will begin Oct. 1, 2006.

* Spiral 1.3 will begin January 2007.

Spiral 1.1 organizations, originally consisting of about 65,000 employees, were previously scheduled to transition employees to new performance standards beginning in January.

More information about NSPS can be found at http://www.cpms.osd.mil/nsps/.