IMPLEMENTING PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE

Abstract

The 1978 US Civil Service Reform Act required federal agencies to design and implement new performance appraisal systems. The CSRA intends that these reformed systems produce accurate ratings which may be used as the basis for a wide variety of personnel actions, including decisions regarding pay, promotion, and retention. In this article, we describe and analyze the responses of civilian employees at four Navy research and development laboratories where CSRA appraisal systems have been in operation since 1981. These data were obtained through questionnaires and on‐site interviews. Overall, reactions to the CSRA systems were supportive. However, signs of potentially serious long term problems may be appearing in the form of supervisory resistance to the significantly increased workload and potential for conflict associated with the new procedures. Recent changes in Office of Personnel Management policy suggest that this is a problem throughout the federal bureaucracy. The administrative‐organizational‘costs’ of CSRA appraisals and radically changed political priorities are likely to present formidable barriers to the complete implementation of the CSRA.

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