Department of Defense National Security Personnel System : the transition to pay for performance

Abstract

The 2004 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 10-136, November 24, 2003) gives the Department of Defense (DoD) authority to establish the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). This system will mark the most significant reform to civilian personnel management in 25 years. The DoD expects to implement the NSPS in a phased approach extending over two years, and is giving consideration to the Department of the Navy being the lead service. The NSPS will be built on best practices and lessons learned from nine DoD pilot programs that have been conducted in eight laboratories and one Pentagon acquisition organization. The NSPS is being designed to simplify an overwhelming job classification system, refocus performance appraisals, and link pay and retention to employee performance. Such a dramatic change to a system that has endured for so many years is bound to pose tremendous challenges to the DoD. This thesis will explore the challenges associated with pay-for-performance and provide a series of considerations that should be addressed during the implementation process. The thesis begins by discussing the history of the civil service system and its evolution toward a pay-for-performance system, then focuses on the results of three DoD pilot programs that implemented pay-for-performance in the last 25 years. It continues by exploring the present need for civil service reform, discusses the Department's expectations for the new NSPS, and offers some insights into the preliminary implementation plan. The thesis concludes by presenting research on public sector pay-for-performance systems and makes a series of recommendations which the DoD may want to consider in the course of developing and implementing the new pay-for-performance system.