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Performance Management Reference Materials

 

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These references include additional resources and documents on performance management and award-related topics.

Staff Recommendations - What to read when you can't read it all
TitleDescription
Evaluating Performance Appraisal Programs: an Overview Suggests procedures and criteria for evaluating the implementation and effect of performance appraisal programs.
Good Measurement Makes a Difference in Organizational Performance Presents the findings of a study done by the Metrus Group on the value of using strategic measures to track customer and employee satisfaction, financial performance, and operating efficiency.
Good Performance Management Aids Retention and Productivity Presents the results of three studies on retention and productivity describing the critical factors for creating a productive work environment and retaining good employees.
Merit System Principles and Performance Management Explains the Federal Government's merit system and how it is supported by employee performance management.
Warranty Conditions Describes the key factors that must be in place for performance management programs to succeed.
Resources
TitleDescription
Alternative Pay Progression Strategies: Broadbanding Applications Reviews basic aspects of compensation and broadbanding; presents three categories of pay progression strategies and discusses the affects of combining the strategies.
Chronology of Employee Performance Management in the Federal Government Provides a chronology of the major milestones in the evolution of employee performance management in the Federal Government.
Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool (PAAT) (Instructions) Provides instructions on how to complete the Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool (PAAT).
Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool Scoring Sheet Explains what is required for an agency to score well on OPM's Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool (PAAT).
Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool (PAAT) (Template) Helps agencies assess their appraisal programs, identify program strengths and weaknesses, and provide information to develop plans and strategies for making improvements.
Evaluating Performance Appraisal Programs: an Overview Suggests procedures and criteria for evaluating the implementation and effect of performance appraisal programs.
Terminating GM Instructions (P.L. 103-89) Instructions how to comply with P.L. 103-89, The Performance Management and Recognition System Termination Act of 1993, and move Performance Management and Recognition System (PMRS) employees into the agency Performance Management System (PMS) and the General Schedule pay plan.

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Performance Management
TitleDescription
Accountability Can Have Positive Results Explains the positive and valuable results that individual accountability can bring and how managers can implement positive accountability.
Competencies That Support Effective Performance Management Provides an explanation of competencies and describes which specific competencies supervisors and team leaders need to develop to help them manage their employee's performance.
Effective Performance Management: Doing What Comes Naturally Describes performance management as a systematic process including: planning, monitoring, developing, rating, and rewarding.
Formula for Maximizing Performance Explains how organizations and employees must have both the capacity and the commitment to perform in order to achieve good performance.
Implementing FCAT-M Performance Management Competencies: Understanding Performance Management Process and Practices Explains why it is important for supervisors to have a good understanding of the performance management process and their agency practices.
Implementing FCAT-M Performance Management Competencies: Performance Coaching and Feedback Second in a series of articles that describes supervisory competencies. Explains why it is important for supervisors to possess good coaching skills and be able to provide their employees effective feedback.
Implementing FCAT-M Performance Management Competencies: Facilitating Performance Third article in a series that describes supervisory competencies. Explains why the ability to initiate and the skill to guide employees toward performance goals are important to today's supervisors.
Implementing FCAT-M Performance Management Competencies: Differentiating Performance Fourth in a series that describes supervisory competencies. Explains why supervisors need to become experts in establishing performance plans that allow them to make meaningful distinctions in levels of performance.
Implementing FCAT-M Performance Management Competencies: Building Performance Culture Last in a series of articles that describes supervisory competencies. Describes highly specialized skills and abilities a manager must possess to effectively deal with employee performance in a high performing work unit.
Kennedy Space Center Aims High With Its Goal Performance Evaluation System Describes how the Kennedy Space Center uses an innovative interactive software application to plan, manage, and communicate center-wide initiatives.
Pay for Performance: Your Performance Management Program Is the Foundation Defines pay for performance and describes what characteristics organizations with successful pay for performance programs share.
Warranty Conditions Describes the key factors that must be in place for performance management programs to succeed.

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Managing for Results
TitleDescription
Clear Goals Lead to Success in GSA Explains how GSA's Linking Budget to Performance initiative got Region 2 to focus on results and performance improvement.
The Fable of the Beekeepers and Their Bees Describes the advantages of measuring and rewarding results versus activities.
Good Measurement Makes a Difference in Organizational Performance Presents the findings of a study done by the Metrus Group on the value of using strategic measures to track customer and employee satisfaction, financial performance, and operating efficiency.
Measurement and Rewards Improve Performance at GSA Explains how the General Services Administration (GSA) Linking Budget to Performance initiative improves organizational and individual performance.
Organizational Goals Can Be Powerful Energizers Describes how strategic goals and objectives can be used to improve employee performance.
Performance Agreements Lead to Improved Organizational Results Describes the benefits three agencies gained by using results-oriented performance agreements with their agency leaders and executives.
Performance Management Competencies: Setting Goals Discusses goal setting competencies for supervisors and reviews recommendations made in two publications.
Valuing Employee Performance - An Important Aspect of Performance Culture Describes formal and informal methods to ensure employees know that the agency values employee performance.

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Evaluating Performance Management
TitleDescription
Evaluating Performance Appraisal Programs: an Overview Suggests procedures and criteria for evaluating the implementation and effect of performance appraisal programs.
Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool (PAAT) (Instructions) Provides instructions on how to complete the Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool (PAAT).
Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool Scoring Sheet Explains what is required for an agency to score well on OPM's Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool (PAAT).
Performance Appraisal Assessment Tool (PAAT) (Template) Helps agencies assess their appraisal programs, identify program strengths and weaknesses, and provide information to develop plans and strategies for making improvements.
Supervisors in the Federal Government: A Wake-Up Call Reviews an OPM study of the status of agencies' efforts to select, develop, and evaluate first-level supervisors.

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Poor Performers
TitleDescription
Performance-Based Actions Discusses issues dealing with performance-based actions (the reduction in grade or removal of an employee based solely on performance).
What to Avoid When Writing Standards Defines "retention" standards, discusses the basic requirements for these standards, and highlights some of the things you should avoid when writing them.

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Performance and Reduction in Force
TitleDescription
Assigning Retention Credit in a RIF Looks at how to assign credit when an employee does not have three ratings of record within the last four years or has equivalent ratings of record.

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Record keeping and Documentation
TitleDescription
Agencies Can Use Referral Bonuses To Support Recruitment and Hiring Explains how agencies can use referral bonuses to help recruit and hire new employees.

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Telework
TitleDescription
Managing Teleworkers Requires Topnotch Performance Management Skills Reviews the benefits of teleworking and describes how supervisors can maintain employee performance levels in a teleworking environment.
Strategies for Managing Teleworkers' Performance Describes how the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy developed strategies to effectively manage teleworkers.

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Other Related Topics
TitleDescription
Good Performance Management Aids Retention and Productivity Presents the results of three studies on retention and productivity describing the critical factors for creating a productive work environment and retaining good employees.
Merit System Principles and Performance Management Explains the Federal Government's merit system and how it is supported by employee performance management.
Team Leader Guide Sees Performance Management Role Presents a brief overview of the Team Leader Guide and describes some of the performance management functions that team leaders can do.

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Case Studies and Examples
TitleDescription
Goalsharing: A GSA Experience Describes GSA's successful program balancing team and individual recognition.
Customer Teams at Bonneville Power Administration Describes how Bonneville uses its business plan and customer teams to implement its primary objective: improving customer service.
Group Incentive Award Increases Productivity Describes a Department of Interior group incentive award program.
Gotcha Awards: Recognition Improves Customer and Employee Satisfaction Describes a customer and peer nomination award program aimed at recognizing employees who go the extra mile by providing quality patient care.
Measuring Hard-to-Measure Work: Secretary Describes how to identify elements and standards that measure the results of a secretary's work.
Strategies for Managing Teleworkers' Performance Describes how the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy developed strategies to effectively manage teleworkers.
Using Customer Service Goals to Energize Support Organizations Describes the efforts of one support organization to link to their agency's strategic goals and how they choose to communicate their organizational goals to customers and employees.
What a Difference Effective Performance Management Makes! The Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Services shares how performance management has a positive effect on their organizational bottom line.

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Book Reviews
TitleDescription
Designing Performance Appraisal Systems: Aligning Appraisals and Organizational Realities Provides a comprehensive, realistic approach to designing performance appraisal programs.
The Balanced Scorecard by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton; Harvard Business School Press, 1996 Reviews the book, The Balanced Scorecard, and briefly explains the balanced scorecard approach.
The 9 Natural Laws of Leadership by Warren Blank; American Management Association, 1995 Reviews Dr. Warren Blank's book, The 9 Natural Laws of Leadership and briefly explains the connection between leadership and performance management.
The Leadership Moment-Nine True Stories and Their Lessons for us All by Michael Useem; Three Rivers Press, 1998 Reviews Michael Useem's book The Leadership Moment-Nine True Stories and Their Lessons for us All and examines the lessons learned as well as linking leadership with performance management.
The Strategy-Focused Organization by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton; Harvard Business School Press, 2001 Reviews Kaplan and Norton's book, The Strategy-Focused Organization, and briefly explains the 5 principles for achieving strategic focus and alignment.
Team Talk: Maintaining High Performance Teams During Change by John P. Kotter; Harvard Business School Press, 1996 Summarizes characteristics high performance teams must possess to survive organizational change as described in John P. Kotter's book, Leading Change.
Planning and Measurement in Your Organization of the Future by D. Scott Sink, Ph.D., and Thomas C. Tuttle, Ph.D.; Industrial Engineering and Management Press, 1989 Provides guidance for measuring organizational and group performance that can be applied to improve the employee performance management process.

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Historical Information

You have reached a collection of archived material.

The content available is no longer being updated and as a result you may encounter hyperlinks which no longer function. You should also bear in mind that this content may contain text and references which are no longer applicable as a result of changes in law, regulation and/or administration.

The archive contains a collection of material covering performance management and awards issues. These materials are for research and historical purposes and in many cases they may contain out-of-date references and obsolete citations. The date on each article refers to when the article was first published. Because of the historical nature of these articles, some are available only in a WordPerfect 5.1 version and must be downloaded for viewing. More recent materials are readable on screen.

Appraisal
TitleDescription
Dispelling Myths about Poor Performers (4/99) Describes the findings of OPM's study, "Poor Performers in Government: A Quest for the True Story," that examines the common perception that there are too many poor performers in the Federal Government.
Pass/Fail Appraisals (10/95) Presents the experience of two Government Corporations that tested two-level appraisal systems.
Pass/Fail Assessment: An Overview (4/96) Describes the concept of pass/fail assessment, illustrates benefits as well as potential limitations to using pass/fail assessment, and answers commonly asked questions about this assessment strategy.
Awards
TitleDescription
Agencies Reward Exemplary Customer Service (4/95) Outlines some approaches agencies are using in their awards programs to support and promote agency-wide customer service standards.
Agencies Develop New Awards Criteria (6/97) Describes two agencies' approaches to granting awards under a pass/fail program.
Benefits of Using Nonmonetary Awards (6/95) Describes the benefits of nonmonetary awards and describes how this form of recognition can be more effective than cash awards.
Employees Shape-up Awards Programs (10/96) Describes how three organizations used employee involvement to improve their awards programs and support improved performance.
Gainsharing Links Performance Management Processes (2/95) Describes how gainsharing can link performance management processes.
Good Ideas: A User's Guide to Successful Suggestion Programs (1/95) Provides information to assist agencies in designing and revitalizing their suggestion programs, including examples of successful programs from both private and public sector organizations.
GSA Rewards Exemplary Performance Management Practices (6/96) Describes effective performance management practices recognized and rewarded by the General Services Administration (GSA).
Lessons Learned from Awards Study (4/99) Describes the findings, employee preferences, and recommendations found in an OPM study on Federal awards programs.
New Nature of Action Codes for Reporting Awards to CPDF (5/99) Presents the Memorandum to Directors of Personnel communicating changes to the Nature of Action Codes (NOACs)for processing awards and reporting them to the Central Personnel Data File. The new NOACs will be used for awards processed after October 1, 2000 .
Paying Awards Made Easy (4/99) Explains how the Debt Collection Improvement Act affects the disbursement of cash awards.
Trends and Shifts in the Use of Awards Governmentwide (12/99) Describes tends, shifts, and consistencies in Governmentwide awards spending and explains changes in the type of awards granted by agencies.

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Award Recipients
TitleDescription
Award Winners Use Teams Effectively (12/97) The President's Quality Award Program annually recognizes Federal Organizations that achieve high standards of customer service. This articles presents two organizations that have demonstrated high commitment to providing improved products and services to customers.
Innovative Suggestion Programs Improve Performance (12/97) Presents the innovative suggestion programs that were initiated and demonstrated by award winners of the National Partnership Awards.
OPM Director Presents PILLAR Award at Strategic Compensation Conference (8/00) Describes the first recipients' award winning performance management programs and practices.
Pillar Award Recipients 2000 Describes the first recipients of the 2000 OPM Director's PILLAR Awards on August 28, 2000, at OPM's Strategic Compensation Conference in Washington, DC.
Pillar Award Recipients 2001 Describes the recipients of the 2001 OPM Director's PILLAR Awards presented on August 28, 2001, at OPM's Strategic Compensation Conference in Alexandria, VA.
PILLAR Award Recipients Honored at the Strategic Compensation Conference (Fall 2001) Describes award recipients' presentations on the performance management programs and practices that earned them this recognition.
Pillar Award Recipients 2002 Describes the recipients of the 2002 OPM Director's PILLAR Awards presented on August 28, 2002, at OPM's Strategic Compensation Conference in Alexandria, VA.

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Case Studies and Examples
TitleDescription
The Balancing Act (fall/00) Describes the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management's use of balanced measures to improve their organizational performance.
Balancing Individual and Team Measures (6/99) The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Mo., shares its experience with moving to a new performance management program designed to strike a balance between appraising individual and team performance.
Case Study: Leaving Pass/Fail Behind (8/97) Describes the evaluation of the two-level pass/fail appraisal system used by the National Security Agency (NSA) and their decision to change.
FAA Measures Employee Performance Based on Results (10/98) Describes how one organization within the Federal Aviation Administration is using results-based measures in employee performance plans.
GAO Reviews Alignment of Agency and Employee Performance Plans (12/98) Summarizes the GAO report Performance Management: Aligning Employee Performance with Agency Goals at Six Results Act Pilots that reviews six agencies' efforts to align their employee performance management systems with their organizational missions and goals.
Internet-Based Performance Management (2/99) Describes two agencies' success in using the Internet to post information on their award and performance appraisal programs, and gives examples of the type of information they included.
NARA Re-engineering: The Story Begins (2/99) Provides insight into one agency's efforts to re-engineer its work processes after experiencing both 15 percent downsizing and a workload increase.
Performance Management Programs Are Integral to Compensation System Design (Fall 2001) Relates the experience of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency when the redesign of its compensation system caused a need to review its performance management program as well.
Outstanding Team Management at IRS (6/96) Provides management leadership principles and techniques that would benefit any team situation.
Pay-for-Performance is Working! (10/99) Discusses the experiences of two agencies in developing different types of pay-for-performance programs to compensate employees based on performance, where one agency uses a group incentive variable pay approach and the other uses performance-based pay adjustments within a broadbanded system.
Self-Directed Team Improves Performance (6/97) Describes a self-directed work team that has improved its work processes, increased its productivity, and significantly improved the quality of its work by exceeding organizational standards.
Group Incentive Award Increases Productivity (12/99) Describes a Department of Interior group incentive award program.

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General
TitleDescription
Achieving Success Through Results-Based Management (6/99) Mr. Maurice McTigue, a former New Zealand Cabinet Minister and international authority on performance management, shares his views on results-based management.
Change the Language To Change the Culture (6/00) Describes the importance of developing and using balanced measures to create an empowering, results-oriented, integrated, and externally focused culture.
Improving Customer Service Through Effective Performance Management (5/96) Describes how agencies can use their employee performance management systems as tools to help them reach the customer service goals under Executive Order 12862 (Setting Customer Service Standards) and the Results Act.
Interagency Work Group On Performance Management Report To The President's Management Council On Managing Performance in the Government (2/02) Describes the Report to the President's Management Council on Managing Performance in the Government. The report identifies opportunities and challenges, offers substantiating evidence where appropriate, and makes recommendations to address the issue of employee performance management. The appendices summarize the report's recommendations and offers examples of agency innovations and resources for immediate application to improving performance management in agencies throughout the Government.
Improving Performance through Partnership (2/94) Presents some of the key concepts and underlying philosophies of the 1994 report by the National Partnership Council. These ideas are the basis on which changes will be made in human resource management, with improving Government performance as the primary goal.
Promoting Innovation in Government (Summer 2001) Presents the recommendations of a Toronto University study on how to promote innovation in public organizations.
Customer Service Standards (8/94) Describes how employee performance management processes can support and promote organizational customer service goals.

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Measurement
TitleDescription
Facts about Measuring Team Performance (10/95) Provides four approaches to measuring employee performance, two at the individual level and two at the team level.
Measuring Team Performance (8/94) Provides tips for designing a measurement system that support and improves the performance of teams and their individual members.
Planning and Measurement in Your Organization of the Future (4/96) Provides guidance for measuring organizational and group performance that can be applied to improve the employee performance management process.
Using Balanced Measures as a Basis for Managers' Incentive Pay (4/99) Provides three examples of how agencies can use current award authorities to provide incentives that reward managers who achieve organizational goals.
Using a Balanced Scorecard Approach to Measure Performance (4/97) Describes a method of balancing internal and process measures with results and financial measures.

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Regulatory Material
TitleDescription
New Rules for Crediting Performance in a Reduction in Force (12/97) Provides an overview of the published final regulations on reduction in force ( RIF ) and performance management that place greater emphasis on actual performance when crediting performance in a RIF and give agencies greater flexibility when awarding additional retention service credit based on performance.
OPM Issues New SES Performance Appraisal Regulations (fall/00) Discusses the November 2000 changes to the regulations covering SES (Senior Executive Service) performance appraisals.
New Regulations Clarify Rating of Record Definition (12/98) Explains the new regulations on rating of record that became effective November 4, 1998, and were published in the October 5, 1998, Federal Register.
New Opportunities to Integrate and Invigorate (7/96) Provides the background that led to changes in the 1995 performance management regulations and the intent behind each change.

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Teams
TitleDescription
Balancing Individual and Team Measures (6/99) The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Mo., shares its experience with moving to a new performance management program designed to strike a balance between appraising individual and team performance.
Developing and Rewarding Teams (4/98) Describes the largest Government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal's approach to effective teaming practices and lessons learned.
The Changing Role of Supervisors (2/95) Describes the processes and lessons learned from transitioning supervisors into team leader roles or into oversight and mentoring positions.
The Employee's Role in a Team (10/96) Discusses changing employee roles in a team structure.
Measuring Team Performance (8/94) Provides tips for designing a measurement system that supports and improves the performance of teams and their individual members.
Model Leads to More Effective Teams (12/96) Describes methods for improving poor team performance.
Outstanding Team Management at IRS (6/96) Provides management leadership principles and techniques that would benefit any team situation.
Performance Appraisal for Teams (8/89) Discusses the team leader role and how the Department of Labor clarified the team leader role in a guidance paper.
Team Leadership in the New Workplace (4/95) Discusses the team leader role and how the Department of Labor clarified the team leader role in a guidance paper.

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