National Security Personnel System: effective management tool for the mission-centered workforce

Defense AT&L, July-August, 2007 by Marcia E. Richard

It is obvious from "Developing a Capable, Agile Civilian Workforce: Human Capital Strategic Planning and Management in Action" (Defense AT & L, May-June 2007) that senior leadership is optimistic about the progress being made in shaping and reshaping the future federal workforce and that the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) is a management tool they will be relying upon heavily to assist them in accomplishing their human capital strategic planning missions. As an acquisition professional about to begin my own conversion to NSPS, learning as much as possible about the system has become a career imperative. This article shares my findings and observations on the new personnel system with the DoD acquisition community.

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The NSPS Requirements Document was approved by Gordon R. England, NSPS senior executive, on Sept. 24, 2004. The NSPS is enacted by Section 1101 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, Public Law 108-136 (Nov. 24, 2003), and is contained in various subsections of Section 9902 of Title 5, United States Code. According to the document, NSPS "allows the Department of Defense to establish a more flexible civilian management system that is consistent with the human capital management strategy. The system allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to be a more competitive and progressive employer at a time when the country's national security demands a highly responsive system of civilian personnel management."

An Outcome-focused System

Mary Lacey, program executive officer for NSPS, thinks that there are several benefits to NSPS. She points out two: It is outcome-focused, aligning people with work outcomes; and it forces the conversation between the supervisor and employee. "The system permits people to be paid for what they do and allows employees to be in charge of their own destinies," she says. Also, because the Department has changed so much over the years and is continuing to change at a very fast pace, the ability to reclassify positions and create new occupational series, as required, provides the flexibility needed to support our agile and evolving workforce. Under NSPS, employees are required to establish measurable goals with timelines. "Part of the power is the shared understanding of those goals between supervisor and employee," says Lacey. "No secrets. Everyone knows up front what is expected of him or her, and it is all tied back to the mission of the organization." Lacey emphasizes the importance of properly understanding how to use the management tools provided under the system; and, she believes that once learned, the required expertise will come with time and practice. She understands that change can be difficult but states that senior leaders and managers own the system and must ensure that it is supported with champions throughout their organizations to help effectively institutionalize the change.

Transition Easier from AcqDemo

Meg Hogan-Roy is the human resources director at the Defense Acquisition University. She explains that as of March 2007, 230 DAU employees had received NSPS training and approximately 170 were converted to NSPS as of February 2007. One of her biggest challenges, she says, was to ensure that training was accomplished within a reasonable window. She further elaborated on the specifics of the training, which was personalized for DAU: It lasted 2 1/2 days with a half-day dedicated to employees writing smart objectives with their supervisors. DAU had been participating in the DoD Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project (AcqDemo) for the past four years, and Hogan believes that the transition to NSPS will be easier because of the similarities of the two systems: pay-for-performance and pay-banding, for example.

Hogan acknowledges that there has been much controversy over the meaning of the "Valued Performer" level--an employee who meets all the criteria of his/her stated goals and receives a performance rating of "3." She feels there will be an adjustment period because many employees will have a difficult time accepting a rating of 3 as good; however, she believes that with time and open discussion on the significance of the performance levels during training, the negative perception of the number will eventually go away. She also feels that NSPS has some improved features that were not a part of AcqDemo, the most significant being that employees start by writing their objectives for the year, not just their expected output. In Hogan's opinion, "The re-emphasis on communication and relationship building will be the true key to the success of NSPS."

Jeff Birch, DAU's Director of Small Business, Learning Center of Excellence is a DoD employee who has participated in both the General Schedule (GS) and AcqDemo systems, and is now participating in NSPS. Birch states, "Without a doubt, I prefer a pay-for-performance system over the old GS system, and I think any employee who is a high performer will agree." He, too, thinks that having been in AcqDemo has made transitioning to NSPS easier, and the NSPS training provided to DAU employees was excellent. However, Birch did stress that upfront work is required (learning new forms, formats, and systems, etc.), but he considers it "necessary growing pains for implementing change."