Build policy goals into career employees' performance appraisals
What the document says“It is essential that political executives build policy goals directly into employee appraisals both for mission success and for employees to know what is expected.”
Political executives should write policy goals into the performance appraisals of career staff, take an active part in supervising those appraisals rather than delegating them to senior career managers, and reward good performers.
What the document actually says“It is essential that political executives build policy goals directly into employee appraisals both for mission success and for employees to know what is expected.”
The president's appointees must put his goals right into workers' job reviews. That helps the work get done. It also lets workers know what is expected.
Job reviews say how well a worker did. The book says the president's own goals should be written into those reviews. It says this tells workers what is expected of them. It also says the president's appointees should run the reviews themselves.
Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives
2025-01-20 · 90 FR 8481
The chapter asks that political executives build policy goals into employee appraisals and supervise those appraisals themselves rather than delegating them. The memorandum puts political appointees in control of the bodies that run senior executive appraisal: clause (d) reconstitutes each agency's Executive Resources Board with senior noncareer officials as a majority, and clause (e) reconstitutes the Performance Review Boards. Two differences. The performance plans themselves are issued centrally by OPM and OMB for agencies to adopt, rather than written by political executives at each agency as the chapter describes. And the memorandum reaches only the Senior Executive Service, while the chapter speaks of employee appraisals without that limit.
The book asked that political aides write policy goals into staff reviews. It also asked that they run those reviews. The memo puts such aides in charge of the boards that run senior reviews. But the review plans come from two central offices for agencies to adopt. And the memo covers only senior staff, while the book spoke of all staff.