Mr. Chairman, like you, I have heard from numerous Defense Department employees about their concerns with NSPS, and I appreciate your working with me to provide a local forum to discuss one of the most critical elements of NSPS -- employee training.

For seven years, you and I have worked together to make the federal government an employer of choice -- to ensure that we have a skilled civilian workforce to serve the American people. One area that has always been of concern is training because we understand that quality employee training is essential for any program to be successful.

Nothing is more important to the federal government than how it hires, fires, compensates, and evaluates its employees. Federal employees are the ones charged with the public's trust to carry out agency missions. Since such employee programs go to the very heart of agency performance, training for these programs is critical -- as is ensuring that there are mechanisms in place to assess the effectiveness of training.

This hearing provides us with a unique opportunity to review with the Navy and Army the training and communication programs for managers and employees who will transition into Spiral 1.1 before implementation at the end of this month.

We want to know:

• who has been trained,

• what kind of training they are receiving,

• how the training is being delivered,

• how the training programs are being evaluated and coordinated, and

• what the cost is of such a massive undertaking.

I also look forward to hearing from our witnesses on our second panel as to how well they believe this process is going and to receive their constructive and productive solutions to the problems they see.

Getting training right on the front end of the implementation of NSPS could promote greater employee understanding. Getting it wrong will send managers and employees on a scavenger hunt to figure out for themselves what's happening -- when it's happening -- to whom it's happening, and will lead to misinformation.

I know that DoD, through Mary Lacey, the NSPS program executive officer (PEO), pulled back the initial training program because of feedback that the training materials were too complex -- too complicated -- and too difficult to understand. I want to say that I've looked at the newly revised training manual issued this month and I found it clear in its explanation.

NSPS represents a huge cultural change for DoD civilian employees and setting aside my personal feelings on NSPS, I want to explore what I see as a de-centralized training regime. While I understand the desire and the need to place training responsibilities within individual commands, I am concerned that this could lead to inconsistent training that will benefit no one. Because pay under NSPS will depend on effective training, there is no room for uneven or unequal training opportunities.

For a system that rests so heavily on a manager's ability to make meaningful performance distinctions among employees -- whose pay and work will be directly impacted by these managerial decisions -- there must be strong oversight, accountability, and transparency.

My understanding is that while the office of the PEO in Washington, DC developed the training programs, individual commands are responsible for providing and funding all training for its personnel. In Hawaii, the vast majority of those going into Spiral 1.1 will be Navy civilian personnel. Given the Navy's emphasis on the One Shipyard Vision, I am curious whether all Navy commands will use the same approach for NSPS training. However, it is important to note that Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is mission funded unlike the other three shipyards. Given that our Shipyard is mission funded, I will be interested to know whether the Department will provide additional funds for this training.

If agility and flexibility are the end game in this pay for performance system, then training must be consistent so that no employee is disadvantaged. A common, shared training platform with measurable outcomes is realistic and will contribute to higher worker confidence in their managers and supervisors.

DoD civilian managers -- who are the backbone of this new system -- must have training that will provide them with the skills and understanding to foster collaborative relationships with their employees, especially in areas like developing what NSPS calls shared expectations of performance. We must make certain that managers -- over half of whom are eligible for retirement -- are given the support and resources necessary to carry out the implementation of NSPS, including access to additional training and funding.