U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Recognizing and Rewarding Supervisors and Managers

We often hear that agencies don't recognize supervisors and managers who demonstrate excellent supervisory skills. In most agencies, supervisors receive performance awards, special act awards, and quality step increases just like non-supervisory employees. However, many agencies also have special awards to recognize their outstanding supervisors. These outstanding supervisors understand the importance of using their fine-tuned supervisory skills throughout the five fundamental processes of performance management: planning, developing, monitoring, rating, and rewarding. Because effective supervision is critical to good performance management, we want to highlight some special awards that do recognize outstanding supervisors and managers.

• U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Distinguished Service Award for Supervisory Personnel.
• U.S. Customs Service (USCS) Leadership Award and Manager of the Year Award.
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Creative Management Award and Outstanding Leadership Medal.

U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Distinguished Service Award for Supervisory Personnel. This award is one of the USMS Director's Honorary Awards. The Distinguished Service Awards are the highest honorary awards granted by the USMS. This award recognizes supervisory personnel who make a major contribution to the accomplishment of the USMS mission. To be eligible, nominees must have been in a supervisory position within the USMS for a minimum of 3 years and must have demonstrated exceptional resource management ability and leadership skills. Examples of accomplishments that might merit this award include:

• significantly reduced office costs through conservation and careful management of resources;
• established or significantly improved community relations through new initiatives;
• greatly improved efficiency through innovation and prudent allocation of resources; and
• demonstrated dedication to the goals of USMS, including maintaining high morale among subordinates.

For more information about this award, contact Teresa Brady at 202-307-9416.

U.S. Customs Service (USCS) Leadership Award and Manager of the Year Award. USCS has two awards that are exclusively for supervisors and managers. The agency presents both awards at an annual awards ceremony.

The USCS Leadership Award recognizes outstanding leadership ability in a first-line supervisor who best exemplifies leadership competencies to forward the mission and/or vision of the agency.

The Manager of the Year Award recognizes outstanding management of a program area or office by a lower- to mid-level manager who demonstrates effective leadership and motivational skills, coupled with subject matter expertise.

For more information about these awards, contact Wanda Dudley at 202-927-5738.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Creative Management Award and Outstanding Leadership Medal. NASA's honor awards program includes individual awards, one of which is the Creative Management Award. This award consists of a framed certificate with the official seal of NASA and the signature of its Administrator. The Creative Management Award is given annually to no more than three NASA Headquarters supervisors. This award recognizes those unique supervisors who, from the varying perspectives of those working with them, actively demonstrate an understanding of the art of working with people creatively, inspiring and motivating them to greater achievement while improving morale and effectiveness.

NASA also has an Outstanding Leadership Medal (OLM) that is awarded for outstanding leadership that has had a pronounced effect upon the technical or administrative programs of NASA. Note: The OLM is not exclusively for supervisors, but OLM recipients have traditionally been supervisors.

For more information about these awards, contact Louise Hunt at 202-358-1210 or Cindy Robinson at 202-358-1213.

Originally published on August 2000