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

Archive

OPM Plans FY 2000 Study on Pass/Fail

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is currently seeking agencies, or their components, that have been using a pass/fail appraisal program for at least two appraisal cycles to participate in a study of pass/fail programs.

Performance management regulations allowed agencies to begin using 2-level appraisal programs in 1995. Since then, there has been intense interest in the effect and effectiveness of such programs. The planned study will review programs in agencies that have been using pass/fail for at least 2 years by looking at how the programs were designed, implemented, and administered. Staff from OPM's Office of Merit Systems Oversight and Effectiveness will review survey and interview responses from supervisors, managers, and employees on whether the program is meeting their expectations, meeting agency objectives, and affecting individual and organizational performance. The study will also review the impact of pass/fail programs on other areas of human resources management.

If your agency would like to participate, here's your chance to contribute to a much-needed study that will provide valuable information to all agencies that use, or are thinking about using, pass/fail appraisals.

More information is available from David Dotzert or Marie Brennan. You can also reach David Dotzert at 215-861-3084 or Marie Brennan at 215-861-3085.

Originally published on August 1999.