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

A. Of course, an agency must meet its collective bargaining obligations under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. Thinking beyond those legal obligations, however, research and experience in performance management have confirmed that employee involvement is an important determinant of whether specific performance management methods, procedures, and requirements will be accepted and work successfully to support performance improvement. Therefore, besides the need to meet collective bargaining obligations, agencies will handicap themselves if they do not involve their employees in the development and implementation of their performance management programs. The Office of Personnel Management is determined to convey to agencies the need for employee involvement in the strongest way permissible within legal authorities. That involvement should normally be via existing partnerships.

A. Yes. The Office of Personnel Management strongly encourages agencies to involve all employees, including managers and supervisors. Part 251 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, provides a framework for consulting and communicating with non-labor organizations representing Federal employees and with other organizations on matters related to agency operations and personnel management.

A. To involve employees in the design and implementation of the agency system and programs when there is no union, an agency will need to use other means of employee participation. Including employees on design teams and gathering input from surveys or focus groups are examples of such other means of employee involvement.