Reforming Government: Not a Bad Idea

Okay, for those Democrack readers who think I'm a knee-jerk liberal who never agrees with President Bush's policies, I've found something the administration is doing that I think its long overdue.

While the federal government unions will yell and scream, the personnel policies being implemented at the Department of Homeland Security have the potential of making the agency work better -- and benefit workers more. Essentially, DHS is throwing out the General Schedule (GS) system with 15 categories and moving to a system that has broad "pay bands." The old system rewards seniority -- the longer you stay, the more you make. Guaranteed. Regardless of performance. People say there's no such thing as a "job for life" anymore, but the federal government sure comes close.

The danger, of course, is that the new flexibility to hire, fire, and reward employees could invite abuse by political people who simply want to give their political allies more money -- and hold back the people who they don't like. But we should set high standards and expect good management from our leaders -- and this is a step that gives good managers the tools they need.

I worked at a government agency that used a very similar system, and it was a HUGE improvement. Now, we'll see how it works at the new supersized agency.