Benchmark Team on Rewards

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 21:38:01 GMT


To:             All USGS Employees

From:           Director

Subject:        Benchmark Team on Rewards

As I announced in my September 18, 1995 Benchmark Notes, we have
formed the USGS Benchmark Team on Rewards.  The team is off to a
good start and they have asked me to forward to all of you a
progress report and a request for your input.  This team is
working on a set of issues that is critical to the future success
of the USGS and critical to every employee. I hope you will read
and respond to the team's message.

Forwarded Message:
*****************************************************************

PROGRESS REPORT AND REQUEST FOR INFORMATION TO ALL EMPLOYEES FROM
THE USGS BENCHMARK TEAM ON REWARDS

Our team has had its first meeting, and we want to take this
opportunity to let you know what we will be doing and to seek
your input.  One of our first actions as a team was to develop a
purpose statement that describes what we propose to accomplish,
defines what constitutes rewards, and lays out some general
principles that will guide our efforts.  A copy of our purpose
statement is included in Attachment 1.

Our next action was to begin identification of issues that the
team will address.  As the Director indicated in his Benchmark
Notes, the Rewards Team is a steering group that will draw on the
experience and interest of many USGS employees for a variety of
tasks as we proceed. For this reason, we want to share with you
our tentative list of issues (Attachment 2) and seek your input.

For each of the seven issues described in Attachment 2 we are
interested in the following information:

    # Your comments on any or all of the seven issues, along with
ideas as to any issues that we may have overlooked.

    # The names of individuals (including yourself) who may have
special interest, knowledge, or points of view to bring to these
topics or who may have worked on teams aimed at making
improvements related to these issues.  Because the USGS reward
system should be meaningful to all USGS employees, it is
essential that we include individuals who represent the full
range of job categories and grade levels of the USGS work force.

    # Information, including any written documentation, about
innovative rewards ideas that have been proposed or undertaken in
various units of the USGS, other agencies, or outside
organizations.

Please send us your response via email to rewards@usgs.gov.  As
we have already taken advantage of the submissions to the
Transition Team (GSIdeas) and Benchmark letters to the Director,
there is no need to repeat ideas that you have already expressed
in either of those forums.  So that all responses can be assured
full consideration, please provide your response in one page or
less.  Your response will be most useful if we receive by COB
October 26, although we will gladly receive your input any time
until we finish our work in March 1996.

We look forward to the challenge of our assignment and hope to be
able to make a significant contribution to the future of the USGS
and to the careers of all USGS employees.  We thank you for your
interest, support, and constructive comments.

==========================  Attachment 1

  U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Team on Rewards

 Purpose Statement

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is committed to global
leadership in relevant, innovative, and interdisciplinary Earth
science.  The USGS serves the public by producing scientifically
credible information and promoting its dissemination,
understanding and application.  This mission cannot be
accomplished without highly motivated, well-trained employees.

The goal of the USGS Benchmark Team on Rewards is to design a
rewards system that recognizes and encourages exceptional
performance by employees that is consistent with the
accomplishment of the USGS mission.  The system must be
meaningful, significant, consistent, and timely, and it must
enhance the ability of the USGS to provide credible Earth science
and responsive customer service.

The Rewards Team has defined reward as an incentive that
motivates and recognizes employees based on their performance. 
The rewards system includes classification, promotion, career
development, training, monetary and non-monetary awards and
recognition, and opportunities to do challenging work.

In designing a rewards system, the Rewards Team will be guided by
the following principles:

    # Each employee should be provided with a clear statement of
goals and expectations in order to encourage and enable the
highest quality performance.

    # There should be ongoing communication between employees and
their supervisors, providing meaningful feedback and positive
reinforcement for excellent performance.

    # Managers should be held responsible for committing adequate
resources for training and awards to motivate, develop, and
encourage employees.

    # Employees are responsible for developing the skills and
abilities that serve the mission of the USGS and their career
development goals.

    # Managers are responsible for developing their managerial
skills, and excellence in the use of those skills will be
rewarded.

    # Individual employees and teams should be recognized and
rewarded for: exceptional performance and innovation in
accomplishing the mission of the USGS; timeliness, quality, and
impact of products produced; outstanding customer service and
outreach; and exemplary qualities of leadership, teamwork, and
USGS citizenship.

============================  Attachment 2

Preliminary list of issues for consideration by the Rewards
Benchmark Team

1. Classification issues - This would include the potential use
of panels, approaches to adjusting classification standards to
changing technology and organizational values (i.e., teamwork),
and communicating about career opportunities to the employees and
their supervisors.

2. Classification issues related to the Research Grade Evaluation
Guide - This would cover questions of who should be evaluated
under the guide, improved guidance to panels, assuring uniform
use of appropriate criteria (driven by bureau goals) for
evaluating scientists, development of a bureau-level process for
selection of ST scientists, and panels' authority to recommend
demotion as well as promotion.

3. Potential for use of "broad banding" or other innovative
alternatives to the traditional grade and step system of pay and
classification.

4. Approaches to obtaining and using meaningful feedback on
employee performance including input from subordinates, peers,
customers (internal and external), and higher level managers (360
degree evaluation).  This would include consideration of how this
feedback might be used in performance evaluation, award
decisions, and classification actions.

5. Training issues -- This includes two issues: (1) development
of a bureau-wide philosophy and approach to employee training
including training in supervisory and management skills, teamwork
training, and technical training or re-training; and (2) training
as a reward, including programs such as fellowships, sabbaticals,
graduate training, or executive leadership training.  This group
would also propose guidelines for the proper budgeting and
planning for training in any organizational unit.

 6. Awards -- What kinds of awards (honorary, monetary,
merchandise) are truly motivators of various groups of employees? 
This would include issues related to the manner in which the
awards are presented and publicized.  They would suggest new
means of initiating award nominations and streamlining approval
processes.  They would make suggestions of what kinds of awards
are both motivating and "politically correct."  They would
propose guidelines for the proper budgeting for awards in any
organizational unit.

 7. Performance measures/career documentation systems/performance
appraisals -- Propose cost-effective methods that can be used
throughout the bureau to measure and document the performance and
the training, qualifications, experiences, products, and goals of
employees.

****************************************************************
Rewards Team members:  David Cacchione, Robert Hirsch, 
Briant Kimball, Janis Nash, Cynthia Ramseyer, Larry Shelton, 
Jeff Spooner, James Sturdevant, Kenneth Takahashi
Pam Malam
Staff Assistant for Special Issues
Director's Office                   Phone: (703)648-7415
National Center, Mail Stop 121        Fax: (703)648-4454
Reston, VA 22092                         pmalam@usgs.gov