Report of the Benchmark Team on Rewards To: "USGS Employees" From: " benchmark, Reston, VA " (Benchmark) Subject: Rewards Benchmark Team Report X-Mailer: MEMORANDUM To: All USGS and NBS Employees From: Gordon P. Eaton Director Subject: Report of the Benchmark Team on Rewards I am pleased to announce that the Benchmark Team on Rewards has issued its final report to the Policy Council, and the report is now available to all USGS and NBS employees on a special Rewards Team Home Page: http://www.usgs.gov:8888/benchmarks/rewards/ In its report, the Team has recommended a number of changes to USGS rewards systems for consideration by the Policy Council. The Team has also prepared a draft of a USGS Employee Handbook that will provide information for all employees about USGS rewards and other human resources management systems and a Research Employee Handbook that will provide information concerning promotion and classification for research employees. The two draft handbooks are also available on the World Wide Web at the address shown above. Employees from all parts of the USGS at many locations across the country served as members of subteams that researched the issues and made the recommendations that went into the Rewards Team report and draft handbooks. I want to thank all of them, along with members of the Rewards Team, for the many hours they spent in this effort and for their outstanding contributions. I want to encourage each of you to read the team report and to discuss its recommendations with your supervisors and colleagues. I also encourage you to review the information that has been recommended for inclusion in the draft handbooks. These handbooks will ultimately be completed, distributed to employees, and made available on the World Wide Web. The Policy Council will be considering the Rewards Team recommendations at its upcoming meetings at the end of August and early September. If you have comments concerning any of the recommendations in the team report or issues covered in the draft handbooks, you may send them to your Division Chief through your supervisor, or you can comment directly by sending an email to rewards@usgs.gov. Although your comments are welcome at any time, they will be most helpful if they are received by August 21. If you have any problems accessing the Rewards Team Home Page, your computer may not be registered with the Domain Name System, please contact your system administrator for assistance.