Assignment Case

A state civil service hires a wide variety of employees, ranging in pay and educational levels from janitors and truck drivers to clerical staff at various levels and professionals in a wide variety of fields (such as engineering, law enforcement, social work, etc.). These entry-level people report to supervisors, who report to program managers, who report to division directors, who report to department directors, who report to the governor. The department directors serve at the pleasure of the governor and are charged by the governor with strategically directing their departments to fulfill various campaign promises; the other employees take standardized tests and are hired and promoted on a civil service, merit-based plan.

During their first year in their positions, these employees are employed on a probationary basis, with evaluations every 90 days. After the first year, supervisors evaluate employee performance once a year. The appraisal process is standardized, with the supervisor grading performance in five categories: quantity of work, quality of work, effort, teamwork, and adherence to procedure.

Due to a constitutional requirement that government employees be paid the same as comparable private sector employees, these civil service employees are paid at the mid- range for similar positions in the private sector. There is a seven-step pay system. Employees are hired at step one and they receive a 5% step increase every year until they reach step six. They remain in step six for 5 years and then are moved to step seven as a seniority bonus. In addition, every year, if there is an increase in the cost of living, salaries are adjusted to match the cost-of-living increase. The civil service matches the mid-range of private sector insurance and retirement benefits. Some employees complain that they could probably get paid better in the private sector and often leave after a few years. Other employees care about the programs they are involved with and still other employees are grateful for the security of a government job.

The primary purpose of the entire civil service is to administer and enforce the laws of the state. You have been hired by the governor to examine the civil service institution and make recommendations to improve its responsiveness to the public. You want to recommend implementation of a performance management system and have requested a meeting to discuss your recommendations. You are anticipating that the following questions will be asked, and you need to draft some good responses before the meeting.