The Foreign Service Journal, December 2018

44 DECEMBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL etary reward, both the employee and the supervisor have a vested interest in getting it right. Employees and supervisors take more ownership of the pro- cess, and regular feedback is essential to the program. Says John Lloyd: “Pride in shaping the future success of the mission has always been at the heart of our supervisory corps, and the MBC program is the perfect platform for supervisors to demonstrate the pivotal role they undertake in managing resources in the best interests of the U.S. government.” MBC gives supervisors the opportunity to focus employees on mission goals and the most important aspects of their individual work. For example, embassy leadership could require all sections to focus on a specific goal or objective proposed by the ambassa- dor during the rating period. Because MBC allows for customized criteria on the evaluation, a manager can also have more control in directing the employee to focus on a specific weighted objec- tive. In addition, managers can use MBC to help employees improve and develop in particular areas. The flexibility of the program further allows supervisors to recognize important work that is outside the employee’s normal duties, such as temporarily covering the duties of a departed colleague. But This Has Been Tried (and Failed) Before… It’s true. The U.S. government has tried pay-for-performance for civil servants and eventually reverted to the step increase system. There are a few things that distinguish MBC from other programs that have been tried and failed. Under MBC employees are placed in a performance pool with other employees of similar function and grade (e.g., consular Grade 8 performance pool). MBC adds an additional level of review through the role of the pool supervisor, a senior U.S. direct hire who is responsible for reviewing and approving the scores for employees in his or her section or agency. The pool supervisor is referred to as “the guard- ian of fairness and consistency” and helps maintain the credibility of the program by ensuring that supervisors justify their scores. Another aspect of MBC that has been missing in other versions of pay-for-performance programs is the extensive amount of anal- ysis and evaluation that is done at the end of each performance cycle. Missions can mine the data to help determine if additional training needs to be provided or if other tweaks are needed. MBC represents a big change for employees, supervisors and HR staff. Therefore, when a post makes the determination to adopt MBC, the rollout is carefully organized with specialized post train- ing. All HR assistants take a weeklong FSI course to ensure they are ready to implement the program and to get the tools they need to answer questions from their colleagues at post. Every mission also receives an extensive visit from a subject-matter expert who works with management and ensures that all staff at the mission are fully briefed on the new program. Many have concerns that a program like MBC cannot work in certain regions or countries. In fact, pay-for-performance is very common (i.e., prevailing practice) around the world. A step- increase system is rare; it is usually only found in governmental organizations. Most of the organizations that U.S. missions com- pare themselves to in the area of pay and benefits to ensure they are a competitive employer have been using similar performance management systems for many years. Will My Next Post Have MBC? In November 2017, the results of a survey sent out to all posts that had implemented merit based compensation for one year or longer were overwhelmingly positive in support of the program. Fully 70 percent of supervisor survey respondents agreed that MBC encourages additional meaningful communication between supervisors and employees and is an effective tool for identify- Learn More about MBC Class Duration Locations Content MBC Essentials 2-day workshop FSI or Regional Service Center (in Frankfurt) Designed for managers who want to learn more about the program Merit Based Compensation (PA-339) 5-day course Regional Service Center (for EUR in Frankfurt) Florida Regional Center (for WHA in Ft. Lauderdale) Regional Employee Development Center (for EAP in Bangkok) Designed for HR staff who are responsible for program at post Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Human Resources, Office of Overseas Employment.