ACQDEMO TO NSPS KEY LEARNING POINTS AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS KEY LEARNING POINTS: AcqDemo was designed for our business environment and workforce skills; the decision to create a DoD-wide standard personnel system has necessitated some departures from what we know as pay banding and pay for performance concepts in order to accommodate the needs of all DoD business environments and skills. While many features remain the same, two major areas stand out for changes we will need to adjust our cultural thinking, policies, and procedures to operate effectively. o Pay banding under AcqDemo created pay bands expected to accommodate the ability to grow through the bands with continued increased contribution o Pay banding under NSPS creates pay bands standard across DoD that accommodate all of the jobs of DoD. The big change for us is that NSPS pay bands do not imply expected growth through the entire band; rather expected ranges of pay are accommodated within a pay band. Unless change in duties and responsibilities occurs, an expected pay range for given jobs may remain the same. o Pay for contribution under AcqDemo evaluated the level of contribution accomplished by an employee and equated compensation to that level. Based on funds available in the pay pool, CCAS software provided a standard distribution of the payout between salary and bonus based on the difference between an employee’s current salary and the salary associated with their final OCS. o Pay for performance under NSPS will evaluate the performance of job objectives and the level of quality and contribution of that performance. Then compensation will be associated with the resulting rating level and decisions will be made regarding the distribution of the payout based on expected ranges of pay for the job occupied unless extraordinary performance has occurred.
So bottom line here is that a pay band no longer is directly indicative of pay potential; rather it is the boundary of what a job could be if the duties/responsibilities are commensurate with the limits of the band. As such, it is expected that employees will not naturally progress completely through a pay band over time alone, even with good performance. Once you understand this key point, the conversion to whatever band is defined in the AcqDemo conversion rules for your situation will make better sense. We have a command responsibility to manage the application of these new pay bands appropriately and consistently in the classification of jobs but we will develop expected pay ranges within them that will prove to be more important to managing the compensation of our workforce.
With those key learning points summarized above, we have collected the recurring questions which were raised during the AcqDemo to NSPS Transition training conducted in recent weeks that seemed more unique to our command; the PEO NSPS website provides many of the more general NSPS FAQs and responses. The questions we heard about local concerns are provided below and arranged by category of training in which they were asked. I hope you find them helpful in clarifying NSPS intent and/or command position in the implementation activities to come in the next few months. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ACQDEMO TO NSPS TRANSITION TRAINING CLASSIFICATION AND PAY BAND ARCHITECTURE Question: If supervisors are placed in a separate band what happens to Team leaders? Will they be recognized? Answer: Under NSPS, team leader roles may continue in terms of duties and responsibilities, however, only supervisors will be classified separately. The opportunity to perform and contribute as a team leader will continue as classification itself has no direct bearing on compensation. Question: What incentive is there to be a supervisor when nonsupervisory NH-IV's go into pay band YA3 with a salary potential of $124K, but some supervisory NH-IV's (based on the established threshold of GS-14/10+5%) will go into pay band YC2 with a salary potential of only $106K.
Answer: If an employee holding a supervisory NH-IV position does not meet the established pay threshold of GS14/10+5% for conversion to YC-3, he/she will not automatically be classified in pay band YC-2. A classification review will be performed on the duties and responsibilities of the position to determine if the job fits into the pay band 2 or pay band 3. CONVERSION FROM ACQDEMO TO NSPS Question: When will we convert to NSPS?
Answer: Currently, the date is set for 21 Jan 07 to permit your final payout from AcqDemo CCAS to be applied to your current salary. Your salary on 21 Jan 07 will then be applied to the NSPS conversion rules. Question: NSPS? Will there be any change in pay upon conversion to
Answer: No. No one will receive an increase or a decrease in pay upon conversion. Question: Before the conversion, are supervisory/nonsupervisory positions going to be reviewed with the workforce? Answer: Yes. The recent tasker requesting Organization Charts is being used to validate against current documentation and issues identified will be reviewed with organization leaders. Question: How/When will interns convert to NSPS?
Answer: Interns will be placed in PB 1 of the appropriate career group with a Full Performance Level of Pay Band 2. The Navy Acquisition Intern Program interns will convert when the NAIP Program Office determines the spiral/date; until then, they will remain GS unless they graduate from the program into either AcqDemo until 21 Jan 07 or NSPS after 21 Jan 07. COMPENSATION AND PAY Question: With regards to Local Market Supplement, if the government decides that it doesn’t need as many of a certain skill in a given area or even DoD-wide and decreases the Local Market Supplement, will those people lose money?
Answer: It is important to understand that OPM always had the authority to reduce Locality Rates but as you know, never has done so. But just as under Locality Pay adjustments, with each locality getting different rates of increase each year, so it will happen with Local Market Supplement. By this, I mean that if it was determined that a LMS increase was not required for a certain skill in a certain area, those affected employees would just not see any increase but not experience a decrease. Question: Is the Local Market Supplement going to be added to the salary when it comes to retirement? Answer: Yes, just as Locality Pay was part of the retirement pay calculation. Question: Currently in AcqDemo, everyone gets the same locality. Under NSPS is the local market supplement determined for each individual or group? If so, is this decided by DoD, WMD, or the Pay Pool? Answer: Local Market Supplements can vary by career group, location, pay schedule, occupation and/or pay band. DoD has to build the capacity to define and apply Local Market Supplements. Question: Who sets the Local Market Supplement?
Answer: The Secretary of Defense or designee will set, increase, or decrease, as needed, local market supplements. A variety of factors are reviewed in making LMS determinations: Mission requirements, labor-market conditions, availability of funds, allowances and differentials, such as those paid to employees overseas and in Alaska and Hawaii, similar pay adjustments received by employees of other federal agencies and other relevant factors. Currently, OPM has a federal wage board that determines locality rates and now DoD has to recreate that capability within its infrastructure so it will take some time. In the meantime, LMS will equate to the Locality Rates posted on the OPM website RATE RANGE ADJUSTMENT Question: If there is a Rate Range Adjustment, is it applied across the board?
Answer: Pay band rate ranges may be adjusted in one or more ways: Increase or decrease the minimum rate o one or more pay bands but leave the maximum at the previously established rate; Increase or decrease the minimum rate of one or more pay bands and increase or decrease the maximum rate by a smaller, comparable, or larger percentage; Leave the existing minimum of one or more pay bands at the previously established rate and increase or decrease the maximum rate of one or more pay bands; or Leave both the minimum and the maximum of the pay bands at the previously established rates. To further understand the available options, please refer to DoD 1400.25-M, SC1930.8. PAY BANDS/SALARY/SETTING PAY Question: Has Pay Band 3 for Supervisors been extended out past the GS-15 step 10 salary? Answer: Yes. It has been extended by 5% over the GS-15 step 10 pay. However, only the band has been extended. Pay progression through the band within a given job still is accomplished through performance evaluations. Question: Do we have a current NSPS salary chart?
Answer: Yes. Please visit: http://www.cpms.osd.mil/nsps/paytables.html to view all four career group pay schedules. STAFFING Question: With regard to setting pay upon a reassignment, what is considered a reassignment? Answer: WMD will be developing policy and process around this important and valuable feature of NSPS. Setting pay for reassignments will likely occur as a result of an internal competition of some sort and not simply on the basis of a local lateral move but there may be special conditions that we need to evaluate first before we set policy. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Question: Will we be using “Control Points" to manage pay progression within pay bands?
Answer: Even under AcqDemo, we have talked for some time that people often have the expectation that if I'm in a band that goes to 15/10, I'll get there eventually, a carryover from the GS days. Control points could help manage those expectations and actually work to giving credibility to our payouts if folks knew the rules going in to a job. And it is important to know, these are often not hard points but flags that just cause a careful review before moving someone's salary beyond them. And doing so creates motivation to go after leadership positions with greater pay potential. I think we could apply some approach for common standard jobs like PGDs/PMs/SBTs/ACs/Dirs/Ops Mgrs/Ofc Mgrs/Core Skills jobs but this will need leadership attention and review. Question: Who signs off on NSPS performance objectives?
Answer: NSPS directives require objectives to be subject to a higher level review and approval. In our command, that likely will be sub-pay pool manager level. For example, PGDs serve as sub-pay pool managers for all employees within their PG. Question: NSPS? Will the pay pool structure change when we convert to
Answer: Under the AcqDemo we have three pay pools including MCTSSA, who has their own pay pool. We adopted that design to align review of similar work as well as balance the mix of skills and funding within the rules of AcqDemo. We will review the current structure with leadership to determine if we need to make any changes under NSPS. Question: What is the planned date for performance objectives to be in place? Answer: The AcqDemo date, as well as NSPS date is within 30 days of the start of the rating cycle. That puts the date at 30 Oct 06. With the publishing of these FAQs, you should also find a new form provided by the DoD AcqDemo Program Office to be used until we convert to NSPS which begins to help employees and managers think about documenting objectives and anticipate the use of “Contributing Factors” versus CCAS factors. Our standard six CCAS factors will still apply for any formal evaluations required before conversion. Following conversion, a closeout assessment will be prepared on each employee. At that time, the objectives will be reviewed and any further adjustments needed will be accomplished via the NSPS form and software application to be provided at that time. Specific instructions for
preparing the closeout assessment and transfer of objectives to NSPS forms/software will be provided at that time. Question: What is the difference between the “Expected” and “Enhanced” level of Contributing Factor descriptors? Answer: It is important that employees and managers read these descriptors and apply them locally in the design of objectives. As you saw in the training, ratings of individual objectives can be adjusted up a point, down a point, or left unchanged based on the level of descriptor satisfied. This is not an administrative match but rather a collective judgment as to how all contributing factors selected for an objective were met. The “Expected” level is just that; the level of performance expected for satisfactory performance. The “Enhanced” level is that level which, considered collectively with other selected contributing factors, would warrant adjusting the rating level up one point. Question: Will there be an automated tool to support performance management administration? Answer: Yes, DoD is developing an automated performance management plan application that will document the entire performance management process from the setting of objectives to the interim review to the self and supervisor assessments and provide the data for pay pool review and payout distribution. We are told this application is near completion but will not be able to access it until after we convert in Jan 07. Question: Are the objectives going to be linked to PRDs and FIT requirements? Answer: There should always be a relationship between your position description and objectives. There should also be a relationship between organization goals and your objectives. To the extent common development oriented objectives could be developed to augment local job requirements, that would probably be a good thing to do. WMD will review this matter with FIT Managers and determine if we should attempt to apply common objectives in this initial NSPS rating cycle. Question: In distributing the payout, is the supervisor going to determine whether the employee will get a cash award or an increase in salary?
Answer: Supervisors will be recommending ratings, number of shares, and distribution of the payout. Pay pools will review those recommendations and determine final setting of them. WMD, in coordination with pay pool leadership, will be developing guidance to assist in making those recommendations. When developed, it will be published to the workforce. Question: Under AcqDemo CCAS policies, employees can request a time off award in lieu of a cash award. Will that option still be available? Answer: Local approval of that policy under NSPS has not yet been reviewed with leadership but it is anticipated that it will continue under NSPS given advantages to both employees preferring time off and returning of that funding to the pay pool for distribution to others. Question: In rating performance, if I meet everything in level 3 and one thing in level 5, will I be a level 4? Answer: As mentioned above, rating performance is not administratively matching assessments to rating descriptors. It is a collective judgment after applying the guiding descriptors of the Performance Indicator and Contributing Factors. Question: The training indicated that job objectives are written jointly by the employee and the supervisor. What does that mean? Answer: As with AcqDemo contribution objectives, employees are encourage to participate in the development of NSPS job objectives. The supervisor has the responsibility for establishing them but this is the opportunity for employees to highlight their talents and skills which would contribute to accomplish the local organization goals that should also be discussed in the setting of objectives. As with AcqDemo, employees who step up and take on additional duties and responsibilities will be rewarded under NSPS. Question: How many Contributing Factors are selected for each job objective? The training instructor stated one, two, or three but the slide showed four being selected. Answer: As the instructor emphasized, more is not better as it dilutes focus. Current Navy guidance indicates that generally, no more than three should be selected. Particularly
in our first year of operation, we will likely issue similar policy for the command. Question: Will our final AcqDemo CCAS payout in Jan 07 include the full GPI? Answer: Yes, anyone eligible to receive the GPI as a result of their CCAS rating will receive all of it. Question: On the rating of record of the employee. supervisor rate the employee with 3.5 vice 3.0? Could the
Answer: No, rating of record must be a whole number. Each objective rating, after adjusted by contributing factors, is summed and then divided by the number of objectives. That average result is then rounded to the whole number required by the rounding table provided in the training slides.