Authorize Agencies to Develop Incentive Programs

1. Authorize agencies to develop their own incentive programs. (3) 

By fall 1994, the director of OPM should submit draft legislation to
Congress to authorize agencies to develop their own incentive programs.
Agency-based incentive award and bonus programs should be based on the
following principles:

--- The objective of incentive programs is improvement of individual and
organizational performance.

--- An employee who meets performance expectations is eligible for
recognition through an incentive program that includes monetary awards
or bonuses and/or non-monetary awards (base pay adjustments are
discussed in HRM02, "Reform the General Schedule Classification and
Basic Pay System").

--- Employees and their representatives will be involved in development
of incentive programs, which, in the case of employees represented by an
employee union, will be through collective bargaining.

--- Departments and agencies are encouraged to experiment with
alternatives to traditional employee incentive programs, such as
organizational and team recognition and non-monetary recognition (e.g.,
increased authority, additional resources, or a menu of reward options
from which employees or teams of employees can choose).  Complete
decentralization of incentives within a framework of governmentwide
principles is expected to result in development of agency-based
incentive systems that are unified, consistent with agency cultures, and
owned by managers and employees who will help develop them. Employee and
union involvement will be required. Base pay adjustments should remain
predictable and uniform, in keeping with the recommendation of the Pay
for Performance Labor Management Committee. Variable pay in the form of
non-monetary and monetary incentives would be available as a tool for
performance improvement.