Attitudes of Federal Employees toward Performance Appraisal and Merit Pay: Implications for CSRA Implementation

The 1978 Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) emphasized the development of performance appraisal systems which can be used as a basis for equitable and organizationally efficient personnel actions. Further, the opinions of workers concerning merit pay and performance appraisal under the CSRA are potentially important indicators of the prospects for successful implementation of such systems. Two major surveys offer relevant and current information on the attitudes of federal employees. Federal personnel administrators and managers are now deeply involved in the process of operationalizing the CSRA. The survey data described imply that federal employees recognize that existing performance appraisal methods have serious deficiencies. Title II of the CSRA contains the features of a program that could remedy many of these problems, and implementation attempts that remain true to the legislation's intent should find broad acceptance in the bureaucracy.