Trump administration moves to reform top federal officials’ performance reviews
The Trump administration has proposed to reform the performance appraisal for senior officials to make fewer executives eligible for top marks and the highest annual bonuses.
The move follows a memorandum sent in January in which president Trump directed government agencies to ensure senior executives were of the highest quality and “properly accountable to the president and the American people”.
The proposed rule put forward by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last week would allow agencies to use “forced distribution of performance ratings” to limit how many career members of the senior executive service (SES) can be given top marks in their performance reviews.
The forced distribution method is currently prohibited for senior executives in the federal government. At present, agency leaders assign members of the SES with a rating between 1 and 5 – with 1 being “unsatisfactory” and 5 being “outstanding”.
OPM said it believes agencies have ranked too many executives at a level 4 or 5, which has led to an overrepresentation of high-performing senior executives, and that a forced distribution system would increase “rigour” in SES performance reviews and create a more even distribution of career SES ratings.
“For many years, government-wide SES ratings data has consistently shown that virtually all SES (over 96%) receive top ratings despite documented performance failures. That does not pass the common sense test,” the OPM said in its announcement of the proposed reform.
‘Put an end to everyone gets a trophy culture’
OPM said the rule would “put an end to the current ‘everyone gets a trophy’ culture that has eroded performance distinctions”, and that allowing agencies to implement the forced distribution method would “permit the accurate evaluation” of executives’ performance and “encourage excellence”.
“The American people deserve a federal government led by executives who are held to the highest standards,” Chuck Ezell, acting director of the OPM said. “This proposed rule restores accountability, rewards true excellence, and ensures senior leaders deliver real results.
“OPM is proud to take this important step to strengthen performance among the highest levels of the federal workforce.”
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If the rule – which is open for public comment through the Federal Register until 31 May – were enforced, individual agencies would be tasked with implementing the specific parameters for the new forced distribution system.
Also under the proposed rule, senior executives would “no longer be evaluated based on whether they promote DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion]” in the federal workplace, and members of performance review boards would “no longer be appointed based on DEI criteria”, the OPM said.
The SES are top-level federal executives who provide leadership, oversee government operations, and exercise “important policy-making, policy-determining or other executive functions”.
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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