Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Civilian Human Resources, Patricia Adams, visited NAS Whidbey Island on Monday, July 11 to talk to civil service employees and military members who supervise civilians about the National Security Personnel System (NSPS).

While introducing herself, Adams praised the dedication of civil service employees.

“I came to this job after 25 years working for Marriot.  I have found that the civil service workforce really is different,” said Adams. “You truly believe in service to your country and know that doing your jobs right make a difference to the national defense for this county.”

In her presentation Adams explained the basics of NSPS, discussed the stages it would be implemented in and answered questions from the audience about how the new system would work.

During her talk, Adams stressed the importance of communication throughout the transition process. “Communication is a key element when you’re going through organizational change; and that’s what the Navy has been doing a lot of lately,” she said.

The NSPS is designed to provide flexibility to meet the DoD’s needs for an adaptive total force of military members and civilians in the ever-changing world of national security.

One way NSPS will meet those needs is by speeding up hiring to increase the DoD’s ability to attract and retain high quality talented workers. The system also provides a means for civilians to replace military members in certain jobs to free up the military to support the war-fighting mission.

The most noticeable change is that this new system will base pay increases on performance rather than seniority to encourage excellence by linking performance and contribution to pay raises and bonuses.

To help effectively evaluate performance once NSPS is in place Adams suggests laying the groundwork now. “The best thing you can do right now is start working on writing your performance standards and figuring out how to measure what it is you do,” said Adams.

For more information on NSPS, visit http://www.cpms.osd.mil/nsps or visit http://www.nko.navy.mil{{PERIOD}}