The civil service PM system – key elements

The civil service PM system is part of the Civil Service Reform Plan. Employees at all grades are measured against around six core “competencies” found in the Civil Service Competency Framework, such as “Seeing the big picture”, “Achieving commercial outcomes”, or “Delivering at pace”.

Staff “Behaviours” are tested and marked against the relevant competencies. For example, for someone on Level 1 (the most junior grade), an unacceptable “Behaviour” under “Seeing the big picture”, would be “works on own tasks in isolation showing little interest in the wider context and relevant developments outside their immediate area”, while an “effective” Behaviour would be to “consider how their own job links with and impacts on colleagues and others in partner organisations”.

Each individual is given annual objectives, set by their line manager at the start of the year. The objectives are supposed to be agreed, but evidence from union members (see below) shows little evidence of genuine agreement. There is a six-monthly review meeting, followed by an end-of-year review to decide on the individual’s performance rating. Line manager assessments are countersigned by Countersigning-Officers, and in a final stage, marks are subjected to “moderation” in a management meeting. In theory, moderation is about ensuring consistency, but for union negotiators, moderation has come to be seen as a process of “forcing the curve” – ensuring that the right proportion of employees end up in each box category.