Dear OPM team members,

As we continue our work to transform the federal workforce, it’s important that we model the behavior that we expect of others. That means holding ourselves to the same high standards of performance, accountability, and excellence that we are helping agencies across government adopt. 

Today, I’m sharing some important changes we’re making around performance management at OPM. These changes are grounded in a simple belief: our people are our most important asset, and everyone deserves to work in an environment where great work is recognized and where underperformance is addressed fairly and consistently. 

We have provided a lot more implementation details to our managers, but at a high level they include:

• Rewarding top performers with meaningful, differentiated bonuses/other recognition so work that goes above and beyond and meaningfully furthers the overall goals of the organization doesn’t go unnoticed or get diluted by less differentiated rewards;
• Reintroducing prestigious programs like the Director’s Awards and Presidential Rank Awards in FY’26;
• Empowering supervisors to coach, support, and take timely action when performance is not meeting expectations;
• Focusing on regular, transparent check-ins that keep you aligned with team goals and give you the opportunity to course-correct early. Clear and consistent guidance is a matter of fundamental fairness to employees; we should not surprise team members with negative (or positive) news; and
• Encouraging innovation and experimentation, including through new awards for employees who help the agency reduce waste, fraud, or abuse, or otherwise identify and implement ways to meaningfully improve the operational efficiency of our organization.

At the same time that we are introducing new guidance, we are also taking a look at some other existing practices to determine whether they are still useful in supporting our goals and, if not, whether to continue them. Expect some additional announcements related to this shortly. 

Some of these changes will take effect immediately. Others will roll out at the start of the new fiscal year. All of them are designed to make OPM a more rewarding, high-impact place to work where your contributions truly matter and where excellence is celebrated. Please reach out to your manager if you have additional questions. 

As with all things, I am always open to feedback on whether what we are doing makes sense and what other things we should consider to help achieve our objectives. I don’t pretend that we will get everything right all of the time. But if we make mistakes, we’ll fix them. Making change is a process that requires continuous experimentation, iteration, learning and ultimately improvement. We will make some mistakes along the way, but hopefully we just make NEW ones (and learn from our prior failures). 

Thank you for all you do in service to OPM’s mission and the American people. 

Thanks,

Scott 

P.S. PLEASE call me Scott.