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12.16 When your agency says “we can’t give too many 5s,” it can feel like merit just got replaced by | Southworth PC | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: 12.16 When your agency says “we can’t give too many 5s,” it can feel like merit just got replaced by
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Core Theme
Federal agencies are increasingly "normalizing" performance ratings, pushing most employees towards a "fully successful" (3 out of 5) score, which undermines the intended individualized evaluation system and can negatively impact career progression and morale.
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Hey, federal employees. If you've worked
hard all year and then you're told,
"Hey, we can't give too many fives." It
can feel like the whole system just
shifted under your feet, but you're not
imagining it. We've covered this before,
but this is impacting so many people.
I'm Sean South, CEO of Southwest PC. We
represent federal employees and
applicants, and I'm hearing more and
more about agencies normalizing
performance ratings. That means steering
most people towards a three out of a
five. There was just a Washington Post
article about this. Stick to the end for
my blunt thoughts. So, here's the
takeaway. Your rating is supposed to
reflect your performance against written
standards, not an invisible quota. And I
hate when good people get blamed for a
systemwide recalibration. A three is
often meant to be fully successful. In
theory, that's fine. But in real life, a
three can still affect awards,
promotions, and how you're seen. So,
when your rating drops because, hey,
we're re-calibrating. It doesn't just
sting, it can change career
opportunities. The trust problem is
this. If your supervisor is trying to
hit a distribution, you're left asking,
"Was I rated on my work or was I rated
on a curve?" Federal performance systems
are designed for individualized
evaluation, not forced distribution. So,
when you hear, "Everybody's getting a
three or we had too many top ratings
this year." That's a cue to ask calmly
and professionally. Can you walk me
through in my elements and standards
what specifically kept me from the
higher level? Two things to watch for,
vague explanations with no concrete
examples tied to your standards and goal
posts moving late in the year. All year
it's great job and suddenly the bar
becomes something nobody ever said out
loud that could show discrimination,
retaliation, whistleblowing, reprisal.
And that's the key thing I'm watching
for the legal part. They might be able
to do this, but they cannot discriminate
or retaliate against you. So here's the
hope part. You can protect yourself with
facts. Keep your performance plan, save
keywork, product, and emails showing
outcomes and feedback. And if you're
already in a higher risk context such as
conflict with management, EEO activity,
whistleblowing, probationary status,
getting thoughts early on can help you
understand the process before it
accelerates. This is general
information, not legal advice, and every
situation turns on its facts. But you're
not too sensitive for caring. I think
this is going to be reality for a lot of
people, but your work matters and the
rule matters. So, please share this with
a co-orker who might be questioning why
they're getting surprise threes and
follow along if you want study practical
workplace guidance. Before I ask your
take, let me tell you, you know, as
someone who studies and constantly
thinks about workplaces and how to make
them better. What I think as a CEO, I
think force distributions are bad
business practice because they replace
honest performance management with a
quota system that predictably distorts
behavior. Controlled experiments on
force distribution ratings show in the
workplace they reduce team collaboration
and knowledge sharing which is the
opposite of what high performing
organizations need. So this is a
boneheaded move from OPM. It's like they
don't want things to go well. Research
also warns that even when they boost
short-term effort forced rankings can
increase perceptions of unfairness which
is linked to lower good teammate
behavior and higher dysfunctional
competition. And when you cap
recognition at the top, you shouldn't be
surprised when your people start looking
around for new jobs. Recent scholarship
and reporting highlight higher achiever
attrition risk when top ratings are
restricted. In other words, the best
people aren't going to want to sit
around. And Microsoft is a well-known
example of a major employer that
ultimately ended stack ranking after
years of internal backlash. So
boneheaded move. That's what I think.
What do you think? I want your take in
the comments. Have you been told, "Hey,
we can't give too many fives. Does a
three function like a quiet penalty
where you work? Do rating caps improve
fairness or punish the people carrying
the mission? And what would a
performance system look like that
rewards excellence without turning it
into a quota? Is it too much to ask the
people who are in charge of the federal
workplace to read some studies and do
things that make sense? Like that's the
thing in my mind. I don't think they
have any ration for this and they
haven't thought it through. It's not
what you would see people at top
companies doing and it's it's not good
enough for their best American
corporations. It's not good enough for
the federal workplace. Okay, I slipped
back into my thoughts. Anyway, thank you
everybody for your support. Hope you
have a great day. Take care. [music]
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