One unidentified employee got nothing. I have no doubt that the message will get through, and that the Lone Slacker will soon be leaving the county payroll. But this is an expensive and cumbersome way to remove one rotten apple from the barrel. Griffin hopes managers would be more inclined to use it. Ultimately, though, Fairfax County's experience serves as a reminder that civil service reform requires an assault not only on tradition, but on human managerial instinct.
Bosses prefer to deliver good news.
As long as they aren't restricted in the number of gold stars they can give out, they are going to give out a generous supply of them. If a government really wants a tough merit appraisal process, it probably has to grade on a curve. That can be a brutal process. I'm not sure many of America's governments are ready for it, any more than Lake Wobegon is. Alan Ehrenhalt is executive editor of Governing.