Political appointees can come in and, in 100 or 150 days, figure out what the mission is and how the place works. No one disagrees that we need change, probably fairly dramatic change. Performance issues are important. You could deal with performance management issues without legislation and that would be a step in the right direction. Psychic income and other nontangible rewards are therefore important.
Government can never compete with the private sector on the financial level.
As someone who has spent a lifetime involved with public service, I think we have to find that sense of mission and true desire to lead a great enterprise for the American people. The rewards of any system cannot be just financial. If you give bonuses only to some people in the SES, you're telling the rest that they aren't part of the team. That's a bad message. Given the range of views expressed by our Principals, and the range of views that many other stakeholders may have, I recommend that we think about this as a long-term and very important undertaking.