Daniel L. Atkins

Performance Management and the Intelligence Community Daniel L. Atkins

Mandated performance management for the intelligence community requires revisiting. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) mandated performance management system for DoD Intelligence Community (IC) members can be a useful management tool and applicable to IC organizations when; performance can be verified, implementation is executed properly, and outcomes are well defined and continuously evaluated for efficacy. The applicability of performance management (PM) to the IC is contentious and PM should not have been applied indiscriminately throughout the IC. Organizations and personnel performing missions where performance can be verified, such as scientific and technical intelligence, will benefit from PM. However, the method of implementation within the IC since its inception in March 2007 has been deficient. PM has been indiscriminately applied to organizations where performance cannot possibly be verified. Also, PM systems, developed by outside consultants, have been mandated from above with limited or no involvement from organizations and personnel that perform the mission and who would be most knowledge in the development of performance measures and outcomes. Additionally, a true merit-based compensation system, like the National Security Personnel System (NSPS), has not been implemented.