The new system will use biannual anonymised peer reviews from 45 colleagues to grade officials on an ‘A’ to ‘E’ scale. The 45 peers would be randomly selected by the system, and the new system is supposed to offer anonymity to them. However, concerns have been raised over the system’s integrity and lack of legal cover if evaluations are challenged.
It is also worrying that the system places caps on the number of people that can be given a certain grade, meaning an E may not necessarily even reflect poor performance, but just that too many top-tier staffers were included in the same pool.
Most concerning, however, is the huge size of performance bonuses. Most private companies offer bonuses scaled to a few weeks’ pay, with more generous employers offering up to two months’ pay as a performance bonus for top employees.
At the FBR, an A grade will earn an officer four months’ pay, which is an astoundingly high amount. B, C and D grades will earn three, two and one additional month’s pay, respectively. Policymakers appear to have forgotten that these are millions of rupees being given to already well-paid officials and are being pulled from the national exchequer at a time when the government can’t even afford to improve health and education.
There is also the potential for delayed results, bringing elections into disrepute, much like national elections over the past decade. Employees must have confidence that high-ups are not intervening in the evaluation process to ensure their blue-eyed boys are the only ones getting those massive bonuses.