During town hall meetings Wednesday at WRAMC, garrison leaders discussed the NSPS pay pool and Base Realignment and Closure issues.

ìThe purpose of these town hall meetings is to keep [employees] informed as we execute our closure plan as things develop,î said Stephen Brooks, deputy garrison commander. ìWe do not have the perfect level of details [regarding] all the plans, but as we [get information], we want to relay it to [employees].î

Brooks said the mission of the NSPS pay pool, which consisted of staff members from various garrison activities, was to ensure employees were consistently rated.

Most garrison employees achieved a three rating, Brooks explained.

ìMost people do a good job,î he added. ìTheyíre valued performers. They give an honest dayís work for an honest dayís pay.î He said about two-thirds of the work force earned a three; a third earned a four, while only a few people earned a five, indicating ìtheyíre head and shoulders above everyone else. Thatís a difficult rating to get.

ìOn the other end of the scale, a two is not really a bad rating,î Brooks said. ìIt means that overall, you did a good job but you have some areas youíre expected and encouraged to improve upon over time.

ìA one is the only real adverse rating in the system,î Brooks said. ìIt means youíre unacceptable and if you donít get your act together, you may not be here much longer.î

Sixty-one percent of Walter Reed garrison employees were rated three; 36 percent were rated a four; and 1 percent were rated either a five or two. No one was rated a one.

He said these numbers ìare within the framework of what the NSPS model calls for.î

In the garrison, Brooks said nearly 60 percent of garrison employees will get two shares; 26 percent will get three shares; 10 percent will get four shares; 1 percent will get five shares; 6 percent will get one share; and 1 percent will not get shares.

ìThatís a good distribution, which is based on actual performance,î Brooks said.

He said the average value of a share is just over two percent of an employeeís base salary.

ìThatís pretty good,î Brooks said. ìHistorically, thatís more than the garrison has given out in performance awards in the past.î

Col. Bruce Haselden, garrison commander, said employees are their best advocates for NSPS appraisals. ìThe better you write [SMART objectives and self assessments], the better off you are, as long as they are actually meaningful and tied to something; not what you wish you would have done.î

Brooks said wage grade and employees under Total Army Performance Evaluation System (TAPES) and not NSPS, will get performance awards in the same manner they have in previous years.

Brooks said details to the garrison BRAC incentive strategy havenít been finalized, but ìwe value all garrison employees.

ìAs you know, weíre closing on Sept. 15, 2011. The garrison has a closure mission. We donít transfer to a new hospital.

ìWe want every employee to feel like he or she is valued by the garrison,î Brooks said. ìAnd they are.î

Brooks explained that with WRAMC closure, itís challenging to keep and attract people for some positions, so the incentive strategy is designed to keep valued employees already here to stay through 2011.

ìWe want to make this a great working environment, and for employees to have fun while theyíre working here,î Brooks said. ìWe want employees to have a sense of satisfaction out of our mission of serving wounded warriors and their families, which is an honorable mission.î

He said work is also being done to ìenergizeî employeesí individual development and transition plans to qualify them for civilian education programs and other opportunities.

Brooks said the garrison work force has also been included in the Guaranteed Placement Program, which directs the development of ìa plan to maximize placement of WRAMC employees affected by the transfer of health-care services of the BRAC process to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and DeWitt Army Community Hospital at Fort Belvoir, Va.,î Department of Defense officials have explained.

ìWe are dedicated to investing in you ó our most valuable assets ó the people who actually do the work,î Brooks said.

Haselden then thanked the staff for their hard work and dedication during the year, and wished them a safe holiday.