Reader comments
State may replace the merit system

As bad as the Merit System is it is far better then what we had going before the Merit System. Which was good old boy my guy won the election you are out system. The Merit System has its problems yes and job security can cause productivity problems. Plus you surely do not want to be over qualified for a job, or be an out of the Box hard worker showing what really can be done with a little application. Nor do you want to be smarter then the supervisor and proud of showing it. Promotion is the Dull moving above the Duller which is where the calcification comes in. Calcification is the right of Civil Service Passage. This is why Civil Servants have strong Unions to Protect them. You are not going to be able to award the industrious much because the others will not allow it. If you can correct that and fire people who are really bad at their job, that�s one thing. However the Merit System is a lot better then the way it was. Plus the Merit System protects Vets, Minorities, Women, and helps prevent Sexism and Religionist in the Work Place.

Coming from your background it is unlikely you have had to deal with a clueless boss or one who had it in for you.

These protections are there for a reason. Otherwise there are managers who abuse power. I urge you not to make any changes but to encourage the managers to not be lazy and work the system that is now in place.

As a state employee (Utah Department of Transportation) I am all for this... I know there will be many who will complain, and talk about how unfair it is...

However, I'ts been terribly upsetting to watch for the past decade as the overall quality of hirees has declined, the retention rate of good employees has gone to pieces, the ability to recruit quality individuals is almost nil, and all the while the general workforce around me has deteriorated. (No, I'm not simply disgruntled... This is all true)

I know a large number of individuals who are not wanted because they are a burden and essentially do nothing, but they are never reprimanded because the grievance process is so long, it is not worth the time or effort.

If you really want to get rid of calcified individuals, eliminate the antiquated pension plan. For many of those calcified individuals, this is the one thing that they cling to. There would have to be an exchange of compensation with a larger 401k plan, but the savings would be huge, and it would be easier to get rid of the dross.

Thank You Governor Huntsman for having the courage to tackle the problem!

Managers need to be trained to document performance. The system works if the managers manage.

...."calcification" rule to the state legislature?

Oh, wait. You all like it that way.
Remember: vote Buttars.

I worked for the State of Utah (Tax Commission) for almost two years. While there, I found long term employees (20+ years) napping, reading novels, etc. Basically, doing everything but their work.

STATE OF UTAH...GET RID OF THE MERIT SYSTEM AND PAY PEOPLE WHAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR DOES!

Taxpayers often find lazy employees but there is no reporting system. State employees are immune from public oversight.

On the 4 day work week--
France used to be on the 4 day work week. The 4 day work weeks does not work. Taxpayers are paying a full days pay for a spent employee.

The state's 4 day work week sends the wrong message. Imagine if the pioneers had a 4 day work week, or farmers work 4 days a week, or construction workers. When banks go on the 4 day work week, what then. How about a 3 day work week and a standard 4 day week end. The state can print pictures of food, clothing, an shelter and the people can eat, wear and live in the pretty stimulus pictures.

Wealth comes from work not paper work.

If state employees can do 5 days of work in 4 days, then the state should fire 20% of the excess employees, give the remaining employees a 10% raise and the public a 10% rebate. The dead wood is hiding in the state's wood pile.

I worked for the state for over 8 years, most of the time in HR, and every year I heard the same thing over and over again: our turnover is terrible! The average tenure of a state employee was less than four years and the average pay was 15% BELOW market.

Eliminating the merit system won't increase the state's ability to retain employees. It will enable the state to promote and transfer employees more easily. It will also cause a lot of very good employees with 10 plus years to give up and leave.

If the governor wants to screw things up (I don't think he does) he will let Jeff Herring get his way by burning down the house everyone built before him. Jeff is only interested in making a mark for himself. He's NOT interested in keeping the interests of the state, the public, or the state's employees.

By the way, if you completely eliminate the current merit system and/or the current pension plan be prepared to say hello to the public employee unions. The elimination of either/both of the above will create the exact environment they have been waiting for!

This is a problem that exists at all levels of government and in many large private organizations. In the end, we have traded job security for mediocrity. People get shuffled around or promoted to positions beyond their competence because the system does not allow adequate room to deal with employee problems short of criminal activity.

An 'at-will' employment environment certainly is not perfect. But the grievance process creates an un-necessarily adversarial relationship in the work place as supervisors try to dot every 'i', cross every 't' and document each incident for every empolyee so as not to be subjective in their application of the rules. It is truly not worth the effort since in the end HR or the union will make your life difficult for even trying.

At-will should mean just that, with very limited exceptions. If government employees want job security, they need to start giving the public a little more bang for its buck rather than just riding the public employee gravy train.

It is always hard to fight something that everyone elses in the Government is doing. Most of the people who are lazy are the supervisor's buddies.

I think it is telling that most of the graduates of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard opt not to work in government upon graduation. If you're ambitious and you want to serve the public to the best of your ability and (at least every once in a while) be recognized for it, why would you ever work in government?

Our system does one thing really well - keep talented people out of public service.

Gov. Huntsman, don't compromise on this one. You had it right the first time, its time for hire/fire at will.

Government will never be able to pay what the private sector does. The merit system provides security and is a benefit, along with pension, that keeps government appealing to younger workers. It also help retain institutional knowledge. Lose your older workers and you lose all the knowledge they've retained over years of service.
At will employment just leaves too much room for politically motivated "good-old-boy" hiring and firing. Hopefully, people will start looking at creative solutions, rather than scrapping the positive things that bring job security. I've seen both sides of this argument, and the positive still outweigh any negatives.
I think its also important to remember that the lazy workers aren't the majority. In most cases, government employees are hard working and care about this state.
BTW Red - a four day work week is still a 40 hour work week, plus, chances are a few hours worked from home - its good for Utah air quality, good for saving gas, good for family relations. Now if they'd just start flex-time so that employees could stagger when they come in in the morning and leave at night, that would be good for traffic congestion, too.

Wow, two things in a row that I support Governor Huntsman in. What is the world coming to. First, He endorses Chaffetz. Now he wants to remove the permanency in government jobs. I might just start liking Huntsman.

Jon Jr. needs to make room for the refugees from the George W. Bush administration, who will escaping justice by hiding out in Utah.

The merit system needs to go. We all work in and for the public. The old government employee argument needs to go. The poor service at city, county, and state level would change quickly if they were evaluated each year and had some chance of discipline and being terminated. To the good government employees thanks, to the floaters, coasters, time watchers, the time for change has come. Get rid of the flawed grievance policy designed to promote underperformance.

I hear person after person talk about how rigid and how poor the public worker is, go to any big corporation and you could be let go, not for being a poor worker, but almost all get laid off because of cut backs in the company(owners need to make the same salary in a downturn) or another company buys out your company, and they don't keep you. Also most people who are lucky enough to make it thru all this, then at 20 years of service start sweating again, most big companies don't want to pay someones retirement, so they get fired before they retire. So you tell me what's better public or private!

I think Gov. Huntsman is right. The merit system rewards laziness. But pushing them to At-will seems like it is going to far. Why would you work for government if you could get let go at-will? This isn't the private sector where you have higher pay and other perks that the government can't give.

I think you could just tighten the merit system review process. If employees are getting bad reviews then they should be let go. Managers should be reviewed by their employees. Implement a more motivating bonus program. There are plenty of things to get the workforce motivated and give the security and benefits that a government job provides.

First, the merit system doesn't prevent at-will discharge, this is available to the supervisor during the probationary period. During this time the employee can be terminated without reason. If there is a concern with at-will discharge then extend the probationary period to two years. Certainly by then the employee's work traits would be apparent. Discipline is a management responsibility; any concerns should be dealt with by the Department of Human Resource Management with additional management training in the ABC's of the recruitment, selection, hiring, development of employees, corrective action, and discipline. Second, Good employees are the rule in government service; look around at family/friends who serve us admirably in public service; many have excelled in the private sector prior to public service. The merit system does not prevent good employees from entering public service, there is nothing to deter them from entering for government service other than a more attractive job offer in the private sector. Third, the merit system is part of check and balance system which is necessary in our society and world of work . . . a system which helps keep graft out of all levels of government.

They have taken charge and refuse to budge
The City has become a law maker without a law degree being a threat to the citizens
Making big emprovements with public money and no vote from the public
Even local emprovements require a vote of the people
Like it or not
The public is at risk

I'm no expert on the merit system (this is the first time I've heard of it today, reading this article). But, anyone who's ever walked into ANY government office can tell you there is a problem. No customer service, no friendliness, no desire to help. Inefficiency. I always just figured that's what happens when there's no competition, and you have no alternative, and they know it. Whatever can be done to bring service up to par is great by me.