Now that it has come out that local VA managers were cooking the books on waiting times and who knows what else, some pundits say the culprit is the bonus system. Apparently it’s a revelation to some observers that when you give people a monetary incentive tied to a goal, they will do what’s necessary to meet the goal, especially when such incentives become part of their lifestyle spending year after year. Well duh❓
Ask the private sector where there is great experience in fudging numbers to reach goals. Earnings per share target missed; well there are certain excludable expense items. Reported on the job accidents too high; classify some as non-occupational. Sick days over target, just don’t report the time off or tell the worker to take vacation.
The difference, of course, is that the VA is a massive bureaucracy and accountability is sorely lacking in any bureaucracy even while reports and audits and recommendations for change are ignored year after year … all you have to do is wait for the next administration or for turnover in Congress and all is forgotten.
The VA is not alone, it’s true for Medicare and elsewhere. And while all this is going on the performance reviews of government workers report satisfactory and above performance in numbers that would cause Jack Welsh or any HR professional to laugh till it hurts. Everyone is doing a good job, but the job is not getting done.
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