'Forced distribution' | OPM plans biggest overhaul of federal employee performance reviews in decades

The Office of Personnel Management has proposed the most significant rewrite of the federal employee performance management system in decades, setting the stage for limits on how many civil servants can be rated above average in annual reviews.

Under a rule set for formal release Tuesday, OPM would require agencies to adopt a forced distribution model for performance ratings, allowing quotas for top scores across the civil service workforce of more than two million employees. The proposal reflects the Trump administration’s view that current ratings are inflated and fail to distinguish meaningfully between levels of performance.

Federal performance ratings face caps

The rule would lift OPM’s longstanding rule against forced distribution, a practice the agency previously described as inconsistent with sound performance management. OPM now argues that the approach would strengthen accountability and better identify underperformance.

“The ability to measure and assess employee performance enables agencies to reward excellence, address skill gaps, and strengthen accountability,” OPM said. “If relative performance is not accurately measured in an employee’s rating of record, then the entire performance management system across the government is compromised.”