Appraisal Summaries

I come across some interesting pictures in continuing to write on “My Career with SCS”. This one is a big map on the north wall of our master bedroom at our Arlington Ridge Road house that we moved in to during the spring of 1964. The Soil Conservation Service had a very centralized management system for its 14,000 employees with the Heads of the Agency at the State level reporting directly to the Agency Administrator. The Personnel Mg’t system involved our furnishing the State Leader a list of 3-5 candidates for filling GS-11 and above positions in their state. Our lists were developed from review of qualifications, experience, and ratings recorded on “Appraisal Summaries”. These were filled by job classification and grade level which we would go through manually to select the “best qualified” for the specific position to be filled. My boss, Carl Lindstrom felt it important that we not only base our judgements on the Appraisal Summary but that we also know as many people as possible. I used the map to identify and learn the names of at least 10-15 of the top people in each state. Then at every opportunity, I would meet people personally to put a face with what I already knew about them. The system was made obsolete by a vacancy announcement and application process, but worked pretty effectively for a number of years.