In a joint memorandum to federal agencies, Office of Personnel Management Director John Betty and Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Jeffrey Zients announced the design and issuance of a model Senior Executive Service (SES) performance appraisal system in a joint memo dated Feb. 4, 2012 and made available to the public on Feb. 6.

The memo refers to a related document that describes how the new system is to work. Under the news system, agencies will be able to rely upon a more consistent and uniform framework to communicate expectations and evaluate the performance of SES members, according to the OPM and OMB memo. This system focuses, in particular, on the role and responsibility of SES employees to achieve results through effective executive leadership.