Implementation of the Mandatory Supervisory Critical Element "Holding Employees Accountable"

This Department of Defense (DOD) memorandum operationalizes a previous June 17, 2025 government-wide policy directive from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) titled "Performance Management for Federal Employees." The OPM memo laid out new rules for performance reviews, which included an evaluation of supervisors based on how well they “hold employees accountable." The DOD memo orders supervisors to include this criterion in their performance plans moving forward. It also defines two performance standards — "Fully Successful" and "Outstanding" — to assess supervisors on this new criterion. The "Fully Successful" standard requires supervisors to ensure subordinates are committed to efficient execution, to hold them accountable for high-quality results, to recognize and reward excellent work, to address poor or mediocre performance in a timely manner up to and including removal from federal service, and to take appropriate action when employees report concerns of illegal conduct or waste, fraud, or abuse. The "Outstanding" standard adds expectations around proactive recognition programs, ambitious goal-setting, and skillful management of complex performance situations using "the full range of administrative actions."