Is an EPR Supervisor limited or constrained in how many exceeding ratings he can give?

SrA Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:25:09 -0500

So today I came across a question on the new EPR system for E1-E6 and I am trying to get an answer. So as I understand it the Commander will have a "Maximum" number of Must promotes that they can give out across the squadron. Now lets say you are the Flight Chief and you have 6 Airmen do you as the supervisor also have a "maximum" number of Airmen who can get the Exceeds all?

Response by MSgt Matthew Meindl made Jan 22 at 2016 10:38 PM

MSgt Matthew Meindl — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:38:32 -0500

Happening all over again. When APR's gave way to EPR's, I went from a perfect 9 APR to a 3 EPR because they could only give one airman a 5, two could get 4's and the rest had to be 3's (or lower if merited). This cycle will always rear it's ugly head.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 22 at 2016 10:39 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:39:58 -0500

My understanding is the CC is limited under force distrubution in giving out the top two promotion recommendations but the supervisor isn't limited in their individual markings. So in theory everyone could have been marked as "exceeding most, if not all standards" but not everyone can receive the "promote now" or "promote" recommendations from the CC.

Response by MSgt Keith Hebert made Jan 22 at 2016 11:08 PM

MSgt Keith Hebert — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 23:08:30 -0500

Ao glad I have retired.
You can only have one winner everyone else will be second or below.
We must be able to accept that 95% of the people will be average, there is nothing wrong with that.
3 should be normal
4 should be exceptional
5 should be our f---ingstanding( very rare)
Not everyone deserves a trophy
End of my rant about epr's

Response by SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 23 at 2016 2:32 AM

SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 02:32:20 -0500

Small vs large squadron. Just rate your fold and have honest conversations. Everyone is not a PM or MP

Response by SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 23 at 2016 9:20 AM

SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 09:20:13 -0500

No, there is not min/max for the rater. So you could have an EPR with "Exceeds Most" all down the front and the Rater's Assessment on the back for each Airman. Unfortunately, this will probably be a perpetuation of inflated ratings we are trying to eliminate.

Response by MSgt John Carroll made Jan 23 at 2016 9:28 AM

MSgt John Carroll — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 09:28:33 -0500

To answer your question- No. I can give as many far right EPRs as I wish. I don't, but I could. If the additional Rater does not agree, he/she has the option to non-concur. The only quotas are the 5% Promote Now and 10% Must Promote (15% for SrA). I will gladly answer more questions if you have more or need more clarification.

Response by SrA John Holy made Jan 24 at 2016 3:06 AM

SrA John Holy — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 03:06:34 -0500

These things go in cycles and not all units follow the rules strictly, it won't be long before another big wig comes along and wants to put his name a new improved system.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 26 at 2016 8:08 AM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 08:08:19 -0500

NO....but you need to be realistic.....did you really get lucky and you have all the best Airmen in your AFSC working in your shop.....also the expectation that you start with a 5 and work down by screwing up is wrong....you start with a 1 and work your way up (showing up to work and staying out of trouble is a 3 at best. Anyway this is an argument that everyone will have an opinion on and everyone is right and wrong.....bottom line you need to find your path as a leader and follow it.....and remember they all can't have the line "My best Airman" or "My goto guy" on their report.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 26 at 2016 2:17 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 14:17:23 -0500

It's up to the Supervisor to convince the CC that his 6 are the one that deserve to fill or most of the quota.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 27 at 2016 4:54 PM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 16:54:38 -0500

As of right now the supervisor rates his troop on the front side as he sees fit based of his requirements for the troop and how well the troop met those requirements. For instance if I was to tell my troop to do schooling and they blow me off I can rate them lower in the all around airman section of the EPR. If they meet or exceed my recommendations I will push it through with the appropriate rating. Their failure to meet the AF standards means I will not give you a mid rating or higher.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 30 at 2016 9:39 PM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 21:39:59 -0500

Despite the rating that the supervisor gives a stratification happens at the squadron level and if there is enough eligibles the
'must promote" and "promote now"s are given out there. If the minimum eligible levels arnt met the decision on who recieves what rolls up to the group level where squadron cc's battle it out to get their top picks either the "must promote" or "promote now" endorsement. The CC at the minimum eligibility cut off level has the final say. I for one like the new system if it can stay focused on work performance.

Response by SMSgt Lance Goeman made Jan 31 at 2016 2:39 PM

SMSgt Lance Goeman — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 14:39:26 -0500

Glad I'm retired! In the private sector, we also have a forced distribution, but I can accept that because the ratings are goal based. We either hit or don't hit the goal and our leadership calibrates ratings.

Response by SMSgt Matthew Hoyer made May 21 at 2017 7:44 PM

SMSgt Matthew Hoyer — Sun, 21 May 2017 19:44:00 -0400

Interestingly enough, at the 55th Wing, of the SrA packages that aggregated due to being small units, the markings on the front AND back had absolutely no bearing on who got the PN and MP. The reason for that is that the markings were all over the place anyway, and most of them didn't match the bullets written (marking was meets, but bullets clearly showed that they exceeded by a large margin). Write it as honestly as you can, and to answer your question as asked, no, there is not a quota for you. Every single person in your section can be exceeding most, if not all, standards.