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That's the crux of it...what system would you put in place? I do wonder how bad a problem this is considering it seems to be recognised that we are actually getting so much better at writing SJARs that the system will have to change to discriminate promotees from an RAF full of so many space cadet first-class walk-on-water candidates (apparently..). This indicates that many are very good indeed at writing an SJAR with the right buzz words and without the killer words that unintentionally sink a write up.
The way I see it, the problem is bigger than a poor grasp of English for some but also the refined and professional way others are able to craft a good SJAR. This may be because the reporting officers take the time, have the time or are just better wordsmiths than others.
A good step forwards is attendance by subjects at SJAR workshops and push back on reporting officers when they see clangers that have been pointed out to them in the workshops. SJARs, in my experience, are much more of a 2 way process now than they ever were...but this again may be because of the environment I work in.
Alternatives??? Trade exams...and maybe interviews. Don't rule out interviews because the Civil Service can manage (with 400k employees), the NHS manage (with 1.9m employees!); even if they are less mobile than we are. Or maybe that option would bring in problems of their own, such as bad performance in a 45 minute interview killing a good candidate off.
Given the alternatives, I am not sure the SJAR system is so bad; not perfect but not all bad.
