The U.S. Navy is changing the way it evaluates sailors for promotion. Currently, a lot of weight is given to seniority (how long the sailor has been in the navy, and their current job or rank) and test results. The new system gives much more weight to how effective the sailor is at doing their job. Such an approach has been used for senior officers with much success. A pilot program for sailors was also a success. One reason for the change was sailor dissatisfaction with the current system. While the navy is undergoing a downsizing at the moment, it found that those sailors, in key skill areas, it was trying to hang on to, were put off by the old system. So putting a lot more weight on actual job performance made a lot of sense. Keeping the best sailors is more difficult than just keeping any sailors.