Strategy #24
Collect Data Necessary
to Evaluate Performance
Develop a validated performance evaluation system.
Background
Every organization should develop a method of performance evaluation to assist supervisors and employees in increasing individual effectiveness. Performance appraisals assist employees on a continuing basis by identifying strengths and weaknesses.
Actions
- Develop a method that is meaningful to personnel by involving them in its creation.
- Develop a manual to provide consistency and direction in employee evaluation performance.
- Evaluation should be accomplished in a concise manner that allows supervisors to attend their other duties.
- Develop guidelines for supervisors in the uniform administration of the evaluation method. Supervisors should keep their subordinates informed and appraised of their accomplishments and shortcomings in a timely fashion.
- Identify and establish critical tasks assigned to specific job classifications and locations on the basis of the outcomes expected including traffic safety. Expected outcomes should be based on valid data.
- Evaluations need to be honest and straightforward.
- Recognize accomplishments, foster open communications, help develop employees and detect problems or deficiencies that need to be addressed early in the evaluation process.
- Use a performance contract, when appropriate, to correct deficiencies.
- Give positive feedback when corrections are made, and design a correction plan even if no improvement is seen.
- Support the reports of success or failure with adequate data.
- Consider performance evaluations for special assignments, transfers, promotions, and training.
- Include in the evaluations, ratings for interpersonal relationships with all employee levels and the public, initiative, honesty, leadership skills, teamwork, respect, professionalism, communication skills, trust and fairness, and sensitivity.
- Review performance periodically. Employees should not be surprised when they receive their evaluation.
- Create programs that publicly recognize the outstanding performance of employees.
Benefits
- Develops employees.
- Identifies the employee’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Detects problems early on.
- Fosters open communication.
- Provides an effective supervisory tool to bring about efficient operation of an organization.
Other Considerations
- Sometimes evaluators fail to give extreme ratings on the assumption that nobody could be that bad or good. However, it is important to make performance distinctions among employees. The full use of a rating scale, when substantiated by performance, is the most reliable way of achieving distinctions among employees.
- An average employee can look extremely good or extremely poor in contrast to a very “low” or very “high” performing employee. Actual observed behavior relative to expected behavior is what should be rated.