Instructions:
- Post a new discussion related to the topics covered in this module. Your post needs to provide specific lessons learned with examples from this module helping you enhance your leadership capacity at work.
- After posting your discussion, review posts provided by other students in the class and reply to at least one of them.
In my humble opinion, a job-specific evaluation is the best way to handle any evaluation process. Evaluations were not even a concept in my department for my first few years. Coming from the military I wondered how we were being graded. The system we use now is fair but it is not job specific.
Dr. Normore brings up some great points in this module. I am fortunate that my department already has a good evaluation process in place. Training for completing proper evaluations should be required of all supervisors before performing any employee appraisal as it is easy for a supervisor to create a “cookie cutter” appraisal and not complete a true evaluation. Another area for improvement is proper documentation throughout the year. I have worked for supervisors that did not have proper documentation for both positive and negative behaviors so they focused heavily on the weeks or recent months preceding the evaluation rather than the entire evaluation period.
I agree, training supervisors to do the evaluations is important. Also like you said keeping the files throughout the year shows your subordinates that you are putting your best foot forward. Supervisors who do not do this cannot give the truest evaluation.
The S.M.A.R.T. evaluation system is very similar to my agency's evaluation approach. Establishing expectations, encouraging your officers to meet and exceed those expectations, and fairly evaluating their performance will raise productivity and reward top performers. New officers on my shift are provided with a copy of their job description, briefed on my expectations, and given a receipt of instructions for standing orders that are not covered by the policy. Then we have mid-evaluations, which look at productivity, commendations, discipline, or any particular incident of note. Then there is the end of fiscal year appraisals. My sergeants are each directly responsible for evaluating officers assigned to them, and I evaluate both my sergeants. Our department is currently attempting to update our end-of-year evaluations to be more position specific and to provide more precise feedback.
I enjoyed learning about the S.M.A.R.T. method in this module. As others have said, my agency deploys a similar system. There is a pre, mid, and final evaluation. Most importantly, what the rater says matters. Merit raises are given out based on the employee performances, but I wished they counted in the promotion process as well. Often people are promoted because they test well or can memorize policy. But how are they at their jobs? How well do they actually lead?
My agency utilizes a generic performance evaluation that is not specific for the employee as it is utilized for almost 5000 employees. While it does allow for specific duties and tasks to be reviewed, it does remove some of the ability for a supervisor to make the review as meaningful as Dr. Normore placed in the PMP lesson.
I did appreciate the steps of a PMP review and the ability to jump from step to step, and then back in the steps in order to address specific concerns and thoughts. Sometimes it seems that processes like these are very linear and that once things are completed to go back is not a simple task.
My department has evaluations that are specific to law enforcement; however, not specific to their position. For example, a detective and a patrol officer would be rated on traffic enforcement and case file preparation. There are talks about streamlining our evaluations and creating one for each job description, which would make for a must fairer assessment of performance.
One of the key lessons I have learned from this module is the importance of clear and consistent performance management. As a leader, it is essential to ensure that all employees understand the standards expected of them to reach their goals and be successful. This includes providing clear training on expectations and ongoing support and feedback throughout the process. It is also important to have a system to appropriately and fairly handle any inadequacies or misconduct. By following the ten steps of performance management and revisiting them whenever necessary, leaders can ensure that employees receive the guidance and resources needed for success and that appropriate action is taken.
My agency currently relies on yearly performance evaluations. While good for the spirit, these evaluations have little effect on the individual as they do not impact promotions, suspensions, or any other action within the department.
I will say this was an ah-ha moment for me. I was utterly impressed with the PMP SMART evaluation process. The evaluation process has checks and balances that cover all possible scenarios that may be encountered at all levels of a department. I liked the honest approach that was clear and concise with the expectations, observation, and training opportunities made readily available to an employee when a need is identified without the employee feeling admonished or inadequate. This gives the employee the feeling of support from the department and not being judged for short coming but instead getting course corrections with the opportunity for success.
In step 9, Normore (2017) discusses that "when employees are hired and pass probation, it becomes very difficult to hold them accountable if it is determined that they do not have the intellectual capacity or physical attributes to meet the standards." This falls in the hands of the Field Training Officers and the supervisor who manages these FTOs.
In my time, we have had a few slip through the cracks that became nothing but a problem and liability after they were through training.
The supervisor on the first shift that the new employee is assigned to post-field training must explain objectives and performance standards to the employee. Set regular reviews, look for potential red flags while the employee is still on probation, and either retrain or remove them.
Daniel, I agree that we have all had a few slip through the cracks. These newly learned evaluation methods of PMP SMART with the ten steps are an eye-opener and seem to be a recipe for success when doing our evaluations with subordinates. The confusion is eliminated, and all are on the same page.
Like most agencies, we may have had a few fall through the cracks over the years. But in my time with our agency we have also had several washed out during training. I can think of several we sent through the police academy, several from corrections, and at least one in dispatch who have been processed out during the training/probation phases. Luckily we had some good documentation from FTOs to back up the unfortunate departures. The "doesn't matter what I say because they're going to push them through anyway" myth is busted up front with our FTOs now.
The S.M.A.R.T. system is very easy to follow and understand. My current organization uses this system on an annual basis with a pre-appraisal (expectations), mid-appraisal (6month follow up/tune up), and a final appraisal. It is graded on a 1-5 scale and is tethered to our merit raise system that varies from a 3% to a 5% pay raise based on the final score. My issue with our appraisal is the subjectivity of the line items we are scored on and their “universal” application city wide. This isn’t practical or appropriate given the nature of law enforcement work vs the street department. I maintain a working file on each of my future leaders. This allows me to remember all the positives they do each year and not solely focus on the negatives. I make it a point to praise them publicly for their successes as often as warranted and then I ensure we have “rudder tap” meetings frequently to ensure they stay on course through the year. I say all of this to say most of the supervisors I have had, or are my peers now, do not do this and it is the follower that suffers because of. The annual evaluation is my one opportunity to articulate and express their value and commitment to the organization to those higher powers and it is a disservice to simply pencil whip it because I don’t want to take the appropriate amount of time to complete it.
Using the SMART method will ensure all personnel are given the same level and equal playing field. Using this method set the tone by ensuring the goal and intent of the organization is understood, serves as a guide that affords the personnel the opportunity and ability to accomplish the organization's goal, and finally outlines the penalty for subpar work and missing the goal of the organization. We, as the leader, should provide timely and specific feedback to our personnel on a regular basis to help minimize or eliminate any rumor's and issues as they arise. The SMART method hold everyone accountable, no matter what role you are expected to play.
Patrick, I recently dusted off the SMART method in order to get my command staff to develop their goals for the 2023 year. With the thought of coming up with goals that are short and long term baserd and focus upon the needs of the organization and how the mission is accomplished. At the start of the year there will be a review and we will see how these goals work for the 2023 time frame.
My goal is to motivate my supervisors to become more involved in the strategic planning for the organization but also to let their employees know that the managers in the divisions are required to accomplish tasks just as they have to do in their assignments. Like you stated in your post, this comes down to holding everyone accountable.
I’m glad this module was presented. It’s nice to have a logical guideline to follow when it comes to personnel performance. I have never seen anything like this. Most of the performance reviews we have make it difficult to properly asses someone’s true performance. We mainly have meets or exceeds standards. Feels like being put in a box, even with the comment boxes. Sometimes it seems it doesn’t matter if you meet or exceed the standards, if they want to discipline, promote or move you, it will happen regardless of what the performance review says. Hopefully with enough of us new supervisors coming up through the ranks, we can begin to effect change.
I definite agree, it gives us a step of steps to use to better enhance our leadership skills and to ensure that we are providing the best that we available to help those that we are called to lead. It sets the tone for the mission and get all players on the right track of communication.
This module breaks down the process for managing personnel performance. From my take, our agency does this in a much shorter version, just a condensed version but still hits on the same points. Good leaders will utilize this and have documentation to back up their results. The problem we face is the so-called lazy supervisors who only complete the yearly evaluations. No further assessments (every 6 months or more) are completed. When the annual eval arises, the subordinate is surprised with their performance. The evaluations are also subjective. If that supervisor doesn’t care much for the subordinate, they are critiqued much more harsher than other subordinates. Or worse, the supervisor admits they will not mess with the officer’s pay and give them a good eval no matter what.
This module showed me that we are on the right track on my agency. We have had a Performance Management Process for several years now and it works well. Some deputies complain when they get something "on paper" because they feel like it is discipline. However, if it is not on paper it is hard for conversations to be recalled and are far to open to interpretation. My impression of our process is that formal discipline is actually less likely with a PMP in place, which benefits all involved and avoids the appearance that someone's personnel file is "too full" and that impression can cause detriment to an otherwise good employee in the event they are involved in a large scale incident that causes public scrutiny.
With my agency we have an annually evaluation that is based on a number system. 1 being the lowest you can get and 5 the highest. This system is tied to an officers step raise. A supervisor is not likely to give an honest evaluation of an employee due to the attachment of the step raise. I feel the evaluation should be strictly for personal management to make sure the employee is on track. This module shows a good way for that to be achieved.
Performance reviews are one of the most important things a manager can do for their employees. It helps employees to overcome any of their deficiencies and it’s also an opportunity to reward the top performers. The S.M.A.R.T Goal method looks like it will ensure that employees have an understanding of what is expected of them and prevent inadequate performances.
I agree. Nothing burns me up more than a supervisor who pencil whips an evaluation because they are too lazy to put in the time and effort to complete it correctly.
I enjoyed the module and how they explained the step system. We currently operate with an appraisal system very much like the one illustrated. I found the explanation of the ten-step system very helpful and will likely implement this in my explanation to the first-line supervisor.
Joseph Spadoni, Jr.
Session #15
In this module, I learned how we must develop an understanding of how effective police leaders manage personnel performance when someone is not pulling their weight or is acting inappropriately. This is the first time I have ever heard of the 10 steps of the performance management process. The 10 steps used seem to me to be an efficient and effective way to approach and handle inadequate performance within my agency.
Session #015
I also think that these ten steps seem like a good way to evaluate performance.
This was the first time I also heard of the 10 step system. I have used similar approach just not defined. I highly recommend the sleeping on method with discipline if time allows. We use this often in our use of discipline.
I agree, Kevin,
This was the first time I had seen the 10-step method. This will help me moving forward in my supervisory role. This should be discussed with all new supervisors who get promoted.
The steps to ensure performance are comprehensive. I have never held a job where this amount detail was used to ensure performance or where there were comprehensive built-in checks and balances. Two of the main things I take from this is some degree of objectivity and room to give employees benefit of doubt.
I agree. The module discusses how thinking that non-compliance is willful is a common mistake supervisors and management makes. There are many other reasons why performance can be low and those all need to be evaluated.
I have always felt that the personnel performance management was a key factor of success or failure towards any team. In my agency I don’t feel that this is addressed and used enough. I would like to see more within my agency.
It is always important that any performance plan should follow a certain course to achieve a set of goals. Many times specific employees may have not gone through specific steps and can received more harsh penalties than others. Every person has more than likely encountered upper command staff members that may "target" certain individuals to achieve results. The step by step process that is also recorded is a great way to omit these occurrences.
I agree. I hear where is the paper work. By doing this it is hard to be firm and fair across the board.
Jason, I agree. We've witnessed upper command staff members target certain individuals to achieve results in the past. Fortunately, this has no longer been an issue. The 10-step process and recording them is definitely a great way to limit these occurrences in the future.
As a supervisor in law enforcement, one of the biggest problems I have seen during the yearly evaluation is the lack of honesty by the evaluators. Supervisors tend to avoid putting negative comments on the assessments just to alleviate having to justify their failure to take corrective actions. In some cases, officers don't want to write up friends, or excessively write up people they don't like and there is no equity in the action taken when two officers have the same issues.
I agree. I have seen this as well in my career where a supervisor for whatever reason does not want to put negative comments on an employee. We must be very honest with our employees so they will know what is excepted and what is not. Also so they are educated to the policies of the agency.
Feedback is essential to being an effective leader. I think more often than not supervisors only offer feedback when employee evaluations are due. I try as much as I can to give continuous feedback to my employees especially when it is a chance for me to improve their work performance.
I agree with Jimmy that feedback should be continuous, but a lot of supervisors only interact with the team member they like who don't need to be coached. Correcting people is easier when you have a good relationship with them. Having an open line of communication with all the people you supervise is essential.
Jimmie, very accurate, Most supervisors don't accept feedback because their ego gets in the way. Most of the time, the supervisor only evaluates subordinates once a year. Bi-monthly reviews or every six months are good to get subordinates on track or keep them on track.
Supervisors must provide honest feedback during performance evaluations in order for improvement to occur. Many times I have witness, employees be shocked by their annual performance evaluation score. Feedback on performance should be ongoing and not just yearly.
I agree and believe quarterly evaluation would provide more opportunities to review performance, set expectations, and receive feedback. More issues may be prevented from becoming problems.
Agreed. We must train them, not just discipline them.
At my agency, employee evaluations are a function of Human Resources. They are antiquated and used for determining if an employee receives a step raise. There are two main issues with this. 1. Because money is associated with the evaluation, supervisors are not as honest as they should be because they do not want to be the reason someone did not receive a raise. 2. It is based on a 5-point scale with the 3 being considered "Effective". This means that if an officer comes to work and does their job "effectively", they will not receive their raise because they did not meet the minimum score requirement.
Performance evaluations have often been a hot topic at my agency. Unfortunately, in a smaller agency such as ours, supervisors fail to give an honest evaluation because the employee’s raise is attached to the score received. They feel like they are taking food off their table. We have often suggested removing the step raise from the evaluation altogether. Instead, I think we should constantly be communicating with our people and correcting behavior and performance regularly. If we do that, when the evaluation comes, they receive what they earn. If we are doing our jobs correctly, the only one taking food from their table at this point would be them.
I can understand how this puts the supervisor in a difficult moral position. Thankfully, our agency has an evaluation system that is conducted annually and does not have any ties to a raise. We also have the ability to make notes in the different sub-categories within the evaluation program throughout the year.
Having a useful and accurate performance management tool is invaluable for law enforcement leaders today. For so long, the “good ole boy” system of performance and promotion prevailed and that is no longer acceptable. We currently have a good performance appraisal system at our agency, but it is used for little more than to determine merit raises each year. If used properly, it could be a much more productive measure of performance. I like the step by step method outlined by Dr. Normore in this module, and the fact that you can go back and repeat steps to make sure your system is fail proof.
I liked the step process provided in this module also. There are lessons learned here that I intend to implement in future employee evaluations.
These steps were always thought to be common sense to me, treating people how you would like to be treated. However, this lesson has provided me with a written plan, well explained, that can be used in the development of my subordinate supervisors and future leaders under me. It provides explanation as to why it’s done better than I can explain it.
I agree, common sense though is often less common though. Having a written plan or steps is a great tool to be able to have the documentation to make improvements to other members in an organization.
I have often seen someone given a task without ensuring the resources were available and the employee had adequate training. It usually resulted in a terrible waste of time for everyone involved.
Todd, great point, seen this many times myself in people who tried but did not meet the unattainable expectation. When others failed, leaders would say, where there a will, there is way.
Managing Personnel Performance: This topic dovetails well with our responsibilities as leaders. As a leader, we should be interacting with our subordinates as often as possible, communicating, cultivating, and corroborating, basic leadership responsibilities. In doing so, we influence behavior and develop our followers as the next generation of leaders.
During our interactions, it is critical that we look at our followers as valuable human capital, guiding their careers in conjunction with organizational goals. Knowing our followers and recognizing where there are opportunities for personal performance improvement is the first line of defense for our subordinates. This what leaders should be doing, guiding, and growing the individual.
In the event the individual cannot be influenced or developed, this module laid out an efficient and effective path for redemption with specific, reasonable, and measurable goals. I can appreciate how the Personnel Management Process creates a standardized template so there is no perception by the individual that they are being treated differently. This template also makes our job easier in that the process is already laid out. This is a good tool to document a good faith effort when someone is not pulling their weight or acting inappropriately to support yearly evaluations.
I fully agree that managing personnel performance should be a priority for leaders. As leaders, we are responsible for ensuring our teams are performing up to the organization's standards and gaining the skills necessary to succeed in their careers. It is essential for us to recognize when our subordinates require extra guidance so that we can provide it efficiently and effectively. The Personnel Management Process is a great tool to ensure fair and consistent performance management across teams while providing an efficient path for developing people who are not meeting expectations.
Constantly assessing the performance of your workers is a way leaders can use to manage and track officer performance. I think supervisors should inform their workers on how they are performing monthly. Communicating with your workers by giving feedback on their performance will assist them in improving.
I agree, Devon, and I also like that this system also takes into account the supervisor's responsibility to make sure the employee understands the expectations and has the necessary resources to get the job done.
I agree, as supervisors we must inform our employees of their performance more than yearly. This should be on-going.
One key to managing personnel performance is that it should not be limited only to the annual evaluation process. We should be interacting with our people enough that they know both what we expect from them and how we thing they are doing in that regard. They should never be surprised by a performance evaluation. But that's easier said than done. In our agency, we're all moving around so quickly these days that it's hard to fully communicate expectations, or really even to get to know employees deeply before we start having to evaluate them. For me, what adds to this is that (as some of my coworkers have mentioned above) there are a number of supervisors in my agency who do not take the evaluation process very seriously. This means that I have at least one subordinate whose evaluations, in my opinion, have been falsely high. My predecessor appears to have evaluated subordinates based on seniority and not actual performance. That's tricky because I feel that if I evaluate him honestly, he's going to take a hit, even though I don't feel that I've had sufficient time to demonstrate how I'm going to be different than my predecessor.
This is a good point about not being limited to an annual evaluation. We run into the problem of yearly evals being done and an officer receives a low score that upper management questions. The complaint by the supervisor may be legitimate but more times than not, they cannot substantiate it with any documentation throughout the year or where they met and counseled the employee on this particular behavior.
My agency does both mid-year and end of year evaluations. The performance management process is critical to employee performance and development. Although, we have greatly improved the quality of our evaluations in recent years, we need to continue to strive to do better. The evaluations are detailed accounts of employee performance and behavior for the rating period. The evaluation category ratings are determined using standardized performance criteria. Performance goals and expectations are set and agreed upon. By doing evaluations twice a year, there is not excuse to for the employee to be surprised by their end of year rating. In most cases this allow the employee to improve their performance, so they receive an acceptable rating on their end of year evaluation. Supervisors owe it to their employees to take the time to write evaluations that are detailed and specific, providing meaningful feedback and guidance. In the end, this helps the employee, the supervisor, the team, and the agency. The use of S.M.A.R.T goals should be deliberately applied to ensure that goal development is done, measured and executed in a timely manner.
The litigious environment of labor grievances can be frustrating at times. However, I would rather there be strong limitations against improper discipline than employees lose their jobs over misunderstandings. The rise of labor unions was a counterbalance to poor treatment of employees and improper terminations. Employees deserve every opportunity to succeed in their positions without the fear of walking into work one day and losing their job without cause. Although I appreciate the current protections, it has prevented the removal of unfit personnel at times. The amount of documentation required can work against an agency as there are few supervisors prepared or capable of checking every box prior to the issuance of discipline or termination. I will always appreciate strong protections for employees, but we must also work hard to ensure corrective action has an impact when needed and unfit personnel are removed when necessary.
This is the least favorite part of my job. But, the time I went through it, it worked. Unfortunately, in the case I am thinking about, the employee retired from law enforcement. He was a great person in the beginning, but burned out in the end. I am glad he found another profession he seems to enjoy. We do yearly evaluations. I did not realize until I half-a^^ the one last year, how important they were to my subordinates. The sergeant in my division copied and pasted all of them (he was more lazy than I was) and they were very unhappy. I now understand the importance of putting time and energy into the yearly performance reviews. it helps to show my subordinates that I do care about them and their importance in the job we do.
As with many agencies my department has annual performance evaluations. Those evaluations are supposed to include an action plan if the employee is not meeting the require standards. The problem with these action plans are rarely used by supervisors. I believe the ideas expressed in this module could be an addition to the annual evaluation and completed quarterly. This way the evaluation of officers meeting performance standards is more timely and relevant. By documenting the meetings and action plans, the supervisor could use the quarterly performance management process as supporting information for the annual evaluation.
Performance evaluations are necessary as a means to formally evaluate an employee's performance. My agency requires yearly performance evaluations for each employee. For civilian employees the evaluation is tied to their yearly raise, but sworn employee's evaluations do not impact their pay. Unfortunately, my departments performance evaluation process is lacking. I don't believe most employees put much stock in the process and depending on the supervisor the evaluations often become watered down. In my experience as an officer, my supervisors put very little effort into my evaluations and included very little if any personalized information or goals. As a supervisor, I have tried to do the opposite of this and include personal observations and specific information for each employee. I have found that employees are receptive to personalized evaluations and are eager for constructive criticism and goal setting.
I agree Matt. I do the same thing. I am very honest in my evaluations of employees and have found that they are very receptive to it. It is unfortunate that our evaluations do not have much stock agency wide. I know the process has been looked at several times for changes but for some reason the suggested changes fail somewhere along the line.
Matt,
I agree our evaluation process is mostly seen as a joke. I believe the joke is due to a history or culture of supervisors not putting effort into the evaluation process. When supervisors work hard in the evaluation process and personalize them to each employee, I have seen them mean a great deal to the employee. I believe the employee responds to the supervisor in this case and a caring and dedicated supervisor will impress upon the employee the importance of the evaluation. I appreciate and know you are one of those supervisors who puts forth a great deal of effort and it shows in the employees who work for you. You care about the job and in turn they care about the job. I hope this culture changes some day as I know we have discussed it for years.
I actually think that the problems with our evaluation are mostly a self-fulfilling prophesy. Certainly, the document itself needs some improvement, but as Jeremy mentioned, for me the biggest weakness of our evaluation is that supervisors don't take it seriously. And of course, supervisors don't take it seriously because they think it doesn't mean anything. In organizations like ours, where our collective bargaining agreement is strong and therefore salary and some benefits are not tied to performance, evaluations will always have some limits. Namely, that officers who have no ambitions to move or to promote need not worry about their evaluation. On the other hand, evaluations could and should mean a great deal when officers want to promote or move into specialized units. The only reason they don't is because the culture of our department is that evaluations won't be well done because they don't mean much. We don't really need to completely revise the evaluation itself to improve (though it can be improved for sure). What we really need is to revise supervisors' attitudes about it. We need supervisors to take it seriously as their best opportunity to communicate their expectations and their impressions with their employees. We need supervisors to understand that we are going to put a great deal of weight on evals when officers apply to specialized positions and that they are doing a disservice to their employees if they blow them off, copy and paste the same eval for their entire sector, etc.
Performance evaluations are necessary to measure an employees’ overall performance. While they are necessary they need to be objective and standardized. The true goal of the performance management process is to ensure the employee understands the objectives and is provided the right about of training and resources to meet the standard. It is important that coaching and counseling are necessary steps in the process. Too often supervisors have a bad habit of writing someone up for a discipline violation instead of truly trying to understand to cause for the employee not meeting the standard. This module gave leaders a very practical approach.
Communicating with your employees can solve a lot of the issues before they arrive. When an employee knows what is expected of them from their supervisor, they perform accordingly
I agree and think that a lot of the issues we face could be alleviated by good constant communication
The Personnel Performance Process levels the playing field for all people within the organization because it is a standardized process that assures that teams understand what is expected and provides a foundation of dealing with inadequate performance. When expectations are clear, it is much easier for teams to meet expectations. When they do not perform as expected, it is a fair and impartial process to examine why. The process for correcting performance is based in respectful support and interventions that allow individuals to reset and move forward. This type of process is fundamental in keeping individuals in line with organizational values and objectives.
Performance evaluations are probably the most difficult thing to figure out as a new supervisor. Having this training available to those new and up and coming supervisors could help agencies get the best out of those positions. When a new supervisor is attempting to get an employee to correct some action it is usually an awkward situation that neither person gets a lot of information out of. Being able to follow detailed steps that would guide them through this process would be beneficial for the supervisor and the other employee.
Performance evaluations are difficult because of how damaging they can be if not done properly. That is why it is critical to have training on administering them and mentorship in executing them. I found it helpful to allow new supervisors to sit in on the employee/supervisor interactions throughout the process to include corrections. By seeing and experiencing the process from the sidelines it gives them somewhere to start by modeling the example.
I agree with your post. Performance evaluations are difficult. The intended message can be lost if the evaluation is not done properly. Having the appropriate training ensures that the evaluations will be fair and consistent across the board. This is helpful for new supervisors coming up the ranks. I also see the value of informal coaching and counseling along with the more formal process of evaluations that can help an employee meet or exceed the standards of the organization. Far too often employees don’t realize that they are deficient in a particular area until the evaluation process comes up.
I agree that agencies should provide standardized and specific training on how to apply standardized grading criteria, how to develop S.M.A.R.T. goals with employees, how to write comprehensive and detailed evaluations, and how to deliver those evaluations. All other these steps are necessary to increase evaluation consistency across an agency.
This module focused on performance evaluations. Generally, the performance review process includes setting clear and specific performance expectations for each employee and providing periodic informal and formal feedback about employee performance relative to those stated goals. Both formal and informal processes, it helps them align their employees, resources, and systems to meet their strategic objectives. Providing an early warning of potential problems and allowing managers to know when they must make adjustments to keep a business on track.
As an analytical thinker, this module hit the spot. The S.M.A.R.T. method is clear, concise and definitely compatible with my work style. I matured in the ARMY and easy to follow instructions on something like a nine line medivac or issuing a warning order was needed for me to meet a standard. I like having a “checklist” style that can help guide me through the leadership process.
Performance evaluations are important for growth. The downfall I have seen is that performance issues are only communicated once a year. Consistent feedback to employees is beneficial to address areas that need improvement. Developing a structured Performance Appraisal Program in the agency helps employees strengthen the areas they need to improve in a timely manner and performance improvement plans are useful when dealing with underperforming employees. There should be goals for all employees. These goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable, and time-specific.
I agree that consistent supervision and feedback throughout the year is beneficial. If a deficiency is identified there is no reason to wait until the end of the year to address it and offering feedback or resources to help.
This module outlines a systematic and repeatable approach to performance evaluations. Using the SMART method allows a supervisor to be fair and consistent in their evaluation of employees.
Dustin - I also felt that the SMART model was super easy to understand. Using things of this nature would aid supervisors across the board in getting and passing information more efficiently.
The SMART method is a simple step-by-step process that would keep things fair if used consistently and correctly. Proper documentation and consistency are vital to defending disciplinary action.
This module explained managing the personnel performance and the 10 steps of S.M.A.R.T. In the recent years, my agency changed from paper evaluations to a computer based program. This program in more in depth and actually pertains to job functions of the officer’s assigned division. In this program we conduct the evaluation based on the performance; we add notes to each section. At the end of the evaluation, we had to add a goal for the officer to achieve before the next evaluation process. Evaluations are done annually as well as quarterly depending on if the officer is new or transferred to a new position. I feel we are on the right track with our evaluation process.
This module was useful and reiterated that my department in on the right track with the revamping of our performance evaluations. We used to have an antiquated system that measured things such as punctuality and knowledge of beat. I know that’s important but, in my opinion, we should be evaluating officers on actual performance, career development and goals they set that align with the department’s mission and vision. Arriving on time and having beat knowledge should be expected and officers should be held accountable. My department has implemented a station file system to track minor incidents like this, the system also records positive notes for the good that officers do. When bad behavior does not improve by having documented conversations and training, progressive discipline then follows. That then becomes the documentation in the performance evaluation.
This lecture provided invaluable information on employee performance management. I found it very structured and I really liked the ten step process. Our agency meets with the officers bi-yearly to discuss their goals and shortcomings. Then at the end of the year we have our yearly evaluation. Between the bi-yearly appraisals and the yearly evaluations, the supervisors have regular meeting with officers to ensure they are staying on task or need any assistance/training. The problem that I see within my department is that the standards may be slightly different depending on the shift you are on or which division you are in. That can cause some morale issues if not attended too.
From experience, I have found when subordinates feel heard through the self-evaluation process; the employee will listen and be more receptive to feedback from their supervisor. The appraisal process will become more of a two-way discussion when it comes time to have the regular self-evaluation.
Joey, you are so correct. Employees feel heard through self-evaluation process and the employees will be more responsive to the supervisor's feedback. A two way discussion between the supervisor and the employee, discussing goals, resources, and their performance is always better.
I think all departments have some type of disciplinary process, but this module explained it well from both a performance enhancement/correction procedural process as well as giving an overview of the potential civil litigation reasons to perform all ten steps.
Trent, I agree with your post. Missing any of the ten steps in the PMP process will render any attempts to improve performance.
Trent, it seemed to me the process outlined was easy to follow and could be defended in court if the employee becomes litigious as a reaction to criticism. Having the known model helps when trying to explain methods used.
Well said! I would hope that all departments have a disciplinary process to make things less complicated within their agency. When you don't have a system in place it creates a not so honest system. Great post!
This module thoroughly explained how to handle employees in their performance. Being a patrol supervisor, I juggle many different aspects of the job. Included with this is keeping a record of the overall performance given by each subordinate on an annual basis. To aid in being able to properly evaluate them each year, I maintain squad records on each of them which is monitored by the two Corporals and me. Anytime they exceed the expectations of their position or need additional training or counseling, we write a Performance Observation describing the course of action we took to address the issue or to give praise for them doing well on a particular call. This ensures that at the time of evaluation, we properly grade their performance review, and it reflects their true attributes.
That's a great way to ensure honest and fair evaluations! I have seen so many supervisors pencil whip evaluations because they did not keep good records throughout the year and it is demoralizing to those who feel as though they have done a good job.
Evaluations are a great way to hold employees accountable but if not done correctly they are not effective. However, evaluations have to be given more than just one time a year. Something I have found is, how hard it is to give an accurate evaluation when it covers 365 days. If we could implement a program where there are evaluations between the annual evaluation, that would make the annual one much more accurate. Much like what Mr. Hartenstein said his department does. Doing more evaluations gives officers the chance to me more proactive and aggressive about accomplishing goals.
Our department gives mid-evaluations (six months) to all of our employees in order to discuss areas where they need to improve. We also give annual evaluations which will determine their merit raises for the year. I feel that our mid-evaluations give our officers an opportunity and the time to correct the areas they need improvement in order for them to get good annual evaluations. We also discuss our expectations and goals during these evaluation periods so that our officers know how they will be evaluated in the next evaluation period.
Mr. Hartenstein, thanks for the idea of doing mid-evaluations. I can see the benefit from them after this module and applying to real life. Would love to see your department procedure/policy on this.
I think those mid-evaluations are a great idea. I do wonder if it would be more beneficial to do them quarterly. I have heard from multiple instructors in various classes as well as in this one that if an employee is surprised by their evaluation, then we as leaders didn't do our jobs.
Evaluations are a must to ensure personnel are maintaining standards set by the agency. They are a great way to hold individuals accountable and document who should be looking at promotion. If the leaders do their job, make notes throughout the evaluation period, and are honest in their appraisals personnel can clearly see the areas where improvement are needed. Steps can be taken to ensure proper training of subordinates who are below standards which benefits the agency with better prepared and knowledgeable employee’s
I agree with you Curtis. The evaluation process is a good way for the officer to know where they stand and where improvement might be needed.
I am currently A Sgt. and write evaluations on my people yearly. Within the past two years I have adopted sitting down with my guys each month and having them basically give me a bullet sheet of their accomplishments for the past month. I also regularly keep a journal on each and note things both good and bad over their evaluation period. That way during the year if I need to address some issue with performance I can get it done to see if they can rectify the problem before the evolution process is up. I would be doing them a disservice if I saw a problem but waited until their evaluation to address it. By correcting it early I get to see how resilient they can be and their actual motivation and concerns towards their ongoing success within the agency.
I and the Corporals write performance observations as I call them on each guy assigned to the squad. Any time they do something a little better than usual or when we verbally council with them in the field. When it is an observation of poor performance, we include measures taken for improvement and keep an eye out for improvement or dereliction.
These notes help do the annual performance evaluation which affects their merit raises. The last thing I want to do is keep a guy from money he has earned because I can only remember the last screw up, he had.
Curtis,
You and I handle our squads the same and come from the same mold of documenting their performance throughout the year. We both have had success with this method as it has magnified the great leaders of the squad and it also has benefited us both when we have had to provide that documentation in the past on an employee when negative discipline was the only avenue to take which unfortunately included termination at times. Keeping records of both good and bad things within the year certainly helps in retaining and recalling things that occurred within any grading cycle.
As a patrol sergeant, I am responsible for completing performance evaluations on team members every four months. While this seems to get redundant at times, it is a great way to assist officers with team/department alignment, improving performance and holding them accountable for goals. I really enjoyed the SMART goals as they add clarity and specific timelines which I plan on using on the next round of evaluations.
This module was very useful for me. Since I have been a supervisor, I have been wanting more performance management training. I think it is a topic that needs to be continually trained on as supervisors. The process outlined here was very detailed and I think I will be able to follow the steps really well. I also liked how he provided examples along the way of how it would look.
This module was great in listing out the steps for Performance Management. As a shift supervisor I often completed annual performance evaluations which were difficult to do at times. A new documentation program was added for the agency to record complaints, compliments, peer-recognitions and conferences helped improve those evaluations. I still feel that we could be more proactive and do them more often like bi-annually. I’ve used the SMART goal method often in evaluations, usually for setting goals for my subordinates for the next year. I have also used it doing a supervisory conference. Documentation is vitally important if you want people to improve.
Jacqueline your new system sounds similar to what I currently do with my people. Monitoring over the entire year by using a monthly data sheet does dramatically make writing a yearly evaluation far more accurate.
This module was a very interesting one for me. I have had to deal with this several times just in the last month. This module really showed me the importance of documenting the failures and designing how we are looking for the employee to make improvements and how to monitor that. It also explains how failures can be documented and talked about if the goals set for the employee are not met.
I would add that they also hold both the employee and supervisor accountable. In my opinion or at least in my agency, it seems we point out the issue, them to fix it but rarely do any follow up unless the mistake is repeated.
My previous agency did away with performance evaluations. It seemed like a great idea, but it led to a great deal of NO accountability taking place. The lack of organization in officer performance and evaluation from year to year (when officer’s rotated schedules and sergeants) was ridiculous. An officer could screw up December 10th and have a note placed in the current sergeant’s file. Come January, if the sergeant did not pass on the note, which was not even required, the officer could screw up again and there would be no paper trail. It was very frustrating!! While Performance Evaluations can be a bit
I am a firm believer in there will be no surprises when I sit down with an employee at evaluation time. The good and course corrections will have been already documented and worked on by the time we meet. This module and the SMART model will help me with future goal setting or course corrections needed with staff.
Jeff,
I agree with you, nothing in an employees evaluation should be a surprise. We require supervisors meet with their assigned officers on a monthly basis to make sure they are heading in the right directions. They receive trimester summaries which document their progress and do a final yearly evaluation. During all these meetings supervisors should have address any and all concerns they had and should have provided course corrections for that employee.
I believe this practice is necessary for the betterment of all employees and to allow the organization a true standard of each officers performance, to include short comings which may show a trend in where training needs to be adjusted prior to any unfortunate events. It will also assist when you have that problem employee and they need a reality check that is already established, in use and has been made aware to them. This will help if you need to let them go.
You make a great point – TRAINING. In addition to seeing where officers are struggling, effective evaluations can indicate where the agency is struggling. If the agency is failing to provide adequate training, it may be recognizable in evals. This piece is as valuable to the agency as the individual as both should protect themselves.
I believe yearly and quarterly evaluations are good, however goal completions and goal setting should be done continuously throughout the year. I remember the feeling when i was under the impression I was performing really well to find out around evaluation that I needed improvements, yet was never told this. If by the time evaluations come around the individual has been asses several time and not readjusted, the evaluation should reflect that, and our tactics as a leader should change to help that individual to success.
Agreed. If an agency does annual evaluations there should be follow up throughout the year. I still get frustrated when I receive my annual review and there is always something I need to improve in yet get no counselling on how to improve. It is very frustrating. When I was getting trained in as a sergeant my trainer told me he hands his subordinates a roll of toilet paper and their evaluation at the same time and tells them "One of these is more important than the other, you figure it out." How cynical, but so true in his case.
MY agency use to PMP method for employee evaluations. These forms are filled out and forgot about. I feel they ae not used for what they were intended to be use for. Several supervisors fill them out, but are not honest with their answers / the evaluation of the employee. They do not want to be the reason the employee gets a poor evaluation and the possibility of missing out on a merit raise. This evaluation should be the basis and helpful tool for transfer and promotion boards.
Fortunately over the years, my agency has changed it way of conducting performance evaluations. New hires/promotions/ or transfers receive quarterly evaluations for 1 year. All other employees receive annual evaluations. Our old evaluation process was based on a number scale. Certain numbers required documentation for the grades and others did not. Most supervisor would simply grade employees down the middle because it did not require documentation. The new program we use requires feedback for all categories and also provides an area for a supervisor to set goals for the employee. Additionally, supervisor can access the annual evaluation anytime and make comments regarding the individual at any time.
This has been a big improvement on our evaluation system. I do believe we should also be making constant corrections and implement positive feed back regularly.
I like that idea. Allows them to know where they stand and what they need to improve on.
I think the quarterly evaluations for a year on the new hires, promotion and transfers is a fantastic idea. Helps those folks know where they stand and if they need to make any improvements early on in their career or new rank.
As a Sergeant, I am responsible for completing quarterly and yearly performance evaluations on my personnel. The program we use is similar to the S.M.A.R.T. goal process. I feel that our evaluation process has a few more things that could change for the better but it is completely better than the older evaluation process that we had.
I completely agree with you Darryl. It is definitely an improvement. I like the fact that we can go to the website at any time to add any type of notes throughout the year.
The ten-step process was a detained and organized way to make sure that goals and standards are clearly explained, outlined, and a plan is made to achieve them. So often this kind of planning is started but steps are left out so the process falls apart. If my department would have such clear guidelines for evaluation it would help. This would be an excellent idea when someone is promoted to a new position with the expectations clearly defined.
All employees of any organization should have a clear understanding of what is to be achieved and what are the goals. Breaking this down even further, each member of the organization has to understand their specific job and know what the organization expects from them. This can be accomplished through a clear understanding of the goals through regular job performance reviews.
My department conducts yearly evaluations and this module gave some insights on some enhancements we could use. I did appreciate What Dr. suggested regarding discipline should be progressive.
I really enjoyed this module and love the S.M.A.R.T goal method in managing personal performance.
We use something similar to the S.A.R.T. Goal and it really works and is beneficial in managing, organizing, and holding employees accountable.
My agency just started performing formalized yearly, formalized evaluations. It is still very much a work in progress, but I believe it is a definite step in the right direction. This module provided some resources that will assist me when we are conducting the evaluations again at the end of the year.
Same here. We also have yearly evaluations but this module provided some much needed suggestions for enhancement.
I hear often from new supervisors of their expectations when it comes to employees. I was surprised when arriving at my current agency of the vitriolic atmosphere towards teammates during the evaluation process. It seemed that supervisors had to find fault with an employee in order to show they were performing their own duties. Their was little to no positivity. The first set of annual evaluations I witnessed were lax, unprofessional, loaded with generalizations and essentially ineffective. They were a waste of time. After some digging, it became apparent that evaluations were just a box to be checked at the end of the year to stay of Human Resource's radar. We were able to revamp the process by tying evaluations to the SMART process and linking new and desired employee training to evaluation performance. This eventually links to promotional opportunities as it is all tied together. We have seen a marked uptick in meaningful evaluations with our leaders taking the time to use the instrument as a true barometer of employee performance.
The S.M.A.R.T. goal process and 10 steps is a great idea (Normore, 2017). I am responsible for annual and quarterly evals for my shift. The program we use for the evals give specific categories to grade on and general ideas on how to grade but no other guidance on how to get the employee to rise to the standard. Making the eval a discussion process and giving more resources will improve the process.
Normore, A. (2017). Managing personnel performance. Module 13, Weeks 5 & 6. National Command and Staff College.
In my department I complete employee performance appraisals every 4 months. I also document on the appraisals an employee weakness and an employee strength. I agree that we must meet with our employees and talk out their problems. Often times, its just something bothering them in their personal life that would cause them to do something incorrect. Overall, I think that this was a great lecture that explained the importance of documentation.
I appreciated the last step of the PMP being the last step (discipline) explained by Dr. Normore. Often times, leaders do not take the time to find out the root cause of the problem that led to sub-standard performance. This creates a level of distrust and the officer feels devalued, especially if the issue's cause was personal in nature. It's our responsibility as leaders, to ensure our officers are successful and provide them with the resources to do so.
My Agency uses the PMP to give evaluations, but I have also noticed that they are not used to their full potential. I believe these evaluations should be utilized on promotion boards to allow the board to see the type of employee that applied for the job. Most of the time I find these PMP are not honest and accurate because Supervisors do not want to give their employee low scores and remove the possibility of a raise.
I find that that is the case with my agency as well. We do annual performance evaluations and most supervisors do not give honest evaluations. This allows for some people who do the bare minimum not to get in trouble to have a similar evaluation as someone who is out there really working. If these could be used when considering promotion it would give a better picture of the person being considered.
Derek, I agree and think that using the evaluations in the promotions is a good idea. I also agree that some supervisors are not always honest when filling out evaluations.
The (10) step performance management process is a very detailed and systematic approach to managing performance. We all utilize the process for positive performance reviews, which of course is the easiest use. I have found that the harder use is for employees who are not, or choose to not, meet expectations. When you are in the midst of dealing with this type of performance, it can be difficult to make sure that we are doing all that we can do for the person to succeed. Especially in the case of a person who just chooses to not meet an expectation for some reason, it is easy to want to jump straight for discipline to induce compliance. This lesson and plan was a great reminder to in essence "eliminate" other causes of the non-compliance, i.e. lack of understanding, lack of resources, etc. The plan doesn't take away the discipline if it is warranted, it simply provides a template to follow to make sure that you are meeting your expectations as a leader in these situations.
The section of S.M.A.R.T. goals are something that I am very familiar with. I think this is a tremendous way to evaluate employees as there is little room for bias, either good or bad, which can affect an employee’s career progression. Our annual reviews incorporate S.M.A.R.T goals from the previous year, if it’s established employee, and S.M.A.R.T goals for the next 12 months. The use of S.M.A.R.T. goals it really establishes clear performance communication with both employees and supervisors. This removes any questions if they are excelling or struggling with their performance and also provides a supervisor with an insight to their employee.
I believe that it is important to keep up with employee evaluations. My agency use to do annual evaluations and once I had a supervisor bring me my evaluation paper and ask me to help him fill it out because he had no idea what my job was. I explained to him as my supervisor it was his job to know what I did on shift every day. This was a supervisor that had been placed in that position with no prior training. I wish I could have done his evaluation. But yes I feel that they are important to see where employees exceed and where some need more training.
I have been at an agency with no evaluations and one with. The use of evaluations is critical in my opinion to not only holding employees and supervisors alike accountable for their performance, but setting the stage for the future. We incorporate SMART goals into our reviews for this reason.
I have used a method similar to SMART throughout my leadership experience that I developed over time with experimenting with what has worked. This module has helped me enhance the way I communicate my expectations, and I'm confident it will impact the results as well.
This was an interesting module for myself. When I first started in my agency 10 years ago we used this type of review on an annual basis. Now they have done away with any kind of annual review at all. They stress keeping a paper of trail of every employee counseling session etc, but no review. Hopefully one day they will see the need and the value of this.
It is important for staff to understand the objectives of the department and what is expected of them. Implementing the use of SMART goals can help assist supervisors and staff in developing clearly defined expectations and aid in ensuring adequate job performance. Utilizing the PMP steps in evaluating employee performance can help provide a consistent approach to dealing with performance issues. I liked how this module explained that it is the supervisors responsibility to ensure the employee has the training and resources available to them to be able to meet objectives. Discipline should be a last resort to correct poor performance, not the first step.
The problem is not all agencies do this for unknown reasons our department stopped doing yearly evaluations.
Samantha- I concur. The consistency of the PMP allows for an equitable process across the board when leaders are cognizant of its importance and when it is used as a tool for betting better. Best and stay safe-
Ken
I really liked how this module broke down the steps of the performance management process. As a new supervisor, I find it helpful to see what steps can be taken to improve employee performance. The SMART goal system seems like an excellent system to manage goal attainment and meeting standards. I also like how the PMP outlines ways to manage performance prior to any necessary progressive discipline needs to take place.
Eric I am in the same boat, and I agree. It's important to me to try and provide an employee every avenue to self correct before discipline has to be administered. It's good to see a structured means of doing so.
I liked this module as it gave step by step approaches on how to deal with employee performance. To often I hear about how unions protect the weak employees and they stay employed. I would argue that it is a failure of management/leadership in these cases. If as leaders we properly document goals and expectations, all interactions we had with employees, follow progressive discipline, and offer remedial training and coaching to employee over issue at hand than the union cant argue it. We get lazy as leaders and blame the unions when it is our fault for not being effective leaders in these situation,
I do enjoy the employee evaluation process but I do not like how our organization tries to make the evaluation process fit across every department. We are unique in law enforcement and have different professional responsibilities compounded even more so by legal ramifications. I think our supervisors do a decent job of the personnel management process but often times we find that we have very little written down, other than policy and procedure, for each particular job function in our office. When there is an employee performance issue, it is usually only then that it becomes a written expectation for that employee in order to build documentation for progressive discipline. Although we are encouraged to cover expectations with our shifts or divisions, I do not find these expectations in written format. Which is why I not only provide the expectations for my Division in writing, but I go over those expectations and ask clarifying questions to ensure clarity.
Our department has had annual performance reviews for a number of years. These evaluations allow an employee to see on paper, utilizing numerous categories of performance, how they are doing overall and where the department expects them. This module makes it quite evident that clear documentation during any personnel performance evaluations is necessary. Additionally, a clear message about department goals and what is expected is needed from the supervisor, and the employee needs to confirm they understand.
This module put forth a very thorough method ensuring that an agency has given the employee all that they require to excel in their position. The PMP also guarantees that supervision has properly equipped staff members with the right tools and training. If employees do not properly meet the desired standards, it is able to rule out all excuses and has checks and balances built in.
I agree. By following the steps of the PMP, it can rule out the "my supervisor has it out for me" complaint from employees. If leaders follow the steps of the PMP with all employees, it can make handling of these situations more consistent and staff understand what will happen if the performance is not improved.
I see the value in the Performance Management Process, but I believe that in law enforcement it should be used with caution. While listening to this lecture I recognized several areas that a leader could fail to exhibit enough discretion. In certain divisions of law enforcement I believe that using this system could difficult to use as a measure of proficiency of the employee.
I have realized that it is important to have served recently in the same capacity as the person you are setting goals for. I believe it is unfair to use personal experience from a division you served in ten years earlier as the basis for setting a goal for individuals currently serving in that divisions. As leaders we must recognize that the dynamic of any division may have changed drastically since we were a part of it.
Many years ago before I started here at the police department, the police union sued the city over performance evaluations. I have been here 18 years, and our chief is just now reinstating the performance evaluation. As I write the policy and create the evaluation form this section of the course will come in handy.
Employee performance evaluations are critical in retaining quality employees. The SMART goals method as descried by Dr. Normore almost simplifies the way in which employees are eventuated. While the method may indeed simplify evaluations the SMART method serves as a way to remain fair, impartial, technical and consistent with those evaluations.
At my dept. we use monthly performance log to help guide us with the doing of the officer. Its easier to note the good and bad with this system in place
That is a very interesting concept. Is it used for every employee or just for new hires in a probationary type timeline? I like the idea because being done monthly the information can be fresh in your mind, not waiting for a yearly review .
Do you get pushback from veteran officers?
Having a series of steps to clarify a process is essential when trying to standardize a process.
The challenge within organizations is the enforcement of the standards, ensuring all in the process abide by the same set of rules and procedures. The defining of “meets the standards” and “exceeds the standards” is sometimes nebulous and vague. When there is a lack of supporting documentation, the annual review tends to become watered down.
When discipline or raises come into play, the inability to clearly articulate the meeting, exceeding, or failing to meet the standard, becomes a severe issue. Poorly written or overinflated evaluations for substandard employees will not support actions to remove the individual from the agency or reducing a merit increase. When this activity occurs, the entire system is invalidated, and other employees see the façade and lose faith in the process.
Regular feedback and thorough evaluations should leave every employee with a good understanding of their performance. I very rarely discuss something in a yearly evaluation that the employee is surprised by. I attribute this to good documentation at all levels of supervision and discussing any concerns right away with an employee and not letting issues continue to fester. The SMART method is something I plan to added to my evaluation process to make it that much stronger.
Matthew
You are right if we are doing our job correctly there should be no surprises on a performance evaluation, All the good things our people accomplish, and unfortunately the crash report from the PD parking lot crash. nothing should be a surprise.
I do not have much experience yet in conducting annual evaluations; however, you nailed it here. Employees should come into that meeting with a pretty good insight of what to expect. If there has been major issues (since the last evaluation or meeting) the employee should have already been made aware of the concern. Likewise, if they did a good job on a task, project, incident, etc, a supervisor should have praised him for the good work.
Working in a strong union area I have not observed any personnel terminated for poor performance. We can show that the employee has had horrendous performance evaluations but still is not subject to termination. This has negatively effected our organization. The SMART method of conducting performance evaluations would be an outstanding addition and provide additional legal backing when the inevitable union grievance is filed.
I would hope that all the steps would allow your agency to show that the proper documentation was done and steps to correct issue taken. I find it hard to believe that if that was done correctly that the employee wouldn't be subject to termination
I thought this was an excellent step by step lesson on managing personnel performance. While it seems simple enough, in all my years of law enforcement I have rarely seen the process followed on a regular basis. Some supervisors will use pieces of the process but not consistently use each step. I think many times the struggle is to balance daily work duties with the effort it takes to properly manage personnel. It takes a lot of work and thought to sit down with each of your employees, set proper expectations, goals, document them, then problem solve any lack of performance for the employee. We owe it to the employees to walk them through this process. It holds the supervisor accountable to their people and their people accountable to their organization. Good personnel management also sets an employee on the path to success. I really like the idea of using step 10 related to discipline as a last resort. If we as leaders can show employees that we will use everything in our power to get them on the right track before discipline, we will obtain trust and respect. This is effective if we are consistent and hold ourselves and employees accountable.
In a nutshell, this module explains the ideal PMP to establish that all has been done to provide the necessary tools for the employees success. The S.M.A.R.T. goal method ensures that as supervisors, we have empowered our employees with the training and tools to meet the standards. The final three steps of the PMP model explain the process to deal with the employees that are not able to meet the standards for various reasons. This module was well designed and provides valuable information.
By keeping an open line of communication with all the employees that you supervise is very important. This will help in building relationships within the agency and provide them with ownership. Ownership that may assist the employee with taking ownership is any of his/her short comings. Although it is up to the individual to own their mistakes. Having said that, documentation is crucial in discipline. This will help with progressive discipline in the future for your problematic employees.
I agree, documentation is a must; if it isn't documented, it didn't happen. I have seen many times where good documentation of recurring issues wins out in disciplinary meetings with the employee and union reps.
I agree with you that building relationships is key to the success of a shift, a division and an organization. Open communication is necessary and appreciated. I have found that the younger generation of people coming into this line of work want to be held accountable as they take great pride in their work but also want to make sure they are doing it correctly and adequately. Documentation is indeed important for disciplinary purposes, but I also believe directive coaching should be, as well.
This topic is one of the hardest parts of our job. Evaluating and correcting behavior. Rewarding is easy, anyone can pat someone on the back or write them a commendation. Addressing the underperformed is tough but necessary. Using the steps outlined in the module is a good "go-to." Having been part of numerous "tough discussions" never seem to go as planned. Every encounter is different and every person is different. Addressing issues early on is the key. Consistency is another important step, treat everyone the same and outline clear expectations to everyone understands what the future must look like.
If we get to step 10, good luck! In my experience, the supervisor and the agency are put on trial with an arbitration or mediation process. There are times that the underperformers have fallen on their sword and took ownership; there are other times where the employee fights every inch of the way. Documentation and communication are essential if you hope to have success disciplining any union member.
Often times performance expectations differ from employee to employee. Consistency with expectations is imperative. The same performance management process needs to be followed for all employees. Performance reports should be designed to account for the steps that have been covered. As a supervisor I have been surprised on many occasions by staff that are completing assignments very differently. This module detailed why it is important that each employee is provided the same expectations. I have used the S.M.A.R.T goal method on several occasions and have found it very helpful in managing employee performance and expectations.
I really like the positive spin on Performance Appraisals vs. evaluations. Evaluations are what we currently use. I believe that it is negative when you think of someone evaluating you on standards. But when you thing that you are getting an appraisal it just sounds more positive. I like that the smart method uses communication again and again and that discipline is the last step because really if we, as leaders, can't use resources, training and mentoring to correct the problem then and only then should we use discipline as a course of action.
Try tying pay to the employee's appraisal. We do and it is tough!
I agree though, it does sound better than evaluation. Effective communication, written and verbal, is the key I'm convinced.
I would sign up for this method today. How do you implement your pay for performance standard?
We have used evaluations also and I think many times they become a "go thru the motions process," and do not have much positive impact on the employee. The Performance Appraisal process is a much more thorough process. The details are important!
I appreciate your assessment Nicole. We currently use evaluations based on standards. It consists of multiple levels of review, and I find it disheartening when reading evaluations that contain no real feedback or areas to improve. Our people deserve more than satisfactory check boxes going all the way down a page with a signature.
I started out working for a large agency that did a terrible job at documentation of officer performance. I knew NUMEROUS officers that were fired and won law suits and the agency was forced to re-hire them. My current agency's HR policy is fairly close to SMART. Now when we get to the point of terminating or disciplining an employee, I am satisfied that the CoC has given just about every reasonable chance for the employee to improve. It can be a slow process but it is fair.
I think that as a leader, it is important for us to set goals that are able to be reached by those that they are set for. If that doesn't happen, you are failing them as a leader. If they are not meeting goals are capable of doing so, then that is a performance issue on their part. Our agency does annual reviews and each year every Deputy has to write down at least 3 goals that they would like to accomplish in the next year. That way that gives them the chance to pick something they would like to achieve and something that they think they can do. As a leader, I will do everything I can do help them succeed. I will then choose goals for them that I would like to see them reach. I typically put a lot of thought into them and make sure it is something that I know that have the skills and knowledge to accomplish. If there are other issues that need to be address with their performance, those goals may involve something for improvement as well.
I agree Kari. I complete performance reviews on my employees and I document if they improved or declined in that areas that are mentioned.
In this module, the performance management process is similar to a training process of crawl, walk, run. It starts with understanding the standards and expectations. In the process there is guidance and adjustments made for issues or lack of resources etc. After efforts have been made along the way to address any areas of concern, and proper time and resources devoted to aligning performance with the standards, then additional measures must be taken to correct performance. This at the end is wherein the disciplinary action comes into the scene. This is a logical fair approach to making sure the process is consistent and equally carried out.
This method is a fair method and seems inline with the way I was taught. Many times problems are informally addressed, monitored and corrected. Fortunately there have been very few times I've had to involve a formal process due to improvements not be shown. When there have been issues, we try to give the employee every benefit of the doubt when appropriate. We also try to determine if there is any other outside factor that needs to be weighed, and I typically ask at the beginning and again at the end of the review meeting. I think consistency is the key to having a STEP program so that everyone gets the same opportunity to correct behavior when applicable.
Making sure that all 10 steps in the performance management process are followed is crucial. Missing a step or failing to start the process over can have dire consequences.
Some years back, our department used a similar system called Professional Performance Evaluations (P.P.E.). Supervisors prepared these documented evaluations during probationary periods, merit increases, and promotions. When I was promoted to Lieutenant, the Commander organized the P.P.E. and had a face to face meeting to discuss my job duties and expectations. As a first-line supervisor, it was my responsibility to organize a P.P.E. for my subordinates on my shift. Our department could benefit from S.M.A.R.T. goal method of performance management, the same as we used the performance evaluation documents. Similar and effective methods of employee performance tracking.
Having the wisdom and insight to understand mitigating factors with poor behavior is essential for the leader. The easy knee jerk reaction to problems usually causes more harm than good.
I agree. I've learned to never "type angry". On more than a few occasions, I've had to step away, cool off, and look at things from a different perspective.
I like how you put this. Too often poor performance is looked at "as is." What's going on with that employee? All the mental health aspects that are mainstream today should be looked at more closely. Active engagement with employees also helps root out any underlying issues causing poor performance.
I believe both the PMP and PIP processes are valuable tools to ensure employee performance matches and preferably exceeds expectations. It is critical that employees are taught both of these processes to ensure they have an understanding of how, when and why they are used.
I was familiar with S.M.A.R.T. goals but I’ve never seen them incorporated into a 10-step process like this module laid out. I really like how versatile this method is and how it can be made into a template. I agree with the rest of you that a performance appraisal is not the right time to address issues that have never been brought up before. Avoiding difficult conversations and ignoring small things can very quickly turn into a much bigger problem that could have been avoided. Therefore, it is in our best interest, and the best interest of the employee, to deal with situations as they arise.
Maja, I appreciated the 10-step process as well. This template gives a standardized process to follow once your good faith efforts as a leader have failed to influence behavior. The PMP is good tool to support yearly evaluations as well.
One of the few academy classes I was able to attend during the pandemic was Van Meter and Associates "Performance Improvement Planning (PIP)". After listening to the presentation, I realized that the PIP is actually part of step #8 of the Performance Management Process (PMP). This lesson is actually very timely. My agency is getting ready to revamp its evaluation system. We have had the same system for over 20 years. I struggled with this system because it did not offer an opportunity to reward high achievers and many of the evaluation criteria was so watered down. We are getting ready to transition to a merit based raise system. While this still falls within the criteria of being a "typical appraisal" according to Dr. Normore, it will be a vast improvement over our old system. While not modelled specifically along the lines of the PMP, our new system will focus on the supervisor facilitated discussion (Step #1 of the PMP), the development and clarification of goals and objectives (Step #2 of the PMP), employee improvement planning (Step 8 of the PMP or PIP), quarterly reviews/ documentation, and integration of the system into our department's Employee Early Warning System. The information from this lecture will be invaluable as the Evaluation Working Group gets started on this project in the near future.
The challenges with any appraisal system are courage and engagement by the leadership. As often seen within a merit-based system, the failure to routinely advise personnel of their actions, document, and truthfully report the process gets muddy. The issue seen is understanding what “meets the standard” and “what exceeds the standard.”
Too often, as one attribute raises to evaluations, too many supervisors don’t treat the system as it should and reward the high performers; instead, all get inflated evaluations as the supervisors don’t want to take money from the employees’ mouths. In the end, one embraces mediocracy. Another challenge will be when one section, division, squad evaluates by the standard, and another overinflates; one creates discord unless there is a resetting of numbers. A mechanism to support avoiding this is to mimic the U.S. Army and its evaluation system. The ability to top block an individual is limited to a small percentage. This action recognizes the top performer, and if money is attributed, the person is setting themselves from their peers the way one designed it.
Another module that I should have had before being promoted. This module certainly lays the foundation for conducting evaluations, what is needed and setting the standard between everyone on what the expectations are and more importantly if they are understood. I also liked the SMART process and step #2 indicating that the standards need to be measurable and demonstrate that they have been met with compliance.
I agree Sergeant, there are several examples of excellent information provided in this course which would greatly benefit the new supervisor. The SMART goal method is a great tool for ensuring staff success.
I agree Sergeant. When I was promoted I received an email telling me it was time for annual evaluations. Other then receiving my own evaluation previously, I had no knowledge on performance evaluation standards. This module certainly would have helped back then.
This was was a good module and I now have a better understanding of the 10 step process of performance management and S.M.A.R.T. goals. As mentioned in some of the comments above. Good performance management is harder than it seems. Having established standards of performance make performance management earlier. Using SMART goals makes goal expectation much easier for the employee and supervisor to understand what the expectations are.
Performance management is much more difficult than it seems. I remember as a street cop and wondering why supervisors didn't do more to hold low performing officers accountable. At the time, it seemed easy for a sergeant to tell an officer to start performing. After being a supervisor for a number of years now, I realize that it is not that easy. Holding officers accountable requires all supervisors to determine what standards the officer is expected to maintain. It's not fair to the officer if one Sergeant's standards are higher than another. We owe it to every officer to establish and maintain clear and consistent standards for all officers to follow.
Good point. For me, this module ties into everything else we’ve been learning about up to this point. Job expectations should not be ambiguous or vary from one supervisor to the next. At minimum, we all need to be on the same page with what acceptable performance looks like. And although this may seem like a lot of work at first, in the long run it will pay dividends.
Agreed, Uniform expectations across the board create cohesiveness and efficiency in the end.
Great points Sergeant Gronholz. I felt the exact same way when I became Sgt and it is still a challenge now. I try to give meaningful feedback and dialogue to help keep officers engaged and accountable.
I agree the standards need to be clear and concise . It needs to be fair and consistent. Good point.
Documentation is always important even if it is a conversation you still need a paper trail for the evaluation or possible progressive discipline. The lesson laid out the 10 step process that is detailed and makes sense to avoid letting things go too long and it takes away people not fully understanding.
How many times have we been told that Sam.....document, document, document. If it's not documented then it didn't happen. Following the 10 steps should protect both the employee and the supervisor to ensure that the evaluation is being done correctly.
Documentation is good from a CYA standpoint too. I learned this the hard way. Now, there is always a piece of paper that i use, whether it be an official agency form or a plain piece of paper with dates, times and a brief explanation (with some specifics) of the events or discussion.
Samantha,
Documentation is absolutely the key to managing and addressing personnel issues. The 10 step process is very informative and detailed. You make a good point on the importance of not letting things go to long so that people do not understand.
This 10 step process makes sense. It has virtually everything accounted for. It has all the steps leading up to discipline but there are several steps before discipline and even accounts for things outside of our control affecting our goals. I've seen examples of jumping to discipline too soon or no discipline at all. If we all followed a model like this it would be much cleaner and less confusing.
Ditto. Employees are allowed to flounder at times due to weak or no supervision. Likewise, quick reactions are of equal importance. Using the SMART method and the 10 steps will aid in making better supervisory decisions. Good information for sure.
When taking an overall view of improving employee performance my initial thoughts were that the process should be straight forward and easily communicated. However this module made me realize that when you really breakdown the process and intricacies of documenting and improving performance issues the path is not as easy as it seems. I appreciate how the module discussed the results of both the success of employee performance and how failures can be documented if objectives are not met.
I remember back to when I was first promoted. I was promoted at 10am and reported for nightshift at 7pm on the same day. No supervisory training required. Kind of like the old days in a small community where you show up to work and you are thrown the keys and told to “have at it”. I wish I would have had this module earlier in my career.
Some type of leadership training should be a requirement before the new Sergeant is thrown the keys to the supervisor squad car. This is getting better and some training has been identified as required for new sergeants. You're right though, it certainly does not seem premier that new supervisors are expected to figure out how to lead officers on their own.
Chad, I had the same process when I was promoted. Congratulation you now know everything, hit the streets. I'm glad to see that process has not changes the new sergeants receive training before being sent out to figure it out on their own.
This module outlined the 10 step process of law enforcement performance review. I have experienced a few of these steps throughout my career. Seeing this material presented this way broadens my understanding of this system. I understand this process more clearly after having watched this module. If I find myself in a supervisory capacity, I will use this system with my subordinates.
Kyle,
Our department used a similar method. I it wasn't 10 steps but it was kind of combined into our evaluation. I see where this module is more detailed in explaining each step and putting meaning to the performance evaluation method.
In my agency we use the Performance Appraisal Review to evaluate our employees annually. In addition, an employee is asked to complete or participate on an Individual Development Plan derailing their goals. Unfortunately, some supervisors apply the “meets expectations” across the board, doing a disservice to the employee and other supervisors and the organization as a whole. It is important to properly document performance, conduct and behavior and immediately address problems with the individual. Before the evaluation and at least 90 days before completion, I discuss the tasks of the position, standards of performance expected and the evaluation criteria with each employee at the beginning of the rating period and point out things or issues that are preventing the employee from meeting standards. I offer training and other resources prior to sitting down so the employee is not caught off guard and it is not a surprise to them when they receive below standards ratings.
Performance Improve Plans (PIP) are necessary tools to assist employees in being their performance up to standards. Equally important, the PIP is used as a tool to show the agency’s efforts to assist the employee before moving to adverse actions as part of the progressive discipline. It is important to be proactive in identifying issues and also provide positive information in the evaluations. As leaders we have to be fair and partial and take steps to develop our employees. It is also important to set clear goals and be consistent.
Eduardo mentioned one of my pet peeves.. Supervisor's putting in "Meets Expectations/ Standards" for every block of an evaluation. I could not agree more in that it does disservice to the employee. Supervisors who do not track conversations/ counseling's or take the time to gather the data to properly complete an evaluation are the prime suspects of this. I know of at least one evaluation systems that indicates that comments are only needed if an employee is below standards or exceeds standards. No comments are needed for meets standards. This becomes a license for mediocrity. If the lazy supervisor gives everyone "meets standards" to avoid doing their job, the low performing employee is not going to improve and the high performer is going to lower their standards because they are not recognized for going above and beyond. This really comes down to supervisors and leaders taking the time to develop and improve their staff members.
As highlighted in this module, both the PMP and PIP processes are valuable tools in ensuring that employee performance at least matches and preferably exceeds expectations. Additionally, it is critical that employees be taught about both of these processes/tools to ensure that they gain an understanding of how, when and why they are used, and further understand that these tools hold to potential to align operational success with personal and professional development.
I agree sir. A lot of employees are not familiar with these and it is our job to explain how they are used and why. Fortunately, in the times l have used the PIP, we have been successful in correcting the issue. It is also important to stay consistent and congruent with our actions as supervisors and leaders. You can’t be the relaxed informal supervision on daily dealings with employees and then become the strict evaluator. Or be the strict enforcer and write one sentence “meets expectations” evaluations even using the copy and paste method. I have seen so many evaluations that are clearly are copied and pasted.
I agree, I noticed a heavy emphasis on documentation when it comes to defining objectives as well as results. Documentation seems to carry a heavy weight if potential discipline is a factor.
This module presented the 10 step S.M.A.R.T. process for managing performance. I like how (by strictly following the 10 steps) you either provide for the employees' success or defend your need to discipline of terminate. At our agency, it is sometimes hard to accurately assess our employees in the format we use, as it is a standard that is used by all county departments. I understand that supervision can be very similar across disciplines, but there are some unique aspects that could be better addressed if using one more suited for Law Enforcement. However, the 10 step process here, the principles, do present a clear road map for both employee and supervisor. As stated though, all steps must be consistently followed for it to be effective. As Dr. Normore stated at the beginning of the lecture, "An organization is only as good as the sum of its parts".
This format removes excuses and arguments that are commonly heard from employees that fail to meet expectations or standards. This was really a well put together module that should be applicable to any law enforcement agency.
Module #13 talked about the Performance Management Process and steps that should be taken to navigate through employee work performance issues. This was a very useful module and there are several key takeaways that I am going to implement in our evaluation process. With our agency, it seems like most supervisors struggle with review evaluations, and especially if an employee is struggling. I like the step process and the examples which were used to navigate through some of those issues. By implementing these steps and the S.M.A.R.T principles I think it will help with the consistency that is needed for a fair evaluation system.
Sheriff, the inclusion of the principles taught in this module has certainly helped our Department improve upon and realize greater outcomes from its employee performance evaluation process. That said, our greatest gains have come when supervisors actively supervise their personnel, both in terms of evaluating their performance and providing immediate feedback, and do so in a manner that informally incorporates the principles discussed in this module.
This module was beneficial to help in the area of managing personnel performance if I were to be promotes within our office to a supervisory position. It was laid out in a way that was easy to understand in order to deal with performance and possible disciplinary action. Each and every one of my supervisors at our office has laid out their initial expectations of what is expected regarding job performance and what is required of you as an employee. Once a year, you are evaluated on your performance in areas of what you are doing well and what could use correction. This process has been beneficial, as it develops a one on one evaluation with your supervisor which gives both a chance to discuss any inadequacy's or praise.
The annual performance reviews at my agency could use some updating. We use a broad evaluation that is the same for all county employees, regardless of department. My hope is that we will improve that as an agency in the future. In the meantime, the performance evaluations we have are still a useful tool for supervisors to go over expectations in a variety of categories. It's vital that supervisor's lay out their expectations for performance and hold their staff accountable. The Performance Management Process lays it out perfectly.
I think the performance evaluations that we currently have in place are beneficial due to the one on one discussion with our supervisors in order to discuss areas of what we are doing well and areas of improvement. It has also been beneficial to discuss long-term goals and what we can do in order to achieve those goals.
I agree with your assessment that both expectations and long-term goals are essential in an employee mentoring, coaching, and accountability aspect. without these, the employee will not know what is expected of them. If they do not and it is not written down somewhere it is hard to have accountability. Documenting the expectations is important because we all know that if it isn't written down it didn't happen.
I would love to rework our agency performance evaluation system but as a university police department we are tied to the University of Wisconsin system tools. While not a bad system, it is not really geared towards law enforcement.
Joe, I agree with what you said about the reviews being a useful tool, although they may not be perfect. I agree that supervisors should lay out their expectations and hold staff accountable. I would also add that I would encourage supervisors to have similar expectations to one another, that way command staff is operating in unity, and all subordinates are held to the same standards and expectations.
My county also uses one universal document for all county employee evaluations. It really is a struggle to make things fit into it. It is frustrating seeing a couple changes over the last couple of years but those changes have only made it more of a pain. I find myself somewhat ignoring the categories on the form and just typing what I feel needs to be on the evaluation. I try to make it fit in the category but there are definitely times they probably read it and wonder why I put that information under the specific heading I did.
The 10 step Performance Management Process is an effective tool for evaluating employee performance and holding them accountable for poor performance. Once the employee informed of what is expected of them, through clearly defined standards, the employee is then given resources and training in order to be successful. I feel that this is a very important step in the process. A failure to meet the standard on the part of the employee could be a result of improper training, lack of equipment, or other resources. During this step in the process, the leader and agency are giving the employee every opportunity to succeed.
So true, a failure could be the result of improper training or lack of resources. Instead of automatically assuming its non-compliance or poor work ethic, it does provide an opportunity for clarifying and trying to help employee succeed. Once the steps have been gone through, if there is still an issue it provides documentation for what must happen next. It builds accountability and the process either way.
My agency has changed the performance evaluations a few years ago. The process is better but I feel we still need to tweak it a little bit more. The process is still mostly the supervisor's opinion of the subordinate. It mainly focuses on how a person did their job last year and not what are the future goals.
My agency has a similar performance evaluation. It goes over the supervisor's opinion of the subordinates performance in various categories. Ours does have a page for a self-assessment along with an area to list suggestions for improvement. Our performance evaluations could use an update.
Performance appraisals in law enforcement are an essential tool that leaders can use to manage and track officer performance. The performance process, when done correctly, can improve the performance levels of the officer. Personal discussions with your team members help keep you informed of the changes in performance. I personally meet with the leaders under my command throughout the year and gauge their goals and where they are with succeeding. It enhances the annual review and gives me important data to input into the system.
I agree with this practice. Performance evaluations should not only be completed once a year. Supervisors should inform their employees throughout the year on how they are performing.
The smart system is equitable to the evaluations used with my agency. Over the past few years our agency changed their evaluation program, and the way grades are scored for our subordinates. In the past, the scoring point put the supervisor in a position that was due to their performance value. This also put employee performance not at standard measures, and their scores were low. With the new system in place, the score saw an increase with personnel scores. We are now able to place notes to explain why employees receive the points for each selected section. Either they perform at standard or unsatisfactory. This makes it fair and honest
We use an evaluation process similar to the S.M.A.R.T. method in conjunction with the PMP process's strategies. I feel every agency's greatest weakness is when they have to discipline or terminate employees due to lack of performance. It seems it overreactions or underreactions. I have seen bad employees stick around for far too long, causing moral issues with the rest of the employees. If the process is in place, use it, but make sure it is fair and honest.
That has always been a problem for some. When employees complain about their scores and figured it should be better. Now with the evaluation we use now I think it is honest and fair.
This module was very informative. Employee performance appraisal is the process of evaluating an employee based on their performance. Appraisal is not used in a sense to evaluate someone based on meeting the objective or standard. At my agency appraisal system that are typical of the performance management system is they are based on a review of how a person completed their job for the prior year.
The S.M.A.R.T. goal system is the seems like a near fool-proof way to achieve the goals that anyone would wish to achieve. In addition, Dr. Normore also stated that "An organization is only as good as the sum of its parts". This is exceptionally true. As agencies, we can have the very best of rank and file employees, we can have the hallmark of vision statements and we can have the greatest financial support from those tasked with overseeing our finances, but if we are lacking in the leadership department, or some other part of the sum that needs to fit and work together to meet the vision statement, our vision will simply not be realized. Performance appraisals are how we maintain accountability. S.M.A.R.T. goals are how we meet and exceed our accountability. Awesome and empowering information!!
When the steps are followed correctly it is a process that will work every time.
This training module was very informative. As the Training Coordinator for our agency, I have a personal interest in this particular training session. Our current employee evaluation system for our Corrections Division is similar to the SMART goal method. The rest of our agency did away with employee evaluations about 4 years ago. I don't recall the exact reason, but I believe it had something to do with how a persons evaluation result would impact potential law suits. I don't understand the logic behind the decision, but apparently someone high up in the command structure did, and gave it their approval.
The Louisiana State Civil Service planning and evaluation system mirrors this process with some changes in terminology. The yearly meeting for planning and the ones for evaluation can have meetings more frequently t provide course corrections, based on the employee or situation.
Far to ofter, I have seen people receive promotions or disciplinary action that were either not warranted or did not follow the same guidelines as people who committed the same infractions in the past. The S.M.A.R.T. method provided us a proven guideline to ensure we as leaders are consistent and just with our actions involving our subordinates. By following this guideline, we can ensure fairness and trust with our subordinates and Command Staff.
I have seen many times over the years when discipline was used, when not warranted, and times when it should have been used that it was not. Most of the time that this has happened, there was incomplete or missing information.
The Smart system is a great starting point. But like most other evaluation it is subjective and allows for human emotions to be involved. There have been instances where monetary growth had been applied to the outcomes of the evaluations. The next years saw a inflation of scores. Some supervisors stated that they gave scores that were not deserved because they did not want to be the reason their employee did not get a raise. There has to be a checks and balance to make sure that the human emotions is minimized.
As required by State Civil Service we are required to submit Planning and Evaluation reviews through the Performance and Evaluation System. Our yearly merit based raises up to 4% are based on these evaluations. At the time we do the yearly evaluation we are required to do a planning session for the next year. There are also mechanisms in place for adjustments during the year. This is useful tool and seems to be in line with the S.M.A.R.T. Goal Method described in the module.
The SMART process and 10 steps seem like a good planning process and tool set. It allows people who are managers or leaders that are supervisors to have an action plan and guidelines. It creates a reliable set of plans to address work product and how to motivate/train personnel as needed.
The SMART goal process is a solid means to measure the ability of personnel, document the process, and provide the employee attempts to meet the standard set, all while giving him additional opportunities to better themselves and recognize what his/her own deficiencies are. It also provides a gauge to the employee of their ability and allows them to see first hand their progress and give them self-awareness if they must be moved from a position.
I think implementing this form of performance review just as we do for our newly revamped FTO program, would be beneficial to our agency. Perhaps on a 6 month to a yearly basis. This goes for Supervisors and subordinates as well.
I think it is essential to use the S.M.A.R.T Goal Method when communicating expectations to personnel. The Performance Management Process has shown to be effective within my department. Using this process, we were able to identify employees who did not possess the skills needed and employees whose personnel issues were hindering their performance.
The ten step Personnel Performance Management process provides a guide to help us as individually as leaders, and as an organization, provide a fair and systematic process for reinforcing values, expectations and evaluating employee performance. I really enjoyed how Step 9 discusses considering physical and emotion health issues that may be effecting employee performance and providing support to the employee.
I felt reassured when Step 9 was discussed. We had a situation where emotional health was identified with an employee during the Performance Management Process. We able to provide her support and connect her to the right resources.
Very glad to know there is a formal process for performance evaluation and performance corrective plans. This is very helpful to ensure that the appraisal is fair and accurate. Always wondered how to fit in the personal capacity to perform the tasks assigned.
I believe too many supervisors let their personal feelings guide them when doing an evaluation. Far too often we see someone who is friends with the supervisor get good marks when that person's performance is subpar. This causes animosity within the team and can hinder work output by those who see the favoritism.
At our agency we are required by State Civil Service to complete Evaluations and Planning's every year. The way to get around the problem you described is that the next level supervisor up must also sign off on all Evaluations and Planning's. So in the case of my evaluation, the Captain prepares my evaluation and the Chief has to sign off on it.
We to have a sort of "checks and balance" system in place. I am a strong believer in this as this also allows those being evaluated to have another level to "challenge" the completed evaluation, so-to-speak. There should be a means available for those being critiqued to be able to air any questions/grievances/concerns without the worry of retaliation from one's immediate supervisor. We complete our performance appraisals monthly and therefore their should be no surprise at the end of the year, allowing for a full year to have concerns properly addressed.
This is definitely a problem. It has continued to play out this way for years, even after a revamped system was put in place.
The steps in the PMP is a great way to evaluate employees and track how they are performing. The steps make sure they understand what is expected of them and if they are not meeting the standards it can be easily and quickly addressed. If an employee continues to perform under the expected standards then it can be addressed with disciplinary actions. The great part of all of this is that it is documented.
I like the steps of attempting to identify the cause of poor performance. It is a lot easy to help correct the behavior if you can identify why the behavior is happening.
I agree, a lot of times we don't an employees personal issues or possibly even the employees intellect when unable to complete a task, and that they might not be willfully disobeying.?
The step outline in this module is a fair way to evaluate any worker to make sure they are performing to the best of their abilities. Using these steps in disciplinary actions can also assure leaders they were fair in their decisions.
The ten steps outlined seems to be a comprehensive yet simple way to ensure you can improve inadequate performance from your personnel I believe I and most of us use some variation of the S.M.A.R.T. method. However, I may try to start following this method more closely. My main concern with evaluations, especially in a larger department, is having supervisors who may fudge the evaluations in favor of the person they are evaluating and not being completely unbiased. On the flip side I can see where an evaluation as a form of revenge against an employee that the evaluator may have a personal issue with. Obviously, you can slow this by promoting those individuals with integrity but i believe there will always be those who slip through the cracks.
This lesson was a great lesson on employee performance and going outside of the box of the generic paper and pen LE Evaluation. This lesson taught real-life evaluation skills that can assist in pushing employee data and performance.
As a leader, I feel we can get lazy and look at taking the path of least resistance to evaluations. However, sometimes we really need to push employees to their full potential.
This lesson brings up great information and resource to utilize when evaluating the job performance of our employees and ensuring that they know exactly what is expected of them in a professional manner. By utilizing an across the board evaluative process all aspects of the department can be measured to see where improvements in training and equipment are needed. The utilization of the SMART method will ensure that Specific, Measureable, Attainable, and Reasonable standards are expected and reached in a Timely manner.
following the SMART method will also show our ability to properly evaluate and work with subordinates that others may have deemed damaged. This method ensures that we are consistent with our praise and criticism, which will earn the trust of our followers and the respect of the Command Staff.
I think the S.M.A.R.T. goal method is something we could possibly look to move forward to in the future. Although I think our annual evaluations are better than what we had in the past, I think we can improve. The fact that across the board raised are sometimes issued when meeting a number score system is a factor in fairness. I still firmly believe that some supervisors are giving all good reviews, because of personal feelings. I also think supervisors believe that giving a poor evaluation is a reflection upon themselves, especially if they have done nothing prior to the evaluation to document or help fix the issues with the person being evaluated.
While doing these evaluations may be hard for some supervisors, if we do not give genuine truthful evaluations to our subordinates we cannot expect our teams to succeed nor will we reach goals of our own. If a supervisor is scared this will negatively reflect on them they need to do some self-reflection and figure out whether they are living up to the desired role they have been entrusted with.
I agree. It is important for supervisors to be honest and truthful when evaluating and managing the performance of their employees.
Your points are the same as mine when it comes to evaluations. Although I believe evaluations are necessary I know some rank will fudge the evaluations in favor of the person they are evaluating. I've seen it in the past where a supervisor has given a subordinates a good evaluation. However, a few weeks prior they were talking about what an idiot the same person was. Even early in my career I have been guilty of this. I've grown enough in my career at this point that I now realize that if you do this you are part of the problem and have not right to complain about how bad things are if your are not fairly evaluating the subordinates who are creating the problems.
It is essential to utilize the S.M.A.R.T. goal method to ensure that employees know what is expected of them and how they will be measured. This method is a fair way to make sure the employees progress while holding the leaders accountable for supplying the correct training and equipment for their job duties.
Beau, I agree. In past evaluations, some of the criteria listed seemed very subjective. I like defining performance based on specific, measurable, attainable expectations and within a specific time-frame.
I agree this method is a fair way to keep up employee performance and process of evaluating an employee based on their performance.
The SMART goal method is a very comprehensive task analysis of ensuring progress and understanding of the shared goals of an agency and the steps to take to ensure an employee understands the task.
You know as well as I do that this is important to have, because people do not like to take ownership of short comings or failures. It is always good to have something in writing to hold people accountable for their actions
This is a very though out and detailed evaluation which is great for documentation of employees.
This is an outstanding process when done correctly. Too many times I have seen supervisors that hate to do them and they don't put forth the effort to help the employee and make it useful. Some supervisors never change the form other than the date each year. They must be up front and straight forward with the employee to make any significant improvements.
I like the SMART method that was taught. Our HR department pretty much dictates our Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), but it’s a little tough because it covers the whole city and is difficult to just cover an officer position. It’s the same with our evaluations, where the city controls it and is not job or department specific, so it becomes difficult to really identify deficiencies and correct them. We do a lot of documentation on our own through memo format but will start utilizing the SMART method in the memos to better document issues or deficiencies.
During my employment i have seen some leaders that have use the ten steps of Personnel Management Process used effectively But I have seen a more leaders that have used it poorly. The ten steps of the personal management process when used properly will get an employee up to the standards and have the necessary documentation on the employee to use progressive discipline.
I enjoyed the way Dr. Normore explained this module so that it could be used adequately. I believe most of us have already used or are currently using not only the S.M.A.R.T. model, but the 10 steps of the PMP. Using these steps will ensure that not only are we giving the employees the standards and goals to be met, but a timeline in which to achieve them. Beyond that, it will make certain that we continuously rotate through the steps when we have identified issues which may have been beyond the control of the employee or us. Many times have I seen employees disciplined for not doing something which was expected only to win on an appeal because the supervisor did not take the time to do their homework and make certain they gave the employee all the support which was needed to be successful.
I sure could have used this training years ago. One of my biggest learning moments was walking into the Sheriff's office to say an employee needed discipline and not having any documentation of why. This is something I teach new supervisors and this module offers a similar but more structured approach.
Documentation is always the name of the game. We have to show where we have attempted to assist people in achieving or surpassing goals before we discipline them. It may be semantics but that's why we call our disciplinary procedure a corrective review rather than just a write up. Our form includes many of the steps covered such as remediation training and allows for officers to voice their own concerns, in writing.
That is the one things that has hindered our department from moving forward with progressive discipline not enough documentation.
Major, I agree. This is an area I am constantly preaching to my staff. The importance of documentation. If it is not on paper then it did not happen. This is true for the positive as well as the negative performance. This is one of the hardest things to make supervisors understand. The process of progressive discipline is important. It allows employees the opportunity to improve or show they are not capable of performing to expectation.
Historically performance improvement has not been evaluated or applied in a uniform manner. Following these steps could make for a more streamlined and equitable improvement process.
More often than not, the idea of improvement has been left up to the perceptions of the type of leader in place. Roll the dice.
The 10 step approach was interesting to learn about. It covers a variety of categories and is a good process. I also liked the S.M.A.R.T. goals method. Both provide a good way to personal manage. Every agency should have a PMP in place. I look forward to learning more about this.
The SMART Goal Method of the PMP was something I always understood but never saw it on paper. This is a great guide to follow that I will use in the future.
I would say the SMART potion is the most important take away from this lecture.
As you mentioned with the SMART Goal Method, I will use this guide as well for future endeavors when addressing organizational practices with team members.
This module is interesting. I will take time to review the 10 steps. Some are instrumental for agencies with civil service or unions. I work for at at will agency, meaning I work at the will of the Sheriff. I am curious to see how our policies compare to the 10 steps of PMP. Although it sounds like our policies do closely follow these steps I plan to closely examine our policy to make sure. I feel the consideration of medical or other causes of lack of performance such as medical, mental, alcoholism and such are important. I know my agency has worked hard to try to identify these concerns so we can try to save valuable employees instead of losing them once things are too late.
It is very tempting to take the easy road of automatic discipline and not slow down to consider outside influences being an issue.
In the learning area 3, module 13, I've learned the steps to PMP, and the process shared work force understanding what is to be achieved at a organizational level. According to Flippo, PMP is the planning, organizing, compensation, integration and maintenance of people for the purpose of contributing to organizational, individual and societal goals.
I enjoyed the lesson regarding the managing personnel performance. The 10 step approach was a very well thought out process. After completing the training I found that I have used several of the steps in the past. But I always wondered why sometimes the performance sometimes didn't improve. Dr. Normore made a very good point at the end of the lesson about how each step must be considered, followed and sometime implemented again. I also enjoyed the SMART goal method as well.
His consideration at each step and willingness to reset and start that step over shows a commitment to the employee. Earlier modules talked about developing employees and not just training them. I find this supports that belief.
It was an interesting concept on how a supervisor and or manager can use the 10-step approach within the Personnel Performance Management- PMP in addressing various concerns they may see with an employee. This approach-PMP, I believe, has a significant amount of merit that will only better the organization but also address inadequacies that the employee may not be aware of.
I also liked the 10 step approach and the Smart goals. I agree having a PMP will only make your organization better.
I find that most leaders do not adequately utilize performance appraisals. Especially if it means negating a pay raise. While we should be more honest in our evals, We should be striving to continually help and correct problems throughout the officer's career and not wait for a performance review to do it.
I agree, if we are more honest with evals, to performance review would be more of a supplement
Performance appraisals are useful tools to determine if an employee deserves promotion or advancement to other divisions. However, if as leaders we are not counseling throughout the year to identify shortcomings and failures of our subordinates we are doing a disservice to them. In the military we did this quarterly. While formal appraisals are done at my agency few leaders counsel quarterly. Most have notes but fail to adequately implement them in to subordinate development.
I agree. How can we as leaders give low-performance evals to subordinates if we have not attempted to correct the problem before. I think keeping notes is good and we should also be keeping notes on how we corrected or attempted to correct the deficiencies we are seeing.
With the current microscopes placed on law enforcement as a whole, it is without a doubt agencies need a proper personnel performance evaluation/management system in place. The tools listed in the SMART goals method along with Dr. Normore’s 10 steps provide a road map to successful personnel management.
I agree and believe I will take note of the 10 step process and attempt to implement it within my organization. Its a thoughtful process that requires an examination of all the data. By examining all the data and following the steps. Any organization could benefit from this road map and better manage personnel performance.
In our agency all new deputies are evaluated quarterly for the first year then annually after that. This helps with following their progress with meeting standards.
We follow the steps for the most part. We create a Performance Improvement Plan when deficiencies are identified and not corrected through counseling.
As do we. We have a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) when correction is needed. We follow some of the same guidelines as explained in this module which really does help a lot in identifying additional issues.
I didn't realize it before this module, but my Division has been following the ten steps for a couple years now.
I first thought of it as convoluted and unnecessary, but have since learned that it is absolutely necessary in our current environment. We have been sues by people that were let go and following these steps, with each documented and signed by the supervisor and employee, have rendered those suits baseless.
Chris,
I can definitely agree our evals have improved since we went to the new system but there are still flaws. We need to develop a better standard for the grading because some supervisors still grade their subordinates based on how they were graded. I still here every year well I got such and such so my subordinate had to get lower than what I got. This is a negative and toxic way to treat employees and sounds too much like the ladder principle to me.
Our agency recently revamped the evaluation process, and it is an improvement on what was there prior. However, an employee’s evaluation is subjective to the supervisor’s thoughts on the employee’s performance. We have seen this within our agency. One high performer in one division may receive the same overall numerical score as a mediocre performer in another division. I believe supervisor training needs to be conducted, not just an email explanation, with a question and answer session. This could help supervisors evaluate their employees in the same manner, or at least attempt to narrow the gaps.
"One high performer in one division may receive the same overall numerical score as a mediocre performer in another division."
I could not agree more and have preached the need for training and oversight to fix this.
The ten steps to performance management are necessary for all agencies and organizations. The SMART method is specific, measurable, and reasonable. This will help managers evaluate their employees more fairly and adequately. Once organizations improve in this area, it will create a higher performance record. I believe performance evaluations should be implemented more than once a year to make sure subordinates work is satisfactory.
With the implementation of our new evaluation system we have been following these steps for a while. It is tailored to the individuals job assignment. The evaluation is still left open to a supervisors opinion or feelings towards an employee.
Our agency re-vamped our evaluation process about two years ago. While they are not perfect, they are 100% better than what was in place. The biggest obstacle is finding a tool that takes out the ability for the supervisor to use their “personal” feelings in the evaluation of an employee. Also, some supervisors would rather just give a good evaluation on bad employees because they don’t want to deal with confrontation. We will be re-evaluating our process again. That was our plan when we implemented the process two years ago.
Supervisors need to be able to put their personal feelings aside and evaluate the employee accordingly. A supervisor is not doing the employee justice if they don’t give them a fair and accurate evaluation. Unfortunately, some supervisors want to give all their employees good evaluations so that it appears there is nothing wrong with their division. This is where a supervisor needs to be a leader and not a friend of their people.
I agree, when we don't want to be honest about a staff true performance it benefits no one.
Our new process is definitely better. I think some supervisors also hold grudges and employees are scored low because of hard feelings.
We started about eight years ago. It’s a yearly evaluation without any year-long documentation required. I can see where we could stand to move to quarterly counseling with documentation of “sustains and improves”. Ours works decently but there’s always room for improvement.
The new evaluations that you all have instituted are a huge improvement over what we were using before. I take those evaluations seriously and never just give good marks to avoid confrontation. I do have to agree with you, it is almost impossible to not let personal feelings guide you in giving an evaluation.
This module was very familiar to me. We use the S.M.A.R.T. Goal Method at my agency. It is a useful and easy to follow guide to assist with setting goals for my subordinates. The 10 steps in the PMP, provides a roadmap to improve performance as well as property documenting poor performance that rises to the level of discipline.
The performance management process can create a high-performance workforce within our agencies. The S.M.A.R.T method for goal setting is a helpful tool. Sometimes a performance evaluation is too vague and allows too much opinion to be given by a supervisor. In return, a supervisor may set goals that are not attainable or reasonable because their expectation is set to high for an individual. This is when the S.M.A.R.T method will prove its usefulness. The data collection and examination step should result in positive improvements; however, this stage could result in unmet goals. As a supervisor, I would reiterate at this stage the discussed expectations before moving to a problem solving disciplinary step.
Clint, the more practice a supervisor gets in using the SMART method, the better he or she will become.
Another great module, employee performance evaluations are a very important in the organization. Our agency has been doing them for a long time and since i have been a supervisor I have a lot about them. The SMART method looks great .
I agree I am looking forward to using the SMART method with my subordinates. I would also like the subordinates to be able to evaluate me as a supervisor to get some constructive feedback.
The SMART method is an excellent process to ensure performance standards. Employees need to know what is expected, how to get it done, and feedback. Giving employees proper feedback will assist them in correcting issues and allows them to improve.
I agree with you Lance, the SMART method looks good and it is good to use this when setting the standards and expectations.
I agree Lance. We use the SMART method, but one thing I plan to add is a mid-way performance review to make sure they are still on track and see if they need any guidance.
I appreciate the SMART method outlined in this module. It allows for clear communication and eliminates misunderstandings. One aspect of it that stands out is the suggestion to not assume that poor performance is always intentional. I believe for many employees they want to perform well but either lack the capacity, training or equipment to do so. Treating this group as if their poor performance is intentional can result in frustration and resentment and make it more difficult to make the employee more effective in the long run.
The SMART method is a great to use when assigning specific tasks to subordinates. It ensures that the goal is clearly stated and understood by subordinates. It also allows supervisors to check the progress of those under their command.
Performance evaluations are essential in monitoring subordinates' activities. The 10 steps provided in this module are a good reference and guideline to follow.
I agree performance evaluations are essential in monitoring subordinates activities, but we also have to keep in mind that it is still subjective based on the supervisor.
Following the 10 steps of the Performance Management Process is very similar what we did in the military with mandatory follow ups during the first year of supervision. If at any time you did not give mid term feedback then the final review was very subjective because you did not let the subordinate know of any improvements he needed to work on prior to final yearly review. In the organization I am with now, we quit doing performance evaluations all together about 4 years ago. I have brought the question back up of why we don’t hold personnel accountable to standards in using the evaluation but was given no answer. It used to be a 90 evaluation / yearly evaluation system to let the subordinate know of there progress. We need this back in our agency…soon.
I agree. Everyone in the agency needs to be provided feedback (good or bad) on their performance and compliance with agency standards. Some of them might not even know they are under performing in a certain category. Others might not be completely familiar with specific procedures and as a result, not performing the task properly.
This was an interesting module to me. For the first 12-14 years of my career, we had annual performance reviews, I honestly looked forward to these. It gave me an idea of what my supervisor thought of my performance. As it is now, we haven't done them in some time. There is no performance appraisal completed on anyone. I think this is kinda odd in an agency where we hold people responsible for their job description without actually reviewing their job with them.
In our agency, we only use performance appraisals and they are provided to the employee annually, They are often just a check the box process that provides little or no assistance to the employee in areas of concern. While we have progressive discipline integrated in our policy, I do believe following the 10 steps coupled with the SMART goal method will be beneficial. I plan on sharing this info with my management team as they seem to struggle in this arena.
We used to have the check boxes with a little narrative area, but those are gone by the wayside. Not real sure what happened to them. I would love to see them come back, I believe it is a useful tool to review job requirements.
Our agency also does yearly performance evaluations on employees annually. It has the check boxes as well, but we do have sections to add specific areas of concern and improvement.
I have seen that supervisors sometimes are afraid or they are not trained properly in conducting eval's on heir officers. They were never trained on how to observe or conducting proper supervision , they were given copies of other eval's and told to copy this method.
I agree that the supervisors are resistant to accurately documenting their subordinate's performance and behavior on their evaluations. There is no training in our Department on how to accurately complete these docs. Policy references are provided but subjectivity is common.
Within our department that has always been an issue. If supervisors don't properly evaluate their employees has does the employees know what he is doing right or wrong? Evaluations can be used as a teaching mechanism for employees.
You are right Lance, no matter what tool you have, if the Supervisors are not properly evaluating the employees it does not work. They need to not be afraid to tell the employee if they are not up to par.
Frankly, it is easier to just not deal with the issues. It is harder to do the right thing.
The employee performance evaluation process it important for ensuring accountability and in allowing supervisors to develop employees. These evaluations must be meaningful to employees and supervisors should consider the employee's personal goals and work to guide them to be in alignment with the agency mission. Employees will gain more from an evaluation process when they see a true benefit to their own personal and professional development.
I agree, and the supervisors need to conduct these honestly with the employee. Not treating it as just a formality they have to go through just because the boss said so.
Nancy, I agree with you. It’s the most important thing that managers can do to help their employees to improve on any deficiencies and to reward the top performers.
The model in the lecture is something that every agency should have implemented in their organization. Our agency uses an employee evaluation process that evaluates an employee's competence level for the duties there are assigned. The evaluation does have the capability to document goals for employees, but it is not used. Most of the evaluation processes that I have seen are somewhat inadequate. These evaluations rely on accurate documentation by the supervisor. I have seen supervisors over the years give subordinates all good ratings because the supervisor did not want to be disliked by his subordinates. Then there are those supervisors that do not put any effort into the evaluations, basically putting one-word comments. Then on the other side of the spectrum, there is the supervisor that is critical of every subordinate. In the middle, there is the supervisor that gives subordinates a fair evaluation based on their competence and performance. So looking at the evaluation from this point, what does it accomplish? Evaluations need to be based on fact-driven performance that can be verified, and many of the evaluation systems I have seen do not work this way.
Drauzin Kinler,
During my time in the military it was stressed on the importance of honesty and integrity in filling out the evaluations to include the timeliness of midterm feedback. These were important to fill out midterm so there would be no misinterpretation for a markdown in a certain are unless other actions justified it. Mid way through my career they had to change the rating system because it became to inflated with giving everybody high marks so not to interrupt their chances for promotion or hurt feelings. The honesty and integrity went out of it. Now, in my law enforcement career our agency has done away with personal evaluations about 4 years ago. They have a whole P&P on counseling but not evaluations. Hopefully that will change soon
Dan
Captain, I completely agree. I have had mixed feelings about our reviews for a number of years. Especially when salaries are adjusted based across the board. Because as you stated and we both know as fact, several supervisors rate the exact same way for all employees as being great. I think another reason they do this is because they feel it could be a bad reflection upon themselves and it probably is. If John Doe has all the issues that were truthfully reflected in the evaluation, what if I am asked what have I done to help him improve. Well if I haven't done anything where does that leave me as a supervisor...I think that's a lot of the thought process that goes into these evaluations.
I do agree with you about the evaluation process. It is difficult to rate employees once a year. There should be something in place so that rank can monthly review what the employee has done and use those monthly reports to complete the annual evaluation. I am not a huge fan of the supervisor's comments on every section of the evaluation.
Drauzin,
I agree that some supervisors are not honest in all areas in order to avoid being disliked. One of the things my agency has done as part of the annual supervisor evaluation is add a self-evaluation component. The employee is given a self-evaluation form (that almost exactly mirrors the evaluation form) and asks them to evaluate themselves objectively. This tool is then used by supervisors as a frame of reference when doing evaluations. However, especially with the younger generation, we are struggling with finding ways to get officers to put real effort into the self-evaluation process.
The PMP model detailed in the lecture resembles the process used by my agency. After a new employee is confirmed and at each attained rank/position there is an evaluation period. Standards are discussed with the employee as well as any shortcoming on the part of the employee to meet said standard. If remedial time is needed in an area, another timeline is set and may require an employee to be under "special evaluation".
I like that the module spells out the process with SMART. Special attention needs to be paid to make sure the standards are reasonable and obtainable. A reasonable timeline also needs to be set.
Joey,
I agree that this training module resembles what we use at our agency. The SMART acronym is a good reference point and direction for everyone to use.
Performance Management Programs also known as Performance Improvement Plans are useful when dealing with an underperforming employee or one that regularly fails to meet their goals. These will follow well-structured Performance Appraisals or Employee Evaluations where the employee's strengths and areas for development are highlighted and goals are set. The S.M.A.R.T. Goal Method should be used when creating goals for the employee. The goals must be specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and must be given a timeline for completion. When the goals are not met, consideration for any outside factors should be made, rather than assuming willful non-compliance.
Frank
I agree that special care needs to be taken in assuring that there are no outside factors beyond the employee's control. We cannot be quick to assume that they are willfully being non-compliant.
I agree if we have to complete a corrective review but only have our memory to go by and nothing on paper, it will be hard to achieve. Simple notes dated with the things we tried to correct the issue will become necessary.
Joey,
I agree totally as leaders we need to see the whole picture of what or if there are any outside underlying issues with this employee. By not taking these issues into consideration could be very detrimental to the employee as well as the office.
Frank, I agree that evaluations are needed and cannot just be generic evaluation forms. Specific goals and performance requirements should be addressed. The process needs to include a process that provides factual information and not only opinions from a supervisor. As you stated, they need to be well-structured in order to conduct fair evaluations of employees.
Drauzin, I agree with you. Evaluations need to be specific and definitely need to more than a supervisors opinion. I feel our agency has taken steps to address some of the evaluation issues.
I agree evaluation should be based on what the employee did. The employee's weakness and strengths
The performance management process (PMP) or performance improvement plan (PIP) are both similar and effective tools to deal with employees that are under performing. If you are proactive and regularly meet with our subordinates, it has been my experience, that corrective action will happen without having to implement the PMP or PIP. Most employees realize that they could be subjected to corrective action, which could include transfer, reduction in pay, demotion, and possible termination. These cases are rare if you address the unsatisfactory duty performance early. The key is to keep the process positive allowing the employee to provide how they feel so believe that had an active part in the process and their position was acknowledged and understood by their supervisor.
Brian,
I agree, typically PIP's are reserved for those employees who do not respond to the typical conversations, mentoring, remediation and training. They are a necessary evil that can be used to terminate trouble or underperforming employees, and for liability, purposes must be written from a place of seeking to develop and improve the employee. Setting them up for success and matching them with resources to assist, rather than giving them an unattainable goal, with no direction or resources.
Frank
I agree that it is important to keep the evaluation process positive for the employee and allow them opportunities to learn from mistakes and even work with supervisors in finding solutions to performance deficiencies.
I agree, with your response. Our jobs as supervisors is to evaluate the employee and give them every method and performance review possible.
Brian, I agree. Regular communication seems to take care of these issues. The few times i have seen where a PIP was necessary were times when an employee was allowed to continue in their behavior for a considerable amount of time without anyone talking to them about it. With better leadership in the beginning, this may not have been necessary.
On many occasions I have seen standards and or goals given that are unattainable. I agree that using the Smart Method will ensure that the officers have the ability to perform and will not have an excuse when they have not met the standard given. A special emphasis should be on the timeline of review to determine if they have been met.
Monte, as you point out, giving timely and specific feedback on a regular basis will eliminate the "unknowns" and help put the employee at ease or give them specific facts to help them fix the unsatisfactory duty performance. Brian
I agree with you, the goals must be realistic and attainable for officers.
Agreed here, being able to speak with employees and followers about job performance, training, or how to complete tasks must be clear and concise. People who don't understand their role or what needs to be done are not being given the tools they need.
Monte, I agree with you observation of standards and goals given that are unattainable and set people up for failure.
Also agreed. And the timeline should be more than enough to establish improvement. I always try to dig before and at the conclusion to ensure there isn't a problem outside of work, with the immediate supervisor or something other than just not performing to expectations.
I would also agree that I have set goals that most likely are unattainable and sometimes I feel like I expect too much from everyone which isn't fair either. I think that having objectives or steps to set followers up to succeed and not fail should be a priority to everyone in the agency. Failure is never a good thing, and will obviously leave a lasting negative impression on most people.
I agree and believe using the SMART Method will also give employees a sense of security in knowing that any issues will be appropriately addressed with them.
Sense of security is very important to an employee's success and they will own the expectations.
Goals must be able to be reach as well as attainable.
I have seen this also. You must assign goals that are first, are attainable, and second, allowed a reasonable amount of time to be achieved in.
I agree that using the S.M.A.R.T method will ensure that employees have the ability to perform and not have excuses when standards are not met.