CIL-NET at ILRU 0 CIL-NET Presents… Staff Supervision and Evaluation A National Teleconference & Webinar March 16, 2011 Presenter: Melanie Lockwood Herman

CIL-NET at ILRU 1 CIL-NET Presents… Staff Supervision and Evaluation A National Teleconference & Webinar March 16, 2011 Presenter: Melanie Lockwood Herman

CIL-NET at ILRU 2 Why establish shared expectations? The importance of clear expectations –Employees want to succeed! –Measurable goals –Timely feedback Essential starting point for performance management

CIL-NET at ILRU 3 How to establish shared expectations Position description –Consider breaking position into significant job segments and establishing performance standards for each segment Interview process Orientation Coaching during the “work review” period Fearless feedback

CIL-NET at ILRU 4 Employee Feedback and Coaching What and When –Using feedback to reinforce positive behavior –Counseling employees to correct actions that are inconsistent with the organization’s policies or the manager’s performance expectations –Helping an employee perform at a high level

CIL-NET at ILRU 5 Two Forms of Coaching Communicating effectively –Be direct and candid –Be timely. Like a coach of a sports team, the timing of your feedback is critical. –Focus on “what” (“the tone of voice you used in the conversation with the client upset her”), NOT who the person is (“you’re rude to our clients.”) –Refrain from editorial comments! Leading by example

CIL-NET at ILRU 6 Employee Counseling Counseling is focused on changing behavior, not necessarily on improving skills Problem employees are disruptive… and can impact the effectiveness of small and large teams Problem employees also require a disproportionate amount of a supervisor’s time Workplace misbehavior rarely works itself out

CIL-NET at ILRU 7 Counseling Session Steps 1.Prepare – gather facts and plan what to say 2.Opening – describe the problem as clearly and specifically as possible 3.Employee feedback – invite the employee “side” of the story 4.Strive for clarity – agreement about the nature of the problem 5.Review alternative solutions 6.Discuss next steps

CIL-NET at ILRU 8 Common Supervision Mistakes Supervising too closely Failing to keep an employee informed Failing to help employee see how their work advances the organization’s mission

CIL-NET at ILRU 9 Communication Tips for Supervisors Learn to Listen –Especially important when emotions are high, in team settings, and when employees are sharing creative ideas –Fundamentals of Good Listening Focus on what’s being said, instead of what you’re going to say next Let employees finish before you respond Restate what you’ve heard and request clarification

CIL-NET at ILRU 10 More Communication Tips Learn to Facilitate –As a supervisor, your job is to keep your team focused –Use questions to obtain information Closed questions yield yes/no answers Open questions are great for obtaining input, e.g., what went wrong, how should we approach this? Appropriate personal questions create camaraderie Use Discretion –Make yourself available for confidential conversations –Keep your promises of confidentiality

CIL-NET at ILRU 11 Questions and Answers

CIL-NET at ILRU 12 Evaluating Performance How often? What form? What emphasis? –Basis for decisions-making –Employee development Trends: –Multi-rater assessments

CIL-NET at ILRU 13 What are the Risks? Conducting regular performance reviews: –creating a file that weakens your defense of future claims –creating false expectations—reviews conducted but no corrective action taken by employee or employer Failing to conduct regular performance reviews: –employees left adrift –grounds for discipline or termination lack back-up –lack of review suggests good performance when the opposite is true

CIL-NET at ILRU 14 Improving the Process Collaborate –Minimize adversarial aspect of process –Rating tool development –Goal setting process pitfalls –Employee rating

CIL-NET at ILRU 15 Improving the Process, cont’d. 2 Use appropriate tools –Rating system –Different forms for different positions Integrate risk taking

CIL-NET at ILRU 16 Improving the Process, cont’d. 3 Align appraisal with organization goals and strategies –Related to organization-wide goals and strategies –Look for opportunities to nurture strengths versus focusing on shortcomings –Strive to strike a balance between aligning staff goals/needs with agency goals/needs and providing discipline and direction

CIL-NET at ILRU 17 Improving the Process, cont’d. 4 Include Action Plans –Whenever performance or disciplinary problems arise Remember the Big Picture

CIL-NET at ILRU 18 Performance Appraisal Do’s  Focus on behavior, not employee’s intent –Impossible to prove employee is not trying or has a poor attitude  Recognize potential effect of change in supervisor… Trouble or turmoil – “Fundamental Fairness Formula” –Notice of expectations, performance counseling, opportunity to correct performance failing in reasonable time period  Start performance appraisal at hiring…goal setting begins when employee accepts position

CIL-NET at ILRU 19 Performance Appraisal Do’s  Avoid subjective comments that aren’t job-related  Remember that the rater should be the employee’s supervisor –Make sure the person completing the appraisal has personal experience supervising the employee, so that the comments on the appraisal reflect personal observation rather than rumor, reputation or hearsay.

CIL-NET at ILRU 20 Performance Appraisal Don’ts  DON’T simply shift blame to employee - try: –We agreed on X… We’re not getting what we both expected… What do we need to do to get on track?  DON’T respond yes or no if “not applicable” is appropriate  NEVER award undeserved marks –Never give an employee whose performance is problematic a good raise or check a satisfactory or higher rating when the comments reflect performance concerns.

CIL-NET at ILRU 21 Performance Appraisal Don’ts  DON’T make excuses for failure to meet expectations  DON’T save all of your performance and disciplinary feedback until the performance review

CIL-NET at ILRU 22 Performance Appraisal Approaches Rating versus Ranking –Pros: ranking forces supervisors to draw distinctions; competition may be good for the agency –Cons: ranking may harm morale in a collaborative environment 360-degree feedback –Pros: can target weaknesses in teams; reviews better linked to agency mission and goals –Cons: some folks may not be willing to provide honest assessment of their supervisor Multi-rater feedback –Pros: multiple views of an employee’s performance, but not as time-consuming and costly as a 360-degree review –Cons: may require more time than a single rater review

CIL-NET at ILRU 23 Questions and Answers

CIL-NET at ILRU 24 Wrap Up and Evaluation Please complete the evaluation of this program by clicking here:

CIL-NET at ILRU 25 CIL-NET Support for development of this Webinar/teleconference was provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration under grant number H132B No official endorsement of the Department of Education should be inferred. Permission is granted for duplication of any portion of this PowerPoint presentation, providing that the following credit is given to the project: Developed as part of the CIL-NET, a program of the IL NET, an ILRU/NCIL/APRIL National Training and Technical Assistance Project.