Talking Stick - July/August 2018 - 29

and employee activities with specific
aspects of the organization's mission
and goals. One of the first steps in
designing a performance management system is for top management
to identify strategic initiatives for
their department or unit, which
provides the foundation for making
informed decisions about personnel.
When the residential life department
at Indiana University in Bloomington
was going through a period of organizational change, they took advantage
of the opportunity to look critically at
their staffing structure, their staffing needs, and the future of staffing
patterns. At the same time, they were
implementing a residential curriculum, and this overlap allowed them
to create and realign positions that
best addressed their organizational,
operational, and programmatic needs.
A successful performance management system depends on having a
supervisor who knows what the job
entails and is committed to giving
ongoing feedback to employees about
performance standards. This kind of
job analysis can be conducted on the
basis of standards related to knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), or
competencies. Breaking a job description down into discrete competencies
allows a supervisor to easily decipher
what skills are needed for the job and
to determine where an employee's
performance needs improvement.
Identifying KSAs can also help select
the most qualified and experienced
person for a position or task. On the
basis of a clear set of competencies
deemed necessary to carrying out the
duties of a particular job, a hiring committee can evaluate résumés, score interviews, and check references against
these standards.
A well-developed performance
management system has specific,
inclusive, and fair performance

SUPERVISORS SHOULD ESTABLISH INTENTIONAL
AND ACHIEVABLE PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
AND PRESENT A CLEAR DESCRIPTION OF
JOB STANDARDS THAT NOT ONLY DEFINE
LEVELS OF ACCEPTABLE AND UNACCEPTABLE
PERFORMANCE BUT ALSO ALIGN WITH THE
ORGANIZATION'S MISSION.
criteria. Supervisors should establish
intentional and achievable performance objectives and present a clear
description of job standards that not
only define levels of acceptable and
unacceptable performance but also
align with the organization's mission.
The top management team should also
develop a plan and schedule for annual
formal evaluations and performance
appraisals for all members of the organization. Deborah Hall, coordinator
of student activities at Riverside City
College in California, notes that all of
their departments and all staff therein
undergo a program review at the end
of each semester. The information is
entered into a database linked with
their assessment and accreditation
offices as well as the vice president's
strategic plans.
Though the annual review is
important, it's not enough to provide
the kind of feedback that will help
employees improve their job performance; regular updates are needed
so that they can continually recognize and assess their own strengths
and weaknesses. Then there are no
surprises when it comes time for
the annual review. Everything the
supervisor brings to the employee's
attention should be something they

had discussed together during the
year. Regular performance feedback
should be constructive so that the
evaluation serves as a learning experience for the employee. Constructive
feedback should be practical, timely,
and addressed privately; specific and
concrete; should offer positive as well
as negative commentary; and should
focus on an employee's job performance, not their personality. It should
be objective rather than judgmental,
should focus on tangible actions that
the employee can take to resolve the
problem, and should include specific
recommendations on how to improve
job performance. In addition to providing useful feedback, performance
evaluations should involve maintaining records of any documentation
related to the evaluation, such as positive affirmations, regular constructive
critiques, reprimands, follow-ups,
consequences, and improvement
plans. Proper documentation of all
performance feedback allows the top
management team to conduct a talent
inventory and identify employees'
strengths, deficiencies, and training
needs and can even help them assess
the future needs of their workforce.
In an effective performance
management system, supervisors act

JULY + AUGUST 2018

Talking Stick - July/August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - July/August 2018