Talking Stick - July/August 2018 - 30

HUMAN RESOURCES

A WELL-DESIGNED PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT STRATEGY SHOULD INCLUDE
PLANS FOR CONTINUAL REVIEW AND RENEWAL.
REGULAR PERFORMANCE REVIEW, FEEDBACK,
AND DOCUMENTATION ALLOWS SUPERVISORS
TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ABOUT THEIR
EMPLOYEES AND TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS
TO TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT,
ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES, HIRING AND
TERMINATION CRITERIA, AND PERSONNEL
DECISIONS.

as mentors and allies, helping their
employees achieve their best work
and face the challenges of increasing responsibility. Anthony Wright, a
career adviser at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, feels that he benefited greatly as
a graduate student from the individual performance plans created by his
supervisor, which helped to identify
skills he wanted to improve, skills
he wanted to learn, and skills he felt
confident about. The supervisor also
helped prepare him for the next level
up by explaining the requirements for
that job so that Wright could identify
the specific training and opportunities
necessary to build those skills. Then
every couple of months, and during
the annual review, they would look at
the plan to see how his skills were developing. As a result of this process,
Wright felt more prepared to take on
his next role, especially because he
was already being given the opportunity to do some of the work for that
position, which included supervision
of students.

TALKING STICK

Ongoing evaluations not only
help employees improve their job
performance but can also help them
transition to new jobs. Sometimes
employees need to be encouraged to
take on a new experience because they
have outgrown their present position.
In other cases, they may have talents
that are more appropriate for a different job; for example, a very outgoing
and social employee who has difficulty
completing administrative paperwork
may shine in a role that involves customer service.
Feedback on job performance
can also provide the documentation necessary to release someone
from a position, which is particularly
important within a union system. An
employee who is not meeting performance expectations should be made
aware of this in the course of ongoing conversations and evaluations.
Documentation is crucial in all cases
and can come in the form of a letter
of praise or reprimand, a follow-up
email about next steps, and a list of
suggestions. One of the most useful

forms of documentation is an action
plan, something that is negotiated between the supervisor and the employee in order to help the employee meet
the desired performance standards. It
is important that both the supervisor
and employee maintain all records
and documentation related to the performance evaluation. Kourtney Gray,
director of student organizations and
activities at Northwestern University
in Evanston, Illinois, recommends
taking one more step by having the
employee sign the document or reply
in acknowledgment that they received
the feedback. Closing the loop of this
information is key for both supervisor
and supervisee.
A well-designed performance
management strategy should include plans for continual review

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.

Talking Stick - July/August 2018

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