performance review user guide

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

USER GUIDE

Performance Review User Guide 9/24/2020

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Table of Contents

Introduction Page 3

FY ’20 Process Planning Page 4

Common Terms Page 5

Choosing Your Evaluators Page 7

Job Aide Page 9

Evaluator Best Practices Page 11

Leader Best Practices Page 12

Common Rater Bias Page 14

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) Page 15

Appendix: CLC Values & Commitments Page 16

Performance Review User Guide

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INTRODUCTION _______________________________________________________________________

Historically, annual performance reviews have been associated with evaluations, including goal setting which determine raises and/or merit increases. Over the years, there has been much debate whether to keep this practice up as annual performance reviews have evolved with and without raises, used to rate an employee for the purposes of special projects, talent management and performance levels in organizations where they are still being used. While there is much discussion about whether or not an annual performance review remains valuable, there is not clear evidence one way or another. In CLC’s case, our annual review is not directly associated with a raise or merit increase, so why do we still do this?

Following our value of Excellence, annual performance reviews offers a formal, once a year opportunity for you to review what has gone well in the past year, as well as where there are areas of concern or additional focus needed, as it applies to your direct role and department. In support of your performance, this conversation also leads to professional development goals (delayed as a separate process in FY ’21). While this should not be the only time to meet on performance, it encourages feedback in three ways: Your own self-reflection, your leader’s review of your performance, and other’s feedback (direct report and/or peer), all done electronically and merged together into one document for your review and discussion. In addition, you will have the opportunity to provide feedback to your leader on their leadership over the past year. This supports our value of Collaboration and an important element in the performance improvement process & ultimately in the Talent Management & Development process.

While peer and direct report feedback is an additional component to the reviews to follow our value of Inclusion, as well as transparency by providing our peers and colleagues an opportunity to offer feedback on:

• how we live our CLC Values • where our strengths lie • where are some of our “blind spots” (areas to consider focus)

As we continue to evolve our talent management and development process, this will lead into a Learning Plan, where we can determine our own self development and continued career paths.

Let’s take our performance & development to the next level!


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Choose Evaluators

Collaborate with your Manager

Invite Evaluators

Watch Progress

Reporting

Meet with your direct Manager

Send reminders

Complete your self-assessment

Using the link which is provided in your e-mail, invite your evaluators

Through the system we are using called Qualtrics, you can monitor the completion of evaluators, yourself and your direct Manager

Once yourself, your direct Manager and Evaluators have completed providing feedback, you will receive a report which captures all of your feedback and review in one place. Please take the time to read through your report.

Once you have your report, set up a meeting with your direct Manager to review the report together and discuss next steps and focus areas for the upcoming year.

Think about your peers and/or direct reports and select up to 10 evaluators to offer you feedback. Think about those who can provide different perspectives and observations

From this same system, you can schedule reminder e-mails for completion

Click on the link provided in your e-mail from _________ and complete your self-assessment

Share your thoughts about evaluators and seek input and support from your direct Manager

FY ’20 Process


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COMMON TERMS ________________________________________

Direct Report – someone who reports to a leader and will have the opportunity to provide feedback of their direct manager’s. The direct Manager will have the ability to choose between up to 5 direct reports and invite them to provide feedback. This discussion and choice of names should be collaborative with the direct Manager’s leader, prior to the invitations.

Leader – anyone who has the title of leader and direct reports. This can include Coordinators, Supervisors, Managers, Directors and Vice Presidents

Peer – someone who works at your same level within the organization.

Ratings

• Living the CLC Values • Exceeds Expectations – highly engaged in their role as exhibited through living

most, if not all of the CLC Values, and being a role model in at least one of the Values

• Meets Expectations – highly engaged in their role as exhibited through living the CLC Values or is in their first year of service.

• Needs Improvement – engaged in their role as exhibited through living a couple of the CLC Values and/or inconsistently living the CLC Values, May need more formal coaching on progress moving forward. May consider a Performance Improvement Plan.

• Does Not Meet Expectations – not engaged in their role as exhibited through failing to live the CLC Values on a consistent basis. May need a more formal coaching on progress moving forward and/or enter into the disciplinary process. Skillset and/or fit may be a mismatch

• Leader Engagement • I Don’t Know - I am too new to rate this or I have had the opportunity to observe

this in my leader yet. • Exceeds Expectations – I have observed my leader consistently lead engagement

among the team and consistently influences others outside of the team. • Meets Expectations – I have observed my leader consistently engage in this area

over the past year or is in their first year of leadership.


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• Needs Improvement – I have observed my leader partially engaged or inconsistently engaged in this area over the past year. May need more formal coaching on progress moving forward. May consider a Performance Improvement Plan.

• Does Not Meet Expectations – My leader (or direct report leader) has not engaged in this area over the past year. May need a more formal coaching on progress moving forward or consider entering into the disciplinary process. Skillset and/or fit may be a mismatch.

• Goals • Exceeds Expectations – highly engaged in their role as exhibited through

completing their goals for FY ’20 ahead of schedule and/or taking on additional goals.

• Leader Deferred – Leader has decided to defer the goal based on business and capacity reason to the following Fiscal Year.

• Meets Expectations – highly engaged in their role as exhibited through completing their goals for FY’20 or is in their first year of service.

• Needs Improvement – engaged in their role as exhibited through their goals being met after the established timelines or only partially met. May need more formal coaching on progress moving forward. May consider a Performance Improvement Plan.

• Does Not Meet Expectations – not engaged in their role as exhibited by not meeting their goals. May need a more formal coaching on progress moving forward, or consider entering into the disciplinary process. Skillset and/or fit may be a mismatch.

Review – This performance review should be exactly what it is titled. A review. It should be used to review performance and behavior over the year. When done well, nothing should be a surprise. As we move forward, this time period will include Goals and a Learning Plan.

Self – Assessment - assessment or evaluation of oneself or one's actions and attitudes, in particular, of one's performance at a job or learning task considered in relation to an objective standard


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CHOOSING YOUR EVALUATORS (Administrators/Professionals only)

Through this process, you will have the opportunity to obtain feedback from ten people who work with you or for you and your Direct Manager. If you are someone who has direct reports, five will come from direct reports, four from peers and one from your direct manager. If you do not have direct reports, nine will come from peers and one from your direct manager.

To start, think about the people you are with on a daily basis, i.e. 0Of those groups, who are 4-9 people which you would like to receive feedback on how you live the CLC Values daily and where your strengths and opportunities lie based on their direct interaction and observations of you. Challenge yourself to ensure the list represents different perspectives. Once you have your list, sit with your direct manager and discuss those you have chosen, looking for support and for your direct manager to challenge you of others you may not be thinking about.

If you have direct reports, in addition to peers, chose 5 of your direct reports which you feel could provide different perspectives to your performance and again, sit with your direct manager and discuss those you have chosen, looking for support and for your direct manager to challenge you of others you may not be thinking about. At the end of your review, you will receive a report (see and example below) which will show responses broken out by each of these evaluator categories (including self and your direct manager). It can be helpful to see, for example, if your peers have a different perspective of your behaviors that you direct Manager.

Please reach out in advance to the people you are asking to provide feedback. With concerns about phishing and spam, you will want to assure your evaluators that the request is legitimate and authorized. You will receive an e-mail from CLC Performance Review FY’20 to connect to the system and set up invitations for your evaluators. In addition, assure your evaluators that the results are anonymous, while you will know who you invited, you will not be able to see each individual evaluator rating, nor comments.


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Process 1. Your name will be entered into the Qualtrics system and you will receive an email from

CLC Performance Review FY’20 – [email protected]” with the subject line, CLC FY ’20 Annual Performance Review and Feedback. Click the “Join the assessment” link to start the process.

2. You will nominate evaluators yourself a. Simply type in first name, last name and email address. b. Select the appropriate category or relationship from the drop-down list. c. Click “Submit.” Please note: an invitation is sent to the evaluator as soon as you click “submit.” 3. Evaluate yourself a. While still in the Qualtric’s portal, click “All Tasks” to return to the main menu. b. Click “Evaluate Yourself” and follow the prompts through the questions. 4. Evaluators will have 2-3 weeks to submit their ratings. 5. When the ratings are complete and the system closes, a report will be generated.


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JOB AIDE (Administrators/Professionals only)

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Performance Review You will receive an e-mail from CLC Performance Reviews FY’20 inviting you to the review process. Click on the link provided in the e-mail for access to the portal which houses a dashboard, your self - assessment, and the ability to invite your evaluators. Picture or portal

Review – Once you click on the review Rate yourself, direct reports, direct manager, (self, leader, peer or direct report), the opening peers in how they live the CLC Values Page will look something like:


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Type Fill in three goals from FY ’20 Leaders and direct reports can rate how and rate the success of each: they/their leader has demonstrated engagement in FY’20.

Self-assessment, leader or direct report Peer

Self-assessment, leader or direct report Peer


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EVALUATOR BEST PRACTICES _______________________________________ This review uses a four-point rating scale that asks you to rate each item. The rating will be translated to a 1-4 numerical scale and the person you are giving feedback on will receive the results as a weighted average.

• If you know that you’re either an “easy grader” or “hard grader”, adjust your ratings to be closer to how an average person might rate. Because the feedback is anonymous, you won’t have the benefit of explaining your philosophy to the person. Example: If the person is really strong in a particular area, they should be rated a “4”, not a “3” because you don’t like giving “4’s”. Likewise, if you feel they are good, but have room for improvement in an area, don’t mark it as a “5”.

Comments This survey asks for comments about the person. The more specific you can be, the better. Instead of describing personality traits, focus on what actions or behaviors you’re looking for. Also, people learn a lot from their strengths, so remember to include comments about what the person is doing well. Positive comment, examples: • • Poor: “John is a good project manager.” • • Good: “When he manages a project, John is able to keep people on track without being too aggressive. That can be a difficult balancing act, and John does it well. Because of this, his projects come in on time and people want to work with him.” Area of development comment, examples: • • Poor: “Jan doesn’t listen. You tell her something one day and it’s forgotten the next.” • • Good: “When Jan is in meetings, it would be helpful if she took notes, especially with action items. Then, at the end of the meeting, review these notes with the other people to make sure everybody is on the same page.” • • NOTE: With areas of development, focus on what you’d like to person to do differently in the future instead of what they’ve done ineffectively in the past. This makes your feedback more positive and actionable.


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LEADER BEST PRACTICES ________________________________________ Completing the evaluation

• Consider the individual’s time with the organization or in role

o Employees should be with the organization for over six months. Those under six months, should have received a 30 day, 60 day, 90 day and 180 day evaluation for formal feedback.

• Performance and potential are separate, but related (to be used when we role out Talent Management Process)

o Performance ratings assess past accomplishments. Past performance can be indicative of future potential. Employees with a history of performing and excelling in their role have a greater propensity to be successful in future roles.

• “Meet Expectations” is a positive rating

o Meets Expectations suggests an employee is completing all required job responsibilities and assigned goals.

• Emphasizing the Importance of Differentiation

o Differentiation occurs when ratings reflect the different levels of performance across the organization. Only by using these ratings to differentiate our talent can we support top and good performers, as well as address low performers

• An honest assessment of whether an employee does not meet, meets or

significantly exceeds expectations will help leaders more effectively support and acknowledge employees as a result of individual contributions.

• Differentiation helps us make informed talent decisions by supporting and

enabling: o Exceptional leadership o Highly engaged workforce o Perceptions of rating and process fairness


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Preparing for the conversation Prepare Beforehand

• Planning ahead for the review: • Set up a time, date and location to have the conversation • Review your employee’s file • Review documentation or notes from previous reviews including the goals and objectives you

and the employee discussed at the last review. • Review the self-assessment, your assessment and other feedback • Review other information: thank you’s, acknowledgement’s, corrective actions, timeliness of

compliance, etc.. from other leaders, coworkers, or customers. • Review the performance data (individual and department goals, college plan results, Key

outcomes, etc.) relevant to your direct report and their role in it’s success. • Pull together any questions to ask. • Provide your direct report with an outline of what the conversation will cover • Prime your direct report to review their data and come with questions

During Conversation

• Use Thoughtful Communication • Before you sit down with any employee, go in prepared to use thoughtful communication that

will build up your employee, not tear them down. • Performance reviews should avoid swaying all negative or all positive. Being overcritical will

likely demotivate the employee; but on the other hand, there’s almost always something that could be improved.

• Thoughtfully sharing positive attributes alongside the items that need work will help the conversation feel more balanced, and ensure your employees don’t feel attacked.

• Provide Concrete Examples • Have examples prepared for both achievements and areas of improvement and share them

throughout the review. • Being able to cite specific instances of behavior to employees proves you’ve truly done your

homework as their leader. • This type of communication is much more effective than simply saying what your team member

has done right or wrong. It shows you’ve been paying attention and gives your feedback more credibility.

After the Conversation

• Make Performance Reviews an Ongoing Process • Schedule times throughout the year for feedback on an on-going basis. Don’t wait for this one

time each year. A successful Performance review is one which is not a surprise and is a two way dialogue vs. the feel of an evaluation.

• What’s the benefit to this approach? • You can make micro-adjustments to employee performance instead of trying to push big

changes through once or twice a year. • You find out about good (or bad) employee performance trends and capitalize on (or put an end

to) them early on. • You get a better understanding of what’s happening for all employees as it’s happening instead

of making shocking discoveries the next time a perfunctory review rolls around. • Employees work as a team instead of competing against each other.


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COMMON RATER BIAS ________________________________________ Rater biases are a set of common, unintentional and subconscious shortcuts we take when evaluation others. These biases can create blind spots when we assess our talent. Our goal is to be aware of and understand our biases, so we can control them. Common rater biases include:

Leniency: Ratings are higher than deserved. This may occur for leaders who have difficulty assessing performance or wish to avoid confrontation.

Recency Bias: Assessing performance based on the most recent behavior instead of considering performance spanning the full review period.

First Impression: Relies too heavily on first impressions when providing ratings.

Halo/Horn Effect: Providing too high or too low of rating because one aspect of the job is done particularly well or poorly, overshadowing other aspects of the job.

Contrast Effect: Tendency to compare a performance to other team members instead of assessing based on the rating leveling guide and rubr

Leniency

Recency

Bias

First Impression

Halo

Effect

Horn

Effect

Contrast

Effect

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ________________________________________ 1. Who sees the feedback report? Only the subject and/or his or her direct manager see the report. The subject may choose to share some high-level results with the evaluators. 2. What if I don’t want to rate the subject? If you don’t want to participate as a evaluator, you can simply not respond. No one knows which evaluators do or do not respond to the survey. 3. What if I am asked to give feedback on too many reviews? Depending on the departments and committees you serve, you could be asked to provide many people feedback. Besides providing feedback for your leader, if and when it becomes too much, you can decline the invitation. 4. Can I talk to the subject about the feedback process? You are welcome to let the subject know that you appreciated the opportunity to participate. You are not required to share your observations or ratings. However, the subject is seeking feedback, so you are encouraged to help them learn and grow by offering feedback when it is solicited. 5. Can I talk to others about the subject’s feedback? Use your best judgment in discussing the feedback process with others. It’s OK to talk about the process, but not OK to share your observations about the subject, what you rated them, or the report outcome with others. 6. How long will it take to complete the feedback assessment? An estimated 10 – 15 minutes per survey. 7. I have not received an invite to access the portal, set up my evaluators and complete my self-review, what do I do? Reach out to [email protected] for additional assistance

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Appendix A

College of Lake County Values

Purpose Culture of Purpose: We believe in the transformative power of education and our open access mission. We commit to engaging collaboratively with our communities, providing innovative education and workforce solutions to address social, environmental and economic issues. We commit to nurturing the physical, emotional, social, occupational and intellectual growth of students, employees and community members.

Employee Commitments: • Be student-focused every day in every action and every decision • Strategically use resources to achieve the priorities of student success, growth and workforce needs • Grow personal knowledge about the diverse communities of Lake County to inform actions • Proactively anticipate the current and future needs of students, the community and the workforce • Develop personal health and wellness • Uphold the College’s sustainability principles and practices

Integrity Culture of Integrity: We believe in upholding integrity in our words and actions to support our students, our team and the College. We commit to holding ourselves personally responsible and accountable for living the CLC values each day.

Employee Commitments: • Demonstrate sound ethical judgment in decision making • Be a responsible and good steward of College and taxpayer resources, including protecting and

respecting its assets • Do what is right when no one is looking • Accept personal responsibility and accountability for actions • Be dependable, honest and trustworthy • Uphold civility and emotional integrity with others; listen patiently and respond respectfully • Protect and respect the safety and security of others • Demonstrate resilience to change and challenges

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Excellence Culture of Excellence: We believe every employee is responsible for contributing to the CLC aspiration of being a higher education organization by which others measure themselves. We commit to achieving excellence in outcomes for students and the College by setting high expectations for ourselves and others.

Employee Commitments: • Pursue personal excellence in one’s area of expertise through lifelong learning and self-improvement • Meet or exceed application of knowledge and skills in expected standards of job description • Support team excellence through engagement and shared learning to improve team outcomes • Contribute to organizational excellence through innovation, creativity and achieving goals • Use data to inform decisions in planning and actions • Exceed the customer service and learning expectations of students and the community • Challenge the status quo and champion change to achieve continuous improvement

_________________________________________________________________________________ Inclusion

Culture of Inclusion: We believe diversity of backgrounds and perspectives is a means to create innovative solutions and achieve College goals. We commit to an inclusive environment that values differences, gives everyone a voice and places importance on the whole system. We commit to upholding equity in practice by ensuring barrier-free policies

and practices so every individual’s unique needs are met.

Employee Commitments: • Use the unique talents and differences of all individuals within the team to achieve results • Personally develop cultural competence and apply knowledge in work each day • Make every team member feel valued, respected, welcome and included in team decisions • Warmly greet all students so they feel connected to CLC • Learn students’ names and stories • Create physical and virtual spaces that reflect and appeal to all student populations • Continuously evaluate policies, work practices and actions with a lens for equity • Suspend bias and judgment of others • Reflect and recognize how individual actions may impact others before acting

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Unity Culture of Unity: We believe in the power of leveraging individual strengths to achieve a common purpose. We commit to a collaborative team environment focused on achieving shared goals and upholding shared accountability.

Employee Commitments: • Foster a sense of camaraderie and loyalty that bonds the overall CLC team together • Engage in shared problem solving within teams and across the College • Be transparent and build trusting relationships within teams and across departments • Practice effective and open communication and conflict resolution • Support the success of others through one’s own words and actions • Engage as a member of the College community in events, shared governance and student activities

Compassion Culture of Compassion: We believe every employee is responsible for the well-being of students and one another. We commit to an environment of care by showing kindness and a willingness to help others.

Employee Commitments:

• Extend kindness, care and a willingness to help others in all situations • Listen actively, responsively and with empathy • Be accepting and express gratitude • Adopt a teaching and mentoring mindset to provide others with guidance and insight • Advocate for and support others by expressing encouragement and linking them with resources • Seek to understand the needs, perspectives and challenges of others.

performance review user guide

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