ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997 TAG: 9704140115
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: WORKING IT OUT
SOURCE: CAMILLE WRIGHT MILLER
Q: I'm in charge of hiring for an important position in our organization. The last person in that position created problems and finally quit. I hired that person. Any help for making a better choice this time?
A: First, don't hire reactively. Identifying problem characteristics of a poor performer and trying to hire the opposite just creates new problems.
List the skills, attitudes and abilities the ideal candidate should have. Share the list with others and ask for ideas and insights.
Have several members of your organization involved in the interviews. Whether your employees interview individually or as a group, include employees from different departments and with different levels of responsibility.
Because leaders interact with different departments, feedback from all areas is critical. Break from traditional reference checking. Ask finalists for a broad spectrum of references. - another form of the "vertical cross-section." The list should include individuals from several departments at different levels of responsibility. When checking references, ask questions about "how" the individual handled situations. How does the person problem solve? What was the biggest challenge faced and how was it handled?
Take challenges typical to your open position and ask how the candidate has handled similar challenges.
Expanding the process is time consuming but results in a better hiring decision. The benefits significantly outweigh the costs.
Q: My boss said I've been "inflating" performance evaluations. He fears being sued. How do I go from doing evaluations my way to doing them to satisfy my boss?
A: If employee evaluations don't reflect performance, the process isn't serving you, the company or your employees. Employees can't improve if problems aren't identified.
As you establish more objective evaluation standards, take responsibility for them. Don't lay the blame at your supervisor's feet.
If you begin immediately making your standards clear, you'll find much less resentment by the time you conduct formal evaluations.
Performance evaluations serve several purposes. They record excellent or acceptable performance, provide written documentation of poor performance, offer guidelines for improving performance, and offer some protection in the event of a lawsuit.
Supervisors often boost marginal performers to satisfactory on paper, satisfactory ones to good, and good to excellent. That might reduce tension for the moment. However, evaluation "inflation" allows marginal performers to remain marginal, reflects poorly on the supervisor, and places the company at litigation risk.
To transform your process, begin giving immediate feedback frequently. If someone performs marginally, address the performance as it happens. Explain acceptable levels and your expectation.
When performance improves, tell your employee you've noticed. If the level remains unacceptable, say so. Have these conversations frequently and document them. Do this for several months and then formalize your evaluation of work for those months in a memo to each employee. Invite each to meet with you to discuss your memo.
Repeat the memo process about once a month. By talking with employees on a near daily basis and sending carefully spaced memos, you'll change their expectations of your evaluation process. About six weeks before the annual performance evaluation, meet with each employee. Review the memos, tell each when the annual evaluation is scheduled, and ask that they review their progress. Invite them to submit a summary of their progress to you for consideration.
Write the evaluations. Meet with your supervisor and a member of your human resources department to review the evaluations and provide supporting evidence. Ask their help in ensuring the evaluations reflect your organization's standards and that they minimize legal risk.
Conducting accurate performance evaluations is important; however, you can't surprise your employees at the end of the year with newly found honesty. It isn't fair to them, and the resulting anger would be understandable. Changing rules need to be clarified as they are being changed. |--| My father is the one who said, "You should write a work-related column." He continued asking, "Are you writing a column yet?" until I finally said, "yes." This column is dedicated to my father, who died this week after a short illness. To him, and every one who challenges others to do more, be more, and to set their goals higher - Thanks.
Camille Wright Miller,-an organizational behavior sociologist who works in Lexington, answers questions from our readers about workplace issues. Please send them to her in care of The Roanoke Times, Business News Department, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010, or call 981-3100 ext. 498. Please give your name and phone number in case she has questions.
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