Hi all.  Thanks to everyone who has viewed this blog, and everyone that has commented.  I would love it if more people would weigh in…

In this work, I see that currently LAUSD does not have a good classified employee evaluation process in place, let alone an employee performance management process.  However, there are managers, sites, and even departments that do have good programs that they have developed on their own.  If you are aware of any of these, please share that information here.

As we work to develop an employee performance management process, we find that we need to better align the functions within the personnel cycle.  This will help us make the cycle consistent and transparent.  We are starting with updating our job analysis process, as mentioned in my previous blog.  We plan to not only look at the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed for the job, but also look at the competencies (the other or personal characteristics – the Os/Ps of KSAPs, KSAOs).  We also want to ensure that we have a clear understanding of where classifications sit in the District’s organizational hierarchy, what the typical duties are, benchmarks of strong/weak performance, and a variety of other relevant information.  If you are familiar with any good multi-purpose job analysis models that you have used or heard about, please share.  In addition, any recommendations/ suggestions for reporting of the information captured in order to provide information to current and potential employees would be appreciated.

I have a question – please weigh in.  What would you expect to be the outcome/s of a good employee performance management system?

Finally, some links to websites, reports, etc., that are relevant to various phases of this project, and that I found of interest:

§  Civil Service Reform:  Preserving the Promise of Government, City and County of San Francisco (I especially like the line on page 2 that states “Our system has become, in several key aspects, a triumph of process over purpose.”)

§  Performance Management Home Page, Denver Public Schools

§  Management/Administrative Support Performance Evaluation, Albuquerque Public Schools

§  Management/Administrative Support Performance Evaluation Instructions, Albuquerque Public  Schools

§  Performance Management Home Page, U.S. Office of Personnel Management

§  Strategic Plan 2014, Area Two:  Performance Management, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (the CMS site has some great dashboards and metrics, if you are interested in that kind of thing)

Most of you are probably aware that we held our kick-off meeting for the Classified Performance Management Advisory Committee on Monday, May 23, 2011.  In case you have not been to the Supporting All Employees website on LAUSDnet, I have included the meeting agenda, presentation, and notes here.  Our next meeting will not be until September, when most of our schools are back in session.  However, that does not mean we have been idle this summer.

I have conducted some research on best practices in other public agencies, especially in the area of performance evaluation for non-teachers.  I have also done some research, and met with several people that have been working in the area of competency-based models.  My previous post has a link to an easy-to-understand, basic document on competency models.

I have also been working with a team in our classified personnel office to revise the job analysis process.  Currently, LAUSD may go to subject matter experts (SMEs) two or three times in order to review the requirements of a job classification.  One team collects information that they will use to develop the class description and minimum job requirements.  A different team collects information to develop assessment tools.  Yet another team may collect information in order to develop training programs.  While these teams all have a different purpose, this process may seem redundant to the SMEs.  We are developing a multi-purpose job analysis approach that will address all of these areas, as well as additional, relevant information.  We have prepared a draft approach and are preparing to review it with the relevant stakeholders in classified personnel.  We will post it here once we have vetted it.

In the meantime, please post your comments, suggestions, etc., so that we can all stay involved.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Classified Performance Management blog.  I hope to use this as a way not only to send you information, but also to have us all share our thoughts with each other.  Please feel free to share this site with anyone interested in the topic of Employee Performance Management.  Additionally, I welcome all your comments and thoughts on any of our discussion topics.  In case you did not receive it, here is a link to an article titled, “Competencies – New York State Workgroup Final Report.”  It provides some good background on the use of competencies in personnel.  In LAUSD, we use a competency model for classified personnel activities, and we are expanding that throughout the entire employee personnel cycle.