by Alison Green
Be honest and straightforward with negative feedback.
However, in several other key areas, the results were not what we would have wanted. Satisfaction is the most notable one. You’ll need to improve those numbers by doing more around some of the specific levers we’ve identified, including building tech capabilities for the regions more quickly and taking on regional connectivity and remote access issues more aggressively. The Web site result was mixed. It was an aggressive goal, but it might have been reachable if you’d prioritized hiring J.S. earlier in the year.
SECTION II. DEMONSTRATING PERFORMANCE FACTORS
To what degree did this person demonstrate each of the core values and essential skills?
Core values Description Rating
E: exceeds expectations
M: meets expectations
P: partially meets expectations
D: does not meet expectations
Relentless pursuit of results We are determined to achieve ambitious, measurable results in working toward our vision. As a result, we continue pursuing our end goals despite the constraints or obstacles we encounter along the way, and we work toward those goals with a sense of urgency. M
Good thinking We push ourselves to think critically about all that we do, approaching each issue and decision with rigor and always searching for the best idea. M
Collective impact We assume responsibility for the success of our broader movement and contribute toward increasing our collective impact. P
Constant learning We reflect on and draw lessons from previous experiences and apply them to do even better in future endeavors. We also seek out feedback and resources to help meet our goals. D
Respect and humility We approach others in a way that demonstrates that we value them and their contributions and have high expectations of what they can contribute. We are cognizant of the limitations of our own experience and value others’ perspectives. M
Personal responsibility We do our best in all that we take on and assume ownership for producing the best possible result in our area of work. P
Positive outlook We establish big goals and greet new ideas with a sense of possibility. We assume the best in others and treat them with a generosity of spirit. M
Essential Skills Description Rating
Problem solving Identifies issues, effectively structures problems, analyzes data to produce insights, and generates wise, actionable recommendations. M
Communication Produces strong written documents, edits documents effectively, engages in effective verbal communication—one-on-one and small group—and conducts effective large-group presentations. P
Organization Prioritizes tasks effectively, accomplishes tasks efficiently, follows through on all commitments, breaks down large projects to make them manageable, effectively manages complex projects involving multiple actors. P
Management Builds a team of high-performing staff members, appropriately structures jobs so that staff members can succeed, develops and motivates staff members, acts from the perspective of an organizational leader, manages other managers effectively to accomplish goals. M
External relations Serves as an effective ambassador, builds connections, and maintains relationships with outside constituents. P
Staying current on latest technology Stays up to date on latest technological developments and how companies can use them to improve performance and draws on this base of knowledge to address organizational challenges. P
Comments: In what priority areas of performance (values and skills) did the staff member excel? In what areas is improvement needed?
As with the results you got this year, there are some positives here but also some important areas for improvement. I want to start by recognizing your improvement on respect and humility and positive outlook. I know you’ve been more conscious of how you approach others, including showing people that you respect what they bring to the table and making sure that you address problems head-on instead of leaving them to simmer, and I think your efforts have borne fruit.
Of all our core values, the area where I think you have the most potential for improvement is personal responsibility. You are sometimes good on this score, like last year when you got the servers up and running quickly. But there are other situations, like with the Web site, where you seem content to have circumstances determine project outcomes. What I want to see—and the online regional reporting system will be a good test—is that you take full responsibility for making it a success. At the start, this means when people are vague about what they want, you ask lots of questions, show them examples of other systems, and insist on figuring out what they will and won’t like so the end product works well. Then you’d need to plan backward to figure out what needs to happen by when in order to bring it in by the deadline. And in that plan, you should build in enough of a cushion so that when hurdles inevitably emerge, you have time to deal with them rather than allowing circumstance to determine whether you succeed. If you do that, I think you can get to where I’d like to see you get, which is making our technology work at an exemplary level.
Be as specific as possible about what success looks like.
On skills, one area to highlight is organization, where things seem to have improved, but there’s still room for improvement. Personally I’m still not 100 percent confident you’ll follow through when you tell me you’ll do something. To flag a recent example, we had agreed you would send me your evaluation of S.T. before you conducted the meeting so we could touch base about the overall message, and that did not happen. This is a key area to improve in quickly.
Where relevant, cite specific examples.
SECTION III. SUMMARY ASSESSMENT, NEXT STEPS, AND TENURE CONSIDERATIONS
Overall performance rating:
Exceeds expectations Meets expectations
Partially meets expectations Does not meet expectations
How is the staff member performing overall? What are the most notable areas of strength? What are the next steps for growth or improvement? To what extent does continuing in this role make sense?
As I said initially, your performance this year was mixed, and we need it to continue to improve.
Put the headline assessment up front, and, again, be straightforward and honest.
On the positive side, you have built a technology infrastructure that works well overall and helps people do their jobs much more effectively than they were able to before. You have also instilled a strong ethic in your team of responding to “client” needs and have adjusted your style to fit our culture, which has led to smoother communication all around.
However, we need more from you in order to maximize our effectiveness as an organization.
What I’d like you to focus on as you move forward is the personal responsibility piece I mentioned in the previous section. Probably the best place to start is with the online regional reporting system. Taking personal responsibility for that process would mean talking in the next month to the regional directors who tend to have the most to say about technology and getting their thoughts on what they would like to see. Then draw up a blueprint of a proposed system and get them on board early in terms of functionality, output data, interface design, and so forth. Then, if things shift along the way, make sure the regional directors have a chance to weigh in on the options. Doing all the little things to ensure that you build a reporting system people love won’t be easy, but you have the skill, so it really will come down to taking personal responsibility for making it happen. If you commit yourself to taking this to the next level, I believe that you can do it.
Be specific about next steps where appropriate.
I’m looking forward to our discussion on this, and let’s also plan to revisit it again at the end of February.
TOOL 7.4
SAMPLE COMPLETED EVALUATION FORM FOR A STRONG ASSESSMENT
STAFF EVALUATION FORM
Rating Scale
Exceeds expectations—Consistently delivers exceptional
results; is a model for others to follow; rare.
Meets expectations—Consistently meets expectations in all areas.
Partially meets expectations—Meets expectations in some areas but needs improvement in others.
Does not meet expectations—Needs significant improvement quickly.
Employee name, position Jesse Secrest, Development Director
Manager name, position Julia Torres, Managing Director
Review period January–December 2011
Date of review December 8, 2011
Reviewed by Self Manager
SECTION I. GETTING RESULTS
(Mark important objectives and/or measures of success in bold)
Measurable Goal Result(s) Rating
E: exceeds expectations
M: meets expectations
P: partially meets expectations
D: does not meet expectations
Raise operating funding to $12.5 million $12.8 million E
Secure $2 million federal funding for following FY (2009) $1.8 million M
Increase number of individual donors giving at least $5K to 150 170 E
Comments: To what extent did the staff member achieve the objectives for the position this past period? Did the staff member complete the key steps necessary to reach the objectives?
In short, I think your results were pretty spectacular. Even in a year when the economy was only so-so, we’re on track to exceed our funding goal by roughly $300K. Not too shabby! We did this by focusing on key areas within regions, maximizing contributions from numerous national funders, and turning things around from the previous year in terms of ongoing funding at the federal level.
Even in a strong evaluation, identify the path for the person to get to the next level.
Going forward, in addition to just generally keeping up the great work and doing what you’re doing, the main area I think you should focus on more is being out in the regions (physically and virtually), proactively engaging with and serving as a resource to regional directors. (To be clear, the regional directors all report that you’re incredibly helpful, but in several cases it’s also clear that deeper engagement would be valuable, especially for newer folks who are still learning.) Identifying the key levers that can take things to a higher level in particular regions will be valuable, particularly as our growth rate slows in more well-developed regions.
SECTION II. DEMONSTRATING PERFORMANCE FACTORS
To what degree did this person demonstrate each of the core values and essential skills?
Core Value Description Rating
E: exceeds expectations
M: meets expectations
P: partially meets expectations
D: does not meet expectations
Relentless pursuit of results We are determined to achieve ambitious, measurable results in working toward our vision. As a result, we continue pursuing our end goals despite the constraints or obstacles we encounter along the way, and we work toward those goals with a sense of urgency. E
Good thinking We push ourselves to think critically about all that we do, approaching each issue and decision with rigor and always searching for the best idea. E
Collective impact We assume responsibility for the success of our broader movement and contribute toward increasing our collective impact. E
Constant learning We reflect on and draw lessons from previous experiences and apply them to do even better in future endeavors. We also seek out feedback and resources to help meet our goals. E
Respect and humility We approach others in a way that demonstrates that we value them and their contributions and have high expectations of what they can contribute. We are cognizant of the limitations of our own experience and value others’ perspectives. E
Personal responsibility We do our best in all that we take on and assume ownership for producing the best possible result in our area of work. E
Positive outlook We establish big goals and greet new ideas with a sense of possibility. We assume the best in others and treat them with a generosity of spirit. M
To what degree did this person demonstrate each of the skills key to success in the position?
Essential Skills Description Rating
Problem solving Identifies issues, effectively structures problems, analyzes data to produce insights, and generates wise, actionable recommendations. E
Communication Produces strong written documents, edits documents effectively, engages in effective verbal communication—one-on-one and small group—and conducts effective large-group presentations. E
Organization Prioritizes tasks effectively, accomplishes tasks efficiently, follows through on all commitments, breaks down large projects to make them manageable, effectively manages complex projects involving multiple actors. M
Management Builds a team of high-performing staff members, appropriately structures jobs so that staff members can succeed, develops and motivates staff members, acts from the perspective of an organizational leader, manages other managers effectively to accomplish goals. E
External relations Serves as an effective ambassador, builds connections, and maintains relationships with outside constituents. E
Comments: In what priority areas of performance (values and skills) did the staff member excel? In what areas is improvement needed?
As your exemplary ratings indicate, you embody our core values as well as anyone in the organization. A couple of particularly noteworthy areas:
Relentless pursuit of results: You continued pursuing every last channel relentlessly, turned around applications for funds at the last minute, etc.
Collective impact: H.G. said it well in her recent e-mail to you on this, where she alluded to your pushing us to pursue the additional channels “even though you knew it would create an added burden for the development team and despite the fact that it had nothing to do with your overall funding goal.”
Be detailed even in a strong review. It’s a great opportunity to let a high performer know he or she is valued, which will be a big factor in retaining this person.
You’re also operating at an exceptionally high level when it comes to skills:
Problem solving: It’s hard to overstate your strengths as a thinker. On so many occasions over the past year, you’ve exercised great judgment about which levers we should pursue and how we should pursue them. One great example is the 2011–2012 funding memo you wrote, which I think does a great job of recognizing where we stand and what our realistic opportunities and constraints going forward may be.
Organization: I’d be interested to hear whether you think this has improved. My sense is that you have gotten better in terms of prioritizing work and that this area may come down to management and hiring the right people. The fact that things like end-of-year giving are rolling forward speaks well of your ability to take big projects and break them down. At the same time, you might think about whether there are any systems you could put in place to help guarantee that a big project (like the fund initiative) meets its deadline and stays on track, perhaps by setting up additional padding around deadlines.
Management: Your greatest management achievement this year was doing an outstanding job managing the makeup of your team, notably around transitioning out S.H., bringing on L.F. and H.W., and retaining M.K. Your team feels that you’re an incredibly helpful, accessible resource. This is not a big deal, but just so I don’t lose it: one person wrote that “it’d be helpful if he could provide more feedback, good and bad, on a regular basis.”
SECTION III. SUMMARY ASSESSMENT, NEXT STEPS, AND TENURE CONSIDERATIONS
Overall performance rating:
Exceeds expectations Meets expectations
Partially meets expectations Does not meet expectations
How is the staff member performing overall? What are the most notable areas of strength? What are the next steps for growth or improvement? To what extent does continuing in this role make sense?
This should be pretty clear by now, but I
think you had an outstanding year and that you’re operating at an amazingly high level. You led us to spectacular results on overall funding and awards, you’ve made progress in areas for development that we talked about last year (management most prominent among them), and you’ve done even more to be an essential contributor to the broader discussions around the future of our organization.
In terms of areas to focus on going forward, the one thing I’d flag is what I mentioned in the goals section: engaging with RDs to identify key levers. I think that will be essential for us to continue meeting our considerable funding needs.
Are you ready to sign the 2015 contract?
Seriously, I know we’ll be having lots of discussions re: your future plans as part of our planning around organizational capacity for the long-term plan, and I’m assuming we’ll talk about this then.
With your superstar performers, use the evaluation process as a retention tool and an entry point into discussions about their future with your organization.
CHAPTER 8
RETAINING YOUR BEST
So now that you have great staffers, you’re set for life, right? Wrong. As it turns out, people leave jobs. And there’s nothing worse for a manager than having a stellar employee tell you that she has accepted another offer.
As a manager, retaining your best people is a critically important part of your job. Since you’re trying to get great results, and you know the right people are key here, you need to make sure that your best employees stay. You can’t lock them to their desks (we’ve tried! but these are high performers—they can break locks!), but you can create a situation that they won’t want to leave. You do this by being strategic about retention in the same way you’d be strategic about anything else you don’t want to leave to chance, like fundraising or program design. Treat your retention efforts like as much of a priority as anything else you care about, and include retention on your to-do lists or in your quarterly plans. Even just writing, “Do everything I can to keep Miguel,” on your plan for the quarter can help keep the goal at the front of your mind. (See Tool 8.1.)
