OK training tribute.

              Employee Performance Evaluations - Best Practices! By Jeannette Williams
OPM Has a Brand NEW Training Center
Talk about making Lemonade when handed Lemons! OPM experienced some water damage last summer in which the basement of the Jim Thorpe building was flooded. They have since remodeled and have installed not only a very spacious training room equipped with audio visual and a smart board, but also a 15 person computer lab. This new space will help off-set cost spent on classes hosted at Rose State College.
OK Training Tribute Committee.
Hosted by the Office of Personnel Management
May 2011
Volume 2, Issue 3
OK Training Tribute
What is an employee evaluation? When should an employee evalua-tion be done? Where should an em-ployee evaluation take place? Why give an employee evaluation? These are just a few questions that should be asked and answered when preparing to evaluate an employee’s job performance.
A performance evaluation has two basic objectives: 1) To review and record the past year’s performance against the job description and against the goals and objectives laid out in the previous year’s evalua-tion; 2) To discuss and record goals and objectives for the next year as based on a current job description, department goals and career devel-opment.
The state’s Performance Manage-ment Process is designed to estab-lish a shared understanding between the employee and the supervisor about what is to be accomplished and how it is to be accomplished. It enables the supervisor the opportu-nity to plan, coach and review the
employee’s job performance. An employee is evaluated at a mini-mum of once per year; however, an employee can and should be evaluated more often if there are performance problems.
Conducting an employee evalua-tion should not be a stressful situation. The supervisor should work year around collecting data, coaching, and preparing for the evaluation meeting. The meeting should take place in a quiet place with no interruptions.
An evaluation is given to allow for a face to face meeting with the employee and their direct supervi-sor for feedback on the em-ployee’s job performance and to plan for future performance stan-dards and developmental needs for the employee. The perform-ance evaluation also serves as a way to encourage, praise, and re-ward the employee. Although per-formance evaluations can im-prove productivity and employee morale, many managers do not
make them a high priority be-cause they are time-consuming and are sometimes viewed as having little importance because a monetary value is not placed on the evaluation. Even if a monetary value cannot be at-tached to an appraisal, the su-pervisor can still compensate the employee with non-tangible rewards such as; training oppor-tunities, flexible time, creative freedoms; etc.
A focus on results is the central element in appraising an em-ployee’s performance on the job; however, the objective is to improve decision-making at all levels. An evaluation is impor-tant in a results-oriented envi-ronment because it provides feedback on the efficiency, ef-fectiveness and performance of job tasks, observance of poli-cies/procedures, and can be critical to overall agency per-formance and effectiveness.
Continued….
Phone: 405-427-3859
Fax: 405-424-4932
Email: crystal.nolen@mines.ok.gov
Our mission is to distribute the most current and pertinent training news and to collect information regarding unfulfilled needs for training. We hope to be a source of informa-tion for training managers and supervisors throughout Oklahoma.
OK Training Tribute Committee.
Ayana Wilkins (DEQ)
Crystal Nolen (ODM)
Wendy Simpson (DCS)
Lisa Hays (REC)
Jeannette Williams (OSEEGIB)
DHS Practice & Policy Lecture Series
Oklahoma's Building Strong Families Project
May 19th from 12-1pm at the Oklahoma History Center
Continued… Some Do’s and Don'ts of the Performance Evaluation Process:
Do:
 be positive when giving and em-ployee evaluation, even if there are some below standard ratings.
 encourage the employee to give you feedback.
 be consistent in rating your em-ployees.
 use a private, quiet place to con-duct evaluation meeting.
 outline expectations and per-formance standards.
 give positive feedback.
 allow the employee to share in the planning for future expecta-tions.
 be specific, objective, and timely.
 use the employee’s evaluation in promotion decisions.
Don’t:
 have the employee write their own evaluation.
 use the halo effect (rate higher than warranted) in rating an employee to avoid conflict.
 just focus on the negative things.
 write ambiguous comments that leave the employee con-fused.
 use derogatory terms.
 write sexist or racial comments or slurs.
 use threatening comments or speak in a threatening manner.
HRDS courses are offered to cover the Performance Manage-ment Process. All new supervi-sors should attend one of these courses as well as other manag-ers as needed.
This meeting for Financial Managers will offer a timely opportunity to Agenda includes:
 CIO and Director of OSF to present legislative updates and current changes in the state finance systems.
 Proposed agenda item is the discussion of shared services across Okla-homa State agencies.
Thursday June 2nd, 2011 from 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Business Conference Center, MetroTech Auditorium
1900 Springlake Drive, Oklahoma City, OK 73111
OK Financial Managers Association Training
Resources for Training
The Resource Sharing Committee recently hosted our Training Coor-dinators Quarterly Meeting in which we discussed different train-ing venues accessible to Trainers across the state. Listed here are a few good leads if you are looking for a good space to provide a train-ing.
Oklahoma Juvenile Affairs has a training center with Audio visual accessibility, computer labs and
plenty of parking.
OK Department of Health also has a large meeting room.
Real Estate Commission is lo-cated conveniently in the Shepard Mall and has a large multi-purpose room.
Merit Protection has shared space they use with OSEEGIB that is a large meeting space on their 5th floor.
OU DHS has a training center in
Norman is available for a fee and Sarkey's Foundation in Nor-man is also available for groups as large as 100 with full techni-cal abilities.
Lastly, most health departments and tech schools have meeting areas across Oklahoma in the more rural communities.
More resources will be listed on the HRDS website in the future.