SECTION 8.05 INTRODUCTION
Last
Update: 12/08
Clarity of performance expectations and appropriate
feedback are keys to enhancing successful performance on the job. These two
concepts underlie the basic philosophy of the State of
Iowa Performance Planning and Evaluation
system.
Clarity of performance expectations includes the following components:
- Focus on the most
critical parts of the job
- Results-orientation
- Connection to the agency’s mission and the position’s contribution
to achieving it
- Succinct, concretely described performance expectations
- Achievable
- Employee input as applicable
Appropriate feedback includes the following components:
- Timely, both in relation to specific accomplishments or problems
and in relation to the overall evaluation period
- Objective, based on concrete results and observations;
non-judgmental
- Formal and informal
- Solution/enhancement oriented; where problems have been evident,
focuses on how to avoid in the
future; where performance has been exceptional, focuses
on how to leverage this achievement to future performance as well as
career development for the employee
- Two-way communication; the supervisor clarifies expectations and
assesses performance for the employee and then listens to the employee’s
view of performance achievement and future needs
The State of
Iowa Performance
Planning and Evaluation System is also flexible in its open-ended
nature in order to cover the wide range of work performed in
Iowa state government. Though the
Performance Planning and Evaluation form is based on a set format, each element
of the form requires input from the supervisor or agency leadership.
The form can be
used
by and for any employee in any agency, regardless of job assignment or agency
philosophy.
The State of
Iowa
Performance Planning and Evaluation System is an
on-going cycle. It begins with the supervisor preparing the Individual
Performance Plan for the employee’s upcoming performance evaluation period. The
employee may be involved in this preparation. Once the Individual Performance
Plan has been discussed with the
employee and the employee has had the opportunity to clarify expectations, the
Plan is signed by both the employee and the supervisor and is implemented.
Throughout the next several months, the supervisor monitors performance by
collecting various stat
us reports and other products produced by the
employee. These are
used as the
basis of the Evaluation at the end of the performance evaluation period.
Since DAS Administrative Rule 11—62.2(2) requires
that each employee receive a performance evaluation every 12 months, most
evaluation periods are one year in length. Many coincide with the dates for
within grade pay increase eligibility, although evaluation period dates are not
the same as these dates. Evaluation periods can be less than a year,
particularly where for various reasons performance needs to be monitored more closely.
Probationary
employees
– Though performance evaluation during the probationary period is not required
by administrative rule, probationary employees need more frequent and specific
feedback on their performance during their first six months in the job. To
promote a successful probationary period, probationary employees should receive
an individual performance plan on or shortly after their first day on the job.
They should receive periodic informal feedback throughout the probationary
period, culminating in a formal evaluation just prior to their becoming permanent.
Performance evaluation covers all employees in the
Executive Branch, excluding employees of the Board of Regents. Exit performance
evaluations are also required on or before the last day the employee moves to
another section, bureau, division or agency of state government. (DAS
Administrative Rule 11—62.2(2), second paragraph) covering the period between
the previous review up to the movement to the other position. A copy of the exit performance evaluation is to
be forwarded to the new supervisor.