NEW PERFORMANCE EVALUATION MANAGEMENT POLICY
PROPOSED JANUARY 1998/UPDATED JANUARY 2002
1.3) NEED FOR THE PROPOSED NEW WRITTEN COUNTY LIBRARY
STRATEGIC CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANNING PROCESS
1.3.1) OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED NEW
STRATEGIC CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANNING PROCESS
The development of a Strategic Career Development Planning Process furthers the mission of the County library department and enhances the overall quality of the workforce within the library system by promoting a climate of continuous learning and professional growth among library employees at all classification levels. It helps sustain library employee performance at a level which meets or exceeds expectations. It enhances career-related skills, knowledge and experience and enables librarians to keep abreast of changes in their fields. It also promotes Affirmative Action objectives.
The Strategic Career Development Planning Process MUST be considered at each stage of the performance evaluation management process because of its value in motivating employees and reinforcing quality customer informantion services. An important component of the performance management process is the development of new work-related skills, knowledge and experience. In short, the strategic career development planning process offers a unique opportunity for all library employees to work collaboratively to improve or build on their work performance.
To accomplish the fundamental County library Mission Statement objectives of serving the information needs of the public, library supervisors must develop standards of work performance in direct collaboration with their subordinate librarians and paraprofessional clerical support staff who actually accomplish the routine day to day goals (duties and related tasks) essential for the library department to be efficiently successful. This process enables librarians to determine just how much time and effort ("motivation") they are willing to exercise in pursuit of their agreed-upon work goals.
Thus, subordinate librarians and clerical support staff must "participate" in determining what degree they are willing to contribute to the overall success of the County library department's effort to accomplish our customer information service mission objectives, within the overall context of a clearly defined reasonable discernible "criterion" of what constitutes "outstanding" customer information services.
Personnel research indicates that when "Work Performance Standards" are developed collaboratively, by supervisors and subordinant employees for whose positions they are being developed, it is more likely that they will:
1) Be appropriate to the requirements of the professional positions
2) Reflect the realities of the work context and conditions
3) Be understood by the librarians and paraprofessionals and supervisors
4) Be accepted by the librarians and paraprofessionals and supervisors
1.3.2) HOW BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS
CAN LEAD TO MORE OUTSTANDING WORK PERFORMANCE
The continuous development of the new skills and knowledge of County library
department employees is essential in today's rapidly changing workplace. In order for the library system to remain competitive and to retain its reputation for excellence, subordinate librarians and clerical support staff should have the latest research information and the ability to use the new technologies, adapt to organizational change, work in "flatter" organizations. This means that cross-functional skills and knowledge are required so the negative impacts of the traditional hierarchical structures can be minimized, and effective work performance can be measured in "teamwork" environments of collaborative work situations.
All County library department employees should recognize that it is essential for them to continue to learn so that they will be effective in their current positions and also be able to move into other positions or accept new responsibilities as work circumstances demand.
1.3.3) RESPONSIBILITY OF LIBRARY ADMINISTRATORS
AND SUPERVISORS TO INITIATE AND FACILITATE THE
STRATEGIC CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANNING PROCESS
Library administrators are fundamentally responsible for initiating the continuous review and modifying the strategic career development planning process. However, there are four main occasions when strategic career development planning should be routinely considered:
1) After definition or review of work performance standards;
2) As a part of the ongoing process of observation and feedback;
3) As the final element of the performance evaluation process;
4) When a librarian or other library employee initiates a request for more training or development opportunities; or
5) When there are motivational problems or controversies reconciling Duty Statement goals with Mission Statement objectives.
At any of these phases in the performance management process, library supervisors should discuss training, education or development opportunities with their librarian subordinates. Supervisors should identify the specific steps to be taken and document a strategy for accomplishing the strategic career development objectives. The documentation should include:
1) A description of the specific career development steps to be taken by the subordinate;
2) The names of those who will assist the subordinate librarians;
3) The end dates for completion of the goals of the Strategic Career Development Plan;
4) A statement of how the successful completion of the goals of the Strategic Career Development Plan will be evaluated.
The Strategic Career Development Plan should be prepared by using the proposed new "Strategic Career Development Plan Worksheet Form" which can be seen by clicking on the following hypertext link:
Go to: Strategic Career Development Plan Worksheet Form
The "Worksheet Form" can be used as both a formal and informal tool to document work performance
related to the Strategic Career Development Goals of librarians. The "Worksheet Form" relates the annual official county library Mission Statement "objectives" to the essential specific professional work goals
of subordinate librarians and the clerical support staff. In short, this is where the ANNUAL
work goals and functions (duties and related tasks) of each librarian are directly related to the overall County
library department's strategic Mission Statement objectives.
DETERMINING STRATEGIC CAREER DEVELOPMENT GOALS
BY USING THE STRATEGIC CAREER PLAN WORKSHEET FORM
Career Development goals and plans should be revised with the needs of the County library department and the needs of each subordinate librarian. The following questions are helpful in determining the "Strategic Career Development Goals" of each librarian:
1) "What are the new work goals or functions that the subordinate librarian or work team must perform in the near term and over the next two to five years?
2) What new knowledge and skills will this subordinate librarian or work team need to develop in order to perform these functions?"
Some of the factors which may be evaluated in deciding whether to authorize the participation of subordinate librarians or a work team in a particular career
development activity are:
1) The subordinate librarian's need for training
2) The subordinate librarian's career plan
3) The strategic Mission Statement objectives of the County library epartment
4) Affirmative action objectives of the County library department
5) The changes in resource allocations of the County library department
6) The advantages of one type of training or education over another
7) The different training needs of different size libraries in different multicultural environments
8) The effect of the determination of development goals on the workload of the librarian or other staff.
PREPARING ASSESSMENT PLANS
Library supervisors are responsible for the continuous assessment of the development needs of librarians and other staff members. As mentioned above, effective preparation of performance development plans, with and for librarians, requires the ability to assess the needs of each County library employee in relation to the needs of the County library department.
Supervisors should help librarians and other staff members set career goals that are consistent with their skills, knowledge, experience and interests by providing feedback based upon their observations and assessment of their abilities, readiness and potential. The assessment should be based on the
actual experience and observation of employee performance and behavior rather than on assumptions and personal biases.
PROVIDING INFORMATION
Library supervisors should support the career development of librarians when they inform them of the options for nd possible barriers to career movement. For example, librarians should be informed about upcoming positions or openings for which they may be qualified, or about budgetary constraints which may inhibit career options or development opportunities.
PROVIDING REFERRALS
Library supervisors should refer librarians and other staff members to the specific persons who can assist them in achieving their performance development goals. Therefore, it is a major responsibility of supervisors to be aware of the appropriate referral sources both within and outside the County library system.
Also, librarians and other staff members may be referred to books, journals, professional associations or other sources of information.
PROVIDING STRATEGIC CAREER
AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Library supervisors should encourage librarians and other employees to focus on
clear, specific and attainable career goals. Library supervisors should assign their
staff duties and related tasks (work roles) which challenge them and provide with the
opportunity to grow. Also, they should provide on-the-job training and refer employees
to classes, workshops, and other educational and developmental opportunities, and
recommend that staff serve on committees, task forces or cross-functional teams when
appropriate for the mutual benefit of the individual staff member and the library department.
To see the next proposal section instantly:
(CLICK on the following link: Section 2.0)
STRATEGY FOR CREATING NEW REACHABLE WRITTEN WORK PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS BY CREATING COLLABORATIVE PARTICIPATORY INTERACTION