Good Employee Evaluation is not Formal Evaluation

It may very well be that maybe the best employee evaluations have no formal evaluation procedures at all. Performance improvement should be about relationships and communication rather than documents.

Right now there is a lot of national criticism of the education profession alleging that incompetents are allowed to continue practicing. There is growing public demand for more stringent evaluation procedures for educators, with the thinking that stronger evaluation systems will create stronger employees. So state legislatures are getting into the act and trying to define how evaluations should take place.

Let's face it: if it were possible for quality to be legislated, we would have done it years ago, and we would not be concerned with it now.

The problem with the concept of evaluation as it is defined by code and implemented in practice is that it inherently becomes a negative process. Supervisors must keep score on a secret tally sheet and reveal their findings at a given time when the summative evaluation takes place.

What is missing from this concept is the on-going communication and coaching that should be taking place between the evaluator and his or her charge. In the classrooms, instructors teach and communicate with students on a daily basis so those students will be successful by the conclusion of the class. On the sports field, coaches do not silently watch their athletes only to set an appointment to later review their mistakes. Teaching and coaching are dependent upon open and constant communication.

The key to making this system effective is to develop a climate of trust and open communication where all parties understand that everyone's goal is to make the school as effective and successful as possible for the students. Certainly there can be a place for an annual review. But let the annual performance conference be about setting challenging goals for the growth of each individual and setting up personal learning plans to help the educator achieve those goals.

Let's make evaluation about getting better rather than finding fault.

Image creator: David Castillo Dominici

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Everyone Knows Who the Boss Is

I heard a horror story from a friend. She was telling her boss when she was planning her vacation and when she would need time off. Her boss expressed concerns about having enough people on staff at any given time--a legitimate concern. However, she also expressed her equally legitimate concern about when her greater family would need her, and he replied, “You will take your vacation when I say because I am the boss!”

Yikes! I have been an administrator for 20 years, and I have served 15 years as a superintendent of schools--the chief executive officer for the board of directors for a public school district. In all that time, I have never had to remind a single staff member that I had executive authority over them. I always felt it was crystal clear to them without any reminders from me.

It must have been a very insecure person indeed to feel so inferior that he had to point out to one of his charges, “Look at me! I am somebody important! And I can tell you what to do!”

The point is this: employees know who the boss is. They know what it means. They generally respect the person in that position, and they often defer to their boss’ ideas.

So as an administrator, you need the feedback of your subordinates and staff to be your most effective. Do you cultivate this? Do you encourage the input of employees? A good boss not only asks for opinions but also compliments dissenting ideas.

When you are attending a team meeting, do you jump into the conversation right away? Do you try to steer the meeting? Or do you hang back and let people bring forth their thoughts before you weigh in? The boss’ opinion can be a sledgehammer at the table. Make sure you use it judiciously.