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County employees to face new pay performance evaluation tool - Loudoun County employees looking to be rewarded for work performance now face a new set of assessment tools that will determine when and how they should receive pay increases and bonuses
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Loudoun County Politics
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Date: October 06, 2011 11:51AM
County employees to face new pay performance evaluation tool
Wednesday, Oct. 5 by Crystal Owens
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/county_employees_to_face_new_pay_performance_evaluation_tool898/
Loudoun County employees looking to be rewarded for work performance now face a new set of assessment tools that will determine when and how they should receive pay increases and bonuses.
Supervisors on Oct. 4 voted 7-2 to implement the new standards, which, according to county staff, will put specific objectives and goals in place for employees to meet.
Supervisors Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) and Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) voted against the change, saying the system in place is effective and the new policy is too formal and does not rely enough on department supervisors to determine what they expect from their employees.
The changes will be in effect for fiscal 2013.
Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) initiated the change in June, asking county staff to research the issue.
Waters said the biggest complaint she hears about from county staff and department supervisors is that the rating scale is too generous.
“It seems like when the ratings are done everybody passes,” she said.
The system being utilized now was implemented in 1993. The performance evaluation period coincides with the fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30.
The current system uses a three tier ratings scale. A point methodology is used to identify one of the three overall performance ratings, according to county documents. The system measures performance against overall job duties and responsibilities, but does not necessarily identify specific, measurable objectives to be met.
The new system will lay out specific goals for each employee, conducive to which department they work in, according to county documents.
“I think it is a positive thing to have more dialog and communication between the employee and the supervisor about the expectations and this will help lay it out more clearly,” Waters said.
In addition to changing the ratings scale, the new policy will also require department supervisors to attend performance evaluation training.
However, Burton said he believed the new policy is too formal.
“I’m concerned about taking this approach too far to the point where you’re trying to develop a formula by which you evaluate people and people cannot be evaluated by formula because everyone is different, every situation is different,” Burton said.
Department supervisors should be free to manage their employees as they see fit, said Miller, who cast the other dissenting vote.
“If they want to use written lists, let them decide that. If not, that’s their call. I don’t think it’s appropriate for this Board of Supervisors to be setting workplace policy much below the level of the three people that answer directly to us,” Miller said.
Wednesday, Oct. 5 by Crystal Owens
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/county_employees_to_face_new_pay_performance_evaluation_tool898/
Loudoun County employees looking to be rewarded for work performance now face a new set of assessment tools that will determine when and how they should receive pay increases and bonuses.
Supervisors on Oct. 4 voted 7-2 to implement the new standards, which, according to county staff, will put specific objectives and goals in place for employees to meet.
Supervisors Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) and Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) voted against the change, saying the system in place is effective and the new policy is too formal and does not rely enough on department supervisors to determine what they expect from their employees.
The changes will be in effect for fiscal 2013.
Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) initiated the change in June, asking county staff to research the issue.
Waters said the biggest complaint she hears about from county staff and department supervisors is that the rating scale is too generous.
“It seems like when the ratings are done everybody passes,” she said.
The system being utilized now was implemented in 1993. The performance evaluation period coincides with the fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30.
The current system uses a three tier ratings scale. A point methodology is used to identify one of the three overall performance ratings, according to county documents. The system measures performance against overall job duties and responsibilities, but does not necessarily identify specific, measurable objectives to be met.
The new system will lay out specific goals for each employee, conducive to which department they work in, according to county documents.
“I think it is a positive thing to have more dialog and communication between the employee and the supervisor about the expectations and this will help lay it out more clearly,” Waters said.
In addition to changing the ratings scale, the new policy will also require department supervisors to attend performance evaluation training.
However, Burton said he believed the new policy is too formal.
“I’m concerned about taking this approach too far to the point where you’re trying to develop a formula by which you evaluate people and people cannot be evaluated by formula because everyone is different, every situation is different,” Burton said.
Department supervisors should be free to manage their employees as they see fit, said Miller, who cast the other dissenting vote.
“If they want to use written lists, let them decide that. If not, that’s their call. I don’t think it’s appropriate for this Board of Supervisors to be setting workplace policy much below the level of the three people that answer directly to us,” Miller said.