PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS CONCERNING: POSITION DESCRIPTIONS, SELF-ASSESSMENTS AND EVALUATIONS Find the question you need answered and click to the section with the answer, or just click to the following section: All Employees Supervisors Orgn Managers ALL EMPLOYEES: FAQ S (back to top) Why is Performance Management important to me as an employee? Answer: Performance management allows an employee the opportunity to understand their job duties, responsibilities and associated performance standards through the establishment of mutually understood standards for measuring performance; plus receiving feedback on how they are performing as well as areas for improvement. Employees will further enhance their job performance and professional development. How do I get to the Performance Management System? Answer: You can access the epm system at https://apps.texastech.edu/hr_epm/hr_epm/hr_epm or use links on the HSC Employee Tab on your WebRaider portal or from the Performance management website on the HR Home Page at http://www.ttuhsc.edu/hr/performance.aspx I think my Position Description needs to be changed. How do I do that? 1
Answer: Ask your supervisor to sit down with you and review your Position Description and decide on any changes that need to be made to the document. When your supervisor makes the changes, you will receive an email to access the epm system and electronically sign the PD. What time period is the evaluation for? Answer: Evaluations are for a calendar year time period, January through December. Do I have to do a self-assessment? What should I write about? Answer: Employees are highly encouraged to take the opportunity to complete a Self-Assessment, although it is not a mandatory part of the Evaluation process. Look for tips on how to complete your selfassessment on the Performance Management website. Your self-assessment should not be a copy of your job functions from your Position Description. Look back over the year and write about the portions of your job where you excelled or highlight the completion of special projects. This is also your opportunity to let your supervisor know about any improvement suggestions you have as well as any training classes you would like to attend or new skills/functions you would like to learn. What if I have not had time to accomplish the goals set last year? Will that keep me from getting a merit increase? Answer: The eligibility for a merit increase (if a merit pool is approved) is based on the overall score of your Evaluation. Your supervisor can extend your goals period if circumstances of your job kept you from being able to successfully complete the goals set during your last Evaluation. In that case, the noncompletion will not affect your overall score. What if I do not get an overall score of 4? Will I not get a merit increase? Answer: The guidelines for eligibility for merit, if announced, will be set in the budget prep instructions. It is anticipated that an overall score of 4 will be a factor in merit eligibility. If I do not get at least a 4, can I appeal my Evaluation? Answer: An employee may submit a written statement concerning their Evaluation to Human Resources. That statement will become a permanent part of the employee s personnel file. An employee may also follow the complaint procedure found in OP 70.10. However, this will not change your overall score. An employee must electronically sign their evaluation, even if they do not agree with the content. How is this years rating going to be influenced by last years rating? Answer: This year s rating is not influenced by last year s rating. 2
Is any increase/decrease in overall rating legitimate and justified? Answer: An increase or decrease in an overall rating compared to the previous year may be justified by the performance of the employee over the past year as determined by the supervisor. Can my supervisor s assistant complete my Evaluation? Answer: An assistant can help/edit an evaluation if set as a Proxy by the supervisor. However, only the supervisor can submit their employee s Evaluation for signature. Is there anything else I need to do this year along with my evaluation? Answer: Yes, all employees will be required to sign a new Confidentiality form that will be submitted to your local HR office. The form can be found at http://www.ttuhsc.edu/hsc/op/op52/op5209b.pdf SUPERVISOR S FAQ S (back to top) Why is Performance Management important to me as a supervisor? Answer: Performance Management provides supervisors with a process to establish and communicate performance standards and job-related expectations with their employees. This is increase organizational effectiveness by developing employees potential and provides documentation that supports employment related promotion, retention, discipline, and salary decisions. The system is not working right for me, who should I contact? Answer: Please contact your local Human Resources office for assistance with system issues. What if I don t have to update a Position Description, do I need to have another one for this cycle? Answer: No, the employee s 2017 Evaluation will populate with the job functions from the latest completed Position Description in the system. If there was not an update to last year s Position Description, those job functions, etc. will fill this year s Evaluation form. When should an employee s Position Description be updated if their role changed in December? Answer: The employee should be evaluated using the position description up to the change in duties in December. When you open an evaluation for an employee, the most recent completed Position 3
Description will populate the evaluation form. So, do not complete/submit a new Position Description for that employee until after you have submitted the evaluation for the job held up to the change in December. Where do I find an organization chart? Answer: Most departmental administrators have an organization chart of your department for you to use with Position Descriptions. There are templates for organization charts available in Word and other software applications. How do I clone and update a Position Description? Answer: Attend the Advanced Position Description hands on class or review the online guide Performance Management webpage at http://www.ttuhsc.edu/hr/performance.aspx. I want my admin person to do the Position Description updating, how do I accomplish that? Answer: You may set your admin employee as your Proxy to help with editing. However, only the supervisor can Submit for Signature. How will my employee know what they will be evaluated on? Answer: The supervisor should review employees Position Descriptions with them routinely throughout the year. There should not be any surprises to the employee when they see their evaluation. Is a score of 4 going to be the breaking point for a merit increase this year? Answer: It is not known at this time if a merit program will exist for FY 18. However, if merit is available, the eligibility will be a score of 4 or higher. How is this years rating going to be influenced by last years rating? Answer: Last year s rating does not affect this year s rating. The only sections of the Evaluation that are carried over from the previous Evaluation are the performance improvement and goals plans. What should I do if I started an Evaluation form but the information from the Position Description did not transfer over? 4
Answer: Be sure that the Position Description has been submitted and signed before opening an Evaluation form for an employee. If you opened the Evaluation form before there was a fully signed Position Description, you must delete the Evaluation form and begin again. Do I send a printed copy of the Evaluation to my Human Resources office? Answer: No, all documents from the epm system are electronically processed to the employee s file. Will it be possible for administrative assistants to enter in the Position Description and Evaluation information on behalf of faculty/chairs? Answer: An administrative assistant can be designated as a Proxy by the faculty/supervisor on the Position Description or an Evaluation and then may edit the documents at their instruction, but cannot Submit for Signature. When are staff Evaluations due in 2018? Answer: Staff Evaluations are due on February 28, 2018. What other employment actions would/could be affected by the annual Evaluation? Answer: Staff Evaluations are used in many HR processes, such as promotion, reclassification, wage determination, and discipline. Should I just ensure that all my employees at least get a 4.0 overall score on the evaluation if that is the cut off to receive a merit increase? Answer: No. Remember that the evaluation should be an accurate reflection of the employee s performance. This tool should be used as a communication between the employee and supervisor for coaching the employee. It should be as objective as possible. It is the supervisor s responsibility to ensure this form is accurate and often that means having difficult conversations about the employee s performance. Also remember, that this form will be looked at in considering all the above actions addressed in the question above. ORGN MANAGERS FAQ S: (back to top) Why is Performance Management important to me as an ORGN Manager? Answer: The purpose of Performance Management, which includes the performance evaluation, is to optimize the talent of our most important resource, our employees, in support of the mission and vision of TTUHSC. Performance Management supports an ORGN Manager s responsibilities for ensuring that the reporting relations between supervisors and employees in their department are correct in the PM system, 5
confirming and maintaining the reporting relationships throughout the year and consulting with the HR Workforce Relations office on proposed re-organizations within the department. What should I do to get the process started for this cycle? Answer: A suggested approach is to first meet with departmental supervisors to set a timeline for completion of this year s evaluation process. Include: Position Descriptions: Review and update PD s so that employees will be evaluated on correct job functions; Self- Assessments: Encourage all employees to complete self-assessments and then supervisors follow-up and use it appropriately in the evaluation process; Evaluations: Discuss fair, accurate and equitable scoring of evaluations throughout your department. Review the rating scale with the supervisors who will be completing evaluations: 1 Consistently below expectations 2 Frequently below expectations 3 Occasionally below expectations 4 Meets expectations 5 Occasionally above expectations 6 Frequently above expectations 7 Consistently above expectations Then, establish your department s goals and objectives for rating employees, especially for scores of 4 through 7. How do I change the supervisor for an employee? Answer: You can change the supervisor of any employee in your orgn by accessing the Supervisor Maintenance tab. Detailed instructions can be found on the Performance Management webpage How can I see the documents (Position Descriptions and Evaluations) for my whole department? Answer: As an orgn manager you will see all documents for the employees in your ogrn in your listings in the epm system.. 6