Creating Effective Staff Performance Practices

Just as students begin the year with fresh notebooks and new goals, staff too deserve space for growth, feedback, and encouragement that keeps their work meaningful.

The start of a new school year is an exciting time: staff energy levels are at an all-time high after a restorative summer break, students look forward to seeing their friends again, and parents are relieved to return to a more structured routine.

Just as the new school year provides students with a fresh canvas to demonstrate learning, growth, and achievements, the new school year is also an opportunity for staff to set new professional growth and performance goals. Just as administrators and teachers plan educational targets and set goals for student growth, there is great value and benefit in setting goals and expectations for staff that support performance, professional growth, communication, and feedback.

Most employers know it is good practice to set employee goals, monitor performance, and have a formal evaluation discussion at least once a year. In many organizations, the outcomes of these performance reviews dictate bonus entitlements, salary increases, and promotions, so a lot of design and thought is given to setting performance targets and measures.

However, through my years of experience working in large and small organizations, I can unequivocally state that the performance appraisal process is likely the most dreaded and unpopular process for leaders and employees. Leaders find it time-consuming and often have difficulty identifying meaningful performance targets that can be quantifiably measured. Leaders often expect employees to come up with their own targets and measures, a challenging task for them. Both parties find the review meeting at the end of the year superficial and sometimes irrelevant, as performance targets set at the beginning of the year often do not capture the reality of what the organization and the employee experienced over the course of the year. In fact, surveys show that annual performance review meetings are a significant source of stress and discomfort for all parties involved. Worse, these processes did not significantly improve performance.

So, is the solution to do away with performance setting and reviews in their entirety? The answer is a definitive “no.” We just need to rethink how we measure and provide feedback on employee performance.

Extensive research into employee engagement consistently shows several factors that create high levels of employee engagement. These factors include mutual trust and confidence in leadership, feeling cared for by the organization, performing fulfilling work that supports a mission and vision that aligns with their values, receiving feedback and recognition and finally, the opportunity for growth. In schools, particularly where there still exists an acute shortage of educators, ensuring employees remain engaged is critical to retaining existing staff and attracting new staff.

An effective performance and development process supports employee engagement by creating transparent communication between staff and their managers, focusing everyone on the school’s mission, and providing an opportunity for employees to receive meaningful feedback and recognition that supports their professional growth. The following are some good practices that schools may want to consider, particularly at the beginning of the school year.

“An effective performance and development process not only builds trust and transparency, but also connects daily work to the larger mission of the school, offering feedback and recognition that sustain professional growth.”

Setting and communicating performance standards and expectations

I sat in a classroom last week listening to my daughter’s grade 6 teacher talk about her hopes for her students for this year. She articulated her expectations for student behaviour and the milestones to be reached by the end of the year, how those milestones will be assessed and the support she will provide to support the students’ achievements. This teacher also stated that things will occur during the school year that will create challenges and opportunities for her students and expects to be able to adjust those expectations accordingly. This excellent example of a process that supports individual performance and growth can be applied to adults in a work environment in specific ways.

Whether individually or in a team with the same expected outcomes (for example the teaching team for a grade 6 cohort), sit down with your staff member or team and talk about each other’s hopes and expectations for the year. Share relevant objectives from the operational plan and identify the contributions or impact your staff member can have in supporting achieving those goals. Employees feel their efforts are important and impactful when their individual goals are linked to those of the organization, and this helps sustain staff when they face challenges in their day-to-day jobs.
Performance goals and expectations should ideally encompass tangible, concrete deliverables as well as more subjective behavioural goals that contribute to a collaborative, supportive work environment.
Consider articulating where you want to be at the end of the year and then set priorities or goals with a shorter timeframe, like a school term, so that review discussions are more timely and relevant to what’s actually happening. Setting goals with a shorter time frame also allows for greater agility for adjustments when priorities change which also applies to professional development and learning goals.

Reviewing performance

Research and experience show that continuous feedback provides a much better experience for both employee and leader and leads to more relevant, engaging, and productive conversations than one or two formal performance evaluations each year. Shorter, more frequent conversations require less preparation, are a more efficient use of time, and provide a chance for more immediate recognition of performance. Consider using the following strategies:

Set up a monthly check-in meeting to review progress towards achieving that term’s performance and development goals. The employee should consider “What am I doing that I should keep doing and what am I doing that I should change?”
Even a short check-in is better than no check-in. As a leader, it is essential to commit to attending these meetings when they are scheduled. Frequent cancellations and postponements communicate to employee that they are not a priority.
With more frequent conversations occurring during the year, the importance and necessity for an individual annual review meeting is lessened, but there is still value to wrapping up in June with a conversation that focuses on the achievements of the year. Some organizations may do this as a team or department rather than individual meetings. Still, organizations should recognize the achievement of personal and organizational priorities.

Effective performance and review processes can make all the difference to an individual’s and an organization’s success. At the heart of it, these steps are all about creating opportunities for connection, exchanging important information, and demonstrating recognition and care for staff. The majority of your school’s staff are there because they believe in your mission and they come to school each day wanting to contribute and do good work. Effective performance processes help ensure they know that work is meaningful.

Wendy Leong, CPHR
SCSBC Human Resources Consultant