AHandbookforMeasuringEmployeePerformanceALIGNINGEMPLOYEEPERFORMANCEPLANSWITHORGANIZATIONALGOALSWorkforceCompensationandPerformanceServicePerformanceManagementandIncentiveAwardsDivision PMD–013 September2001AHANDBOOKFORMEASURINGEMPLOYEEPERFORMANCE1FOREWORD...............................................................2CHAPTER1PERFORMANCEMANAGEMENT:BACKGROUNDANDCONTEXT.....................................................4EmployeePerformancePlans.........................................7CHAPTER2DISTINGUISHINGACTIVITIESFROMACCOMPLISHMENTS...........................................12TheBeekeepersandTheirBees............................................12UsingBalancedMeasures.................................................17CategoriesofWork.........................................................18CHAPTER3DEVELOPINGEMPLOYEEPERFORMANCEPLANS....................20Step1:LookattheOverallPicture.......................................25Step2:DetermineWorkUnitAccomplishments........................28MethodA:GoalCascadingMethod.................................29MethodB:Customer-FocusedMethod..............................32MethodC:WorkFlowChartingMethod...........................35Step3:DetermineIndividualAccomplishmentsThatSupportWorkUnitGoals...................................39Step4:ConvertExpectedAccomplishmentsIntoPerformanceElements,IndicatingTypeandPriority.....43Step5:DetermineWorkUnitandIndividualMeasures................47Step6:DevelopWorkUnitandIndividualStandards..................52Step7:DetermineHowToMonitorPerformance.......................61Step8:CheckthePerformancePlan......................................67GuidingPrinciplesforPerformanceMeasurement..........................68CHAPTER4LEARNINGAIDS...............................................................70PerformanceMeasurementQuiz..........................................70QuickReference:TheEight-StepProcess.................................72APPENDIXA:Five-LevelAppraisal—Examples.............................75APPENDIXB:Three-LevelAppraisal—Examples...........................80APPENDIXC:Two-LevelAppraisal—Examples.............................84tableofcontentscontents2AHANDBOOKFORMEASURINGEMPLOYEEPERFORMANCEforewordhishandbookisdesignedforFederalsupervisorsandemployeesandpresentsaneight-stepprocessfordevelopingemployeeper-formanceplansthatarealignedwithandsupportorganizationalgoals.Italsoprovidesguidelinesforwritingperformanceelementsandstandardsthatnotonlymeetregulatoryrequirements,butalsomaximizethecapabilitythatperformanceplanshaveforfocusingemployeeeffortsonachievingorganizationalandgroupgoals.Themethodspresentedherearedesignedtodevelopelementsandstandardsthatmea-sureemployeeandworkunitaccomplishmentsratherthantodevelopothermeasuresthatareoftenusedinappraisingperformance,suchasmeasuringbehaviorsorcompetencies.Althoughthishandbookincludesadiscussionoftheimportanceofbalancingmeasures,themainfocuspresentedhereistomeasureaccomplishments.Consequently,muchoftheinformationpresentedinthefirstfivestepsofthiseight-stepprocessapplieswhensupervisorsandemployeeswanttomeasureresults.However,thematerialpresentedinSteps6through8aboutdevelopingstandards,monitoringperformance,andcheckingtheperformanceplanapplytoallmeasurementapproaches.TAHANDBOOKFORMEASURINGEMPLOYEEPERFORMANCE3Thehandbookhasfourchaptersandthreeappendices:❙CHAPTER1givesthebackgroundandcontextofperformancemanagementthatyouwillneedtounderstandbeforebeginningtheeight-stepprocess.❙CHAPTER2definesaccomplishments,whichiskeytousingthishandbooksuccessfully.❙CHAPTER3includesadetaileddescriptionoftheeight-stepprocessfordevelopingemployeeperformanceplansthatarealignedwithandsupportorganizationalgoals.❙CHAPTER4providesstudytools,includingafollowupquizandaquickreferencefortheeight-stepprocess.❙THEAPPENDICEScontainexamplestandardsthatwerewrittenspecificallyforappraisalprogramsthatappraiseperformanceonelementsatfive,three,andtwolevels.Afterreadingtheinstructionalmaterial,studyingtheexamples,andcompletingtheexercisesinthisbook,youshouldbeableto:❙DEVELOPaperformanceplanthatalignsindividualperformancewithorganizationalgoals❙USEavarietyofmethodstodetermineworkunitandindividualaccomplishments❙DETERMINEthedifferencebetweenactivitiesandaccomplishments❙EXPLAINregulatoryrequirementsforemployeeperformanceplansforeword4AHANDBOOKFORMEASURINGEMPLOYEEPERFORMANCEchapter1PERFORMANCEMANAGEMENT:BACKGROUNDANDCONTEXTememberthestoryaboutthenaivestudentinhisfirstEnglishliteraturecoursewhowasworriedbecausehedidn’tknowwhatprosewas?Whenhefoundoutthatprosewasordinaryspeech,heexclaimed,“Wow!I’vebeenspeakingproseallmylife!”Managingperformancewellislikespeakingprose.Manymanagershavebeen“speaking”andpracticingeffectiveperformancemanagementnaturallyalltheirsupervisorylives,butdon’tknowit!Somepeoplemistakenlyassumethatperformancemanagementisconcernedonlywithfollowingregulatoryrequirementstoappraiseandrateperformance.Actually,assigningratingsofrecordisonlyonepartoftheoverallprocess(andperhapstheleastimportantpart).Performancemanagementisthesystematic