BY: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER STAFF COUNCIL COMMITTEE FOR PAYROLL, BENEFITS, RETIREMENT & LEGISLATION
The Resolution for Improved Performance Management System was approved by the full Boulder Campus Staff Council at its Aug. 8, 2012 meeting.
The resolution recommends that CU prioritize the development of a review process that ensures fair and consistent standards of evaluation, and that these standards be put in place at the time of “Pay for Performance” implementation. The overall goal of the resolution is to address the expansion of the “officer and exempt professional (OEP)” workforce and the new development of “Pay for Performance” for classified by the state's Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA) and the University of Colorado.
Council reviewed the early concepts of the DPA’s plan and believes the process is on the right track, with a couple of exceptions to be addressed later.
Its main concern is that “if supervisors are not trained properly and an evaluation review process is not implemented early in the transition, the ‘Pay for Performance’ system could end up demoralizing the workforce instead of energizing it,” said the committee.
Council expressed its view that all it would take is a few incorrectly done evaluations – through either score inflation or the interjection of some inappropriate bias – and what would have been a positive outcome for all staff would become negative impressions among staff and bad word-of-mouth.
The Council’s work was engaged under the shared governance agreement implemented 40 years ago. In the agreement, Staff Council is authorized to develop resolutions that make recommendations to the senior administration of the campus on behalf of the staff.
For further information on the Boulder Campus Staff Council or to contact us, visit our website at www.colorado.edu/StaffCouncil/
Resolution for Improved Performance Management System
BACKGROUND: University of Colorado uses two different performance management evaluation programs for Classified and OEP employees. However, Boulder Campus Staff Council representatives have heard anecdotally from many staff members and appointing authorities that the existing performance management processes are not efficient, fair and consistent. They are not an effective tool to measure work performance and to use those measurements for the determination of merit increases. Especially as significant numbers of staff transition every month from classified staff status to OEP status during the evaluation cycle, it has now become more important than ever to further strengthen and develop the performance management evaluation system.
WHEREAS both classified and OEP staff should receive fair and consistent evaluations under an evaluation system well-aligned between Colorado’s classified staff system and the university’s OEP system;
WHEREAS supervisors need consistent and ongoing training in order to maintain maximum effectiveness;
WHEREAS a campus performance management audit system should be developed in order to ensure that policies and procedures are in place and/or are being followed properly;
THEREFORE, CU Boulder Staff Council recommends that the campus adopt and implement the aforementioned performance management system goals.