Sawtek Implements Year Round Performance Management Process
Location: Orlando, FL
Company Size: 415 Employees
Product: Leading manufacturer of surface acoustic wave (SAW) components
Contact: Sherri Walls, Human Resources Manager
Founded in 1979, Sawtek Incorporated manufactures surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices for both low- and high-volume programs in communications, cellular, modem, wireless data transmission, radar, electronic warfare, television, security systems, and other signal processing applications.
"We've finally made the big leap from having performance management be a once-a-year task to an ongoing process."
In its bid to remain the leading supplier of both military and commercial high-performance SAW components, Sawtek decided to overhaul its performance management process. In 1997, Human Resources Manager Sherri Walls became the key force behind implementing a new performance management system for the 415 employees and 40 supervisors and managers at Sawtek's Orlando, Florida location.
Performance Feedback Limited To Annual Review
Sawtek's previous process consisted of a paper-based system that did little to help employees actually improve their performance. Managers considered performance reviews a "once-a-year" event, and with little or no documentation of daily performance, the quality of the annual review depended on a manager's ability to remember an entire year's worth of work events. Any mid-year performance discussions were usually focused on poor performance and disciplinary measures.
Another problem with Sawtek's prior system was a lack of consistency in the ratings and language managers used to describe employee performance. The legality of managers' written comments was also of concern, so the HR department spent a lot of time double checking completed performance reviews for accuracy and legal risk. Ultimately, Sawtek's prior system failed to provide a means for HR to efficiently manage the review process.
Employees, Managers Involved In Choosing New System
In order to select a new system, Sawtek formed an in-house task force comprised of HR representatives, managers, and most importantly, employees. The task force examined the existing performance review process, then established criteria for selecting a new system.
According to Walls, "Critical factors for us were ease of use, an ability to completely customize forms to meet our needs, and to have a product that was 'forward thinking' in its structure - like how it tied in competencies, legal language, and documentation."
After carefully evaluating a number of software products, the task force decided on Administaff's Performance Now Enterprise Edition. "With Performance Now," explains Walls, "we could create our own reviews, install the software on our network, import data from our existing HRIS system, track daily performance in the employee log, move log data easily into the appraisals, and create more consistent reviews."
Another feature that appealed to Sawtek's task force was Performance Now's Language Checker - "a big plus!" With the touch of a button, managers can double-check each review from a legal perspective. The Language Checker highlights words that may be legally sensitive or inappropriate (such as "Hispanic" or "old"), explains the legal considerations, and offers alternative wording suggestions.
After Smooth Implementation, Sawtek Enhances System With Manufacturing Mmodule
The transition to Performance Now has been a comfortable one, a fact Walls attributes to managers, HR, and employees having worked together to establish the new process. "Because of the task force, meetings with management, and various communications with employees, there was immediate 'buy in' to the new system."
"Now, with the manufacturing module, Administaff's system provides complete coverage for our production workers as well."
Sawtek's HR staff learned about the software through demonstrations provided by KnowledgePoint, and Walls provided managers with a 30-minute training session. Within 60 days, Sawtek was ready to roll out Performance Now.
After completing a successful implementation, Sawtek agreed to provide KnowledgePoint with input during the development of an add-on module for Performance Now designed specifically for manufacturers. The Manufacturing Competency Module contains a library of performance competencies and rating language that reflects the work performed in manufacturing environments.
"Now, with the Manufacturing Module," says Walls, "Administaff's system provides complete coverage for our production workers as well."
Manager-Employee Communication Improves With Performance Now
The response to Performance Now has been "95% positive," according to Walls, who had anticipated the possibility of resistance or negative reactions. Instead, she's found that managers, employees, and HR are all sold on the new system.
"We've finally made the big leap from having performance management be a once-a-year task to an ongoing process," says Walls. "Communication has improved. Mid-year feedback includes positive feedback, instead of just disciplinary action. Managers can track what's going on all year round and use that information to write better reviews." And since performance reviews are based on consistent rating criteria that can be automatically tabulated, HR is no longer burdened with double-checking math and language.
When asked what advice she might have for organizations considering Performance Now, Walls says, "Do it! Beyond that, be sure to involve your managers and employees throughout the entire process.
Performance Now Provides "Fire-Specific" Solution for Roseville Fire Department
Location: Roseville, CA
Company Size: 75 Employees
Service: Provides fire and emergency services to fastest-growing medium-sized city in California
Contact: Terry Sharp, Assistant Chief of Operations
Organized in 1907 to serve the sleepy hamlet of Roseville, the Roseville Fire Department today must meet the needs of a city that has grown far beyond its roots as a railroad switching town. Located outside California's capitol city of Sacramento, Roseville's current population of 71,000 is growing at a rate of 7% each year.
To fulfill its mission to protect life and property from fire and other disasters, the Roseville Fire Department provides fire prevention, public education and information, disaster preparedness, emergency response, emergency scene investigation, and other forms of public assistance.
And in a field where employee performance can mean the difference between life and death, Assistant Chief of Operations Terry Sharp understands the necessity of implementing a performance management process that is relevant to the fire department's highly specialized workforce.
Fire Department Chosen To Pilot Performance Now
In past years, the fire department's performance evaluation form contained the same performance criteria used throughout the City of Roseville, rather than criteria specific to fire and emergency services. The form consisted of rating boxes for the evaluator to check off, with space for comments at the end. But many supervisors only jotted down a few words, resulting in evaluations that provided very little real feedback.
"Performance Now helps you to be more descriptive about an employee's performance - and it's a lot easier than trying to be a creative writer from scratch."
Stacey Haney, Senior Human Resources Analyst for the City of Roseville, identified similar problems at a city-wide level. "There was a distinct lack of narrative to back up the evaluator's ratings," Haney explains. "It made it difficult for us to justify disciplinary measures and to assist in improving performance."
In order to boost the quality of evaluations and achieve more consistency across departments, human resources decided to implement Administaff's Performance Now Enterprise Edition on a city-wide basis. The Roseville Fire Department was one of three departments selected to pilot the program.
Assistant Chief Sharp, the human resources department, and the Performance Now Evaluation Department Committee (consisting of management representatives from across city lines) worked together to determine the criteria that would appear on the fire department's evaluation form. Because the City had also purchased Administaff's Fire & Emergency Services Competency Module, Sharp was able to choose from 19 fire-specific competencies, such as "Emergency Response" and "Operating Equipment".
"Being able to design our own form means that it's really job-specific," says Sharp. Performance Now user Captain Ed Rutherford agrees - in fact, he was surprised to find a software product that so closely matched the fire department's needs. "Usually there's something that doesn't fit, doesn't apply," says Rutherford. "But Performance Now is relevant throughout."
Goal Setting, Better Feedback Keep Employees Focused On Performance
One of the biggest changes to come with the fire department's implementation of Performance Now is a new emphasis on goal setting. Employees work together with their supervisors to set goals for the year, which are then tracked with Performance Now's goal management function. Rutherford believes that goal setting helps instill a sense of accountability and keeps employees focused on improving their performance throughout the year.
"Everyone's got a certain amount of work they're required to do," Rutherford explains. "But what we really strive for is that employees continue to improve themselves, to shoot for the next level. Most of us remain in the field for twenty years or longer, so you need to keep people enthusiastic and on track for their careers."
Rutherford also appreciates the way Performance Now provides the user with narrative text to support each rating. Previously, Rutherford found it challenging to come up with new feedback for employees he'd supervised for ten years or longer. Now, with the review language in Performance Now serving as a model, he's found new ways to describe employee performance. And with two libraries of language to choose from, he can keep his wording fresh from year to year.
"Using Performance Now has made me a better evaluator."
"It makes my job easier, because the program comes up with phrases and creates a descriptive paragraph. Then you can edit it afterwards a bit, to make it your own. But it helps you to be more descriptive about an employee's performance - and it's a lot easier than trying to be a creative writer from scratch."
An important benefit of providing more written feedback is that the performance review discussion has become more meaningful for supervisors and employees alike, who now have detailed written narrative to use as a basis for discussion of past and future performance. "Using Performance Now," says Rutherford, "has made me a better evaluator."
Streamlining The Process
Captain Rutherford is not alone in his response to Performance Now. According to Assistant Chief Sharp, the fire department has found the transition to Performance Now to be a smooth one. "Training was our only concern, and it turned out to be unfounded," says Sharp. "Our people have found Performance Now to be very user friendly."
The result, claims Sharp, is a performance management process that is streamlined, standardized, and most importantly, relevant to the challenging and specialized nature of fire service occupations.
City of Lakeland Implements Performance Management Software on City-Wide Basis
Location: Lakeland, FL
Company Size: 1,870 Employees
Service: Municipal government agency providing city services to central Florida population of 80,000. Lakeland's electric department is dealing with utility industry deregulation issues.
Contact: Jane Gschwender, Training Coordinator
Located between Tampa and Orlando, the City of Lakeland (population 80,000) employs nearly 2,000 people. Five years ago, in response to the pending deregulation of utility services, the City's Electric & Water Department recognized the need to improve efficiency, including employee performance.
"In an era when government agencies are increasingly expected to achieve the levels of efficiency and effectiveness traditionally associated with the private sector, Performance Now helps us to make the best use of our human resources."
Training Officer Ed Hacker brought together a group of managers and supervisors across city departments to examine the city's performance appraisal process. Their goal was to establish a new system that could help all supervisors more effectively give feedback - and help lead Electric & Water into the new age of deregulation and competition.
Previous System Lacked Performance Standards
The group's first task was to identify obstacles to effective performance. Topping the group's list were (1) a lack of performance standards, (2) rater biases and inconsistency, and (3) a lack of understanding or agreement among supervisors and managers about the performance appraisal process.
With a clear vision of where they needed to improve, the group began searching for a better system. After comparing a number of software systems, Administaff's Performance Now Enterprise Edition emerged as the superior candidate. "One of the most appealing features of Performance Now was its goal setting function," Hacker says. "We wanted to be able to tie individual goals to the goals of the organization - to align the work of employees with our overall mission."
Another feature that appealed to the group was the narrative statements that support the ratings the manager selects. Too many managers had been giving employees higher ratings than their actual performance indicated - and when poorly performing employees are told they're performing adequately, there's little incentive for them to improve.
"With Performance Now," Hacker explains, "managers are forced to be more realistic. For each rating level, there's a sentence you can read, so the managers can ask themselves if the statement really fits the particular individual's performance."
Managing Performance In A Rapidly Changing Workplace
By 1998, three departments in the City of Lakeland were successfully using Performance Now, and interest began to grow among managers in other departments. Jane Gschwender, who managers training and organizational development for the City, conducted a human resource needs assessment that surveyed all City department heads, including the Chief of Police and Fire Chief.
The survey confirmed a hot issue among the City's management - employee performance in a rapidly changing workplace. What should good performance look like in city government today? Management wanted to set consistent standards for acceptable performance. They also wanted to improve the quality of feedback, and develop more opportunities for performance improvement.
To help meet the identified needs, the City of Lakeland decided to implement Performance Now on a city-wide basis. And by integrating Administaff's three public sector competency modules into their system (for fire departments, law enforcement, and local government), the City can ensure that all employees are evaluated on criteria that is relevant to the work they perform.
Performance Now Improves Quality Of Feedback
Based on the results of the three pilot departments, Gschwender expects improvement in a number of city-wide performance management problems, especially in the quality of the written portions of performance appraisals. "Many supervisors would only write a word or two in the 'Comments' section of the evaluation," says Gschwender, "while others wrote comments that contained errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. With Performance Now, you're more likely to come out with language that is clear, correct, and easy to understand."
"Employees have commented over and over that the feedback they get through their Performance Now evaluations is the best feedback they've ever gotten."
The City has already seen improvement in the tendency of managers to overrate employee performance. "But even though ratings come out lower in some instances," Gschwender explains, "the employees have commented over and over that the feedback they get through their Performance Now evaluations is the best feedback they've ever gotten."
One of the challenges Gschwender faces is the lack of computer literacy among some of the City's supervisors. "When you have people who are digging ditches and laying pipes all day, they may not be using a computer as part of their job." A short-term solution may be to have support staff assist the supervisors who are unfamiliar with computers. "I'm hoping that even those supervisors who don't use a computer now will eventually be logging on at least once a day. At that time, they could use the day-to-day performance management features of the program, such as setting goals and making entries in the employee log."
Ultimately, Gschwender expects that the benefits Performance Now provides - clear, consistent performance standards; increased communication; and a smoother performance management process - will make a positive impact on employee performance throughout the City. Says Gschwender, "In an era when government agencies are increasingly expected to achieve the levels of efficiency and effectiveness traditionally associated with the private sector, Performance Now helps us to make the best use of our human resources."