Demystifying Performance Evaluations...

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Demystifying Performance Evaluations...
https//www.giggletree.com.au/
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I have been recently working on a project
reviewing the Performance Assessment and
Evaluation processes for an organisation. Having
worked for numerous organisations and seen many
incarnations of these systems, I thought others
may find it useful to walk through the little
reality checking session that I had to give
myself when launching into this project.
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I had to realise that within the Early Childhood
Education field, the concept of Performance
Evaluation is relatively new. Many Educators are
aware of the "Performance Improvement" or
"Performance Management" processes all with a
negative connotation as they are associated with
someone being told that they are not doing their
job (or at least something in the workplace) the
right way, and that there are clear expectations
of improvement... all those confronting closed
door meetings and anxiety! That is NOT
Performance Evaluation!
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To my mind, here's the Top 5 reasons why we do
Performance Evaluation (from least to most
important) Number 5 Because we have to! Yes- it
is in the National Quality Standards. Element
7.2.2 reads"The performance of educators,
co-ordinators and staff members is evaluated and
individual development plans are in place to
support performance improvement."
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Number 4 Because it is important to get feedback
about our performance. You need to know what your
boss (or company) expects from you and how you
are or aren't achieving those expectations. You
could be focussing on the wrong thing to achieve
the success that you are after! This process,
again, allows you to develop a better
understanding of how you are perceived and
understood by others who can or do have an
influence over your professional future.
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Number 3 Because it is important to continually
review our OWN performance. The Performance
Evaluation process just 'forces' us to! It's
critical for ongoing growth and development to
look at where you have been, what you have
learned, where you want to go, how you think you
can get there, what help you need from others,
what formal training do I need etc. Remember the
importance of reflection in our professional
practice? Performance Evaluation is just a
different form of that.
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Number 2 Because it is important to recognise
achievements! It can be very easy when we are in
the thick of the day to day, to forget to stop,
breathe and realise what has actually been
achieved. I think we all deserve the opportunity
to pat ourselves on the back for what we've
done. Number 1 Because it is vital to
continually DEVELOP. The concept of Performance
Evaluation should be about DEVELOPMENT. It is ok
for different team members to be at different
places with their career.
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We all know that team member who feels that they
are happy where they are, who are performing well
and don't want to see any changes in their work
life... however, the only guarantee in this life
(that I'm 100 confident of) is change. No-one
can afford to NOT update their knowledge or skill
sets even if they just want to continue to do
what they enjoy doing. The industry changes,
sometimes theories and models for Early Childhood
Education change-be open to getting out there and
seeing if it's true.
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A major reality for me is why would we expect our
children to learn from someone who isn't
passionate about learning? For some people this
may mean achieving their Bachelors or even their
PhD... for others this will be a 2-hour on-line
training course on time management! Everyone's
needs and expectations for development will be
different but to have an expectation that you
have no development needs is unrealistic if not
ridiculous!
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Just to be clear Professional Development (PD)
can also be a whole lot of fun! I am always
amazed at the reluctance of some of my colleagues
to participate in training courses and
conferences... It's an amazing way to get out and
see different perspectives, to get new ideas or
techniques, to talk to different people about
what happens at their Centre and so much more.
Sometimes it's even just an amazing feeling to
know that what you have been doing is RIGHT or to
understand how truly magical your workplace is
(because now you've got an idea of where other
people work)!
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I think some Educators (and their Directors) can
be overwhelmed with the amount of documentation
associated with the Performance Evaluation
process... do we have to go through every NQF
Element? The entire QIP? Do we have to go through
each and every part of the Job Description? I
just want to know what I'm doing well or not
doing well and how to get better... I don't have
the time or the inclination to do all of this
paperwork. I get it! There is lots to consider
when reviewing and evaluating what has occurred
over a 12-month period (the usual period that an
evaluation document covers).
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Breaking the process down further ie doing more
frequent evaluations, can be a good starting
point. In some professions, evaluation of
performance is necessary very often, with ECE, we
generally have some continuity - we are usually
in the same role (ie room) for around a year, so
this is why a yearly review is a good idea.
Having a touch base/check-point at the 6-month
mark is helpful. If you read anything about
Performance Evaluation, the constant is that
'nothing should be a surprise'. This means that
we should all be giving and receiving Deb
Callahan
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