Performance Development

at The Cathedral

of the IncarnationA Supervisor’s Guide

Mission Statement

• Knowing, Loving and Serving God in Community

Vision Statement• We, the Cathedral in the City, welcome all people

to worship God joyfully, Care Deeply and act boldly as followers of Christ.

The Practices

• Identity

• Centered

• Spirit-Filled

• Listening

• Disciplined

What is Performance Development?• An ongoing process for communicating about

performance and helping employees achieve excellence in their jobs.

• It involves goal setting, feedback, coaching, evaluation and development planning.

• It is a process that supervisors and employees actively use throughout the year, not just at appraisal time. The primary focus is to establish on-going, two-way communication.

• It is not designed to meet administrative requirements, forms are provided only to facilitate this process.

Principles of Performance Developmt• Employees will be more motivated and will

produce at higher levels with better quality when they:

– Have clearly defined objectives.

– Know how their performance will be assessed

– Understand how their work contributes to the success of the organization

– Receive timely and accurate feedback throughout the year

– Receive coaching and support from supervisors

– Have a performance review discussion with written documentation at least 2-3 times per year

It is designed to help managers, supervisors and employees achieve performance excellence.

Objectives of Performance Developmt• Provide supervisors and employees with a tool to

improve performance and enhance organizational effectiveness

• Direct effort, motivation and resources toward the achievement of the church’s long range goals

• Foster improved and ongoing communications between supervisors and employees

Overview of the Process

Flow of Events

Establish Objectives and Performance Expectations

Feedback and Coaching

Performance and Development

Discussion

Supervisor’s Role

• To understand and communicate to the employee:

– Performance expectations based on the assigned duties

– What performance is expected as the basis for a fair evaluation

– The purpose, process and benefits of the performance development

– Specifically now well they are performing (feedback)

– The employee’s strengths and successes

– Where their performance does not meet standards

– How to improve performance (coaching)

Employee’s Role

• Actively participate in setting performance expectations and standards

• Perform up to and/ or exceed standards

• Seek feedback and coaching on performance

• Improve where performance does not meet standards

Establish Objectives/ Expectations• Setting goals and evaluating behavior/ results

should be as objective as possible.

• Objectives, standards and measurements should be relevant, essential and based on the job.

• To reach mutual understanding of the expectations:

– Is the job description up-to-date/ accurate?

– How relevant/ important is the expectation to successful performance?

– How does the expectation support the work of The Cathedral?

– Does the employee have the skills to meet the expectations? If not, what is the action plan to acquire those skills?

Establish Objectives/ Expectations• SMART Goals are particularly useful to establish

performance objectives, standards and measurements

– Specific

– Measureable

– Attainable

– Relevant

– Timed

The “Goal Setting” Meeting• Schedule the meeting in advance

• Ensure privacy without interruptions

• Put the employee at ease

• Establish a climate for two-way communication

• Discuss how expectations will be measured

• Ensure that the employee has the knowledge, skills, abilities, resources to meet performance expectations

• Explore areas of agreement and disagreement

• Express confidence in employee’s ability and offer your help

• Arrange for mid-year feedback sessions

• Provide a copy of the written expectations

Feedback and Coaching

• Track performance and results throughout the evaluation period.

• Include information on the expectations and operational objectives.

– Written records

– Documented compliments or complaints

– Documented or reported observations

– Employee records, time logs, activity reports

– Work samples

Giving/ Presenting Feedback

• It is intended to be helpful:– The person must understand what has been

said– The person must be willing and able to accept

it– The person can do something about it if they

choose

• Be specific, Be timely

• Focus on:– observed and/or reported behaviors – not the

person

– Essential behaviors that have the greatest impact: link to performance objectives/ standards

• Explain the consequences of the conduct or behavior

• Offer motivating feedback

Conducting the Performance ReviewPoints to consider for planning an effective, constructive discussion about performance:

• The employee should be notified well in advance of the review discussion. Both parties should prepare for the discussion by reviewing available performance documentation and work samples. Both parties should create draft evaluations for the discussion.

• Discussion should be in a time/ place with minimal distractions

• The discussion should be a two-way conversation. (questions & answers with effective listening, both ways)

• Critical incidents/ specific measureable achieved results to establish a common understanding of performance strengths and weaknesses.

Conducting the Performance ReviewPoints to consider for planning an effective, constructive discussion about performance: (cont)

• The content of the review discussion should not surprise the employee. (ongoing coaching prevents this event)

• Discussion should focus on performance, not personality. The conversation should be based on previously agreed-to, job-related factors important to the overall success of the job.

• This discussion is highly individualized. Reflects the employee’s unique goals, abilities and developmental needs.

• The discussion leads the employee to analyze their own performance, with guidance and help from the supervisor, so both can understand strengths and improvement needs.

Conducting the Performance ReviewPoints to consider for planning an effective, constructive discussion about performance: (cont)

• The discussion should reflect the entire review period, not just recent performance.

• This discussion is constructive. In discussing shortcomings, focus on how to improve rather than on past failures. highly individualized. Reflects the employee’s unique goals, abilities and developmental needs.

Mechanics of the Meeting• State the purpose of discussion

• Ask employee for their view of performance during the period and check for understanding

• Provide a summary statement of your evaluation of the overall performance

• Provide recognition for specific areas of high performance or areas where performance has improved.

• Identify/ discuss one or two areas where improvement is needed or where developmental opportunities exist.

– Be specific when comparing performance against the expectations/ standards

• Ask for the employee’s ideas on developmental plans, document specific plans, set follow-up date

• Conclude the discussion on a positive note.