Abstract

The University of Kansas has implemented a new performance management system for paraprofessional staff to satisfy, in part, the “Developing Excellence in People” goal of the University’s strategic plan. The new performance management system allows supervisors and staff to establish and comment on performance goals throughout the year and, at the end of the year, provide a rating for each goal. In addition, the system requires staff and supervisors to rate and comment on nine core competencies upon which the University’s leadership determined staff should be evaluated. Due to a one-size-fits-all implementation, the definitions and examples supplied by the University for these competencies are necessarily generic. As part of its implementation of the new performance management system, the Cataloging and Archival Processing Department of the University of Kansas Libraries developed more specific examples for the competencies to encourage a shared understanding among staff and supervisors of how the nine core competencies were to be evaluated. This article describes the process by which the departmental managers created relevant examples that fit the work of the Department and how the process worked in its first year of implementation, from the perspective of the department head and a new supervisor.

Keywords: Performance evaluations, Core competencies

How to Cite:

Kottman, M. & Huggard, M., (2017) “Laying the Groundwork: Implementing a New Personnel Evaluation System”, Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings 1(2017). doi: https://doi.org/10.4148/2160-942X.1063