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**Employee Performance Communication System**

**Mid-Term Progress Review and**

**Performance Plan Updates**

**2006**

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[Employee Performance Communication System
3](#employee-performance-communication-system)

[Introduction 3](#introduction)

[Important Dates 3](#important-dates)

[Reporting Requirements 4](#__RefHeading___Toc148857597)

[Preparation 4](#preparation)

[Changing the Performance Plan 5](#changing-the-performance-plan)

[Supervisory Plan Update 5](#supervisory-plan-update)

[Results and Measures 5](#results-and-measures)

[*S*pecific and *M*easurable 6](#specific-and-measurable)

[Attainable (Yet Challenging) 8](#attainable-yet-challenging)

[Results-Oriented 8](#results-oriented)

[Timeframes 9](#timeframes)

[Absolute Standards 9](#absolute-standards)

[Effecting Changes 10](#effecting-changes)

[Preparing Talking Points 10](#preparing-talking-points)

[The Progress Review Meeting 10](#the-progress-review-meeting)

[Documenting the Progress Review was Held
11](#documenting-the-progress-review-was-held)

[For More Information 11](#for-more-information)

# Employee Performance Communication System

**Mid-Term Progress Review and**

**Performance Plan Updates**

## Introduction 

It's time for supervisors and managers to give **mid-term, performance
feedback**!  This is the time to let your employees know what they have
been doing well and should continue doing and in what ways performance
may be improved or enhanced.  A written narrative is not required for
issuance to the employee except when performance is deficient.

Remember, one progress review at approximately mid-point in the
performance appraisal cycle is required, however, to have well-developed
performers, you must engage them on a regular basis.

## Important Dates

**(Note Reporting Requirements)**

The mid-point for the May 2006-April 2007 performance appraisal cycle is
October-November. Please complete your progress reviews by November 30.
If you established the performance appraisal at a later date, calculate
the dates representing the mid-point in the performance period. For
example, you issued a performance plan on August 1, 2006, for the
appraisal period ending April 30, 2007. The mid-point will be
approximately mid-December through mid-January and the performance
progress review should be completed not later than mid-February. Is it
okay to conduct the mid-cycle progress review sooner than the end of the
mid-point? Yes, you may conduct the review within a reasonable timeframe
around the mid-point of the performance cycle, however, ensure the
performance plan has been in place for the minimum appraisal period as
shown below.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  **Employee**                                 **Minimum Appraisal
                                               Period**
  -------------------------------------------- --------------------------
  Non-bargaining unit employees                90 days

  Covered by Collective Bargaining Agreement   120 days
  (CBA) with Goddard Engineers, Scientists &   
  Technicians Association (GESTA)              
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

[]{#__RefHeading___Toc148857597 .anchor}**Reporting Requirements**

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Department with oversight
and regulatory authority for the Federal performance management system,
collects data to determine how well Agencies are implementing
performance processes and thereby meeting the requirements for
maintaining its "Green" status for performance accountability under the
President's Management Agenda.

To meet the reporting requirement concerning Progress Reviews conducted,
Goddard must certify to NASA Headquarters that mid-cycle reviews have
been completed in accordance with OPM appraisal assessment requirements.
Therefore, mid-cycle reviews should be completed not later than
**November 30, 2006,** except in those instances when the mid-cycle
progress review must be delayed. We request supervisors certify the
number of reviews completed, the number that could not be completed (and
the reason) to the Human Capital Representative for the organization not
later than **December 4**. The Human Capital Representative will then
forward the information via email to Bernadette Fowler at
<Bernadette.G.Fowler@nasa.gov> , Office of Human Capital Management,
Performance and Worklife Dynamics Office, not later than **December 7,
2006**.

## Preparation

Take the time to organize your performance feedback prior to the
meeting.  Ask your employee to submit his or her accomplishments and
challenges for discussion. This is a useful step because it gives you an
opportunity to learn accomplishments and issues of which you may not be
aware. This is of particular importance when you have employees who work
independently. The mid-term performance discussion will be based on the
performance elements and indicators in the performance plan you issued
to your employee at the beginning of the appraisal cycle. The
performance discussion will cover performance through to the mid-point
in the appraisal cycle.

## Changing the Performance Plan

Please review the performance plan to determine if the plan needs to be
adjusted. Have initiatives changed? Are the objectives, milestones and
timeframes still relevant? Are results and measures clear? If the
answers indicate changes are needed, adjust the standards and/or
indicators. [To change the performance plan, you must discuss the
changes during the progress review and you and your employee will
initial and date the changes.]{.underline} [Or, the plan may be amended
with an addendum page that describes detailed expectations such as
project plans]{.underline}. Be careful to make changes to the plans for
all similarly-situated positions. By similarly situated, we mean, the
position has the **same** supervisor, title, and the same or similar
expected performance results, performance objectives and indicators.

### Supervisory Plan Update

Attached is the **Supervisory** Performance Plan and Appraisal Form with
the added Element 3, "Equal Opportunity/ Diversity," which was
inadvertently excluded from the May 2006 edition. Print down the form.
See the added Element on page 7.

To effect the Equal Opportunity/Diversity Element, we ask that you
discuss this change with supervisors on your staffs during the mid-term
progress review, and together insert your initials and date under the
Element, Standard, and Performance Indicators Blocks, thereby effecting
the expectations. Attach the revised page 7 to the performance plan and
provide a copy to the supervisory employee.

### Results and Measures

Many of us rushed to put our performance plans in place for 2005 and
2006 and hardly had time to identify measures. We heard the term,
"SMART" used to identify how we should frame the performance standards
and indicators but we weren't quite sure what that means. Here's the
short version on writing performance expectations that meet the SMART
criteria.

A good performance element, including standard and indicators, clearly
explains what the employee must do and how well it must be done to
accomplish specified performance levels. This is easily accomplished
using the ***SMART*** criteria guidelines. ***SMART*** is an acronym for
***S***pecific, ***M***easurable, ***A***ttainable,
***R***esults-oriented and ***T***imeframes.

When writing the performance standard and indicators at the
Meets/Exceeds level, think in terms of what is acceptable to you, as the
supervisor. For the most part, the performance plans describe
[what]{.underline} is to be done, for example, the employee will:

-   Research Matter X

-   Submit research paper for publication

-   Present research findings at workshops

In some cases the performance plans stop short of defining performance
measures or [how well]{.underline} outputs are expected to be
accomplished.

In some instances, performance is not easily measured or the measures
cannot be tracked in terms of quantities produced or the percentages of
errors; such information may not be relevant. When quantity measures
cannot be used, describe observable, verifiable performance
expectations, identify who will judge the work was performed well enough
to achieve the Meets/Exceeds level (usually the rating official), and
identify the factors the rating official (or detail or matrix
supervisor) will consider.

Oftentimes, expectations may be defined with greater specificity.
Following is a description of how to identify expectations using
***SMART*** criteria.

### *S*pecific and *M*easurable 

According to the above bullets, any research on Matter X is acceptable,
any paper submitted is acceptable (regardless of whether it is
published) and any method or style of presentation is acceptable. As
long as the employee completes the assignment, she or he cannot fail. Is
this enough to earn a Meets/Exceeds performance rating? How does this
level of performance contribute toward achieving Goddard's strategic
goals?

Performance standards should be **specific** meaning the standards
and/or indicators must include measures that indicate when the employee
has achieved the objectives. General performance measures add the level
of specificity needed to adequately communicate expectations. General
measures define ***quality*** (how well)***, quantity*** (how many),
***timeliness*** (due dates and schedules), cost effectiveness (at what
cost) and/or ***timeframes*** (how often). To identify needs, answer the
following questions.

1.  **Is quality important?** If so, can it be defined in terms of
    accuracy, completeness, effectiveness, appearance, satisfied
    customer or stakeholder expectations, or expressed by the level of
    oversight and revision required by a team leader or supervisor? Do
    you define quality by what is acceptable to a publisher (a specified
    publication style), or by acceptable principles or guidelines
    established by the office or within a professional community?
    Identify the guidelines the employee should follow for work to be
    acceptable. Even when you, as a supervisor, are certain the employee
    knows how well work is to be accomplished, state it in the
    performance plan or reference the document that the employee should
    review to know what is expected. Clearly-stated expectations are
    essential in the event that you are asked to prove that performance
    did not meet established expectations and to justify giving a
    Significantly Exceeds rating rather than a Meets/Exceeds rating. How
    does your employee know what is expected? The performance plan
    should provide the answer.

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1.  **Is quantity important?** Is the number of items produced
    important? More often than not, the number of work assignments
    completed, fluctuates from one performance period to the next
    depending upon customer/stakeholder needs. However, quantity is very
    important for some types of work. Do you have an expectation that a
    certain number of papers will be published, and a specified number
    of presentations will be made during the appraisal cycle? If so,
    define the number that is acceptable.

2.  **Is the date the item or service is to be produced important?** If
    so, specify how quickly, by what date or within what periods of time
    items are to be completed. For example, "work is to be completed by
    established deadlines." This allows room for changes without
    requiring changes to the performance plan. Or, "customer phone calls
    or emails are to be answered within 1 workday of receipt."

3.  **Is it important to accomplish the element within certain cost
    limits?** Is there a requirement to track resources expended in
    personnel, money, or time. This may be expressed in terms of
    maintaining or reducing costs, reducing the time it takes to produce
    or provide a product or service or reducing waste.

### Attainable (Yet Challenging)

The expected measures should be reasonable and **attainable** yet
challenging. In the example above, the quantity measures should be
challenging for the position level. If, and only if, staff publish more
or less depending upon grade level, identify expectations by grade
level. Also, note that when the performance label includes two levels
like Meets and Exceeds, it is highly recommended that you identify a
range, the lower range equaling Meets and the higher end of the range
equaling the Exceeds expectations. *For example*,

[Meets/Exceeds]{.underline}

Grades 9-12: Publish research findings in one to two publications and
present findings at one to two meetings and/or workshops.
([Significantly Exceeds]{.underline} is three or more publications and
presentations for this grade range.)

Grades 13-14: Publish research findings in three to four publications
and present findings at three to four meetings and/or workshops.
([Significantly Exceeds]{.underline} is five or more publications and
presentations for this grade range.)

### Results-Oriented

It is easier to write results-oriented performance plans when you think
in terms of the outcome or output or work deliverables. Often the
individual employee will contribute toward goal achievement in the form
of a product or service rather than achieving the end result. Expected
outputs are performance indicators that are measurable and may be
tracked with ease. However, don't forget that the above-discussed
measures, quality, quantity, timeliness and cost-effectiveness, are
equally as important and must be added and tracked, if relevant.

A performance standard that only identifies the actions the employee
will take rather than the results expected read like the position
description which is the way of yore. Today's performance accountability
requirements lead us to focus on the results of work and how well the
products and services are produced rather than the actions taken. Here's
a comparison of a performance indicator that is written in position
description (PD) style versus the desired, results-oriented format.

***PD-Style***

-   Researches (action) Subject X and submits (action) findings for
    publication and presents (action) findings during meeting.

> [Note:]{.underline} As long as the action has been taken, the employee
> meets objectives. This is a consequence of not prescribing how well or
> timely the products or services must be completed.

***Results-Oriented Format***

Generally,

-   Subject X Research (service) is complete, thorough, and of an
    acceptable, professional quality (quality measures) as evidenced by
    publication of findings (product) in three (quantity measure)
    professional journals.

-   Findings are presented (service), in accordance with the standards
    described under the Communications Performance Element, at three
    (quantity measure) professional workshops.

> [Note:]{.underline} When the due date or timeframe is not provided,
> the work Meets expectations as long as it is completed within the
> appraisal period.

### Timeframes

Although we discussed timeliness measures above, we can also specify due
dates in terms of timeframes, *for example*, products or services must
be completed at regular intervals, i.e., weekly, monthly, quarterly,
etc.

### Absolute Standards 

Did you notice that all of the generic elements in the performance plan
such as the Communications and Work Objectives elements start with
qualifiers such as "Usually," or "Generally," and then go on to describe
how the employee completes a particular product or service? That
qualifier is necessary to avoid the use of "absolute" standards. An
absolute standard requires perfection. Such standards are acceptable
when an error could result in loss of life, injury, breach of national
security, or great monetary loss.

In all other cases, we have to allow room for error. Following are
examples of absolute standards.

-   *Work is timely, efficient, and of acceptable quality.*

-   *Communicates effectively within and outside of the organization.*

This is easily corrected by adding a qualifier, as follows.

**[Usually]{.underline}**,

-   *Work is timely, efficient, and of acceptable quality.*

-   *Communicates effectively within and outside of the organization.*

### Backward Standards/Indicators

A backward standard is a standard/indicator that is written in such a
way that it is impossible for the employee to fail. For example,

-   Work assignments often require revisions.

-   The employee's productivity and impact on organizational
    effectiveness and/or customer satisfaction needs improvement.

Backwards standards may be corrective through a positive construction of
the required performance. For example,

-   Usually, work assignments are complete and only require minor
    revisions.

-   Usually productivity supports organizational effectiveness and has a
    positive impact on customer satisfaction.

## Effecting Changes

Once you've completed clarification of the performance expectations,
ensure the employee understands the expectations and initials and date
the changes indicating that s/he is aware of the revisions. When making
such revisions, ensure that the employee is allowed the minimum
performance period before evaluating performance.

## Preparing Talking Points

Develop talking points to guide your discussion.  Your feedback should
include accomplishments or strengths and areas in need of further
development.  This type of feedback should be provided to all of your
staff members. Yes, your high performers also.

Plan to discuss developmental activities to improve or enhance
performance. Ask yourself, "Does my employee need training to develop
skills or competencies." If you're using an Individual Development Plan
(IDP), review the IDP and discuss or update it, if necessary. Discuss
progress on implementation of the agreed-upon activities.

## The Progress Review Meeting

Once you have organized your thoughts and feedback, schedule the meeting
at a time convenient for you and your employee and in a location where
you can have a private, uninterrupted conversation. 

-   Provide constructive feedback. Take care to focus on accomplishment
    of the goals identified in the performance plan rather than your
    employee's personality traits.

-   Be descriptive and specific when describing what was done well and
    what should be improved. Give examples.

-   Pause to give your employee a chance to ask questions or offer
    input.

-   Ask your employee to participate in finding solutions to improve or
    enhance performance.

-   Ask your employee what s/he needs from you to be successful.  Listen
    to the feedback your employee gives you and act responsively and
    responsibly.

## Documenting the Progress Review was Held

After the discussion, you and your employee will sign and date the first
page of the performance plan under the section labeled, "Progress
Review," (Supervisory EPCS Form) or "Progress Review Discussions"
(Non-supervisory EPCS Form) indicating the progress review has been
held.  The employee's signature does not imply agreement with your
feedback.  If for any reason, your employee refuses to sign the
document, note, on the document, the date the discussion was held and
that the employee refused to sign the form and then sign and date the
document.

** **

## For More Information

If you have questions about the EPCS, please contact Bernadette Fowler
or Lori Moore in OHCM's Performance and Worklife Dynamics Office. Ms.
Fowler may be reached at (301) 286-4998; Ms. Moore may be reached at
(301) 286-5087.