By Steve Walker, Director of Programming, Professional Security Training Network
SubscribeAs fundamental functions of any job, performance evaluations are essential tools both for employees and managers to evaluate past performance and set goals for the future.
Many security officers, or employees in any organization, for that matter, would rather take a trip to the dentist for drill work than be faced with a performance evaluation. However, if looked at in a positive manner, performance evaluations can be valuable tools that can help officers become more productive and satisfied with their role in the organization.
The Need for Performance Evaluations
Many employees ask what purpose a performance evaluation serves. And many employees think of a performance evaluation as a negative situation with a negative outcome. However, performance evaluations do not have to fit this office myth. Rather, performance evaluations are designed to serve an essential purpose: to ensure that organizational and employee needs are met.
To begin with, performance evaluations are designed to provide you and your organization with a consistent process for making decisions on salary increases, promotions, transfers, and at worst, demotions or terminations.
Taking the place of a manager who makes arbitrary decisions at the end of the year to determine who deserves what raise and who deserves what promotion, employee evaluations reassure employees that a definitive and structured evaluation process will be used to allow management to make solid decisions about employee performance and rewards.
In addition to providing a definitive evaluation process, the performance evaluation also provides an opportunity for written documentation that is necessary for supporting any personnel decisions management makes.
Almost anyone can think of a situation where a fellow employee was promoted, terminated, or had a compensation disagreement and who requested documentation for the reasons behind management’s course of action. If documentation is not kept for these situations, proving that the manager’s decision was made in an appropriate manner that followed the proper avenues becomes difficult to address and support.
With a performance evaluation system in place, a manager can document reasons behind a personnel decision, and officers can be assured by documentation that proper avenues have been followed by management for making decisions. Fortunately for officers, the security industry prides itself on the critical importance of proper and correct documentation while on duty. This ingrained procedure should naturally flow to managers to have correct and timely documentation of security officers’ performance.
Aside from being a good source of documentation for both the employee and management, the performance evaluation can help an employee see how well they are performing in their roles. During the performance evaluation, employees can receive valuable feedback from managers about their performance and possible suggestions for changes and improvements for the future.
Managers may use performance evaluation time to suggest needed changes in an employee’s behavior, attitude, skills, or job knowledge. These suggestions help employees know where they stand with their supervisor as well as offer employees an opportunity to make improvements for the future and the next performance evaluation.
Though some employees may feel threatened by the performance evaluation process, if they really think about the evaluation, they can see it as a positive opportunity. Most employees desire to know how they stand with their manager and their organization and how well they are performing on the job, and performance evaluations offer an excellent opportunity for this exchange to take place.
Increasingly, individual feedback on job performance is difficult to obtain on a regular basis. With the performance evaluation in place, this feedback can be provided in a timely forum that employees can depend upon. Oftentimes, these evaluation sessions are also used as a basis for employee coaching and counseling.
While a good portion of the evaluation process is used for employees to find out how they are doing within their organization, an important part of the evaluation is—or should be—used to create an ongoing process for employee development, wherein the supervisor can facilitate change and monitor improvement within employee roles. In some cases, the evaluation session can be used as a follow-up to a previous evaluation session, creating a valuable resource for employees to receive much needed feedback.
Preparing for an Evaluation
Since a performance evaluation is a valuable tool for both management and the employee, certain steps should be taken in order to have a successful evaluation session. The first step is simple and often disregarded. This step involves the employee learning and understanding how his or her organization handles performance evaluations.
Some organizations begin with a form for an employee to fill out before meeting with his or her supervisor. Other organizations may require a self-evaluation while yet other organizations may not have an employee prepare anything in advance.
Ideally, employees should never enter an evaluation session blind. That is, knowing how an organization handles the evaluation process is an essential preparatory step for every employee. This is especially important in organizations or departments that are constantly “refining” the performance evaluation process.
Employees faced with a changed or completely new evaluation process might miss something needed for a successful evaluation. Thus, preparation is just as important for employees as for managers.
The next step for preparing for the evaluation is for employees to know what his or her job description entails. Whether the description outlined in great detail or general terms, employees must know what their job description is in order to be prepared to answer questions concerning their effectiveness in performing their job, as well as how their personal behaviors are demonstrated when performing certain responsibilities.
If an officer has any doubts, or is unclear, about their specific responsibilities they should meet with their supervisor or manager.
Another valuable preparatory tool involves having employees perform self-evaluations. These evaluations present employees the power to keep track of their own performance throughout the year. Employees should be encouraged to rate themselves honestly in terms of their job description in order to be able to see in what areas they excel and what areas need improvement, so they can be prepared to discuss their views with their manager.
When honesty is expected and practiced, employees know where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and a manager knows these areas as well, leaving little room for surprise revelations during performance evaluations.
For security officers, some examples of responsibilities that they might rate themselves could include:
- Personal appearance
- Dependability
- Patrol procedures
- Incident reports
- Customer service
- Professional knowledge
- Emergency preparedness
Do’s and Don’ts During an Evaluation
When the day of the performance evaluation finally arrives, employees should be prepared and ready for the meeting with their supervisor. However, no matter how much preparation is done, most employees will still have some levels of anxiety. This anxiety is natural. After all, the topic at hand involves job performance and future expectations. How this anxiety is handled is the key to a successful performance evaluation.
As employees walk in and sit down for their evaluations, they should keep in mind that their evaluation might not be entirely positive and that they need to keep the evaluation in perspective. Managers can establish this perspective by explaining to employees that the evaluation is not a process of criticism but one of critique. Criticism occurs when faults are openly pointed out with no recommendations for improvement.
Without such feedback, criticism may be interpreted as a form of discipline, and a negative situation may result.. A critique, on the other hand, is an opportunity for an employee and manager to have a structured conversation about how well the job is going. Positive and negative points about an employee’s performance are pointed out and discussed.
If employees see performance evaluations as critiques rather than criticisms, they are more likely to realize that all parties have an investment in the evaluation and all have something to gain or lose.
Here are some do’s and don’ts for the security officer to keep in mind when going into a performance evaluation meeting with a manager. If these tips are followed, the meeting should provide a successful opportunity that allows the officer to receive valuable feedback and avenues for future improvement.
Concluding Thoughts
The performance evaluation is a valuable tool that offers security officers both the opportunity for feedback on job performance and guides for improvement and growth within their roles. While these evaluations are often dreaded, you can lessen that dread by preparing for the evaluation and being professional , with an open mind, during the evaluation..
An old saying states that a good manager is one who does not say anything for the first time in a performance evaluation. In other words, good managers provide their employees feedback throughout the year—not just at review time. This sentiment holds true for employees as well. The more security officers keep their supervisor and manager in the loop with regard to progress, needs, concerns, observations, and plans, the more in sync they will be with management during the performance evaluation.