An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 5 – Employee Evaluations

 Not discuss other employees

NINE: Set New Goals & Expectations  Goals should be:  S pecific  M easurable  A ction-oriented

 R ealistic and related to job  T ime and resource aware

TEN: Start Process Over

Section 5 D IFFERENT E VALUATION M ETHODS While most employers use a standard, “upward feedback” evaluation process, during which an employee meets with his or her supervisor or division/department head and receives a performance review, it is important to note there are other styles of review that may be useful as well. These different approaches can be used to help assess strengths and weaknesses that may get lost during the standard evaluation process. A. 360 E VALUATIONS In a 360 evaluation, an employee is reviewed by a wide range of people, from subordinates to peers to supervisors and sometimes by him or herself as well. A 360 evaluation is less a typical performance review, and more a way of providing an employee with a broad report on a wide range of skills. This allows an employee to get feedback on how others perceive him or her, focusing on more subjective criteria like leadership, communication, interpersonal skills, and creativity. Often the result of this type of evaluation is the creation of a roadmap, or plan, for the employee to move forward to improve his or her effectiveness in these more subjective areas. Many employers contract with outside companies to devise the surveys and questions that will be used in the 360 process, while others create the questions internally. Generally, the surveys consist of both rating and comments, and all results are compiled in a way to ensure the anonymity of the raters. The focus is on behaviors and competencies, not objective criteria like tardiness. The 360 review is best used in conjunction with more traditional evaluations, to help give employees a more complete picture of how they are doing overall. Another consideration is making sure that the employee has been at the school long enough for others to really know him or her. For that reason, a school may decide to use a 360 evaluation process only starting in an employee’s third or fourth year on staff.

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 137