New Performance Evaluation System for Staff to Launch in May
April 22, 2015
UC Merced staff members soon will be able to use a new online performance appraisal system for their annual job evaluations.
The system, called Halogen, is scheduled to launch in May. Human Resources will offer orientations and training sessions in late May or early June to teach employees and supervisors how to use the new system.
UC Merced Assistant Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Brian K. Powell said the system will be used for appraisals that cover the 2014-15 fiscal year.
The official window in which employees will be able to use Halogen to complete performance appraisals is June 15 to Sept. 15. All appraisals must be completed and submitted during that 90-day time frame. Employees should check with their immediate supervisors to determine their department’s, school’s or division’s desired completion deadline.
With Halogen’s launch, UC Merced will shift its performance appraisal process for staff from a paper system to one that is done online.
Some of the most critical aspects of the conversion to Halogen and the new evaluation process include:
- Migration from a 5- to a 4-point rating system
- Transition from self-appraisal to a summary of accomplishments
- Focus on core competencies rather than on job responsibilities
Streamlined Rating Scale
Under the old evaluation system, staff members were asked to gauge their performances using one of five ratings. With Halogen, each person has four rating options: far exceeds expectations, meets high expectations, needs improvement and unacceptable.
“A 4-point rating system focuses on performance expectations that, in turn, drive exceptionalism by establishing an appropriate high bar as the basic standard of performance,” Powell said.
Streamlining the ratings will also address an unintended consequence of the 5-point system: grade inflation.
“A 5-point scale is often equated to an A, B, C, D and F scale, and no one wants to be deemed a ’C’ employee,” Powell said.
The result is that distinctions between “exceeds expectations” and “meets expectations” collapse, and the employees receiving those ratings are all labeled overperformers, while underperforming employees appear to shift upward to “meets standards.”
That type of environment ignores unsatisfactory job performance and hampers a merit-based system, which is what UC Merced is transitioning to as part of the campus’s compensation strategy.
During the last appraisal cycle, only 52 percent of eligible staff members received evaluations, meaning that nearly half of all staff members received no feedback from their immediate supervisors regarding their job performances.
The cumulative impact is that 98.4 percent of staff members appeared to meet or exceed expectations and 1.6 percent appeared to need improvement, while none received an unsatisfactory rating.
“While we believe we have an incredible body of solid performers, we also believe that it is statistically improbable that so many exceed expectations and so few need improvement,” Powell said. “When 98.4 percent are essentially the same, where is the merit in that? We can do better.”
Shift to Core Competencies
Powell also explained the switch from focusing on job responsibilities to assessing core competencies. Core competencies consist of a measurable pattern of skills, knowledge, abilities, behaviors and other characteristics needed to successfully perform and fulfill job responsibilities. They measure both job responsibilities and organizational “citizenship” behaviors such as communication, teamwork and collaboration.
“Core competencies illustrate two important factors: how well you perform your job and how well you perform your job in a team environment,” Powell said.
Chancellor Dorothy Leland first announced the new performance appraisal system, shift to merit-based compensation and three-year compensation strategy in a campus update distributed last summer. Since then, Michael Reese, vice chancellor for Business and Administrative Services, spent several months communicating about the strategy, discussing it at a town hall meeting held last fall and hosting webchats to answer questions. Powell has also been meeting with departments to explain the coming changes.
Meanwhile, on April 28, the chancellor, Reese and Vice Chancellor for Planning and Budget Dan Feitelberg will participate in a one-hour webchat in which the compensation strategy and other topics will be discussed. A link to the chat will be posted and distributed prior to the event.
For more information regarding Halogen:
A description of the 4-point ranking scale, along with other information regarding Halogen, is posted >on the Human Resources website.
Supervisors and employees can watch videos from Halogen that provide an overview of the system:
