Senior Executive Service (SES) Performance Appraisal System Training

2. Senior Executive Service (SES) Performance Appraisal System Training

3. Background ECQ-Based SES Performance Appraisal System The interagency-designed basic SES appraisal system provides for the uniform administration of executive performance management systems within the Federal Government by • promoting consistency, clarity, and transferability of performance processes, standards, feedback, and ratings across agencies, and • Being rooted in the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) that enable • a lifecycle approach to managing the Executive cadre • a balanced emphasis on strategic leadership and results • enhanced equity and mobility of SES members within and across agencies • greater flexibility for agencies to develop performance metrics

4. A Basic SES Performance Appraisal System In 2011, a workgroup created through the President’s Management Council SES Initiative recommended the design of a standard SES Appraisal System. A broad and diverse group of Federal agencies and organizations collaborated to develop a single performance appraisal system applicable to all organizations and their SES members. OPM also consulted with a broad group of stakeholders throughout the process to ensure the new system incorporates leading practices and reflects all interests and needs, including: the President’s Management Advisory Board; SES members; and the Senior Executives Association.

5. Guiding Principles and Foundational Benefits

6. What Are the Major Improvements Provided by the SES Appraisal System?

7. Training Objectives After completing this training, you will • Understand the key Performance Management Processes. • Understand how to write and use your Performance Plan. • Understand the importance of Performance Feedback. • Understand requirements for Executive Development. • Understand how SummaryRatings are Derived. • Understand your agency’s Pay and Awards Policy.

8. LESSON 1:Performance Management Processes Overview

9. Lesson 1 Objectives After completing this lesson, you will be able to • Describe the five key processes of performance management. • Describe the associated time frames of the performance management process.

10. Planning Performance Monitoring Performance Rewarding Performance Developing Performance Rating Performance Key Performance Management Processes

11. Performance Management Process Timelines • Appraisal Period:[AGENCY WILL INSERT BEGINNING & END DATES – e.g. October 1 through September 30] • Minimum Period: 90 days. • Approve Performance Plan: on or before the first day of the appraisal period. • Progress Review: [Agency will insert date– e.g. May] • Initial Summary Rating:[Agency inserts due date)

12. Lesson 1: Knowledge Check • The minimum appraisal period is: • 30 days • 60 days • 90 days • 120 days • T or F – The Planning process is the most important process of performance management.

13. Lesson 1: Knowledge Check ANSWERS • The minimum appraisal period is: • 30 days • 60 days • 90 days • 120 days • T or F – The Planning process is the most important process of performance management. F – each process of performance management is equally important.

14. LESSON 2:Planning Performance: How to Develop a Performance Plan

15. Planning Performance Monitoring Performance Rewarding Performance Developing Performance Rating Performance Planning Performance

16. Lesson 2 Objectives After completing this lesson, you will be able to • Describe the criteria for senior executive performance plans: critical elements, performance requirements, and performance standards. • Align performance requirements with agency goals. • Distinguish between activities and results. • Develop a performance plan by writing measurable, results-focused performance requirements.

17. Planning Performance Three important aspects to planning performance include - • Link performance plan to organizational goals. • Develop Results Driven performance requirements. • Consult with executives on the development of their performance plans.

18. Align and Plan Work Performance plans must clearly link to • Presidential Orders and Initiatives. • Mission Statements. • Strategic Plans. • Organizational Goals. • Budgetary Priorities .

19. Develop the Performance Plan Overview • Critical Elements • Performance Requirements • Applying the basic Performance Standards • Developing the Results-Driven Requirements

20. Develop the Performance Plan Definitions • Activities-actions taken to produce results. • Competencies- the personal and professional attributes that are critical to successful performance in the SES. • Critical element-a key component of an executive’s work that contributes to organizational goals and results and is so important that unsatisfactory performance of the element would make the executive’s overall job performance Unsatisfactory. • Outcome -describes the intended result or consequence that will occur from carrying out a program or activity.

21. Develop the Performance Plan Definitions (cont’d) • Outputs-goods and services produced by a program or organization and provided to the public or to other programs or organizations. • Performance requirements- statement of the performance expected for a critical element. • Performance standards- the description of performance expected at a given level of performance. • Result-Consequence(s) of activities, accomplishments and outputs (can be short term, annual or long term).

22. Develop the Performance Plan Critical Elements • Critical elements-components of an executive’s work that contribute to the accomplishment of organizational goals and results. • Unsatisfactory performance in one or more of the five critical elements results inoverall Unsatisfactory (Level 1) performance.

23. Develop the Performance Plan Critical Elements The five critical elements are based on the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) • Leading Change. • Leading People. • Business Acumen. • Building Coalitions. • Results Driven.

24. Develop the Performance Plan Weighting Critical Elements The basic SES appraisal system description requires that all critical elements be weighted. • Results Driven = at least 20%. • All other Critical Elements = at least 5%. • No single critical element can weigh more than the Results Driven element. • Sum of the weights = 100%.

25. Develop the Performance Plan Weighting Critical Elements [Agency describes how weighting requirements will be done within the agency]

26. Develop the Performance Plan Performance Requirements • Define the performance requirements for a critical element. • The basic SES appraisal system description has language addressing Governmentwide performance requirements for all critical elements except the Results Driven critical element.

27. Develop the Performance Plan Performance Requirements The basic system’s performance requirements comply with regulations for system approval and certification and include - • Balanced measures of customer and employee perspectives. • Accountability for the performance management of subordinates, including alignment of performance plans.

28. Develop the Performance Plan Performance Standards • The basic SES appraisal system establishes performance standards for each performance level and are part of the performance plan. • The performance requirements and standards are used together to rate executive performance.

29. Develop the Performance Plan Performance Requirements [Agency may add agency-specific or individual performance requirements for the Leading People, Leading Change, Building Coalitions, and/or Business Acumen elements]

30. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Element • Executives must develop the performance requirements for their Results Driven element that are clearly linked to organizational goals. • The Results Driven performance requirements must be comprised of measurable results. • Results Driven performance requirements can be stated as either outcomes or outputs. • Outcomes are more meaningful (to customers, stakeholders and the public) than outputs, which tend to be more process-oriented or means to an end.

31. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Element Agency or Governmentwide performance results are found in • Presidential Orders and Initiatives. • Agency High Priority Goals. • Strategic Plans. • Organizational Goals. • Budgetary Priorities.

32. Develop the Performance Plan Alignment of Results Driven Element

33. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Element Everyday Example IMPROVE HEALTH By July 1, 2012, reduced cholesterol by 7 points.” Join a health club/ exercise 30 minutes per day/drink only water Lost 10 pounds by June 1, 2012 Outcome (final result) Interim result Activities Goal

34. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Element Agency Example Decrease the time to hire Decreased application processing time by 40% Implement action plan to Decrease Time to Hire Customers Satisfied with Agency Time to Hire Annual Goal/High Priority goal (Interim result) Activity Agency Goal Strategic Goal (Outcome)

35. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Element Results Driven performance requirements must include credible measures with targets of performance. • Performance measures are the indicators or metrics that are used to gauge program performance. • Performance measures can either be output or outcomemeasures.

36. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Element General measures include • Quantity • Quality • Timeliness and/or • Cost-Effectiveness

37. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Measures Effective performance measures can indicate • How well the executive is doing. • If the executive is meeting goals. • If customers are satisfied. • If processes are within statistical controls. • If and where improvements are needed.

38. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Measures Quantity • Number of products or services provided, or a production quota to be met, or percent to be achieved. • Consider the customer/stakeholder needs for numbers achieved or produced. • Examples • Backlog reduced by 50-55% • An average of 100 cases resolved per month over the year • A 60-75% increase in stakeholder use • The percentage of lead in the water is reduced by 10-15%

39. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Measures Quality • Addresses the level of excellence of the achievement, to include accuracy , appearance, customer satisfaction, relevance, usefulness, functionality, and/or effectiveness. • Consider whether the customer/stakeholder cares about the quality of the result. • Examples • The agency has a 95-97% accuracy rate in case completion • Program policy supports the Administration’s initiative • Policy incorporates stakeholder feedback • 70-80% customer satisfaction rate with agency service

40. Develop the Performance Plan: Results Driven Measures Timeliness • Timeframe or deadline for the result. • Consider whether customers/stakeholders care when a result is achieved. • Consider whether it is important to accomplish a result by a certain time or date. • Examples • Result achieved by June 1 • Project meets quarterly milestones

41. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Measures Cost-Effectiveness • How much savings or cost controls. • Important for Government accountability. • Must be able to document and measure. • Consider whether it is important to complete work or produce results within certain cost constraints. • Examples • Reduced expenses by 1-3%, maintaining quality • Reduced waste by at least 5%, maintaining quality • Completed project within 5% of budget, without exceeding budget

42. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Measures For each result identified for the Results Driven element (output and/or outcome), ask • How can the [quantity, quality, timeliness, or cost-effectiveness] of the result be measured? • Is there a number or percent that can be tracked? If not, who can determine that the performance result met expectations and what are the factors that person would look for? Pre-determined agency High Priority and Strategic Goals can help answer these questions.

43. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Measures If the measure is more descriptive than numeric, the performance result should include • Person or group that could judge performance. • E.g. customers, stakeholders, supervisor. • Factors that the judge would expect in performance. • What the judge can observe and report to verify the performance level achieved.

44. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Measures Key points when developing performance requirements for the Results Driven element: • DON’T list tasks and activities (e.g., hold five meetings; visit eight field locations).   • DO identify the desired outputs, outcomes.  If you’re having difficulty turning an activity into a measureable output or outcome, try this trick to getting your thoughts moving in the right direction…  Just fill in the blanks in the following: I will  _(do what?)___ by _(when?)   resulting in _______________, and my success can be verified using _____________.

45. Develop the Performance Plan Writing Performance Results [Agency specifies instructions for the number of objectives/expectations to include in Results Driven, or any other instructions for the Results Driven element]

46. Develop the Performance Plan Results Driven Element Pitfalls to Avoid • Focusing on processes– Focus on more than process (operational) data. Focus on the longer-term measures of customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, product/service quality, and public responsibility. • Failing to base business decisions on the data—You have the data…so use it. • “Dumbing down” the data - Sometimes data can be summarized so much that it becomes meaningless. If business decisions are going to be based on the data, then the data needs to be meaningful and useful.

47. Develop the Results Driven Performance Requirements • Performance requirements should describe the result expected at Level 3, “Fully Successful” level. • The performance requirement should include the target or range of performance expected at Level 3, “Fully Successful” using the specific measures identified for quality, quantity, timeliness, and/or cost effectiveness. • TIP: define threshold measures for Level 5, “Outstanding” and Level 2, “Minimally Satisfactory” so the executive understands the range of performance for these levels.

48. Lesson 2: Knowledge Check • Which of the following captures all of the Critical Elements? • Leading Change, Leading People, Results Driven • Leading Change, Leading People, Business Acumen, Building Coalitions • Leading People, Business Acumen, Building Coalitions, Results Driven • Leading People, Leading Change, Business Acumen, Building Coalitions, Results Driven • T or F - The Critical Elements are anchored to the ECQs.

49. Lesson 2: Knowledge Check - ANSWER • Which of the following captures all of the Critical Elements? • Leading Change, Leading People, Results Driven • Leading Change, Leading People, Business Acumen, Building Coalitions • Leading People, Business Acumen, Building Coalitions, Results Driven • Leading People, Leading Change, Business Acumen, Building Coalitions, Results Driven • T or F - The Critical Elements are anchored to the ECQs

50. Lesson 2: Knowledge Check 3. For the interagency developed SES system, the Results Driven critical element must be weighted at least • 5% • 15% • 20% • 60% 4.T or F – In writing Performance Requirements for the Results Driven critical element, the executive should focus on activities not accomplishments.