New Policy Date: August 1998      Revision Date: August 2005

POLICY:

Performance evaluations will be conducted annually under the direction of the Chiefs for all salaried Survey staff members. The purposes of this evaluation are: 1) to produce reliable evaluations of staff members’ job performance as described in the position descriptions in considering merit salary allocations, promotions/demotions, transfers, training, non-financial rewards, or other appropriate actions; 2) to define staff members’ needs for development and training; 3) to obtain staff members’ views about their goals, possible transfers, and Survey program plans; and 4) to provide a stimulus for the Survey and its staff members to excel.

All salaried staff members are evaluated on a five point numeric scale, one through five, with one representing the lowest score. The corresponding qualitative definitions of the performance scale are: Unacceptable, Needs Improvement, Meets Expectations, Exceeds Expectations, and Superior.

Each Chief will be evaluated by the Board at least once every five years or more often if deemed necessary by the Board. The scope of the review will cover the following areas and focus on each Chief’s ability to:
1. Recognize the needs of the State and direct the scientific program to respond to those needs
2. Set priorities and seek and secure support for the scientific programs.
3. Select and manage a scientific and technical staff
4. Insure sound fiscal management and administrative procedures.
5. Motivate the scientific staff to achieve the highest quality collective and individual performances.
6. Exhibit the highest personal traits of leadership.

PROCEDURE:

Please refer to the internal manual of each Survey on the procedure for performance evaluations of staff members.

Evaluation of a Chief

An evaluation of a Chief will involve the Board, Chief, and members of the respective Survey. The review process will be accomplished in the following manner.

Step 1: In executive session, the Board will discuss the performance of the Chief who is to be reviewed. The purpose of this discussion is to insure that each Board member can raise issues to be addressed during the review.

Step 2: A committee composed of members of the Board will schedule a visit to the Survey. During this visit, the committee will discuss the Chief’s performance with each individual who reports directly to the Chief. In addition, ample time will be allotted so that individual staff members may discuss the Chief’s performance with one or more members of the committee. The interviews shall include a representative sample of the entire staff. These discussions should seek to evaluate all six topical areas of performance.

Step 3: The committee will formulate an evaluation which will be discussed with the entire Board.

Step 4: The Board will discuss the evaluation with the Chief. After this discussion, the committee will provide the Chief with a written performance evaluation, including both general and specific recommendations