Below are tips from OPM to employees and supervisors.
Employees
Planning
Be honest and realistic with your supervisor.
Discuss your expectations for your job with your supervisor and highlight the strategic alignment of it and the organizational mission.
Align individual and departmental/team goals
Be sure your goals are achievable
Monitoring
Establish a line of communication with your manager via regular one-on-1 meetings, instant messaging channels and virtual team meetings.
Create a list of accomplishment stories for each milestone reached during the rating period
Regular meetings with your supervisor are a good way to discuss your individual goals.
Rating
Use backgrounds/filters for video conferencing to avoid distraction and ensure privacy.
Prepare for the end of the year discussion by writing accomplishment statements and asking questions about how you can improve in your focus areas.
Consider rating process as a growth opportunity
Ensure that all goals and objectives are met within the rating period
Recognition and Rewards
Your supervisor should know what kind of recognition and rewards you value, since we all feel valued differently.
Track and share your achievements with your supervisor.
Volunteer to take on complex, challenging and high-visibility projects
To increase self-esteem and morale, you can organize employee appreciation events
Learning and Development
Online learning and training programs can help you keep your mind sharp and your desire to grow personally.
Look for free training and resources from Federal agencies, job-specific organizations, and local universities and partners
Talk to a mentor about how to apply for detail positions or rotational programmes. This will help you link your personal goals and development.
Employee Health
Take regular breaks. Make sure to take time to exercise, get away, or go outside.
Participate in virtual chat groups, and join virtual communities that are aligned to your special interests or areas of concern
You can take advantage of programs that offer employee assistance, counseling support, and mental health.
Supervisors
Planning
Clarify the meaning of standards; Different perspectives can differ in their interpretations of what constitutes exceeds, meets and below performance
Standardize expected results whenever possible. This helps to increase equity between employees in similar positions.
Allow employees to grow and be autonomous by clearly highlighting the strategic alignment of their work and the organizational mission.
Monitoring
Employees can be included by giving feedback about their performance using inclusive language.
Engage employees by holding multiple informal and formal feedback sessions throughout a year
If your employee is working remotely, you should question your assumptions about why they aren’t performing. Realize that there may be other factors and circumstances that could impact performance.
Rating
Meetings for performance evaluations should be held in a neutral environment, free from distraction (virtual as well as physical environments).
Positive feedback is better than negative feedback. Constructive feedback is more easily accepted if it’s preceded by positive feedback
Be aware of your own rater bias. Evaluate performance based upon measurable results.
Recognition and Rewards
Find out what your employees are looking for in recognition and how you can meet them. Some don’t want publicity.
Recognize the contributions of employees to organizational value (not just productivity or performance).
Celebrate individual and team successes throughout the year. People want recognition and to know they are contributing to an organization’s success.
Learning and Development
Routine check-ins should be conducted for 360-degree and 2-way developmental updates. They should be bi-directional to encourage continuous development.
Encourage and promote online learning, as well as free training programs, from other Federal agencies, job-specific organizations, local universities, or partners.
Encourage mentoring and coaching and provide details about opportunities to connect employee goals and development.
Open Communication
Enable teamwork/collaboration and team check-ins by scheduling 5-10 min breaks during meetings for hallway chats among employees
Video conferencing is a great technology to maintain a personal connection.
Communicate with the group in a consistent and deliberate manner. People must feel that they are part of the group.
Leadership
Self Management
Time management is essential for a productive and organized meeting. This includes planning, work, and preparation.
Promoting a healthy balance between work and life (e.g. Not scheduling meetings at lunchtime, not using annual leave, etc. Your positive work/life behavior will inspire employees to be more productive and happier.
Communication
Host Q&A sessions during Town Hall meetings, or through agency intranet/forum pages
Encourage employees and management to hold office hours to address concerns
Trusted partners within your organization should be able to give feedback.
Delegation and autonomy
Trust is built when senior leaders expand their circle of decision-makers. Delegate downward and work with others to allow natural professional development and to increase your ability to deal with challenges
Clearly state your expectations and highlight strategic alignment. This will allow you to gain bidirectional trust.
People Focused Management
Management by observation is not the right mindset. Instead of focusing solely on where or when, think about the what and how.
Encourage collaboration and cross-training for employee development, natural succession planning, and employee growth.
Analyse your employees to make sure they are fair evaluated, get timely feedback, have equal opportunities and have all the resources necessary for success.
Train and use resources
Make use of technology to bridge the gap between communication and collaboration
Look for free training and resources from Federal agencies, job-specific associations (SHRMs, CFO Councils, Leadership Councils), and local universities.
To increase knowledge and accountability for employees and managers, use internal SMEs to host training sessions at agency-wide levels
Develop Agile Culture and Hybrid Workplace
Plan your transition to a hybrid workplace (tech-ready to allow meetings that seamlessly join in-office workers and remote workers).
Update policies/practices/training to incorporate flexibilities (Telework, Remote Management, IT Systems, Security)
Develop strategies to remain resilient in the face future uncertainty and changes at work
Stopgap Bill and Postal Bill ready for final votes
Report Outlines Plans to Transition to Postal-Only Health Insurance Program
Ban on Vaccine Mandat Stays in Force, at Least for Now
Agency Reentry is in doubt because of an Injunction of Mandate, says WH
EEOC Lauds Agencies for Age Discrimination Record, But Raised Concerns about Pay Differences
Report Links Perceptions and Rates of Age Bias Complaint
2023 Retiree COLA Count Already Nearly 3 Percent
VA Offers Employee Incentives To Fight Turnover
Also see:
Benefits upon the death of a federal employee or retiree
The Federal Retirement Deal (Its Great)
Federal Employees Enjoy Annual Leave, One Of The Top Benefits
2022 Federal Employees Handbook
