These resources are intended for members of the OSU IT/Controller's Unit Performance Management Pilot.  They do not represent current OSU Policy.

These resources are exclusively for Professional Faculty. 

The supervisor and employee tailor the rating scale as they complete the Goals, Standards & Metrics step.  They use the SMART Goal Writing process to develop goals.  Each goal developed using that process is the performance standard, i.e., the performance required to successfully meet the goal.

Once the performance standard is defined, the supervisor and employee clearly define what performance at each level of the rating scale looks like.  That information is then used to evaluate performance throughout the year and in the annual review.

Herein, the new Rating Scale is presented and the process to use it is detailed.

Overview

The new Rating Scale includes four ratings, i.e., surpasses expectations, meets all expectations, meets some expectations and does not meet expectations. 

This rating scale will be used for professional and management employees participating in the pilot.  The rating scale will be used to evaluate individual goals and overall performance.

Importantly, the rating scale needs to be applied to the individual and to each of the individual’s annual plan goals.  Individual application allows a single rating scale to be used across pilot participants.  And it ensures each individual is compared only to themselves within the context of their job.

Rating Scale Descriptions

Surpasses Expectations 

Surpasses Expectations is performance that is consistently outstanding and far exceeds the defined performance standard.  This is a rating that consistently demonstrates that more than expected results were achieved in the area of job functions, objectives and/or delivers a unique contribution to the University. Meets All Expectations is our gold standard and the Surpasses Expectations rating is exceptional.

Meets All Expectations 

The performance standard is equivalent to the Meets All Expectations rating.  Meets All Expectations is performance that consistently fully meets the standard.  Meets All Expectations demonstrates that the employee is able to meet all aspects of their job responsibilities and functions.  When an employee meets expectations, they are performing successfully on-the-job. 

Meets Some Expectations 

Meets Some Expectations is performance that sometimes falls below the performance standard.  When an employee earns this rating, it shows that there are areas of improvement.  There may be outstanding circumstances, e.g., covid or changing work unit goals, that can impede successful performance and need to be ruled out in order to accurately rate the employee’s performance.  It is important to document where the employee fell short and create the opportunity to improve performance.  This does not indicate that a performance improvement plan is necessary. 

Does Not Meet Expectations 

Does Not Meet Expectations is performance that is consistently below the minimally acceptable standard.  When an employee earns this rating, it means they haven’t performed well consistently in most areas.  It is important to document where the employee fell short and create the opportunity to improve performance.  Additional training or a structured performance improvement plan may be necessary. 

Examples of Goals & Rating Descriptions

Supervisor Goal: Reduce employee turnover by 3% by offering career development and training resources to all employees by end of fiscal year. 

Exceeds - Employee turnover was reduced by over 6% and supervisor worked with employees to identify, document and schedule career development and training opportunities for the next two fiscal years. 

Meets All - Employee turnover was reduced by 3% and supervisor offered career development and training to all employees prior to the end of the fiscal year. 

Meets Some - Employee turnover was reduced by 1% and supervisor offered career development and training to some employees prior to the end of the fiscal year.

Does Not Meet - Employee turnover was not reduced and supervisor did not offer career development and training resources to employees prior to end of the fiscal year. 

Goal 2: Reduce unplanned network downtime by 4% by end of fiscal year. 

Exceeds - Unplanned network downtime was reduced by over 6% and strategies were implemented to ensure network downtime is continually reduced. 

Meets All - Unplanned network downtime was reduced by 4% prior to the end of the fiscal year. 

Meets Some - Unplanned network downtime was reduced by 2%.

Does Not Meet - Unplanned network downtime was not reduced. 

Goal 3: Process all employee expense reports and pay within 10 days of receipt of approved report. 

Exceeds - All employee expense reports and pay was paid within 5 days of receipt, and documentation and strategies were implemented to continue processing expenses in a quick and efficient manner. 

Meets All - All employee expense reports and pay were paid within 10 days of receipt of approved report. 

Meets Some - Half of employee expense reports and pay were paid within 10 days of receipt of approved report. 

Does Not Meet - Expense reports and pay were not paid within 10 days of receipt. 

Using the Rating Scale

The supervisor and employee use the SMART Goal Writing process to develop goals.  Each goal developed using that process is the performance standard, i.e., the performance required to successfully meet the goal.  Hence, the goal is equivalent to the Meets All Expectations rating.  When the employee consistently fully meets the standard as defined in the goal, they earn the Meets All Expectations rating.

Establish Rating Scale During Goal Development

Once a goal has been developed, Surpasses Expectations, Meets Some Expectations and Does Not Meet Expectations need to be defined for that person in relation to that goal.

  1. Surpasses Expectations
    1. Identify what ‘outstanding’ and ‘far exceeds’ looks like for this goal.
    2. Identify examples of ‘outstanding’ and ‘far exceeds’ for this goal.
    3. Identify opportunities or lack of opportunities for the employee to perform at this level for the goal.
  2. Meets Some Expectations
    1. Identify outstanding circumstances, e.g., covid or changing work unit goals, that impeded successful performance.
    2. Identify examples of how the performance fell short of expectations.
    3. Identify opportunities to improve performance, e.g., training, job aides, mentoring, etc.
  3. Does Not Meet Expectations
    1. Identify what ‘below minimally acceptable standards’ looks like for this goal.  Remember, the goal is the standard.
    2. Identify examples of ‘below minimally acceptable’ for this goal.
    3. Identify opportunities to improve performance, e.g., training, job aides, mentoring, etc.
Use the Rating Scale During Check-Ins
  1. Rate each goal for the period since the last check-in meeting, using the rating scale developed during the annual plan development process.  Include qualitative data, i.e., descriptive notes, for every rating.  Document rating and qualitative data.
Use the Rating Scale for Annual Evaluation

For each goal:

  1. Compile rating data from all check-in meetings.  Important – qualitative data, i.e., descriptive notes are most useful and beneficial for this process.
  2. Rule out factors outside the employee’s control, e.g., environmental or work unit changes, changes in expected performance, changes in goals, etc.
  3. Use the remaining data, i.e., only the data directly related to the employee, to rate the employee’s performance over the entire annual plan period.
  4. Review the qualitative data to identify themes or patterns in performance.
  5. If you average the numeric ratings, remember that averages have disadvantages.
    1. A small number of outlier ratings can pull the average in their direction, despite the fact that they represent a minority of ratings. 
      1. For example, an employee receives a low rating was for just one period of time.  However, high ratings are the norm for this individual.  Even though the one outlier is not representative of typical performance, it has undue influence on the overall rating.
    2. Averages obscure variation and important details. 
      1. This is particularly problematic when you average ratings across goals.  The average obscures the individual goal ratings, and eliminates information that shows strong performance versus a need for performance improvement.
  6. To mitigate these disadvantages:
    1. Always pair a numeric rating with qualitative data, i.e., descriptive notes drawn from the check-in meetings.
    2. Put the primary focus of the evaluation on the qualitative data.
Last Updated: 
09/23/2021