Wyoming Workforce Planning
The Right People at the Right Place at the Right Time!
Citizen  Business  Government  Visitor

Planning

The planning phase is the starting point of the entire performance and development process, as it is during this phase that you are responsible for:

• ensuring employees are focused on work priorities for the coming year that significantly contribute to organizational results;

• identifying and agreeing on key behavioral competencies (determined from essential functions of position) that are necessary to get work done;

• supporting learning opportunities that are essential to your employee’s job success;

• providing immediate and ongoing feedback to employees on how well progress is being made towards achieving goals; and

• Recognizing success when goals are achieved, or identify and provide support when goals are not met.

The planning stage is also where you and the employee identify key measures of success and ensure a common understanding of the review process that will be used at the end of the EPDS process. It is your responsibility to ensure that your employees understand the common evaluation standard that will be used at the end of the EPDS process.
 

Identify specific performance measures, division, and section/work unit goals. Once you have the goals and objectives lined up, communicate them to employees (either individually or as a group) to help them understand how their work goals align with workgroup, section/division, or agency goals. Identify the specific organizational performance measurements that your workgroup most directly supports.

This also provides an opportunity to inform employees that an EPDS cycle is starting and to review the entire EPDS process with them.

Step 2
Initial Draft EPDS Form

Employees are encouraged to write their own goals, key workplace competencies, measures of success and learning and career development plans. If this is the first time the employee has started an EPDS he or she may wish to have an initial conversation with you about expectations and suggested direction.
 

Step 3
Review
EPDS with Employee

Have a meeting with the employee in order to review, provide direction/input (as necessary), and approve their key work goals, special projects, key work duties, competencies and learning and development plan.

What results will be achieved in the next year to support the workgroup, section/division, agency or State-wide goals?

• Are there any cross-agency goals/initiatives that the workgroup directly contributes to?

• What specific actions will employees carry out to achieve desired results?

• Are these goals meaningful in the context of the business priorities this year and in the future?

• What are the indicators that demonstrate intended results have been met?

• Are they SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Aligned, Results-focused and Time-bound?

Key Work Goals Consideration:

• Key work goals should identify the results that will have the greatest impact on achieving workgroup, section/division or agency goals.

Key Competency Consideration:

• Has the employee identified examples of actions that reflect the two to three most critical skill sets (knowledge, skills and abilities, appropriate workplace behaviors) that support their key work goals?

At a minimum the Wyoming competency framework should support the work. See the Wyoming Competency Dictionary to access the general competencies and supporting tools.

Developmental Planning Consideration:

• Will the learning activities support the employee’s day to day work?

• Consider whether employee learning needs can be addressed through other activities, such as job shadowing, project work, classroom learning, online learning, exchanges or temporary assignments.

Step 4
Sign Off EPDS

The completed EPDS form is signed by both you and the employee and both parties should receive a copy to be used as a reference documents during the focusing, realignment and review stage.
 

Final Considerations

During this meeting it will be crucial to:

• discuss whether there are any supports or resources necessary to help the employee achieve work goals;

• identify the approximate timeframe for the mid-year focusing session; and

• communicate the review process that will be used at the end of the EPDS cycle.

As the manager/supervisor, it is your responsibility to ensure that the work and competency goals for each employee are correctly identified, articulated and measurable, in order to achieve overall workgroup goals.
 

Focusing - Realignment - Mid-Course Adjustments (F-R-M)

Step 1
Employee Review EPDS Process

Encourage your employees to regularly review EPDS on their own and with you as this will allow you to keep aware of employee progress toward work and competency developmental goals.
 

Step 2
Meet with Employee

This entire phase and particularly this step presents you with the opportunity to give regular feedback, guidance and coaching regarding the employee’s performance and development.

Feedback for this phase is mostly informal.  However, conversations should be integrated into routine supervisor/employee interaction.  At least one formal meeting should be scheduled for some time during the middle of the EPDS cycle.

The majority of this stage is not a formal assessment of performance – the intent is to have regular, ongoing conversations about how the employee is progressing, identify any challenges that are emerging, and clarify any new or additional supports that may be required to help the employee successfully reach their goals.
 

Final Considerations

Consider if the employee is:

• on target to meet work and competency goals;

• working on realistic measures;

• meeting customer needs;

• having difficulties due to gaps in knowledge, skills, or behavioral competencies; and

• facing obstacles due to changes in organizational direction, priorities, or objectives.

Are adjustments needed to bring the employee’s EPDS back into proper alignment with larger organizational performance measures?

You may also ask yourself “what can I do to continue to demonstrate my support and commitment to employee success?"
 

Review

The review phase provides a formal opportunity to discuss and assess how well work goals, special projects, key work duties and developmental competencies were met over the year.  This phase is intended to be a collaborative process between you and the employee in which actual performance is compared to planned performance (see phases 1 and 2), areas for celebration and improvement are identified, and plans for next year begin to be formulated.

The prospect of a formal review may initially cause some discomfort; however, if the focusing / realignment / mid-course adjustment phase has been appropriately conducted, there should be no surprises with respect to the year-end review.

The performance of all employees working for the State of Wyoming is to be reviewed using the common evaluation standard, which promotes consistency of performance evaluation across the State.  The evaluation standards that you use should evaluate success on two separate axis: workplace goals (what has been done) and demonstration of required competencies (how the work has been done).

The point at which these two axis intersect indicates the overall evaluation of the employee.

As a manager/supervisor, it is important to allow adequate preparation time for the review meeting, and consider the following:

• compare the employee’s work and competency results against the goals set during the planning and focusing phases;

• gather the necessary information to support your review; and

• your initial thinking about how you will facilitate the performance review meeting with the employee.

Prior to the meeting, assess how the employee has achieved their work and competency developmental goals over the review period. Summarize the measures developed in the planning phase to help inform your perspective.

Putting together a summary also provides an opportunity to:

• acknowledge successful achievement of results;

• identify if any goals were not met;

• evaluate reasons why goals were not met;

• determine if the goals should be repeated in the next performance planning stage; and

• identify possible career goals.
   

It is your responsibility to schedule the review meetings with employees.

Begin each meeting by discussing the employee’s self–assessment of their work performance and competency development outcomes. This will help identify initial areas of similarity and difference of perspective.

Provide the employee with opportunity to profile what they accomplished, how they demonstrated competencies and possible areas of improvement. This will get the employee involved in the discussion from the start.
 

Share your observations and comments regarding the employee’s performance. Begin by providing positive feedback and highlighting specific accomplishments.

Reinforce observations made by the employee that you agree with, and make mention of additional things you observed the employee doing well.  Note how they have contributed to the workgroup’s efforts and the agency’s overall performance measures.

Discuss areas that need improvement and work with the employee to identify ways to address these areas.
 

Avoid discussing motivation or personal issues. There is time to address those elements later on in the process. Concentrate on the employee’s work, competency development and learning results and how their results impacted the individual, the team, the division or the agency at-large.

Always allow the employee the opportunity to discuss feelings and reactions to your input and feedback.

Listen to the employee and encourage suggestions; allow the employee to complete his or her thoughts and expression.
 

If a disagreement arises between you and the employee during the performance discussion, allow them to state feelings honestly. Listen without arguing or defending your point of view. Be prepared to make necessary adjustments if new information comes to light that you were not aware of.
 

The meeting should be an honest review of employee achievement as well as an opportunity to celebrate successes and address areas requiring further/ongoing attention.  Understand your employee's motivational qualities.  Some employee enjoy a pat on the back where others need a bit more.  Know their motivational style and reward it.
 

It is important to note that identifying areas for performance improvement is not the same as entering the formal discipline process, although a documented pattern of poor performance may support or result in discipline or dismissal. See a more detailed description of progressive discipline.
 

The employee may also wish to discuss career goals during the review phase.  This is a good way to find out future ambitions from employees and identify possible succession roles, succession planning opportunities as well as Leadership training programs.
 

Once you have formally documented the performance review using the evaluation standards mapped out and discussed from the planning phase, the employee will be given the opportunity to respond in writing to your comments.

The final EPDS review is signed off by you and the employee. The employee is given the opportunity to indicate whether they agree or disagree with the review. Copies of the signed review should be kept by you and the employee with the original sent to your Human Resource Manager, to be placed in the employee’s file. Please consult relevant collective agreement language regarding the employee’s right to not sign and/or to grieve a performance review.