Hallmarks of a progressive performance management system

A group that reviewed the DC Office of Corporation Counsel back in 2000 recommended solid practices to transform its evaluation system for attorneys and support staff into a performance management system. Key elements of that system were that it should be:

• based on a core competency model;
• aligned with the law department’s strategic objectives;
• fed from multiple sources and links to customer satisfaction;
• using performance measures that are based on objective criteria having quantifiable measures and outcomes;
• linking performance appraisals to compensation, promotion, development, and training; and
• promoting an evaluation process that emphasizes clarity, simplicity, and communication.

I subscribe to each of these desiderata, although I have doubts about the efficacy of metrics-based objectives (See my post of April 8, 2005.)