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M3 The is going to have minimal impact on our organization; negative comments about the daily operations." community thus reflect personally on him evaluation of a • "The only reason we are doing the perfor- or her. mance evaluation is because the manager OCQI 8 3. Ability of Council to Perform Croup wants more money." Evaluation. The dynamics of the local government • •'The performance evaluation provides an council affect its ability to perform as a manager differs opportunity to anticipate issues and to pro- group. If the council is experiencing se- vide a firm direction for the manager." vere personal conflicts,operating off hid- in many ways • "I have done evaluations in my own busi- den agendas, or overreacting to citizen from that of a ness, and I am the expert on how they feedback, these factors are likely to nega- corporate should be done." tively affect the evaluation. 4. Council Leadership. Council's willingness executive Or These diverse attitudes about evaluation and ability to focus key issues, develop manager in make it necessary for the council to under- processes for addressing those issues, and stand why it is doing the performance evalua- build consensus among members of the the private tion, and to determine what is its desired end council are key to meaningful manager sector. m result. evaluation. 5. Credibility. The performance evaluation Barriers to Effective Performance Evaluations of the local manager will be widely shared In response to pressures for increased pro- and will affect the personal credibility of ductivity, many localities have developed the manager in managing the local organi- rather sophisticated, formal performance zation, in interacting with the community, evaluation systems.for managers, while others and in assisting in policy leadership with have relied on informal discussions. Common the mayor and council. barriers to effective performance evaluations 6. Family and Personal Impact. As the man- include: ager's performance evaluation is shared within the community, an impact will be • Focus on past performance with little em- made on spouse and children. phasis on future direction 7. Timing. Depending upon the election and • Emphasis on complex numerical evaluation budget cycles, evaluations may best be rather than on substantive data done at the council's mid-term, or at the • Vague job standards and undefined role "legacy phase," after the election and expectations prior to the next council election. • Failure to establish a strong link between manager performance, the evaluation sys- In spite of these observations, the need for tem, and compensation more formal evaluations of local managers is • Form structure that does not allow for per- indicated. The degree of formality of this pro- sonal comments, observations, or develop- cess depends on the council's needs or de- ment of action plans for improvement sires. • No means for continuous monitoring of performance—resulting in focusing only on Decision-making the negative or most recent observations The decision-making part of the performance • Complexity of task and vague terminology evaluation process is often the most difficult • Minimal commitment and support by the to execute. An overriding question the local mayor, council,and manager in implement- manager needs to address is: How formal do ing the performance evaluation system. I want the performance evaluation process to be? This section attempts to increase under- Unique Factors standing of this dilemma. The following ques- The evaluation of a local government man- tions are provided to stimulate thoughts ager differs in many ways from that of a cor- about the development of positive approaches porate executive or manager in the private to the evaluation process. Managers who are sector. Some unique features of the local gov- facing a performance evaluation in the future ernment manager evaluation include: are encouraged to respond to the following questionnaire (figure 1) to gain insights into 1. Role of Media. In most states, local man- their own evaluation process. ager evaluations are conducted as open The responses to these questions will influ- meetings. Many newspapers want a "re- ence and help determine the type of perfor- port card" on the manager's performance mance evaluation process that will take place. and focus only on the negative aspects, not Answering the following questions may also on major accomplishments. be helpful: 2. "Everything is Personal."The manager is a personification of the local government 1. Why do you want to be evaluated? 4 PM February 1988