Our case study for this month highlights work we did for a public library client of ours. We are passionate about helping our public library clients learn and use best practices when it comes to Human Resources strategies. In this project we worked with a library’s Board of Trustees to develop a performance management process for the library’s senior leadership team.
We were contacted by the Board President who was seeking a partner to help develop a performance management process and provide compensation data, including best practices on pay increases, incentives, and other aspects of rewards, for their Library Director and Fiscal Officer.
- Our process started with collaborating with the Board, the Library Director, and the Fiscal Officer to understand expectations regarding job duties, and just as importantly, what traits and behaviors, also known as competencies, are important to be successful in those roles at their library. This is a critical part of the process to make decisions about expectation around what needs to be done and how it gets done.
- Using what we learned we were able to refine the job descriptions which is the primary tool for setting expectations. We ensured all of the critical elements of the job were included so that the Library Director and Fiscal Officer would have a clear idea of what is expected of them both in terms of job duties and behaviors.
- With the refined job descriptions and the competencies defined for each role we then developed a performance management tool that easily allowed the Trustees to provide constructive feedback during the annual review process. A suite of materials was provided including review forms, instructions, and goal-setting tools anchored in the job descriptions and strategic plan.
- Finally, we provided cash compensation benchmarking using general survey tools as well as library-specific compensation data. Information on best practices regarding pay-for-performance approaches, compensation philosophy, and compensation program administration was also provided. The compensation recommendations were linked to the performance management processes to create an integrated system to performance management and rewards.