Performance Standards

Performance standards state what behaviors or results are expected for performance to be considered satisfactory. Standards are the criteria against which performance is judged. Standards should be:

• attainable
• specific
• observable
• meaningful
• measurable, and
• stated in terms of quality, quantity, timeliness, or cost.

Involve the employee in the development of standards. Be certain the standards describe the conditions that will be met when performance is satisfactory. For example, how well, how much, what speed, etc. is expected. Performance standards are the basis for performance evaluation and should clearly state how you and the employee will recognize when expectations have been met, exceeded, or not met.

Example 1 Activity: Supervision of Staff
Performance Standard: Performance will be satisfactory when supervisor:

• communicates a good understanding of departmental objectives as well as specific project assignments to others.
• is able to motivate satisfactory performance by subordinates.
• seeks aid from departmental management as well as other training and development resources when supervisory problems are encountered, including problems with employee motivation.
• conducts annual performance appraisals which provide staff members with constructive feedback and jointly sets goals and objectives with staff members.

Example 2 Activity: Complete assigned work in priority order and on time.
Performance Standard: Performance will be satisfactory when:

• Tasks are assigned an accurate priority rating on the following scale:
  • Priority #1--Tasks related to class preparation and student recruitment
  • Priority #2--Research related requests
  • Priority #3--Databases and related tasks
• Priority #1 tasks are completed within 24 hours of being received.
• Priority #2 tasks are completed within one work week of being received.
• Priority #3 tasks are completed on an as time is available basis.
• Employee consults with supervisor when priorities and deadlines conflict.

Example 3 Activity: Answer Telephone
Performance Standard: Performance will be satisfactory when:

• Telephone manner is pleasant and courteous. It may be necessary to define courteous and pleasant if the employee has difficulty meeting this standard or if you have a very specific behavioral requirement (ex. phone courtesy requires answering in three or fewer rings).
• Employee does not leave callers on hold for longer than 30 seconds without acknowledging they are still waiting
• Information provided to callers is correct and complete
• Messages are complete and delivered promptly
• Customer complaints do not exceed 2 per annual rating period