The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) mission is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Human Resources Division supports achievement of the agency's mission through programs to attract and retain a highly skilled and diverse workforce. The department has an eclectic workforce: from game wardens in the fields to scientists in labs, executives at headquarters, fish & wildlife techs, park rangers, natural resource specialists, and administrative support working from myriad locations.
Making meaningful sense out of some 3,000 paper-based performance appraisals for a public sector agency with 140 offices scattered across the state of Texas is no easy feat.
For TPWD’s Human Resources staff, “bringing 21st century performance management solutions into the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department” had its challenges, to be sure. Using Halogen eAppraisal™, however, has netted significant results.
- Performance appraisal scheduling is now streamlined and shortened;
- Employee performance reviews outside of the government agency’s annual schedule are easily accommodated for new hires and transfers, among others;
- Appraisal completion rates have increased from a low of 55 per cent to 99.7 per cent as a result of increased executive management attention and eAppraisal's usability; and
- Customized skill-set reviews have been introduced to replace generic forms.
Fast-Tracking Out of a Paper Wilderness
When Toni Brown, HR Business Analyst and Reporting Team Leader arrived on the scene in 2006, TPWD employee performance reviews were submitted in paper format and recorded manually.
“The agency had just created a new competency-based system on paper,” she recalls, but the information wasn’t being tabulated and tracked in a manner that shed much light on organizational strengths or weaknesses, and the HR Division could not exercise appropriate administrative oversight of the process.
During that time, another Texas state agency had acquired Halogen eAppraisal to aid in administering its performance evaluation process. After viewing an on-site demonstration of eAppraisal’s capabilities and functionality and researching other performance management systems, TPWD’s HR Director determined that eAppraisal system might address many of his department’s on-going performance management process concerns.
“One day,” recounts Brown, “Al Bingham, Director of HR, told me he wanted to automate performance management, directed me to Halogen’s eAppraisal solution and said: it’s yours make it happen….”
From contract signing to rolling out, the implementation process took about six months, including a pilot program launched across the organization.
“I wanted everybody engaged and to know what was coming. Managers were asked to enter their objectives into the system so that by the time we ran employee performance reviews using eAppraisal, goals would be documented and could be referenced for discussion and scoring purposes.”
Reeling in Unproductive Processes
Prior to using eAppraisal, the employee performance review process took four months to complete, from September 1 through to the end of December. In 2005, during that window of time, reviews were completed for 63 per cent of employees. In 2006 numbers dropped to 39 per cent. Fiscal year 2007 garnered a 55 per cent completion rate.
Netting a Big Catch of Responses
“2008 was the first year we used eAppraisal and we ended up with a 79 per cent completion rate by December. In 2009 we shortened the process to November 30 and by that date had 87 per cent completion,” Brown notes, adding that when she ran reports in January that figure had topped out at 99.7 per cent. This success is driven in part by HR’s ability to track and nudge participants where needed.
Adapting to a Diverse Environment
“We’ve used eAppraisal for two years now and both years we’ve given people the option of producing performance reviews on paper, particularly to accommodate those working out in the field with limited computer access,” Brown says.
The first year about 67 per cent of all staff used eAppraisal; the second year, 82 per cent used eAppraisal. In year three, online submission will involve all staff. Although Brown states, “We are not quite at the point where we can use eAppraisal’s electronic signatures feature which will eliminate any need for paper.”
Using this online vehicle, the agency’s managers are now also able to conduct performance reviews year round; for new hire performance plans, transfers and for those requiring an evaluation outside of the annual process.
The configurability of the performance management solution has proven to be another distinct advantage. With its paper-based approach, TPWD restricted reviews to two forms: one for people managers and another for the general employee population. The Department has since created additional forms tailored to specific skill sets, among them:
- A Performance Plan with SMART Goals used by supervisors who need to establish goals for a new hire or for current employees who have no goals in the eAppraisal system, and;
- A Probationary Game Warden 90-Day Review for Game Wardens during their first year of employment.
“We’ve got a huge investment in our human resources, with about 40% of our operating budget related to personnel costs. As such performance matters!. One of the benefits I’m finding very valuable with eAppraisal,” says Brown, “is the ability to gauge organizational and development plans against employee performance to isolate training gaps. We can actually do something with that information now.”
Scoping Out Next-Step Goals
Now that initial expectations to achieve higher completion rates have been achieved, next-step goals are to ensure performance appraisals provide the best possible feedback and coaching.
“I’m looking forward to using the feature that allows me to enter annotations when I notice an employee performance review is incomplete or hasn’t addressed what it should. Although reviews are coming in, they haven’t necessarily communicated all they could. Using eAppraisal we intend to put value back into evaluations.”
According to Brown, from a usability point of view eAppraisal is very easy to use. Are there things she’d change? “Possibly, but when I send a suggestion to Halogen, their response is receptive, and being part of their customer advisory board for the public sector solution has shown me first hand their commitment to meeting our unique needs. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend eAppraisal to others and would assuredly point out the difference it’s made at our organization.”
