NLPES Conference Notes

Roundtable on Workforce Issues: Small Shops
Friday, September 7, 2001

Moderator: Martha Carter

In this breakout session, conference attendees were asked to vote for one of the following topics for roundtable discussion: recruiting, training, writing, relationship with your legislature, management issues, or a topic of group choice. The group voted to discuss two topics – writing and performance appraisals.

Writing
Group Discussion Highlights

Designated editors - some offices have them.
North Dakota has their administrative assistant read the draft version of each report in its entirety – if she doesn’t understand something, it is likely the Legislature won’t either.
Minnesota and other states have compiled a style manual for their respective offices.
Illinois performs "The Face of Validity" where they have someone within the office, who did not work on the project, read the report to ensure one continuous flow and identify any contradictions.

Performance Appraisal
Group Discussion Highlights

Kansas inquired if any states perform upward evaluations whereby staff evaluates supervisors. North Dakota responded that they do this.
South Carolina has tried the "360-degree" review process where everyone on the audit team evaluates everyone else. The group consensus was that in small shops, anonymity is the biggest obstacle to these types of appraisals.
North Dakota has staff keep a "personal portfolio" throughout the year detailing what they worked on. The In-Charge reviews the portfolio when completing performance appraisals.
Minnesota holds "Forming Meetings" whereby all audit team members meet to voice how each member likes to work (e.g., work style, amount of direction preferred, areas of the project they’re interested in working on, and expectations).
States shared information about how staff evaluations work in their offices including, methodology, frequency, and successes/failures.