Recruiting, Selecting, and Retaining Direct Service Workers to Provide Self-Directed HCBS
Conducting the Evaluation
1. Listen
2. Read
During the evaluation, let your DSWs talk about how they think things are going. Good evaluations are a conversation between you and your DSW. When you conduct an evaluation, be sure to:
- Meet privately.
- Allow plenty of time to talk.
- Discuss the DSW’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Identify areas of high performance.
- Let the DSW talk about their performance and how they view the past year.
Performance evaluations should never be a surprise. Be sure to talk with your DSWs whenever issues arise - don't ignore them until there is a big problem.
3. Reflect
Joe recently did a formal evaluation with Nick, his DSW. Joe wanted to be objective, so used a formal evaluation tool that he made. He identified the key job duties that Nick was expected to perform. He rated Nick on each of the areas. He identified all of the areas where Nick needed to improve. Ever since they did the evaluation, Nick has been professional and respectful, but things are not the same. Joe and Nick used to have a lot of fun. Joe is confused about what happened. Is there anything Joe could have done differently?
Joe tried hard to have an objective evaluation. Doing a formal evaluation can be a good tool to identify areas for improvement and areas that are done well. If Nick seems unhappy with the review, and Joe doesn't know why, here are some things Joe can ask himself. Did he ever coach Nick about things he needed to do better, or did he wait until the review to tell him everything? Did he tell Nick about the things he does well during the review? Did Joe give Nick a chance to talk during the review? Having a conversation with Nick about the review and how Nick thinks it went might help Nick and Joe understand each other better.
Joe might need to change his coaching and feedback style. Here are some things Joe can ask himself. Did he ever coach Nick about things he needed to do better, or did he wait until the review to tell him everything he did wrong? Did he tell Nick about the things he does well during the review? Did Joe give Nick a chance to talk during the review? Having a conversation with Nick about the review and how Nick thinks it went might help Nick and Joe understand each other better.