Background - The University's Employee Coaching System

For a number of years, the university utilized a single performance coaching instrument to meet the needs of all its departments. This instrument includes a point scoring system and weighted factors that are calculated to give employees an annual score for performance. Points are correlated with four categories describing performance as superior, above standard, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory.

In meetings with stakeholders to set priorities for its work in the fall 2003 and spring 2004, the Human Resources Department determined that the existing system for employee appraisals was flawed due to a number of factors:

• Widespread score inflation to help employees get the highest possible merit increases;
• A lack of goal-setting, planning for employee growth and development, and strategies for improving performance;
• Too much attention given to scores and points, and too little attention on feedback and coaching.