EVALUATING PERFORMANCE
One of the hardest tasks you will undertake as a
new petty officer is the evaluation of people who just
weeks ago were your peers. You somehow must put
aside friendships and dislikes and present an honest,
professional opinion of a person’s ability to perform
assigned tasks. When doing that, take note of the
successes, failures, and complexity of the tasks. Was
Seaman Jones’ work exceptional because of a 100
percent success rate on easy jobs? While Seaman
Smith was successful only 80 percent of the time, he
was performing tasks normally done by a petty officer.
When comparing a person’s performance to that of
others, you will have to consider those facts.
Your supervisors will occasionally call upon you
(or you may find it necessary) to discuss the
performance of your subordinates with your
supervisors. Generally, that will happen on two
occasions. First, your supervisors may request input
for a formal performance evaluation or to clarify a
worker’s ability. When that situation arises, be
completely honest with yourself and those you are
evaluating. Don’t let personal feelings and attitudes
blur your professional judgment. Differences of
opinion do not necessarily mean poor performance.
Avoid reporting minor problems you can correct
yourself through counseling and leadership. Second,
you will need to seek help from your supervisor on
occasions when you are unable to correct a
performance or behavioral problem. You also will need
to provide a performance evaluation to your superiors
for such occasions. When those occasions arise, hold a
counseling session and document the session. Formal
performance counseling requires written statements of
the problem or deficiency and the steps required to
resolve the matter. Remember, the goal is to correct a
problem; and the counseling session is to train, direct,
and help the subordinate correct the deficiency. You, as
the leader or counselor, and the counselee sign the form
acknowledging the steps to be taken to correct the
deficiency. Then the form is placed in the individual’s
division or department file.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Sailors are capable of developing an almost
infinite variety of problems, which may or may not be
job related. Sometimes friction arises between
workers, or a personal problem causes workers to stop
pulling their weight. Since these problems ultimately
affect the job performance of all your subordinates,
they should be of concern to you. In some cases,
members may come to you with their problems. In
other cases, you will have to recognize the existence of
a problem and discover its nature on your own. You
should be able to recognize changes in behavior that
often signal problems. Some indicators of an
individual’s need for help may be declining job
performance, changes in attitude, or withdrawal from
friends and associates. Difficulty getting to work on
time, constant demands on a leader’s time, and
rebellion against authority or the system in general
often indicate personal problems. Do you remember
the old saying about 20 percent of the people causing
80 percent of the problems? You can expect to spend 80
percent to 90 percent of your “personnel admin” time
on 20 percent of the people. Your job as a leader is to
get 100 percent team effort from your assigned
workers. In the following section you will read about
counseling methods that will not only help to resolve
conflicts but also assist in other areas where counseling
is needed.
COUNSELING
Counseling is a tool a leader uses to help a person
explore, better understand, and find solutions to a
problem. You may be involved with four major types of
advising and counseling sessions:
Personal
Career
Performance
Disciplinary
1-11
Q9.
Which of the following is not an acceptable
sign of appreciation for a job well done?
1.
A simple pat on the back
2.
Promising an award
3.
Positive counseling sheet
4.
Meritorious captain’s mast
Q10.
What type of feedback is given when job
performance standards are not being met?
1.
Positive
2.
Constructive
3.
Evaluative
4.
Disciplinary
REVIEW QUESTIONS
