USING APPRAISAL TARGETS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCEAND ACHIEVE GOALS (September 2014)
Introduction
The vast majority of employees want to do a good job. One of the key functions of leaders and managers is to ensure individuals in their team are clear about what is required of them; what their contribution to the success of the school or team is.
THINK AND REFLECT/ How does your school ensure you are clear about what is required of you both in an overall sense and specifically in relation to your job?
How do you make sure individuals in your team are clear about what you expect of them?
There are many ways in which successful schools ensure members of staff at all levels are clear about what is expected.
Most schools have a mission statement which acts as a guide to the overall ethos of the school and the school’s aspirations and values. In effective schools the mission statement is regularly revisited and used as a means of evaluating the work of the school; new members of staff are introduced to the implications of the mission statement as part of their induction. The school development plan and team action plans make clear the priorities people should be working on and these should be linked to the overall mission statement. Action plans should assign responsibilities to individuals and include clear success criteria which help to clarify expectations. In effective schools the appraisal process is used to move forward the school’s priorities, providing clarity about the specific areas individuals are working on and what they need to achieve to be successful with their performance targets. Appraisal also provides an opportunity to review job descriptions ensuring they reflect appropriate expectations for the role. Throughout the year, staff briefings, team meetings, learning walks and monitoring observations can all be used to reinforce key expectations. Indeed, most professional conversations allow leaders to reinforce their expectations in some way.
Using targets is one way of ensuring individuals are clear about what is expected of them and understand what success will look like. Sometimes called ‘management by objectives’, the use of clear targets to achieve organisational goals was first popularised by Peter Drucker in the 1950s (1).
Targets can be used in many different situations. Highly motivated individuals may set their own targets, sometimes influenced by career goals, regardless of whether or not these are required by managers. In most organisations targets will feature in development plans and action plans and targets will certainly be used when writing support plans for individuals performing below expectation. The most common use of targets, however, is in appraisal.
The benefits of using targets
Effective organisations think and act strategically. They constantly and systematically evaluate their performance and plan for further success. Target setting linked to appraisal is used to develop individuals and move strategic priorities forward. In many effective schools a key development priority will be seen reflected in the personalised targets set for individuals across the school. For example, team leaders, teachers and teaching assistants may all be working on a target relating to the successful implementation of a revised curriculum or a refreshed behaviour policy, in ways which are appropriate to their roles in school.
When the target setting process is done effectively, there are many benefits for both the organisation and individuals within it:
-Individuals’ targets are linked directly to achieving a team’s aims which increases the likelihood of organisational success
-Individuals are clear about what is required of them and so are likely to make every effort to achieve what is expected
-Individuals are clear about priorities and can focus attention and resources
-Individuals are motivated by targets they understand and have agreed to through discussion
-Monitoring and reviewing performance is easier, fairer and objective when clear targets and success criteria are in place
-Individuals develop and their professional and/or personal effectiveness improves when their targets are challenging but achievable
Getting the language right
We have so far mentioned goals, aims, objectives and targets.
Goals are usually aspirational and express what is ultimately to be achieved (e.g. to become an outstanding school)
Aims express elements which must be achieved if the overall goal is to be attained (e.g. improve teaching and learning so that attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 this year is ______)
Targets or Objectives aremore focussed and express what individuals must do as their contribution to ensuring aims are met (e.g. Providea high level of challenge for the most able pupils in your Y6 Maths class so that _____% gain level 6 this year. In this case ‘a high level of challenge’ will need to be discussed and clarified and there may need to be training provided to assist the teacher in recognising what this will look like in class)
Objectives or targets usually involve the achieving of a number of milestones, which are very specific actions or steps which contribute to the achieving of an objective (e.g. your first milestone in improving Y6 Maths results is to spend an afternoon with teacher X exploring the meaning of ‘a high level of challenge’; your second milestone is to write an action plan by _____ showing how you will improve challenge for your most able pupils)
SMARTER TARGETS
The acronym SMARTER is used to help remember how to write effective targets. To be effective targets must be SMARTER.
Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Relevant - Time limited – Extending - Rewarding
If they are not, then there is a strong possibility that they will not have the desired impact. The line-manager who wrote the target must then accept at least some of the blame for this.
What exactly are SMARTER targets or objectives?
Specific
This means the target or objective must be focussed and succinct. It must express clearly what has to be done. SMARTER objectives typically contain an action verb such as to report, to organise, to implement, to co-ordinate, to review, to plan etc.
Measurable
Objectives should contain a standard of achievement. If they don’t this can lead to misunderstanding about what is expected and uncertainty about whether or not an objective has been achieved. For example, an objective such as ‘to improve achievement in Maths’ is not clear with regard to measurement. Add more detail – ‘to improve the performance of five identified underachieving students (names) so that they gain at least a grade C in Maths GCSE next summer’ and the objective becomes measurable.
Achievable
All leaders and managers should have high aspirations and high expectations. However, overly ambitious objectives and unreasonable high standards lead to failure and demotivation. Objectives should be achievable with effort, not easy or simple to achieve, but they should not be unrealistic.
Relevant
When setting objectives it is important that the individual understands why the objective is important and how it fits into the overall aims of the team or goals of the organisation. This makes it relevant and relevance increases motivation. The objective must also, of course, involve something within the control of the individual.
Time limited
Individuals must be given a reasonable time frame in which to achieve any objectives set. Usually, objectives run over a year but it is reasonable that some objectives will be completed within a shorter and very specific time-frame, for example the completion of a report for publication by a certain date. The important thing is that the time allowed for completion is realistic and reasonable. Similarly, some ambitious objectives might run over two years, but with very clear milestones to enable monitoring of progress towards the objective.
Extending
There is no point setting objectives that are easily achieved or that require the completion of tasks which should be being routinely done anyway. Objectives are more motivational if they require the individual to develop new skills or reach a higher level of performance. People feel very proud when they have achieved objectives that stretched them. The skill of the manager is to think about what is just outside a person’s ‘comfort zone’. Too much outside can result in failure, stress and demotivation whereas just outside (coupled with encouragement and support) can be morale boosting and confidence building.
Rewarding
If objectives bring some reward to the individual, they are more likely to be motivational. Rewards might be financial (e.g. objectives allowing a person to gain pay progression) but they do not have to be. For example, a teacher with an objective to improve behaviour management will be rewarded with less stressful working days, an objective to undertake a curriculum review might improve career prospects.
THINK AND REFLECT/ In schools, what sort of things might make sensible objectives but might be difficult to measure precisely?
What sort of evidence might show success in such cases?
Although there is a wealth of numerical data relating to pupil performance there are many areas of school life (and pupil development) where numerical scores cannot easily be given. For example, developing pupils’ skills in working in groups is desirable but measuring it is hard. If this was to be a target, therefore, clear monitoring arrangements which shed light on progress made with group work would be required. Also, clear criteria regarding what constitutes effective group work would be needed to support the process. Once the criteria are agreed, observations of pupils working in groups at different points in the year would help a reviewer assess the skills they were developing. Discussions with pupils about their understanding of effective group work skills could also provide valuable information. Such data is known as qualitative (as opposed to quantitative – numerical – data) and is perfectly acceptable to use for gathering evidence of success with some objectives. In this example it is likely that the improved group work would result in improved outcomes for pupils in drama, debate or even written work (where group discussion is an important element of preparing for a piece of writing) but it would be impossible to prove that numerical scores in writing were the result of improved group work alone.
Thinking About Objectives and Success Criteria
When writing objectives it is important to think about whether or not you are setting someone up to fail. Any organisation should have aspirational goals, but an aspiration and an objective/target are not the same thing. For example, a school may have the aspiration that no incidents of bullying occur, but might decide not to make this a target. If it is a target and one incident of bullying is reported, they have failed. Here it is helpful to draw a distinction between the aspiration and the standard against which they will be judged. Similarly, teachers should have aspirational targets relating to pupil performance in test scores, but if a target is phrased as ‘90% of your Y6 class will attain level 5 in Maths’ and 86% gain level 5, the teacher has failed. If the target of 90% was aspirational (i.e. possible but unlikely given pupils’ prior attainment) then a result of 86% is, in fact, a very good outcome. It is important not to word objectives in such a way that they become demotivating. As Ofsted now focus on ‘progress’ rather than ‘attainment’ any targets relating to pupil performance are probably better expressed as progress measures than absolute scores.
Another point to consider is that objectives should focus on what really needs to change. For example, if a school wants to improve attainment or progress in GCSE History simply setting a numerical target might not achieve this. What is required is that the teacher of GCSE History improves the quality of teaching and learning so that pupils better understand the subject and perform better in the GCSE exams as a result. So, what is needed is to identify aspects of pedagogy that need to improve (e.g. differentiation, challenge for the most able, assessment and feedback, planning for skills development) and then set an objective to improve theidentified aspect(s) of practice, with a numerical GCSE score being one of the success criteria (an outcome).
When setting an objective it should be clear why the objective is needed, where performance or practice is now and where it needs to get to, how progress will be monitored and what success will look like. This is often captured in a simple grid like the one below:
Why Needed / Objective and time scale / Success Criteria / Monitoring Arrangements / Agreed SupportWith regard to teachers there are National Standards that should inform the target setting process. This is a statutory requirement. These Standards can be very helpful when considering the language of the target and possible success criteria. In the case of members of support staff, there are national occupational standards which, while not compulsory for appraisal, can be extremely useful for ‘unpacking’ specific roles as part of the process of identifying areas to develop and associated success criteria. As web addresses change, the simplest way to locate these standards is to use a search engine such as Google.
Words, Words, Words
The correct wording of objectives is critical. It is unfair to the person being given a target to work on if there is uncertainty about what is required or how success will be measured.
THINK AND REFLECT/ The words below are often used in objectives. However, such words should only be used if accompanied by unambiguous milestones and success criteria.
Think of some examples of what would need to be added to them to avoid confusion and uncertainty.
IMPROVE – SUCCESSFULLY – REGULARLY – EFFECTIVELY – EFFICIENTLY - APPROPRIATE
Let’s consider just a few of these words in order to see if your thinking was along the right lines.
Successfully – the standard or level required to do something ‘successfully’ is a matter of opinion unless it is specified.
Regularly – is once a year often enough? Be specific.
Improve – by how much? Unless you specify this or clarify what improvement will look like, it is just a matter of opinion and a potential source of disagreement.
This is why having clear success criteria is so important.
Sometimes a target might appear SMARTER but still be inappropriate. Take the example below.
Why Needed / Objective and time scale / Success Criteria / Monitoring Arrangements / Agreed SupportLesson observations show that your use of questioning in class is not sufficiently challenging and this hinders pupils’ understanding of some concepts. / Consistently to use questioning based on Bloom’s taxonomy (initially in Y10 History lessons during the autumn term, across all lessons by the summer term) /
- Lesson planning includes key questions linked to Bloom’s taxonomy(History in autumn term; all by summer)
- Questioning based on Bloom is embedded across all lessons by summer term
- Weekly Y10 History planning to be seen by PF (autumn term)
- Two agreed 20 minute observations of Y10 History lessons by PF (autumn term)
- 2 drop in observations by PF (summerterm)
- Meeting with AS to jointly plan some Y10 questions
- Observation of one of AS’s lessons in which questioning technique will be modelled
- One lesson team taught with AS who will coach in questioning technique
This target seems to meet the SMARTER criteria. However, it is not really substantial enough to be one of three targets for a whole year and it is not clear what the impact is expected to be. The example above could well be a short term target set for an NQT early on in their induction year or it could be one element of a more challenging target for a teacher on ‘improving challenge in lessons by……..’ .
References
Drucker, Peter F The Practice of Management 1954