On Target Performance Systems has developed an innovative and proactive approach to managing performance in the law enforcement field. With the primary purpose of improving organizational effectiveness, minimizing liability, and maximizing employee safety, our firm has developed a task-based system designed to continually improve employee performance and manage all aspects of the evaluation process.

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Only our software includes a database of over 250 sworn and non-sworn positions in law enforcement, corrections, judicial services, boot camp, etc.  Each position contains an essential task/proficiency/policy list and performance standards and identify high liability tasks where appropriate.  The database is easily edited to reflect changes in positions, tasks, standards, etc. in order to reflect your agency needs and organizational structure.

On Target Performance Systems has developed an innovative and proactive approach to managing performance. With the primary purpose of improving organizational effectiveness, minimizing liability, and maximizing employee safety, we have developed a task-based system designed to continually improve employee performance and manage all aspects of the evaluation process.

Key Benefits

• document agency job/task analysis for all sworn/non-sworn positions
• automatically weight all tasks according to importance/criticality and frequency
• generate performance standards for all tasks
• generate, document and archive employee evaluations
• automatically score evaluations
• automatically schedule evaluations
• generate and document detailed individual performance histories
• document and track individual performance improvement plans
• provide performance reports by task, position, employee, shift, supervisor, race, gender, etc.
• provide and generate valid training needs data identifying individuals, positions, or tasks which require improvement, meet standard, are exemplary, or have not been evaluated
• schedule, document, and track all training related functions
• generate training related reports

Only our software includes a database of over 250 positions including accounting, human resources, managerial, supervisory, clerical, computer and information technology, etc.  Each position contains an essential task/proficiency/policy list and performance standards, and even identify high liability tasks where appropriate.  The database is easily edited to reflect changes in positions, tasks, standards, etc. in order to reflect your agency needs and organizational structure.

Rationale

The law enforcement/corrections community is under a continuous barrage of liability lawsuits (30,000 annually) many of which are predicated on negligence due to failure to train and/or supervise to standard, negligent hiring, negligent retention, negligent termination, and other administrative decisions. Liability can be minimized through the implementation of risk management programs and to that end On Target Performance Systems has developed a task based performance evaluation software system designed to enable identification, analysis, and resolution of employee performance deficiencies and thus improve organizational effectiveness and minimize potential liability.

Traditional evaluations are like a time bomb in your files set to explode if it is determined that an officer performed negligently yet the evaluation form reflects accolades that are not representative of actual job performance. The traditional employee evaluations are subjective as they only document generalized judgments that vary greatly from one supervisor to another. The traditional evaluation system does not provide the subordinate with feedback required to improve performance. Traditional evaluation systems provide non valid data as the evaluation criteria are not measurable. For example, how does one measure motivation or initiative? You cannot, but you could measure the results of job performance. Let's say for example, that an officer is rated as high in initiative by their supervisor. Let us also say that this individual does not have the required skills, knowledge, or attitudes to perform the job. An individual with high initiative but lacking in the skills could be a great danger to themselves, the organization, and the general public. This type of evaluation system is reactive in that corrective actions are taken only after negligent incidents occur.

Our evaluation system focuses on identifying substandard job performance and improve such performance thus reducing or limiting the risk of liability to your organization. Our system is proactive in that it enables supervisors to identify and resolve substandard subordinate performance. Furthermore, the task-based evaluation system is objective due to the specific measurement criteria (performance standards) associated with each task, thus eliminating the subjectiveness one finds from one supervisor to the next. This evaluation system is a fair and equitable approach to appraising job performance. Every position, sworn and non-sworn in both law enforcement and corrections, has its own list of tasks (high liability tasks where appropriate) appearing on the evaluation form. The employees are rated on the specialized tasks they perform, and in this way specific training and improvement needs can be identified and dealt with in an effective systematic manner. The evaluation system is designed to include performance reviews, FTO, exit, change assignment, bimonthly, quarterly, and annual evaluations. Weaknesses identified during the review period can be improved through coaching and on-the-job training, monitored, and reassessed during the following review period. In this way the system acts to continually improve performance.

The evaluation information is recorded in the PMP database, thus enabling efficient evaluation record documentation and the facilitation of administrative decisions and reporting. The information generated by the program provides supervisors with a powerful employee development tool and provides the training unit with a means to identify which individuals require training in specific tasks and skills.

Goals for the PMP Software System

• Continually improve employee performance
• Generate documentation and reports for administrative decisions
• Provide defensible documentation for legal challenges
• Document employee performance
• Generate, document, and track individual employee performance improvement plans
• Provide valid training needs data
• Provide a detailed list of essential tasks and standards for each position

Cost Benefit Analysis

The cost of an average jury award of civil liability against a municipality is reported to be about $134,000 (Kappeler, 1992) although awards have ranged between $1 and $200 million. The average EEOC award is approximately $950,000. In an attempt to prevent such large judgments, many municipalities and their sureties have made it a routine practice to settle many claims out of court for a minor portion of what a jury might award if the case went to trial. Such practices may lead municipalities to pay relatively large sums of monies even in cases where the department might not be found liable in a civil proceeding. These trends often precipitate morale problems in the police organization and create an unfavorable public perception of police conduct.

A proactive method to identify and resolve performance problems would minimize potential liability and improve organizational effectiveness. The cost of implementing the system is a fraction of the cost of a potential failure to train or supervise to standard lawsuit. The benefits in terms of employee morale and community perceptions cannot be measured in monetary terms.

Who Benefits?

Administrators:Results in valid and defensible data upon which to base administrative decisions. The system also provides a detailed job/task analysis, fulfilling a difficult and complex accreditation requirement.

Supervisors: Provides standards and a uniform process for evaluating performance at the task level. Data has shown that the single most important and time consuming duty of a supervisor is to train employees and maintain subordinate performance. This system facilitates this responsibility. The system also provides a valuable tool for FTOs. They can document and track new recruit progress and training in a systematic performance based manner.

Training managers: The system provides an excellent training needs tool and valid TNA data.

Risk managers: The system addresses negligent training, supervision, retention, selection, and termination through effective supervision, training, and evaluation.

Personnel: The system is a fair and equitable approach to evaluating performance. The employees are evaluated on what they do and not on subjective value judgments or favoritism.

Community: A well-trained and supervised department will provide the community with confidence in the delivery of protection and services by the law enforcement agency.

Steps to Successful Implemention

1. On Target will train your designated administrator on the software task editing and validation procedures.
2. Your designated administrator would customize the task and position database to conform with agency needs, or On Target will provide all software customization.
3. Once the database is customized, On Target will schedule supervisor training.
4. Software installation can be accomplished by your personnel under On Target guidance.