TIPS FOR MANAGING EMPLOYEE COMPETENCY ASSESSMENTS

WHAT IS AN ECA? An employee competency assessment, or ECA, is a required tool used by managers to evaluate the demonstrated competencies of the employee against the required competencies of the position. A competency assessment communicates to employees where they demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities to meet stated business needs and where they have deficiencies. Manages are responsible for determining the employees demonstrated competency level for each of the competencies required in the position. There are three levels of employee competency: Developing: required position competency is not yet fully applied by the employee at the level defined by the manager as necessary to meet stated business needs. The employee may be lacking in some skillsets of the required position competency. Applied: required position competency is often demonstrated by the employee at the level defined by the manager as necessary to meet stated business needs. Broadly demonstrated: required position competency is consistently demonstrated by the employee at, and above, the level defined by the manager as necessary to meet stated business needs. WHEN TO DO AN ECA ECAs are required by policy to be completed with certain employment events but also can be completed on an as-needed basis. These include: Required: 90 days after an employee starts in a position Required: 90 days after a position change (update duties, branch/role change, competency change) Required: Every year during the annual performance cycle Required: When a salary increase is being requested due to a position changing to a higher level or the employees demonstration of higher level competencies As-needed: Any time the employee has demonstrated a change in competencies and the manager believes a change in employee competencies has occurred and needs to be documented NEW DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS In January 2011, a memo was sent to campus detailing additional documentation requirements from the Office of State Personnel (OSP) for salary increases. OSP requires that departments submit both the last ECA on file for the employee along with a new ECA done at the time of increase request, along with other required documents for a salary increase (salary recommendation form, HRIS workflow, etc.). The new ECA should detail the change in employee competencies between assessments. If any position change has occurred at the time of the increase, the new ECA should reference the additional duties and describe how the employee is demonstrating competencies related to those new duties. The ECAs must be completed fully according to State and University guidelines. Failure to complete the ECA to the standards set forth by UNC and OSP will result in the ECA being returned to the department for further documentation.

Rev. 02-22-2011

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TIPS FOR MANAGING EMPLOYEE COMPETENCY ASSESSMENTS

COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID Using Performance-Based Language: Avoid use of any performance language in your Employee Competency Assessment comments section (e.g., John is excellent at his job, Jane is a fantastic performer). If performance language is used in the ECA comments, it will be sent back to the department and the salary adjustment will remain on hold until those comments/phrases are removed. Missing Signatures: Make sure you get the signature of the employee, employees supervisor, and employees second-level supervisor signature on both the before and after ECAs. ECAs missing signatures will be returned to the department. Not Addressing Changes: Be sure to speak to the changes in the employees competencies in the current ECA. The state requires that there be a demonstrated change/growth in competencies when awarding an increase. Make sure that it is clear in the comments section where there has been growth and change between assessments. Not Providing Examples: Include specific examples of job duties and responsibilities that point to how the employee is demonstrating competencies on the job. If the job has changed (i.e. branch/role change, competency change, or update duties), include specifics about how the employee is demonstrating competencies related to newly added duties and/or newly added competencies. Not Addressing Appropriate Competencies. Make sure to address the competencies the state has identified for the relevant classification title. Not Entered into HRIS: Be sure that ALL ECA ratings are entered into HRIS, regardless of whether there has been a change in overall rating. OHR needs to have both a copy of the ECAs as well as see a record of all of the employees historical ECA ratings in HRIS. Too Little Time between Assessments: There should be a reasonable period between ECA assessments that allows for review of an employees knowledge, skills and abilities. A best practice would be 90 days between employee competency assessments. OTHER TIPS FOR COMPLETING ECAS It is a best practice to periodically run a report to ensure all employees have a current ECA on file and recorded in HRIS. All employees must have a baseline ECA on file in order for you to request an increase for them in the future. Feel free to consult with your Class & Comp consultant in advance of getting required signatures on ECAs. We would prefer to help you identify problems on the front-end than send back paperwork to be re-signed. When sending copies of ECAs to OHR, we only need pages related to the ECA (i.e. the first/cover page, the pages with the ECA ratings and comments, and the final signature page). We do not need any pages pertaining only to the performance review. Remind supervisors to think about competencies in terms of the knowledge, skills, and abilities demonstrated on the job (e.g., John demonstrates an broad level of communication as evidenced knowledge of various print and electronic media sources as well as his knowledge of more cutting edge social media communication outlets). It is okay to talk about the employee directly in the ECA. Position descriptions are where we want information on just the position without comment on the employee. You are free to speak directly about the employee by name when completing the ECA.
Rev. 02-22-2011 Page 2 of 2