In an effort to encourage county employees to be the best they can be at their jobs, the county will be implementing a new performance-based compensation plan that rewards excellence.
The system was developed over the past few months by a committee of 14 people from different departments in the county. Under the new system, non-union employees can receive different levels of pay increases based on their performance.
The plan was one of Sherburne County Administrator Steve Taylor’s goals after he was hired last year.
“One of his top priorities was to improve our performance evaluation system and our compensation system to align that more closely to the county’s strategic plan,” Human Resources Director Roxanne Chmielewski told members of the county board Tuesday, “and to provide a tool for attracting and retaining the kind of personnel that we want and reward excellence among our employees.”
The new system updates all job descriptions, listing the major duties. It defines performance standards for each job. And it uses a “SMART” goal system (Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/ Relevant, Timely) to set standards for evaluation.
Under the new system, employees can receive up to a 6.5% pay increase and a one-percent lump sum if they exceed standards. They can also get no increase if their performance is deemed unacceptable.
Those employees who don’t achieve their goals will meet with supervisors to develop an improvement plan.
“This is such a huge thing. Forty percent of our county employees are non-union,” said Taylor. “I’ve worked really hard on this. Staff has worked really hard on this. I’ve gotten a lot of questions, but I’ve received lot of support, in general.”
Taylor said some of the biggest issues with any employee evaluation system are subjectivity and favoritism. He said the new system reduces subjectivity by setting specific goals and standards for each job.
“No performance evaluation system is perfect. I haven’t seen a perfect one yet in 25 years,” he said. “There are always going to be issues. But we can limit them. We can afford our managers and supervisors with the flexibility to pay our top performers. But also indicate to our staff who need some development what needs to happen.”
Commissioner Felix Schmiesing said he felt it was a positive change.
“I think this is a big moment for us and our employees. I think it’s very important to realize that the same supervisor that is going to be giving a performance evaluation is going to be measured by the same goals,” he said. “Implementation is going to be critical. It has to be done fairly and consistently. It’s a big positive step for all our employees in Sherburne County.”
The plan starts Jan. 1, 2015.
Other Business
In other action the board:
*Approved the donation of a 2006 Brother copier/scanner from the auditor/treasurer department to the Sherburne County Fair Board;
• Approved a property tax abatement of $143.09 for Robert Klatt because of a fire that partially damaged his house and garage in Big Lake in May;
• Passed a resolution of support to explore the creation of an economic development district with Benton, Wright, Sherburne and Stearns counties;
• Approved an expenditure of $2,770 to install an underground sprinkler system at the Veterans Memorial in Becker;
• Approved an expenditure of up to $4,079.90 in out-of-state travel funds to send two maintenance staff to the Western Detention Equipment Training Program in San Diego Dec. 8-12;
• Approved an off-site gambling permit for the Duelm Area Lions at Palmer House.
