We hear you

Boeing people indicated that while the performance evaluation, salary review and performance development partnership processes are better than they were, there's still room to grow. Following are some employee comments and responses from the Performance and Salary Management team.

"Performance evaluation has gotten a lot easier now that it's online, but it would be just as easy to update PDPs online." — Carolyn Hodges, Propulsion Sustainment IPT manager, Integrated Defense Systems

"PDPs are optional, but I told my employees if they choose to use it, the intent is to develop skills and knowledge, which will improve your performance. All my employees used PDPs this year." — Ron Gentry, senior configuration management manager, Connexion by Boeing

"I used the PDP tool. That one's still on paper, and it'd be nice to get an electronic form." — Victor Fong, eMatrix System Administrator, Connexion by Boeing

Response: In 2006, an electronic version of the PDP tool will be introduced to better facilitate user access and usability.

"With Skill Teams having a diminished role, I have concerns about inconsistencies. Some managers are more critical than others when deciding whether employees met, exceeded or did not meet expectations. We've lost the ability to have discussions around a common set of employees and level-set expectations." — Steven Culp, senior manager of Technical Design, Skills and Processes, Commercial Airplanes

"From my perspective, there's still some subjectivity in the [PE ratings] met/not met part and what they mean to any given manager." — Debbie Lopresti, Technical Design, Processes and Standards team, Commercial Airplanes

Response: While guidelines, training and communication on performance and salary management are readily available, each manager must manage these processes with absolute integrity. Oversight Managers also are in place to review IPA and salary decisions, and to ensure pay is equitable, competitive, based on value of contribution, and reflects the business environment.

"I've spoken with employees who feel more disengaged because of the automation/electronic format." — Lopresti

"I see a couple of drawbacks to the electronic, Web-based version of PE forms. It's challenging to close out PEs when employees transfer to new organizations, and version control is a problem with updating and visibility." — Culp

"I found that with the new tools and the associated process, the data was reviewed and evaluated in a more timely manner, expediting the process." –Julie Zust, Business Management manager for Shared Services Computing & Network Operations

Response: Based on after-action feedback and results from employee focus groups, many improvements have been made to the Performance Evaluation tool. Supporting guidelines will also be available to help lead employees through the evaluation process.

—Debby Arkell