Assessment of the Niles Fire Department Employee Evaluation System

Download or read book Assessment of the Niles Fire Department Employee Evaluation System written by Barry L. Mueller and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The problem examined was a union contract for Niles Fire Department (NFD) personnel is being negotiated for the first time. Contract items to be negotiated include a disciplinary policy, a promotional policy, a personnel file policy, and a compensation policy. Each of these items can be impacted by employee evaluations. It is unknown whether the present NFD employee evaluation system is appropriate for use in these areas. The purpose of this research project was to assess the present NFD employee evaluation system in light of the items that need to be negotiated in collective bargaining. Four research questions were developed in an attempt to assist the author in accomplishing the purpose of this project. Descriptive and evaluative research was used to answer these research questions: 1. What are the necessary components of an effective employee evaluation system? 2. How do other fire departments handle the employee evaluation process? 3. What are the impressions of NFD personnel regarding employee evaluations? 4. What issues, if any, need to be considered as a result of contract negotiations in the modification of the present NFD employee evaluation system? The procedures employed to complete this research included a review of applicable literature and questionnaires received from 113 fire departments. Finally, a comprehensive questionnaire was completed by NFD personnel. The results of this research indicated that NFD personnel feel that the present employee evaluation process is lacking in a number of areas. However NFD personnel also indicated that, when properly designed and administered, evaluations could be beneficial. The recommendations that resulted from this research project included a mandate that management definitively decide and communicate to all personnel that the main objective for evaluations is to foster employee growth and development. In order to accomplish this objective specific actions were recommended such as reverse evaluations, anonymity of subordinate evaluators, a practice to keep evaluation results confidential, and further extensive research into employee evaluation forms and formats. [STAR#: 125574].