We helped create a sophisticated performance management system with our Moodle-based platform for Somerset County Council.
Public Sector/Local Government
The council recognised that improving team and individual performance required more than just an annual review; it needed ongoing discussion, feedback and analysis to help learners meet organisational and personal objectives.
At Somerset County Council, they based these ideals around five key principles:
The council needed an online appraisal system to help them to deliver this development programme, specifically with:
• Functionality where employees could be assessed on their progress through feedback provided by their managers and other colleagues within the organisation; • The ability to facilitate discussions between an employee and their appraising manager; • A structure that would explain what needs to be done, when and by whom; • Sophisticated reporting to enable progress of employees to be reviewed effectively by managers.
Somerset County Council already had an enthused, engaged workforce, each month averaging 1,000 completed modules and 4,000 log-ins to ‘The Learning Centre’ (the council’s LMS).
This sophisticated performance management system had existing features that were utilised to provide exactly what was needed and Learning Pool worked in partnership with Somerset County Council to provide direct access to this all-digital appraisals functionality.
The existing appraisals process was adapted and built into the Learning Management System, enabling effective reporting and team review. The online provision allowed for information already held within the platform to be made use of and the performance ‘loop’ to be closed by the inclusion of a question on the creation of a ‘Personal Development Plan’ – another functionality of the platform.
The council was able to define specific appraisal “stages”, giving the team guidance on when certain actions had to be done, complete with useful automated notifications to keep everyone on track. Performance management within the LMS is designed to be as flexible as possible, allowing each client to use it in the way that best fits their needs and includes the ability to create goals, appraisal forms and 360° feedback.
“Organisational Performance is the sum of individual performance over a given time; we needed to develop performance by developing people and supporting them in their learning. Managing and monitoring this from a central point allows us to adjust quickly and effectively – LMS functionality and a little bit of creative innovation have given us that elusive single Organisational Development tool that we set out to find a couple of years ago – but we haven’t finished yet!”
Collecting feedback and conducting appraisals now has more value within the council aided by the powerful reporting tools within the platform, which are used to transform the data collected into useful information. Whether this is a detailed examination of employee progress or high-level summaries for management review, the organisation now has all of the information they need at their fingertips.
The project met its timeline with the workforce now using the online appraisals system successfully and with positive feedback.
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