PLA Results Series

Human
Resources
for Results
The Right Person for the Right Job

Jeanne Goodrich and

Paula M. Singer
for the
Public Library Association
 PLA Results Series
• •  •

HUMAN
RESOURCES
for Results
The Right Person for the Right Job

JEANNE GOODRICH and PAULA M. SINGER

for the

PUBLIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

Chicago  2007
While extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of information
appearing in this book, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, on
the accuracy or reliability of the information, and does not assume and hereby
disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or
omissions in this publication.

Printed on 50-pound white offset, a pH-neutral stock, and bound in 10-point

coated cover stock by McNaughton & Gunn.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ∞

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Goodrich, Jeanne.
   Human resources for results : the right person for the right job / Jeanne
Goodrich and Paula M. Singer for the Public Library Association.
     p. cm. — (PLA results series)
   Includes index.
   ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-3570-5 (alk. paper)
   ISBN-10: 0-8389-3570-2 (alk. paper)
   1. Public libraries—Personnel management. 2. Public libraries—United
States—Personnel management. 3. Strategic planning.  I. Singer, Paula M.
II. Public Library Association.  III. Title.
   Z682.G67 2007
   023—dc22 2007015743

Copyright © 2007 by the American Library Association. All rights reserved

except those which may be granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright
Revision Act of 1976.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-3570-5
ISBN-10: 0-8389-3570-2

Printed in the United States of America

11  10  09  08  07  5  4  3  2  1

To our partners,
Michael Pearlman and
Jacqueline Ehlis, for
your unfailing support
and confidence in us
 Contents

Figures vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Strategic Human Resources 1

Chapter 2 Create Alignment 15

Chapter 3 Describe the Job 36

Chapter 4 The Right Person for the Right Job 48

Chapter 5 Create a High-Performance Workforce 67

Chapter 6 High-Impact Retention: Retaining the Best and

the Brightest 90

Workforms
1 Committee Charge 114
2 Gap Analysis 116
3 Position Description Questionnaire 118
4 Job Description Template 124
5 Recruitment Process 126


 6 Developing Interview Questions 128
7 Reference Check Form 130
8 Individual Performance Plan 134
9 Performance Evaluation Tool 138
10 Self-Evaluation 145
11 New Employee Orientation 147
12 Exit Interview Questionnaire 150

Index 153

vi  Contents
 Figures

1 Planning for Results Model xii

2 Tasks and Steps in the Human Resources for Results Process xvi
3 Comparison of Tactical and Strategic Human Resources 5
4 Sample Charge 12
5 KSAs and Competencies 17
6 Evaluating Effectiveness 21
7 Activity Views 22
8 Gap Analysis Example—Need 25
9 Gap Analysis Example—Have 27
10 Gap Analysis Example—Gap 29
11 Challenges, Strategies, and Tactics 31
12 Gap Analysis Example 33
13 Old and New Staffing Models 38
14 Dos and Don’ts of Job Analysis 40
15 Sample Job Titles 43
16 Sample Job Description 45
17 Web Recruitment 53
18 What Can We Learn from Other Professions? 55
19 Interviewing Approaches 61
20 Interviewing Dos and Don’ts 63
21 Things You Must Consider 63
22 Performance Management 70
23 Suggested Training Outline 74

vii
 24 Guidelines for Giving and Receiving Feedback 82
25 Guidelines for Preparing and Conducting Performance Evaluations 84
26 Performance Levels 85
27 Generational Differences 94
28 Paid Time Off 99

viii  Figures
Acknowledgments

T he authors thank Sandra Nelson and June Garcia for their guidance and support for
this book as well as for the entire Results series. The series has become a highly
regarded set of books designed to provide library managers with practical tools that they
can use to plan and deliver responsive library ser­vices to their communities. We’re pleased
that we’ve been able to contribute to this effort.
We also thank our wonderful book review committee: Joan Airoldi, Karen Avenick,
Irene Blalock, Josephine Bryant, Faye Clow, Bill Dietz, June Garcia, Consuelo Hernandez,
Jill Jean, Sara Laughlin, Jean Mantegna, Sandra Nelson, Chuck Sherrill, Lydia Tinder,
Julaine Warner, and Lynn Wheeler. The committee members provided invaluable feed-
back to us based on their collective experience and insight as public library managers and
HR professionals. We know that the book is much stronger and more relevant to public
libraries of all sizes because of their assistance.
And finally, we thank the public library community and our many public library cli-
ents. Working with you all has informed our practice, expanded our thinking, and kept
us grounded in reality.

ix
Introduction

M anaging a public library has always been hard work, and it is becoming even more
difficult under the twin pressures of restricted public funding and rapid change.
The Public Library Association (PLA) plays a major role in providing the tools and training
required to “enhance the development and effectiveness of public librarians and public
library ser­vices.”1 During the past seven years, the PLA has provided support for the de-
velopment of the Results series, a family of management publications that are being used
by library managers, staff, and boards around the country to manage the libraries in their
communities more effectively. The seven publications in the Results series that are avail-
able in 2007 are
The New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach 2
Managing for Results: Effective Resource Allocation for Public Libraries 3
Staffing for Results: A Guide to Working Smarter 4
Creating Policies for Results: From Chaos to Clarity 5
Technology for Results: Developing Ser­vice-Based Plans 6
Demonstrating Results: Using Outcome Measurement in Your Library 7
Managing Facilities for Results: Optimizing Space for Ser­vices8
These publications provide a fully integrated approach to planning and resource
allocation, an approach that is focused on creating change—on results. The underlying
assumptions in all of the books in the Results series are the same:
Excellence must be defined locally. It is a result of providing library ser­vices that
match community needs, interests, and priorities.
Excellence does not require unlimited resources. It occurs when available resources
are allocated in ways that support library priorities.
Excellence is a moving target. The best decision-making model is “estimate,
implement, check, and adjust”—and then “estimate, implement, check, and
adjust again.”

xi
 The Results Publications
All of the books in the Results series are intended to be used with The New Planning for
Results: A Streamlined Approach.9 The New Planning for Results describes a library planning
process that is focused on creating an actual blueprint for change rather than a beautifully
printed plan for your office shelf. As you can see in the diagram of the Planning for Re-
sults model shown in figure 1, the process starts by looking at the community the library
serves in order to identify what needs to happen to improve the quality of life for all of
the community’s residents. Once the community’s needs have been established, library
planners look for ways the library can collaborate with other government ser­vices and
not-for-profit agencies to help meet those needs. That, in turn, provides the information
required to establish the library’s ser­vice priorities.

Figure 1
Planning for Results Model
ßé

Source: Sandra Nelson and June Garcia, Creating Policies for Results: From
Chaos to Clarity (Chicago: American Library Association, 2003), xii.

The planning process includes significant participation by community residents who

represent all of the constituencies served by the library: parents and children; working
adults and seniors; business people and civic leaders; students and educators; the various
racial, ethnic, and religious groups in your community; government and not-for-profit
leaders; and all of the other groups that together create your unique community. By in-
volving all of these groups in your planning process, you ensure that the ser­vices you
provide are really what community residents want—and not what you or your staff or
board think (or wish) that they want.
Because The New Planning for Results is focused on identifying and implementing the
activities that will help library managers and staff to accomplish community-based goals
and objectives, the decisions that are made are sure to affect every part of the library’s

xii  Introduction
 operations. Every library manager, every library staff member, and every library board
member are going to have to become used to the idea of continuously evaluating all of the
ser­vices and programs the library currently provides and all of the policies that support
those ser­vices in the context of the library’s identified priorities—and then be willing to
make any changes that are necessary. Changes don’t happen because we want them to or
hope they will. Changes only happen when we do things differently.

There’s Always a Plan

All of the books in the Results series assume that libraries have current strategic plans
with clearly defined ser­vice priorities that were developed using The New Planning for
Results. However, a strategic plan is not the only way that library staff and board mem-
bers can determine ser­vice priorities. Some libraries participate in city or county strategic
planning processes. Others choose to develop annual goals and objectives rather than a
multiyear plan. Yet others develop goals and objectives for individual units, for branches,
or for specific programs or ser­vices. A library’s annual budget sets and reflects ser­vice pri-
orities for the upcoming year whether a library has engaged in a formal planning process
or not. Any process used to determine the library’s ser­vice priorities, goals, or objectives
can serve as the starting point for the tools and techniques described in this book.
However, it is important to understand that this book is about allocating—and real-
locating—your human resources (HR) to support the library’s priorities and not about
determining what those priorities should be. This book is predicated on the assumption
that you have done work to determine the direction your library is attempting to go and
that you know what your priorities are. Since this book is about using HR functions stra-
tegically to assist you in achieving your goals, you need to know what those goals are
and have some methodologies in place to measure your progress in attaining them. Once
you know what you want to accomplish and have a way of measuring your accomplish-
ments, you can start using the techniques described in this book.

What This Book Is—and Isn’t

Human Resources for Results: The Right Person for the Right Job is not designed to be a com-
prehensive human resources textbook. This book will focus on how library managers can
use various HR functions to support the goals and ser­vice priorities that their strategic
planning process has identified. For example, this book addresses job analysis and the
development of job descriptions not simply as part of the day-to-day activities of an HR
department, personnel analyst, or busy manager, but as activities that are vitally impor-
tant to the achievement of the library’s goals and objectives. Carrying out these activities
in an efficient manner and keeping monthly statistics is not the point: identifying the
knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies needed to achieve the library’s ser­vice ob-
jectives is the goal. Therefore, senior managers and HR practitioners must collaborate to
be sure that the library has the means to carry out its plan of ser­vice.
There are a number of basic textbooks on human resources management written
for library managers, managers in the public sector, and managers in general. If you are

Introduction  xiii
 completely unfamiliar with the basics of HR management, reading a few books and tak-
ing an introductory class would be very helpful to provide a basic orientation. While these
are not a substitute for formal education, you will gain some familiarity with the terms
and concepts of the field.
Employment law specialists frequently provide one- or two-day seminars, usually
referencing applicable state laws and current issues that impact employers, such as sexual
harassment, the Fair Labor Standards Act (exempt/nonexempt status), background check-
ing, the Family Medical Leave Act, and state family leave legislation. After you feel you
have the basics down, it would be worthwhile to take one of these courses every year or
two as a way to keep updated, particularly on issues that could carry substantial liability
costs for your library if ignored.
You might also want to consider joining the Society for Human Resource Manage-
ment, which is the world’s largest association dedicated to human resource management;
or the International Public Management Association for Human Resources, which is an
orga­nization that represents the interests of HR professionals at the federal, state, and
local levels of government. Both maintain websites that provide a wide range of informa-
tion on all human resource management topics.

Definitions
Before you begin to read this book and use it to make decisions about the way you will
use your human resources, it will be helpful if you understand how some basic terms are
used. Every public library is a little different. At some libraries people refer to “branches,”
in others the term is “agencies,” and in still others the term for departments and branches
is “units.” Some libraries have “central” libraries; others have “main” libraries. There are
libraries that report to governing boards and libraries that are units of the government en-
tity that funds them. They may or may not have advisory boards. These differences can
be confusing as the reader looks for his or her reality reflected in the terms and examples
used in library literature. A list of terms and their meaning in this book follows. Definitions
appear within each chapter as needed to introduce new terms.

Branch. A separate facility.

Central library. The largest library facility, usually in a downtown area; referred to
as the main library in some places.
Department. A unit within a single facility.
Library. The entire orga­nizational entity and its units.
Manager. A generic term that refers to the staff member or members who are
responsible for resource allocation in a particular area; in some libraries the
“manager” is actually a team of staff members.
Team. A group of staff members brought together to work on a specific project
or program; often includes members from different departments and with
different job classifications.
Unit. A term used to refer to individual library departments and branches, if any.

xiv  Introduction
 In addition, terms used within the processes described in this book include the
following.
Goal. The benefit your community (or a target population within your community)
will receive because the library provides a specific ser­vice response.
Objective. The way the library will measure its progress toward reaching a goal.
Activity. A grouping of specific tasks that the library will carry out to achieve its
goals and objectives. Activities result in an output of things done or ser­vices
delivered.
Steps. Sequential actions completed in the performance of an activity.
Project. A temporary endeavor requiring concerted effort by one or more people
to initiate or implement an activity.

Using Human Resources for Results

in Your Library
This book is different from many of the other books in the Results series because it de-
scribes a number of possible projects rather than a process that would be followed, begin-
ning to end, throughout the book. You don’t have to do everything written about in this
book. You also don’t have to undertake the projects in any specific order, although there
is a logical order to how they are presented and how they interrelate with each other. You
can instead decide which projects it is necessary to undertake to help you and your library
achieve your strategic goals. Each library’s path will be different.
Human Resources for Results provides a number of processes to help you and your em-
ployees deploy human resources strategically in your library. Each chapter (with the ex-
ception of chapter 1) provides tasks and steps to follow in order to carry out the process
described (see figure 2).

How to Use This Book

This book includes two tools that will help you understand the concepts in the book and
use those concepts to address issues in your own library. The first is a series of examples
that allow you to see how the staff in the fictional Tree County Library would use the
information in this book to make HR decisions in their library. The second is a series of
workforms to help you collect the data you need to make informed HR decisions.

Tree County Library

The Tree County Library was introduced in Staffing for Results and has appeared in several
Results publications. Tree County is a mythical county somewhere in the United States
with a countywide population of 400,000 people. The library serves the residents of Tree
County with seven branches and has a governing board. You will see examples using the
Tree County Library throughout this book.

Introduction  xv
 figure 2
Tasks and Steps in the Human Resources for Results Process

Task 1: Assess Required Staff Resources

Step 1.1: Plan the project
Step 1.2: Determine what you need
Step 1.3: Determine what you have
Step 1.4: Identify the gap
Step 1.5: Develop a plan to bridge the gap
Step 1.6: Implement the plan

Task 2: Describe the Job

Step 2.1: Plan the project
Step 2.2: Job analysis
Step 2.3: Write job descriptions
Step 2.4: Obtain approval and communicate

Task 3: Identify the Right Person for the Right Job

Step 3.1: Plan the project
Step 3.2: Recruit candidates
Step 3.3: Screen and test candidates
Step 3.4: Interview candidates
Step 3.5: Check references and make job offer

Task 4: Develop and Implement a Performance Management System

Step 4.1: Review or develop a performance management system
Step 4.2: Manage and monitor a performance management system
Step 4.3: Develop individual performance plans
Step 4.4: Monitor and coach individuals
Step 4.5: Evaluate and rate individuals
Step 4.6: Plan for the next cycle

Task 5: Develop and Implement a Retention Plan

Step 5.1: Plan the project
Step 5.2: Understand workforce needs and expectations
Step 5.3: Create the culture
Step 5.4: Define expectations
Step 5.5: Provide training
Step 5.6: Build commitment

xvi  Introduction
 Workforms
This book includes twelve workforms to help you collect and orga­nize information. It
is very unlikely that any library will use all of the workforms that are provided. Each
workform starts with a purpose statement. Before you decide to use a workform, read
the purpose statement carefully. If the purpose does not meet your need, don’t use that
workform, or feel free to revise it. Samples of portions of some of the completed work-
forms are shown in the figures to illustrate information and show the results of action in
an example. Blank workforms are located at the end of the book. All of the workforms in
this book are also available in electronic format for download in Microsoft Word format
at www.elearnlibraries.com. The electronic format of the workforms makes it easy for
you to expand the space available on them for entering data and to adapt the workforms
for your own needs.
In addition to providing a mechanism to collect and orga­nize the data you will need
during the Human Resources for Results processes, the workforms will help you and your
staff avoid thinking up all kinds of data that “would be nice to have,” a common state-
ment in the world of librarianship—and one that can get you stuck forever in the data
collection phase of a project. You will want to collect only data that is essential for the
decision-making process.
Used separately or taken as a whole, these tools will provide you with new ways to
use human resource management functions and techniques to accomplish your library’s
goals and objectives in order to provide your community with the library ser­vices it wants
and needs.

Notes
1. Public Library Association Mission Statement, http://www.pla.org/factsheet.html.
2. Sandra Nelson, The New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach (Chicago: American Library
Association, 2001).
3. Sandra Nelson, Ellen Altman, and Diane Mayo, Managing for Results: Effective Resource Allocation for Public
Libraries (Chicago: American Library Association, 2000).
4. Diane Mayo and Jeanne Goodrich, Staffing for Results: A Guide to Working Smarter (Chicago: American
Library Association, 2002).
5. Sandra Nelson and June Garcia, Creating Policies for Results: From Chaos to Clarity (Chicago: American
Library Association, 2003).
6. Diane Mayo, Technology for Results: Developing Ser­vice-Based Plans (Chicago: American Library
Association, 2005).
7. Rhea Rubin, Demonstrating Results: Using Outcome Measurement in Your Library (Chicago: American
Library Association, 2006).
8. Cheryl Bryan, Managing Facilities for Results: Optimizing Space for Ser­vices (Chicago: American Library
Association, 2007).
9. Nelson, The New Planning for Results.

Introduction  xvii
Chapter 1
Strategic Human
Resources

milestones
By the time you finish this chapter you will be able to
• identify the basic functions of human resources (HR)
management and how they interrelate
• distinguish between tactical and strategic human resources
• know how to employ strategic HR activities to improve your
library’s HR performance
• assess HR trends that will impact your library
• define an HR project
• develop a charge for an HR project committee

H uman resources management is about people, the people who work in our public
libraries. Public libraries can’t deliver ser­vices without employees. The largest por-
tion (ranging from 55 to 85 percent) of a public library’s operating budget goes to per-
sonnel costs: salaries, wages, and benefits. And the operating budget is only part of the
investment. Managing people is time- and energy-consuming. As with so much else we
do, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details of HR work and forget that our sizable in-
vestment in people is for a greater purpose: providing the ser­vices the library’s customers
need and deserve.
Understanding the issues and engaging in the tasks identified in Human Resources for
Results will lead to creating a library that has high and sustained
• productivity
• quality of work life
• competitive advantage
• workforce adaptability
• results!


 Human resources management is the term now used to describe a number of functions
related to the decisions, activities, and processes that must meet the basic needs and sup-
port the work performance of employees. This term is designed to underscore the fact
that people (human resources as opposed to raw materials—or books!) are a major ingre-
dient for the success of any enterprise, particularly a ser­vice orga­nization such as a public
library. Terms like human resources or human capital have replaced the traditional terms
personnel management or personnel administration to indicate that orga­nizations now view
their employees as vital investments that must be strategically considered and managed
as carefully as any other orga­nizational assets. In fact, most management books will go on
at length about the importance of human capital, yet note that many top managers don’t
think about how critical it is for the success of the orga­nization to have the right people
in the right place doing the right things.
As management expert Peter Drucker has written,
Managers are fond of saying, “Our greatest asset is people.” They are fond of
repeating the truism that the only real difference between one orga­nization and
another is the performance of people. . . . And most managers know perfectly
well that of all the resources, people are the least utilized and that little of the
human potential of any orga­nization is tapped and put to work. But while man-
agers proclaim that people are their major resource, the traditional approaches to
the managing of people do not focus on people as a resource, but as problems,
procedures, and costs.1

The terms personnel management and personnel administration have been abandoned be-
cause they are thought to be too narrow in scope, concerned primarily with the nuts and
bolts of handling paperwork, keeping records, and managing the mechanics of recruit-
ment, testing, selection, performance evaluation, and so on. In fact, Peter Drucker has
likened personnel management to mundane household tasks:
Personnel management is [the] methodical and systematic discharge of all the
activities that have to be done where people are employed, especially in large
numbers: their selection and employment; training; medical ser­vices, the cafete-
ria, and safety; the administration of wages, salaries and benefits, and many oth-
ers. Personnel management has to be done. Otherwise there is serious malfunc-
tion. But personnel management activities bear the same relationship to manag-
ing people as vacuuming the living room and washing the dishes bear to a happy
marriage and the bringing up of children. If too many dirty dishes pile up in the
sink, the marriage may come apart. But spotless dishes do not by themselves con-
tribute a great deal to wedded bliss or to close and happy relationships with one’s
children. These are hygiene factors. If neglected, they cause trouble. They should
be taken for granted.2

When human resources management, in theory and practice—as well as in name—re-

placed the traditional personnel management, it brought new status, focus, and job as-
signments to practitioners as well as to the orga­nizations where they worked. HR staff
began to add value to the work and employees, not just engage in transactional activities
that move paperwork through the process. It was a major leap in the effectiveness of HR
activities. The HR field is experiencing another radical change. In recent years we have
seen a shift from the HR manager’s role as a tactician in implementing orga­nizational
objectives to serving as a strategic partner, helping to transform the library.

  Strategic Human Resources

 In the next section, we will elaborate on the basic functions that support effective
human resource management. Once we have a grasp of these functions, we will begin
to analyze the difference between tactical and strategic human resources—and you’ll see
why both are needed.

Human Resource Functions

Human resources management is concerned with five basic functions:

Recruitment and retention. Finding, selecting, and hiring the employees you need
to get the library’s work done, as well as making sure employees want to
continue to work for the library
Compensation and benefits. Determining wages, when and how pay increases will
be given, and researching and administering benefits, such as health insurance
and retirement benefits
Training and development. Making sure that employees receive the training they
need to continue to provide the ser­vices the library’s customers need and
want, and that employees continue to grow and develop to advance within
the library and to meet the library’s needs
Performance management. Designing an effective process that provides coaching
and feedback throughout the year; assisting managers with performance
appraisals and dealing with substandard job performance
General employee administration/employee relations. Handling payroll and record-
keeping, general communications, and events (Staff Day, a blood drive, an
employee picnic, etc.); and assuring compliance with applicable federal,
state, local, and union laws, policies, and regulations (such as the Fair Labor
Standards Act, Family Medical Leave Act, union contract provisions, local
personnel rules, safety rules and regulations, etc.)

Every library, regardless of size, must deal with these human resources issues. That
means that someone must be responsible for managing these functions. Your library may
be large enough to have an HR manager or HR specialists on the staff. Your library may
rely upon specialists provided by the city or county of which it is a part. The director, as-
sistant director, department managers, and supervisors may do all or part of the HR work
in your library. Or, as is the case in many libraries, you may have to do most or all of
the HR tasks yourself. You may have formal training and experience in HR work or, like
many, you may have acquired your experience and training through on-the-job experi-
ence. No matter what the size of your library, all of this work has to be done . . . there
may just be more or less people, time, and expertise on staff.
Throughout the Results series, the tension between effectiveness (“doing the right
things”) and efficiency (“doing things right”) has been identified as a critical distinction to
make when selecting ser­vice priorities, making resource allocation decisions, looking at
how work is done and staff hours allocated, and developing library policies, procedures,
and regulations. It arises here again as we consider the functions of HR management and
how these functions can be used strategically to help the library meet its ser­vice goals and

Strategic Human Resources  

 to capitalize on its expensive and often difficult-to-acquire human resources to meet its
goals, carry out its objectives, and deploy its strategic initiatives.

Strategic versus Tactical Human Resources

You’ve probably heard that management is defined as getting things done through people.
While HR management encompasses the functions listed previously, the management of
employees is the purview of the line managers, the supervisors and managers to whom
employees report on a day-to-day basis. There are numerous lists of what line managers
do, and thousands of pages have been dedicated to listing the differences between what
3
managers do and what leaders do. For our purposes, we can break down the basic man-
agement tasks as
• planning
• goal-setting
• decision-making
• delegating
• supporting employees
• communicating
• controlling to plan (i.e., managing your resources
as planned in order to reach your goals)
• evaluating
Unfortunately, many in public libraries think of management primarily as preparing
schedules and filling out time sheets. These are routine tasks that must be done, but they fall
far short of the higher-level management tasks listed above. Many line managers concern
themselves with the daily tasks before them (those that are urgent but not critical) rather
than with those which will make a difference in the library’s success in the long run.
Traditionally, administration and line managers have viewed the HR function as over-
head, a necessary staff function that requires scarce budget resources to fund, but doesn’t
provide direct ser­vices to customers. It is often seen as more of an impediment to pro-
viding ser­vice than a partner, especially if it is provided outside the library by the city,
county, or other orga­nization of which the library is a part.
Human resource management staff can and should be a strong ally with the library’s
administration and line managers, working proactively with them to provide ser­vices,
support, and information in ways that make their lives easier and support the library’s
goals. This is a shift in both the way HR management functions have been carried out and
in the way such management has been perceived by others in the library. This shift can
be described as moving from a tactical approach to performing HR functions to a strategic
approach.
In management as well as combat, tactics relate to small-scale or short-term actions.
Strategy, on the other hand, takes a much broader view, over a longer period of time, us-
ing a number of different resources. The library’s plan of ser­vice, if created and written
as a strategic plan and not just as a management “to do” list, will be composed of goals
and objectives based on community needs. Activities will then be identified and under-
taken to accomplish the goals and objectives. Resources (library staff, library collections,

  Strategic Human Resources

buildings and other facilities, and technology) are carefully scrutinized, developed, and
deployed to execute the activities selected.
Strategic HR involves using HR functions and activities purposefully in alignment
with the library’s mission, goals, and objectives. All of the books in the Results series are
designed to guide library managers, staff, and board members toward identifying and pro-
viding library ser­vices that are relevant and responsive to their community. Change, transi-
tion, and even transformation have been watchwords throughout the series. The changing
nature of library work, the many real and perceived work pressures felt by library staff
and managers, and the reality of increased, multidimensional demands occurring in an
environment of severe budget pressures and public antipathy toward public employees,
coupled with the ever-faster pace of change, were discussed at length in Staffing for Re-
4
sults. In this book, we will show you how HR functions can be used to make some of
the transformations needed if libraries are going to thrive in this new environment. (See
figure 3.)
All of the activities required by the Results series—planning; allocating resources;
measuring, analyzing, and evaluating workload and other library activities; carefully
thinking through policy implications and then articulating understandable and defensible
policies—require a high-performance workforce. Human capital is not only the largest
portion of the library’s budget, it’s what makes the library very successful—or not.
Turning ser­vice goals and objectives into reality requires finding and keeping the right
people (possessing the appropriate skills and competencies) who do the right things (pro-
viding ser­vices and collections that are responsive to the library’s community). You must
ask yourself the question: “Who are the people that are going to execute our plan and can
they do it?”

Figure 3
Comparison of Tactical and Strategic Human Resources

Tactical HR Strategic HR

Internal focus on day-to-day issues such as Takes care of the details (they are important
handling personnel requisitions, payroll, and have to be done) but understands that the
employee records, heath insurance sign-up, library’s goals can only be accomplished if the
employee orientation, planning recognition right people with the right skills are doing the
events, benefits administration, etc. right things

Focus on doing things right (efficiency) Focus on doing the right things (effectiveness)

Maintains the status quo by making only Looks for and adopts broader innovations and
slight refinements for efficiency or cost programs
savings

Maintains a reactive posture through offering Proactively anticipates events in order to

services and support in response to events prevent problems or minimize their negative
impact

Strategic Human Resources  

Strategic Human Resource Activities
The shift from tactical to strategic HR in the library involves rethinking both the way that
HR work is done and the kind of HR work that is done. Strategic HR has four major char-
acteristics. First, it is forward-looking, which means that strategic HR looks for ways to
forecast or anticipate problems rather than simply react to them. It means further that HR
is fully aware of the direction the library is heading and of how HR helps library manag-
ers deliver high-quality ser­vices. Second, strategic HR is focused on the library’s “business
problems” rather than only on HR issues, which means that HR is aware of and works to
support library goals and objectives. Third, strategic HR participates in increasing work-
force productivity and develops and provides key measurements to verify outcomes of
productivity efforts. Finally, strategic HR combines the best practices and resources of
several HR functions (such as recruitment, compensation and benefits, training, and per-
5
sonnel policy development) to assist the library in achieving its goals.
There are numerous ways to be strategic and proactive in your HR practices. A num-
ber of them are listed below. This list should whet your appetite as you begin to identify
ways to become a high-performing library that meets, and exceeds, its goals.
Identify people-management practices. You should identify both bad and good people-
management practices in your library and reward these accordingly. People management
should be defined and identified as a critical expectation of library managers, be discussed
during performance reviews, and be linked to pay increases. Many libraries have had the
habit of ignoring (or transferring) both poor performers and problem employees. Perfor-
mance expectations for managers must include addressing and resolving these people-
management issues head-on. Poor people managers should be identified and strategies
should then be developed to train them, transfer them back to nonsupervisory jobs, or
release them if their people-management performance doesn’t reach clearly defined, re-
quired levels.
Provide metrics. HR staff should also provide good metrics to library managers. They
should work with them to develop the list of metrics (turnover rates, time from requisi-
tion to working on the job, results of employee climate surveys, training outcomes, etc.)
and then provide the information in a timely and consistent manner. Libraries that have
developed proficiency in developing these measurements, sharing them with managers,
and training managers on how to interpret them are in a far stronger position to identify
and deal with trends and to forecast future situations that will impact the library’s ability
to carry out its ser­vice goals.
Develop effective communications. Recognize that the library’s supervisors and middle
managers are often the delivery system for HR information. Design your communica-
tions program and systems accordingly, to be sure the intended messages, policies, and
practices get through to employees. You should design communications programs that
send messages often, in different media and in a variety of ways to accommodate the
many learning styles of your employees. Libraries that use their intranets as a location for
HR frequently asked questions have found that their managers and employees are better
informed and that fewer routine questions are handled by senior managers or the HR
specialists.
Recruit proactively. Develop a “most wanted list” of employees in other libraries
and other orga­nizations you’d like to see working in yours. Even if you’re experienc-

  Strategic Human Resources

 ing cutbacks or hiring freezes now, you want to be ready when key openings appear.
Employment projections suggest that it will become an increasingly competitive hiring
environment. You must become much more actively involved in locating and recruiting
employees who will bring the skills and qualities you need to your library.
Retain top performers. Re-recruit to keep top-performing employees. In addition to con-
ducting an exit interview to find out why an employee is leaving, conduct periodic cli-
mate surveys to find out how current employees feel about their jobs, supervisors, and
working conditions. Develop a picture of what keeps employees with your library. Use
what you learn to resell your top performers on working for you. Also use what you learn
to create new programs and ser­vices that employees want and need—and keep you as an
employer of choice!
Provide employee challenges. Develop individual learning plans to keep employees chal-
lenged with new job assignments, new projects, or advancement opportunities. Many
employees don’t self-select for advancement, cross-training, or reassignment. Talk with
them as part of the performance management process to find out their interests and aspi-
rations and to encourage them to consider new assignments in the library. Help them to
manage their careers, thereby helping the library.
Engage in succession planning. From your library’s strategic plan, and your knowledge
of human resources and library trends, you know what skills and competencies will be
needed in the next three to five years. Will the members of your workforce have them?
Will they still be there? Will you have the right staff (both technical and leadership), with
the right skills, to do the right work when employees leave?

Human Resource Trends

Strategic thinking includes assessing the external environment to observe and understand
HR trends that will impact the library’s workforce. Forecasters and demographers have
identified the following trends that will play an important role in your library’s ability to
recruit, retain, and motivate high-performing employees. Library administrators, manag-
6
ers, and HR specialists should understand these trends and plan accordingly.
Rise in health care costs. Rising health care costs are the greatest concern among library
administrators and HR professionals because they are a huge economic burden and a per-
sistent political issue. Library budgets are directly impacted by the competition for funds
as local government budgets strain to find and pay for health care for employees. For the
first time, libraries are beginning to or are thinking of shifting a greater percentage of the
cost of health care to employees. Most private sector orga­nizations have been doing this
for many years. Doing so will have an impact on employee morale. Can your library af-
ford to change its practice? Can it afford not to?
Focus on safety and security. Library managers and employees are dealing with issues of
building security, the safety of staff and library users, and the tension between national
and global security concerns and the protection of individual liberties. Even the small-
est local public library feels the shock waves of global security and international politics
because the focus on these issues has real budgetary and political impact, as well as an
impact on the cost of utilities, fuel, and the delivery of library materials and supplies. At

Strategic Human Resources  

 the personal level, library employees are concerned about job security and whether or not
they will have affordable health insurance coverage and retirement benefits.
Use of technology to communicate with employees. Libraries are using a variety of means
to communicate with both library customers and employees. Issues involving acceptable
use, privacy, and confidentiality, as well as security of information and databases, will
continue to come up. Current employees and new hires will be expected to demonstrate
comfort and expertise with a wide variety of tools and media.
Growing complexity of legal compliance. Keeping up with employment law and regu-
lations is daunting for HR specialists and is even more of a challenge for libraries that
don’t have HR specialists to help them. Issues involving immigration and documentation,
sexual harassment, safety, family medical leave, wage and hour laws, and age, sexual
orientation, and other forms of discrimination abound.
Use of technology to perform transactional HR functions. Library supervisors and staff mem-
bers have to learn how to prepare time and attendance reports using specialized software.
Many employees now obtain information about their benefits, library policies, and union
contracts on the library intranet. These new approaches require changes in practices and
procedures and additional training, adding to the “change overload” many are experienc-
ing in the workplace.
Preparing for the next wave of retirement and labor shortage. Libraries are seeing retire-
ments, but they are also seeing fewer new jobs open up for new librarians because of
the changing nature of library work (e.g., what work really requires an MLS-degreed
person?), budget cutbacks, and educational and experience requirements that may not fit
the realities of the current hiring market. Thinking strategically about human resources,
staffing, and structure will be a necessity as this trend continues to play out.
Use and development of e-learning. Because the environment that library employees find
themselves in is changing so rapidly, training­­—and retraining—is a continuous require-
ment. Like other kinds of orga­nizations, libraries are looking at using technology to de-
liver needed training. When done well, e-learning provides effective training at less cost
and to a larger number of library staff members. The Public Library Association and other
professional and commercial providers are making it possible for staff members to receive
interactive, online training at their computers.
Export of U.S. manufacturing jobs to developing countries. Even more than the loss of white-
collar jobs, the loss of manufacturing jobs means the loss of good-paying jobs for workers
with less formal education, with a resulting impact on the economy and on the stability
of middle-class institutions such as publicly funded libraries.
Changing definition of family. The changing definition of the family (children living with
grandparents, same-sex couples, households headed up by unmarried couples or a single
parent) will continue to drive demands for domestic partner benefits and considerations
(for both same-sex and opposite-sex partners and for family members who reside under
one roof). The caregiving responsibilities of single parents and of employees who are
trying to take care of aged parents or other family members will mean more requests
for flexible scheduling and other kinds of workplace considerations. At the same time,
the rising cost of benefits and curtailed budgets may mean that library employers will
feel they must reduce the number and types of family members eligible for benefits and
reduce the flexibility offered to employees.

  Strategic Human Resources

Planning to Plan
Each of the remaining five chapters in this book addresses a specific human resources
topic and project. The five projects are each divided into tasks and steps to provide a
framework for completing the projects. While the tasks and steps within each chapter
are linear in nature, the five projects in this book do not have to be completed in any
particular order. Managers in one library might want to focus on the staffing required
to implement the activities in a new strategic plan, in which case they would complete
the task and steps in chapter 2. Managers in another library might decide to address the
problems it has had with recruitment and would focus on the task and steps in chapter
4. Managers in some libraries might identify several different projects to be carried out
at different times, and of course, some managers will complete all of the projects in this
book in the order they are presented. The decisions you make will depend on the condi-
tions in your library.
The subjects that HR processes deal with (recruitment, pay, job design and descrip-
tion, orga­nizational structure, staff development, performance evaluation) strike at the
very core of our being as employees. It is important, as library managers undertake some
or all of the tasks described in this book, to pay attention to how the projects related
to those tasks will be planned, managed, and implemented. In some cases, one or two
people will be involved in planning and carrying out an HR project. In others, a commit-
tee or task force will be appointed to both assist in planning and developing the project
and in providing a valuable communications link between the project and the library’s
employees. Because HR topics are so important and so sensitive, it is likely that you’ll
want to involve a staff group of some type in most HR projects. Libraries often determine
that this group will be a task force, since its existence will be for the term of the project
only, not ongoing as a committee usually is.
Each of the projects described in the following chapters will require the same pre-
planning. You will need to start by clearly defining the project you plan to undertake in
your library. You will then select the people who will be responsible for managing the
project and you will write a project committee charge. Finally, you will develop a project
communication plan, to ensure that all of the stakeholders are kept informed throughout
the project.

Define the Project

A full-blown description of project management tools and techniques is beyond the scope
of this book, but a few reminders and references may help you think through the steps of
developing your HR project. These steps aren’t unique to an HR project; they are general
steps for managing any project you might undertake in your library.
One of the best, most practical books on the topic defines project management this
way: “Project management is the process by which actions are planned, resources orga­
nized, and activities initiated and managed to achieve a specific goal or purpose or to
produce a specified deliverable.”7

Strategic Human Resources  

 This definition basically captures the steps in any project-planning activity:

1. Define the project intent.

2. Identify needed resources and project constraints.
3. Identify potential trouble areas or hot spots.
4. Break the project down into major and minor subdivisions, and
identify the tasks that go with each.
5. Sequence the necessary tasks and develop a tracking methodology
to be sure you’re on track.
6. Assign responsibility for each part of the project.
7. Prioritize and schedule each task.
8. Develop the project budget.
9. Review the plan, revise it as necessary, and obtain final approval.

The first step in the list is also the most important one. Everything else will flow from
the definition of the project intent. The project intent is a statement of the purpose for
undertaking the HR project. It’s important that the definition of the intent of the project
be unambiguous and that it include a clear statement of what you expect to accomplish.
If managers in two different libraries decide to initiate projects to review and refine
the performance management processes (chapter 5) in their libraries, it is probable that the
intent of their projects would be somewhat different. For example, one might write this
statement of purpose: “Create a performance management system that is clearly linked
to the objectives in the library’s strategic plan.” Managers in another library might have a
different purpose for creating a performance management process: “Create a performance
management process that conforms to the newly revised county performance manage-
ment process.” As you can see, the results of the two projects would probably be quite
different. However, if the project intent statement for the two projects just said, “Create
a performance management process for the library,” there would be no reason to assume
that the end product would link to the library’s strategic plan or conform to the county
performance management process.

Select the Project Committee

As noted earlier, because HR projects are so important and so potentially sensitive, it is a
good idea to involve staff in the project from the beginning. If you decide to form a com-
mittee to work on one or more of the HR projects in this book or to provide advice to a
project manager, you’ll have to appoint and notify the committee’s members. Then you
will need to assess their skills and make a preliminary decision about whether or not you
will need to involve outside experts in the project. When these decisions are made, you will
be able to develop a plan to keep all of the stakeholders informed about the project.
Appointing a project committee is one of the most important tasks in any project. If
the committee chair is skilled and committee members are competent and involved, your
project is likely to be a success. A committee made up of members who have a history of
failing to reach agreement, personal conflicts, and inability to meet deadlines, or members
who simply lack the skills needed to find and evaluate information, will almost always
result in a failed project.

10  Strategic Human Resources

 The project committee should consist of people with the appropriate knowledge to re-
search and make recommendations about HR issues. If your library staff is represented by
one or more bargaining units or a staff association, representatives of these orga­nizations
should probably be included on the committee. Local conditions and practices will vary,
so the decisions about inclusion will be different from library to library. Leadership of the
committee should rest with a single person, the committee chair. The committee chair’s
skills and abilities may be more important than his or her position within the library’s
orga­nizational structure. The chair must be experienced and skilled in leading groups.
The chair should also have a proven track record in project management, including setting
and meeting deadlines, collecting and analyzing data, keeping all stakeholders informed,
and keeping a project committee on task. It is critical that the chair believe in and support
the project being considered.
Committee members might also come from the library’s parent jurisdiction, such as
a city or county HR department. Library HR analysts or specialists may play a leadership
role in the activities of the committee, with library staff members making up the member-
ship of the committee. If your library board has a personnel committee, the relationship
between that committee and the project committee should be clarified from the start. The
project committee may submit recommendations to the board committee, meet to brief
them on the project committee’s activities and recommendations, or work with them in
some other defined way.
City or county HR analysts might serve as resources to the committee rather than
as leaders or members. Outside experts, such as consultants, might also be called upon
as resources for the committee to draw upon to do its work. Consultants are often hired
to conduct employee climate or satisfaction surveys, for example, both because of their
expertise in designing and administering surveys and because they are viewed as neutral
outsiders not affiliated with the library administration.

Create the Committee Charge

An effective way to capture the project intent and the responsibility of the project com-
mittee is to create a committee charge (some libraries or consultants might use the term
charter). Such a charge could include the purpose or mission of the committee, the time
frame for the project, any parameters that might exist (budget, constraints, resources
available), and a list of specific project outcomes or deliverables. The charge should be a
document that clearly outlines the expectations that library management has of the com-
mittee and the project’s intent and scope.
A sample charge, shown in figure 4, was developed for the Tree County Library’s
Compensation and Classification Study Committee. It can be easily modified for a com-
mittee working on any of the HR processes covered in this book. The sample charge pro-
vides a comprehensive picture of the project’s goals, what is expected of the committee
members, the boundaries of the project, the role of the committee members (sounding
board, steering or review committee, advocates for the process, communication links to
the rest of the staff), the decisions they will make, and the work activities and products
they will review. Workform 1, Committee Charge, provides a template which can be
used to create a committee charge for your library.

Strategic Human Resources  11

Figure 4
Sample Charge

TREE COUNTY LIBRARY

Compensation and Classification Study Committee

Charge Provide input into and understanding about com­pen­

sa­­tion, classification, and related issues currently
The purposes of the Compensation and Classification Study facing TCL
Committee are
Serve as a communication link with other Library
1. to create a mechanism to ensure pay equity within system employees
Tree County Library (TCL) now and in the future, Evaluate positions for internal equity
including during times of financial cutbacks, position Provide input into and/or review work products that
changes, expansion, and work reorganization include the following:
2. to become informed about all aspects of the study • project work plan
and to communicate with TCL staff
• position description questionnaire
3. to manage expectations as well as the pace of • salary survey, including survey participants and
implementation in a way that meets the needs of the benchmark positions
staff and the work of the project
• feedback from interviews with staff members
The Compensation and Classification Study Committee • compensation philosophy
functions as a review committee and will provide support • preliminary summary of market findings
and communications that are important in gaining co­
• appeals
operation of Library staff and eventual acceptance of project
recommendations. The committee is a sounding board for • other related issues
project activities and findings, and members will ultimately • draft report of findings and recommendations
serve as advocates for the implementation of any study • implementation plan
recommendations. The committee is created because
Budget issues: The project consultant is paid from the 
Library management values the input of employees into
Classification and Compensation Project budget. Sub­sti­
compensation and classification issues.
tutes will be obtained for committee members, if needed by
Each committee member is committed to the successful their branch. Mileage will be paid for committee members
development of these human resource programs and who travel from their home branch to meetings. No other
will bring energy, time, enthusiasm, and thoughtful sug­ additional costs are anticipated.
gestions to each meeting. In addition, each member of
Meetings with the project consultant will be scheduled at
the committee represents other employees and will com­
key project milestones and members will be notified at least
municate with them regularly to solicit their ideas and keep
two weeks in advance of each meeting date. Committee
them informed of the group’s progress.
meetings will last no longer than two hours and will be held in
The work of the committee is estimated to take nine months, Meeting Room A of TCL headquarters. Committee members
from the beginning of the project through the submission will rotate taking action minutes, which will be posted on the
of recommendations to the Tree County Library Board of project site on the staff intranet, upon approval.
Trustees.
It is expected that members of the committee will keep group
It is anticipated that committee members will participate in discussions and preliminary findings of the consultants
three to five meetings (several with an outside consultant confidential until the appropriate time, as determined by
in attendance) and will focus attention on the following the committee and project consultants.
tasks:

12  Strategic Human Resources

Develop the Communications Plan
No matter how many people are involved in managing the HR project, it’s important to
think through how information about the project and the progress being made on the
project will be communicated. Anything that impacts an employee’s work life is poten-
tially sensitive. As the project is being developed, think about who needs to know about
it and what form of communication will work best. Hearing through the library grape-
vine that a succession plan is being developed, for example, could cause employees to
think that some of them are being handpicked for future positions, in violation of a union
contract or established personnel procedures. They need to be informed about workforce
planning and how such planning can take place within a competitive hiring environment.
They will want to know how such planning affects them and their colleagues.
The library director, key library managers, the library board, and city and county
managers and policy-makers may all be part of the communications process. There may
also be times when the media needs to be included in the communications plan. The proj-
ect manager or committee must be sure that they know when and how to include all of
these people and at what part of the project. Will they be personally involved? Will they
expect to receive progress reports? Do they make decisions at key junctures or approve
final findings and recommendations? Will these decisions be made at a formal meeting,
by e-mail or a conference call, or in some other way? A project can run aground if these
questions haven’t been answered initially, as the project plan is being developed.
There are many guides available for writing communications plans. Plans can be fairly
simple or quite elaborate, depending on the project and its complexity and duration. There
are key elements to any communications plan that you will want to include:

What. Define the activities, events, and occurrences that are to be communicated.
These might include a project kickoff event, a planning meeting, committee
meetings, project status reports, major milestone reports, and draft and final
reports.
When. Indicate at what points various communications will take place. For
example, a report on the kickoff event would be at the beginning of the project,
committee meetings might be weekly or monthly, and the final report would
be at the end of the project.
How. Not all of your communications will be or should be the same. The kickoff
event might be an all-staff meeting. Committee meetings would probably be
documented through minutes placed on the staff intranet. The final report
could be a printed document as well as an electronic version made available
in several locations.
Responsibility. Be sure to indicate who will be responsible for each communication.
This is usually the downfall of projects that are not well communicated.
Name the person or group responsible for producing or delivering each
communication. Identify who needs to see each communication and who has
to approve it before it is released.
Audiences. There may be one or more audiences for the communications
you produce. Think of the individuals, groups, or entities affected by the
project and by the communication. Audiences could include staff members,

Strategic Human Resources  13

 managers, decision-makers (such as the city manager or mayor), policy-
makers (such as the members of a city council or county commission), the
library board, unions representing library employees, and the general public.
Each message, including its content and form, should be carefully prepared to
match the needs and interests of the audience. Staff members impacted by an
HR project will need and want a more detailed report than the members of a
county commission, for example.

Starting the Human Resources Journey

The remainder of this book focuses on a number of HR projects that can be addressed
strategically. As noted earlier, you will pick and choose among them, based on your
library’s needs. If you are trying to determine the human resources that will be required
to accomplish the goals and objectives in your strategic plan, start with chapter 2. That
chapter will give you the tools to conduct a gap analysis to identify the human resources
you need and those that you have, develop the strategies for dealing with gaps, and
implement a plan in response to the gaps. If you want to develop effective job descrip-
tions, chapter 3 will provide you with all of the tools you need. In chapter 4 you will learn
how to recruit, test, screen, and select new employees. In chapter 5 you will learn how to
develop and implement a performance management system. In chapter 6 you will find a
number of tools designed to retain a high-performing workforce.
Once you understand the HR principles described in this chapter and you know
how—and why—to appoint a project committee, you are ready to move on to the HR
project or projects that make sense in your library. That may mean you start with the
information in chapter 4, rather than going through the tasks and steps in chapters 2 and 3.
Chapters 2–5 can stand alone or they can be used as a road map to completely overhaul
the HR environment in your library. The choice is yours.

Notes
1. Peter F. Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (New York: HarperBusiness, 1973), 308.
2. Ibid., 306.
3. An extensive listing of statements comparing management and leadership can be found in Stephen R.
Covey, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness (New York: Free Press, 2004), 360–64.
4. Diane Mayo and Jeanne Goodrich, Staffing for Results: A Guide to Working Smarter (Chicago: American
Library Association, 2002).
5. Some of these ideas are adapted from John Sullivan, Rethinking Strategic HR (Riverwoods, IL: CCH,
2004).
6. Society for Human Resource Management, SHRM 2004–2005 Workplace Forecast: A Strategic Outlook
(Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management, 2004).
7. Jeff Crow, Applying Project Management in the Workplace (Portland, OR: Blackbird, 1999), 1–2.

14  Strategic Human Resources

Chapter 2
1
Plan the
Create Alignment
Project

milestones
By the time you finish this chapter you will be able to
• review your human resources plan in the context of your
strategic ser­vice plan
• identify activities required to implement your strategic ser­
vice plan
• conduct a gap analysis to address current and future staff
shortages and surpluses
• develop strategies and tactics for dealing with gaps
• implement a plan in response to the gaps found
• monitor, evaluate, revise

O n the surface, the necessity to think deeply about the work that needs to be done
in your library may seem like an odd requirement. Of course you know what work
needs to be done. It isn’t the work that’s been a problem . . . it’s not having enough people
to do it! Library work has traditionally seemed straightforward and is divided by func-
tion: circulation, reference, children’s, cataloging, and other technical ser­vices work. Your
library might also provide bookmobile, delivery, and other outreach ser­vices to residents
of a retirement community, inmates in a jail, or to people who live in remote regions of
your ser­vice area.
As you think about the work that is done in your library, you probably also think
about the work that is done that is necessary but is not “library work.” Those who do this
work include finance clerks, building maintenance workers, and the administrative assis-
tants who work for the library director (and, if you’re lucky, a few other managers in the
library). You will undoubtedly also think of the technology work that is now essential in
most libraries but that is still less familiar or even confusing to library managers. Network

15
 administrators, applications managers, and computer installation and repair personnel are
required to maintain library ser­vices.

What Is the Work to Be Done?

Just as libraries struggle to make a thirty-year-old building function in the twenty-first
century, library employees and managers also struggle with the misalignment between
the job skills needed and the job skills that staff already possess. The important point to
remember is that human resources management is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Before you can determine whether you have the right people doing the right work at the
right time, you need to know what the “right work” is and how you will know that it has
been accomplished.
Because of habit and past practice, library managers tend to think about the work that
needs to be done and the people they need to do the work in terms of job titles and years
of experience. For example, “I need a children’s librarian” or “I need a reference librarian
with five years’ experience” is a common approach to staffing. This approach is no longer
sufficient. The fact that someone has held a job with the title “children’s librarian” for a
period of time tells you nothing about what that person knows or can actually do. You
may assume that the person can plan and present preschool story programs, because most
children’s librarians can do that. However, this children’s librarian might have worked in
a community in which the focus of youth ser­vices was on school-age children, and her
primary duty might have been to help teachers develop classroom collections to support
the curriculum.
Most public jurisdictions require job descriptions, and the details of writing them
are described in the next chapter. Typically, a job description describes the nature of the
work to be done as well as its level of complexity, the supervision received or provided,
the education and experience required, and the physical requirements of the job. People
who work with job descriptions call these requirements “KSAs,” short for knowledge,
skills, and abilities. Some also add “competencies” to the list.
Figure 5 provides definitions of the terms knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies.
While these definitions seem fairly straightforward, they can be confusing in application.
Don’t assume someone has a skill just because she has achieved a certain level of educa-
tion and experience. It is especially important to resist blurring knowledge and skills when
the nature of work is being changed by new technology. Libraries now need graphic art-
ists who know both how to design publications using computers and software programs
such as Photoshop and how to design effective websites. They need librarians who are
experts at using both print and electronic information resources.
But KSAs are not the work to be done; they are statements of qualifications. The actual
work is described by the activities that library employees carry out. Ideally, all the activi-
ties performed by library employees will either directly reflect what needs to be done to
deliver the ser­vice priorities described in the library’s strategic plan or will be in support
of them. Evaluating the human resources needed to carry out and support the activities
in your strategic plan will build an infrastructure of documentation that will support you

16  Create Alignment

Figure 5
KSAs and Competencies

Knowledge refers to the information and concepts acquired through

formal education and job experience. For example: “MLS and five years’
experience” or “Knowledge and support of the principles of intellectual
freedom.”

Skills are the manual and mental capabilities acquired through training
and work experience, the application of knowledge gained through
education or training and practical experience. For example, “Pro­
ficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel” or “Skill in problem analysis and
resolution.”

Abilities are the natural talents, capacities, and aptitudes pos­ses­s­ed by em­
ployees. For example, “Ability to communicate effectively with a diverse
population” or “Ability to recognize and set priorities, and to plan, coordinate,
and organize own work.”

A competency is “a cluster of related knowl­edge, skills, and attitudes that

affects a major part of one’s job (a role or responsibility), that correlates
with performance on the job, that can be measured against well-accepted
standards, and that can be improved via training and development.” For
example, “Uses teamwork and project management skills to benefit the
library and its users” or “Models self-management.”

Source: Scott B. Parry, “The Quest for Competencies,” Training 33, no. 7
(July 1996): 50.

in carrying out the library’s ser­vice priorities. The “bricks” of this infrastructure are the
activities that you select to support your goals. As defined in this book’s introduction, an
activity is a grouping of specific tasks that the library will carry out to achieve its goals and objectives,
resulting in an output of things done or ser­vices delivered.
Activities provide an effective framework for determining what work needs to be ac-
complished and for identifying the staff who can do that work. Instead of simply saying
“I need a children’s librarian,” you should use activities to describe the work that needs to
be done to create the results you want and the KSAs to describe what an employee must
have in order to do that work.
For example, one of the objectives in the Tree County Library strategic plan was,
“Each year, at least 500 children ages 0–5 from Spanish-speaking homes will attend pro-
grams presented by library staff.” Two staff members were working to identify the staff
that would be required to implement this activity. Look at the difference in their recom-
mendations:
1. “We need a children’s librarian with at least five years’ experience.”
2. “We need a children’s librarian who speaks Spanish fluently, can present
programs to children aged 0–5 and their families, and is able to work with local
businesses and orga­nizations to raise funds for our outreach programs.”

Create Alignment  17
 The first statement simply describes the person’s education and years of experience. The
second statement focuses on KSAs. The knowledge is the MLS degree and the specialty
in children’s work, the skill is speaking Spanish fluently and presenting programs, and the
ability or competency is working easily with local businesses and orga­nizations. Don’t
make the mistake of emphasizing the “K” in the KSAs and forgetting to consider the skills
and abilities you also need. That is, someone with an MLS degree, a specialty in children’s
ser­vices, and fluency in Spanish would not qualify for this position if she could not easily
connect with members of the local business community.
Most library directors and staff members are keenly aware that the work they are
doing is changing as the needs and desires of their library customers change and evolve.
Virtually every library in the country now provides public computers and access to the
Internet, as well as web and electronic resources. Many libraries have noted the work
schedules of their residents and have made changes in the times when storytimes and
children’s programming are offered. Other libraries have responded to their customers’
desire for convenience and have made it easier to request and pick up desired materials,
apply for a library card, or schedule a meeting room online. Still others have observed
that the demographics of their community are changing and that they need books and
other materials in languages other than English, as well as materials to meet the needs of
newcomers, home-based business owners, English language learners, or young retirees.
As a manager, you know that staff with the appropriate KSAs are the key to successfully
providing all the ser­vices that the library provides or plans to provide.
Your strategic plan spells out what ser­vices the library wants to provide during the
next several years. These ser­vices were defined by assessing the community’s needs. The
library’s challenge is to respond to these needs with the human resources it has now or
can acquire. The task and steps in this chapter will guide you through a process to iden-
tify the staff KSAs you need to implement your strategic plan.

What If You Don’t Have a Plan?

If your library has used the New Planning for Results planning process, you know what your
library’s priorities are, and you can look at how your HR management practices work to
support those priorities. If you don’t have a strategic plan of ser­vice, you can still use the
techniques provided in this book. However, you will need to have identified the ser­vice
goals for your unit, department, or for the library as a whole. Following the practices in
this book will help you to identify and develop the staff that are needed to accomplish the
library’s priorities. Before you can determine the most effective and efficient staffing configurations
for your library, you must know what you expect that staff to accomplish! This is a key concept
that differentiates this book from other, more procedural HR books.

Activity-Based Implementation
It is sometimes hard for staff to see the relationship between the library’s strategic plan
and the everyday work they do at the library. The activities selected to support the li-
brary’s goals and objectives should include all of the “real work” (that is, the everyday
work) of the staff, as well as activities related to new or enhanced ser­vices or programs.

18  Create Alignment

 Other identified activities will include the everyday work of support staff (such as finance
specialists in the library’s office, or delivery drivers) and the work that is performed to
develop orga­nizational competencies. An orga­nizational competency is an institutional
capacity or efficiency that is necessary to enable the library to achieve the goals and ob-
jectives in its strategic plan. For example, a library might find that it isn’t collecting all the
data elements required by the objectives in its strategic plan. The orga­nizational compe-
tency the library would need to develop would be incorporating effective measurements
and evaluation into all its operational practices. There would be a number of activities
or initiatives that would have to be carried out to develop this competency. All resource
allocation, including the strategic HR work we talk about in this book, should start at the
activity level.
This concept is key to this book and is what links this book to the other books in the
Results series. It provides the framework for the HR actions you will undertake because
all of your HR actions must be in support of the activities you’ve selected to implement
your strategic plan of ser­vice. That is what makes this approach to HR strategic rather
than solely tactical.

Identifying Activities
Activities are the actions taken by staff to implement the goals in the library’s strategic plan.
It is not uncommon for a single activity to support several objectives under a single goal,
and some activities support more than one goal in the plan. All activity statements start
with an action verb and describe the ser­vices to be delivered or the outputs produced.
For example, circulation activities support both of the goals in this statement: “Adults
will be able to find high-interest, high-demand materials in a variety of formats to satisfy
their interest in current trends and popular culture and to provide enjoyable recreational
experiences, and children and teens (ages 5–18) will have ser­vices and materials in a va-
riety of formats that stimulate their imaginations and provide enjoyable recreational ex-
periences.” Other activities are carried out to support those who perform these activities
(business office and IT support work) or to develop an orga­nizational competency, as was
explained earlier in this chapter.
How do you transition from broad ser­vice goals to daily and yearly activities for each
library employee? You may have already identified activities as part of your planning
process. If you haven’t, here’s a description of how to do it. Using this process to involve
staff in selecting activities will make this transitional process real and relevant to them.
1. Distribute the goals and objectives you’ve developed through your planning
process to the work units and branches (if your library has branches) in your
library.
2. Set up meetings for staff in work units or branches to come together to talk
about the work they are currently doing that relates to each goal in the plan. Ask
each staff member to develop a list of their current activities that support each
goal in the plan. A “current activity” is an activity you plan to provide exactly as
it is being provided now. The activity will require no new resources, and you do
not plan to reduce the resources currently allocated to support it.
3. Ask a staff member to read his or her first activity, and record it on a flip chart.
Ask if anyone else identified a similar activity. If so, merge the activities into

Create Alignment  19
 a single activity before recording it. Work with the group to be sure that the
activities they identified are not really tasks or steps (see definitions provided in
the introduction). If they are, remove them from the list.
4. Continue to record, merge, and confirm that identified activities really are
activities until all the staff members involved have had a chance to talk about all
the activities they have identified.
5. Next, identify activities that are modified or new. A modified activity is an
activity that you are currently providing and plan to continue to offer in a
modified form. You may be planning to expand the activity by adding more
resources to support it; you may be planning to limit the activity by reducing the
resources allocated to support it; or you may decide to do it differently. A new
activity is an activity that is not being offered in any form in your library at this
time. Depending on the size of the work group and the time available, you may
want to identify modified and new activities during a second meeting.
6. Review the plan’s goals and objectives again (especially important if this is a
second meeting) and ask the group to brainstorm modified and new activities
that would support the goals of the plan. Give the members of the group a few
minutes to think about these activities (provide them with the definitions of
each).
7. Ask each staff member to provide one idea for a new or modified activity.
Record the idea on a flip chart and move on to the next staff member. Continue
until all have had a chance to state their ideas. Work through each goal in the
plan, asking for ideas from each staff member.
8. Review the recorded activities, merging similar activities and deleting steps and
tasks, as was done with current activities above.
9. Using the listing of current, modified, and new activities, review with the group
members the process for evaluating the effectiveness of each activity in relation
to the goals and objectives of the plan. Ask them to rank each activity using the
effectiveness scale in figure 6. Explain that their suggestions and the same sort of
ranking process will be used to make the final determination of the activities that
will ultimately be selected to implement the library’s plan.

Activities can represent a global or broad view of library ser­vices or a local or more spe-
cific view. Normally lists of activities generated by staff will include both points of view.
Library managers will have to find a middle ground between global and local activities
when they make the final selection. Figure 7 provides an example of each point of view.
After library management has selected the activities to be carried out, be sure to let
employees know which of the many activities suggested have been selected. Be sure to
emphasize to them how their work either is one or more of the activities selected or con-
tributes to or supports the activities selected. You will also want to provide a list of the
activities that will be reduced or eliminated, either because they do not support any of the
goals in the library’s strategic plan or because they were determined to be less effective
than others during the activity evaluation and review process. This is a critical part of this
process. Otherwise staff are likely to think they will be expected to do everything they
are currently doing plus all of the new or enhanced activities that have been selected.

20  Create Alignment

Figure 6
Evaluating Effectiveness

The effectiveness of an activity is a measure of the potential of that activity to contribute to

producing an identified result.

Effectiveness can be measured by three elements, each of which has a five-level scale:

Effectiveness Scale

Target Audience Result Produced Audience Response

1 = 40% of the audience 1 = Very high 1 = Users will love it

2 = 25% of the audience 2 = High 2 = Users will like it a lot
3 = 10% of the audience 3 = Moderate 3 = Users will think it is OK
4 = 5% of the audience 4 = Low 4 = Users will not care much
5 = 1% or less of the audience 5 = None 5 = Users will not care at all

Target Audience
Percentage of Audience Served: The target audience for most activities is defined demo­graphically
(usually by age) or by condition (illiterate, new parent, etc.). The potential target audience for
most activities should be all people who fit within the demographic or condition profile. This is
a measure of the percentage of the total potential audience who will be reached by the activity
at least once. Programs that serve the same people repeatedly are less effective than those in
which the audience varies.

Delivery Time and Place: Programs designed to serve specific target audiences may be less
effective because they are not delivered at times or in places appropriate for those audiences. As
a result they will reach fewer members of the target audience and receive a lower ranking.

If an activity ranks 4 or 5 on the Target Audience scale, it is not effective. No further evaluation
is necessary. If an activity ranks 1, 2, or 3, evaluate the Result Produced.

Result Produced
Services: The services provided by the activity must contribute to producing a result identified
in one or more objectives for the goal this activity addresses. This is a measure of the degree to
which an activity will contribute to meeting the measure of progress in one or more objectives.
Activities that contribute to more than one objective for the goal produce greater results than
those that just contribute to one objective.

If an activity ranks 4 or 5 on the Result Produced scale, it is not effective. No further evaluation
is necessary. If an activity ranks 1, 2, or 3, evaluate the Audience Response.

Audience Response
Emotional Response: This is the most intangible of the three elements. Effective activities appeal
to the intended users. The more appealing the activities are, the more likely they are to be
effective. This measure is only used to evaluate activities that have already been determined to
serve the target audience and contribute to producing the desired results.

Create Alignment  21
 Figure 7
Activity Views

Global/Broad View Local/Narrow View Middle Ground

Provide public programming Present computer programs Provide stand-alone adult

for adults for seniors in the library programming events in the
library
Present computer programs
for seniors in Senior Centers Provide series of adult
programs intended for the
Present computer programs
same audience in the library
in the library for Spanish-
speaking immigrants Provide adult programming
in off-site location
Lead monthly book club
Cosponsor adult programs
Design and present a series
with local agencies
of programs on local history

Collaborate with the County

Extension Service to provide
programs for new parents

Communicating this process throughout the library will show how goals, objec-
tives, and activities flow up from the individual employee level to enable your library to
accomplish its priorities. Depending on the size of your library, you may also want to
aggregate activities at the department or work unit level. However, remember that many
of the activities will cross department lines. You don’t want the approach you take to
grouping activities to compartmentalize them. Instead, use the process to break down or
soften work unit, department, or facility-to-facility barriers and to promote the concept of
library employees working together as a team to implement the library’s strategic goals.
Individual employees carry out the activities identified. Each employee needs to know
what she is supposed to do, how well she is supposed to do it (chapter 5 will discuss per-
formance planning and evaluation), and how her duties and responsibilities fit into the
big picture of the library.

Gap Analysis
This chapter focuses on examining the type, number, and KSAs of staff you need to ac-
complish the activities that support your goals; determining what staff resources you
have that are currently allocated to support those activities; comparing them to see the
gap between the two; and finally developing a plan to address that gap. This process is
called gap analysis and was first introduced in the original Planning for Results book.
Gap analysis is not just used to assess the human resources needed to implement the
activities in your strategic plan. It is also used to identify the technology infrastructure
that will be required (see Technology for Results: Developing Ser­vice-Based Plans), the facility

22  Create Alignment

 resources that will be required (see Managing Facilities for Results: Optimizing Space for Ser­
vices), and the materials collection that will be required (see the third chapter in Managing
for Results: Effective Resource Allocation for Public Libraries). If you have worked with the gap
analysis process before, you will find it easy to complete the steps in this task. If this is
your introduction to gap analysis, the steps in this task and the accompanying workform
will provide you with all the guidance you need to understand and use the process effec-
tively to determine the staffing resources you need.
Workform 2, Gap Analysis, provides a structured way to determine the staff you
need to carry out an identified activity, the staff you have already assigned to that activ-
ity, and the difference between the two (the gap or the surplus). The staffing plan you
come up with after conducting this analysis will specify how you will bridge the gap:
reallocate staff hours from other, lower-priority activities; provide needed training and
skills development to equip current staff with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed
to implement the activity; or (this will be the rarer case) hire additional staff with the
needed KSAs.
Will you have to perform gap analysis on every activity you select? Definitely not.
You can use this tool to determine what staff resources you’ll need to undertake activities
that are new to your library or much expanded beyond the current level. You might also
want to use the tool as a way to determine what you do need for ongoing activities or to
see which staff resources could be redeployed. One way to determine whether or not you
need to perform a gap analysis would be to ask yourself: Can we do this? If you and your
staff think you can without difficulty, the analysis probably isn’t necessary. However, if
you find yourself wondering how in the world you’ll be able to undertake the new activ-
ity as well as all the other activities you perform, you should definitely perform a gap
analysis to figure out what you will need in terms of KSAs and staff time.
This is all about making tough choices. Selecting activities requires evaluation and
winnowing. Remind yourself, other staff members, and your library board that you can’t
do it all. Some activities, including ones that are or have been highly valued, will by ne-
cessity need to be eliminated. This process requires you to consider, through the identi-
fication of current, modified, and new activities, what you will continue doing or will do
less of, as well as what you will take on that is new. Since most library employees feel
that they are fully utilized already, there is no way to take on new activities unless some
of the current ones are eliminated or reduced.

Workforce Planning and Gap Analysis

Faced with a large number of impending retirements and fewer graduates in essential dis-
ciplines, public and private employers are mounting formal and informal efforts to assess
and plan their staffing more proactively. Formal processes are normally called workforce
planning. “Workforce planning is getting the right number of people with the right set of
competencies in the right jobs at the right time.”1 If your city or county has decided to
undergo a formal workforce planning program, you could be asked to analyze your staff-
ing needs for the next five to ten years, project what types and numbers of staff you might
realistically have available (taking attrition rates into account) at any given time, identify
the external factors that will affect your staffing, and thoroughly review what your work

Create Alignment  23
 will be and how you will do it. This form of workforce planning is broader and more
global than what is being proposed in this book.
Now that you have identified the activities that will be included in your plan, you
are ready to start assessing the staff resources that will be required to implement those
activities.

Task 1: Assess Required Staff Resources

Task 1: Assess Required Staff Resources
Step 1.1
Step 1.1: Plan the project
Step 1.2: Determine what you need
Plan the Project
Step 1.3: Determine what you have If you are going to complete this task, refer back to
Step 1.4: Identify the gap
the “Planning to Plan” section of chapter 1. This in-
Step 1.5: Develop a plan to bridge the gap
Step 1.6: Implement the plan
formation will help you plan the project, determine
Task 2: Describe the Job whether you need a committee and, if so, select com-
Task 3: Identify the Right Person for the Right Job mittee members, create a charge, and formulate a
Task 4: Develop and Implement a Performance   communications plan.
Management System
Task 5: Develop and Implement a Retention Plan
Step 1.2
Determine What You Need
It is very difficult for most people to look at a three-year strategic plan for a library and
identify the human resources that will be needed to implement that plan. The view is so
global that it is hard to find the forest, let alone the trees within the forest. For example,
the Tree County Public Library strategic plan included this goal: “K–8 students in Tree
County will have access to materials, programs, and ser­vices that will help them succeed
in school.” Can you list the human resources requirements to meet this goal? As you start
to try to answer that question, you will probably find yourself saying, “What would we
do to make this happen?” In other words, you would start to identify activities.
There are hundreds of activities that you might select that could support this broad
goal. The only way to select from among those activities is to have a clear picture of how
you are going to measure your progress toward reaching the goal. The Tree County Pub-
lic Library used the Planning for Results process, so the objectives in the plan described how
progress would be measured. One of the objectives for this goal was: “By FY 2XXX, the
visits to Tree County Library homework web pages will increase from 100,000 (the FY
2XXX level) to 150,000.” This is considerably more specific than the goal. Can you list the
HR requirements for this objective? Again, you will probably find yourself asking, “What
would we have to do to make this happen?” And so we are right back to activities.
Activities in support of this objective could include finding out what the local school
curricula are for grades K–8; identifying the library and community resources required to
support these curricula; designing, developing, and determining how to maintain a home-
work assistance web page; identifying special educational initiatives in Tree County; and
so on. Now you are at the point of describing some HR needs:

• Someone who knows how to contact county schools and acquire

curriculum guides

24  Create Alignment

 • Someone who knows how to collaborate effectively with local schools
• Someone who can select the appropriate support materials for the library
collection
• Someone who can design, develop, and create a means for maintaining the
library’s homework assistance web page
• Someone who can assess electronic resources that should be linked to the
homework assistance web page
• Someone who can assess whether or not the web page is meeting user needs
and can then make (or seek help in making) needed improvements to it
Note that all of these needs are expressed in terms of KSAs: someone who knows how to;
some­one who can (i.e., has the skills to); someone to make contacts (i.e., has the ability to).
In addition to determining the KSAs required by an activity, you will also need to es-
timate how many hours a week or fractions of a full-time equivalent (FTE) will be needed
to carry out the activity. If the activity represents everyday activities such as checking
books in and out, searching for holds, or answering customers’ questions, you probably
have a pretty good idea what you need.
If the activity is a new one, you will have to estimate the amount of time or number
of FTEs you think will be required to carry it out. You may have done this sort of thing
when preparing a grant or project proposal. The hours or FTEs needed will either be a
best guess or estimate based on past experience or they may be what you can allocate,
which means the activity will have to be shaped to be carried out within the number of
hours allocated to it.
Figure 8 shows what Workform 2 would look like with this information entered into
it. You may notice that figure 8 lists only one knowledge, one skill, and one ability. That
is because those KSAs are the most important elements for this particular activity. When
completing a gap analysis for a more complex activity, you may well have more than one
knowledge, skill, and ability.

Figure 8
Gap Analysis Example­—Need

WORKFORM 2   gap Analysis

B. Staff resource required to accomplish C. Need
activity:
XX hours or FTEs of library staff time Knowledge: Someone who knows how to find
to plan and develop K–8 homework and utilize library resources in support of K–8
assistance web page homework assistance

Skills: Someone who knows how to design,

develop, and maintain a website
Abilities: Someone who can make contacts with
local schools, obtain curricula for grades K–8,
develop and foster a collaborative relationship
with teachers and administrators

Hours or FTE: XX hours estimated for this activity

Create Alignment  25
 The identified activities will ultimately be assigned to a staff member (or members)
and will become part of her (or their) performance management plan (see chapter 5).

Step 1.3
Determine What You Have
For ongoing activities, you may think you know what you have. You can look at your
budget to see how many hours or FTEs have been allocated to some activities, but the
break­down is probably not as detailed as you need for many activities. You might have 2.5
FTE children’s librarians budgeted, but this tells you nothing about the knowledge, skills,
and abilities of these children’s librarians. If your activity is to provide ser­vices to Spanish-
speaking families in your community, for example, you will have to dig deeper. Just look-
ing at FTEs or hours won’t provide you with the complete picture of what you have.
When evaluating what KSAs you have on staff, don’t forget that over the last de-
cade, public library managers and staff members have become familiar with subject areas
that were previously less known to them. Look for knowledge and skills such as child
development, multicultural programming, marketing, merchandising, community analy-
sis, web design and usability testing, foreign book trade practices, facilities planning and
maintenance, technology planning and implementation, public finance and budgeting,
communications and public relations, adult learning and training, fund-raising, communi-
ty collaboration, public policy development, and project management. The typical library
manager or employee with twenty to thirty years’ experience has had to gain required
knowledge and experience in these areas on the job and on the fly.
The Tree County Library, for example, discovered that one of its newly hired refer-
ence librarians had had an earlier career in web development. She was new to librarian-
ship, but she brought a wealth of experience in just the kind of web design and develop-
ment that the library needed to pursue as activities in developing an effective homework
assistance website.
Figure 9 shows an example of the “Have” section of Workform 2 filled out.
Knowing what you have is more than just identifying positions, KSAs, and the num-
ber of staff or hours available. It will also involve identifying possibilities for reallocating
staff. To do this you’ll need to know how staff are currently spending their time. Most
library staff members are not sitting around with extra time on their hands. Staffing for
Results: A Guide to Working Smarter, an earlier book in the Results series, provides the
methodology and workforms to help you determine what work is currently being done
by staff and how it is being done. Two methods for analyzing work are explained: numeric
analysis, which measures the amount of work being accomplished by the staff you have,
and process analysis, which identifies the actual steps and tasks that it takes to produce the
work that is being done.
Libraries using the techniques provided in Staffing for Results have been able to reallo-
cate staff to the activities they’ve identified as most effective for implementing their stra-
tegic plans. For example, numeric analysis can provide the answer to the question: How
long does it take to prepare for a bilingual storytime? A library can then reallocate staff to
this activity, find volunteers to assist with the activity if time can’t be taken away from
other activities, or find ways to eliminate or change how other activities are done. Process
analysis provides the information needed to change how the activity is done by reducing

26  Create Alignment

Figure 9
Gap Analysis Example­—Have

WORKFORM 2   Gap Analysis

B. Staff resource required to accomplish C. Need D. Have
activity:
XX hours or FTEs of library staff time Knowledge: Someone who knows Knowledge: Two children’s
to plan and develop K–8 homework how to find and utilize library librarians with extensive
assistance web page resources in support of K–8 knowledge of library collections;
homework assistance limited knowledge of specific K–8
curricula; familiarity with local
Skills: Someone who knows how
schools through school visits
to design, develop, and maintain a
website Skills: Reference librarian who
has ex­perience from previous
Abilities: Someone who can
job in de­vel­oping, designing, and
make contacts with local schools,
maintaining website
obtain curricula for grades K–8,
develop and foster a collaborative Abilities: Branch manager who
relationship with teachers and has had experience working with
administrators community agencies, including
local schools; enjoys developing
Hours or FTE: XX hours estimated
community contacts and
for this activity
partnerships

Hours or FTE: X hours available:

most hours scheduled on public
service desks, some community
work already being done

or eliminating the steps in a task or the tasks of an activity. It answers the questions: What
are the steps involved in preparing for a bilingual storytime? How long does each step
take? Taken together, numeric and process analyses provide much-needed information
that can be used to reassign staff hours to higher-priority activities.

Step 1.4
Identify the Gap
Gap analysis involves comparing what you need to carry out an activity with the staff
you have to carry out that activity. This comparison will result in the identification of
both gaps (projected supply doesn’t match up with forecast need or demand) and sur-
pluses (more supply than need or demand). The gaps or surpluses might be in identified
KSAs or hours/FTEs or a combination of the two.
As you do your analysis, you may find several types of possible gaps. These could
include the following.
1. You have too many staff performing obsolete or declining activities or ones likely
to be outsourced. Years ago, library technical ser­vices departments had cadres of typists
and file clerks. All of that work is gone now, although the functions of preparing catalog
records and making them available to library users still exist in a different format. Will

Create Alignment  27
 you need as many circulation clerks after you’ve installed self-checkout machines? As
library customers continue to use the Internet to find factual information, will you need
as many reference librarians? Will you be replacing MLS-degreed librarians with para-
professionals, as you determine that many of the questions asked at public ser­vice desks
are actually informational or directional rather than higher-level reference or research
questions? Because most staff feel they have too much to do already, it will be difficult to
think that you might have “too many” staff doing some things, but your gap analysis and
the Staffing for Results analyses mentioned earlier in this chapter could uncover opportuni-
ties to reassign or reallocate staff to the activities that are now top priorities.
2. You currently do not have enough people in the job titles and position descriptions
that will remain basically the same as they are now. In other words, you will need more
people doing work that you currently have and you’ve determined that this work won’t
really change that much in the future. With patron-placed holds, for example, you might
find that you will need as many if not more pages, circulation clerks, and delivery staff to
handle the large number of materials moving among facilities. If your strategic plan calls
for activities that promote increased circulation, you may find gaps between what you
need and the staff you now have in these positions.
3. You do not have enough people with the skill sets and competencies that you have
determined will be needed in the future. You may see that you need more people who can
conduct effective outreach with people who speak languages other than English or who
are from different cultures, or more people who can develop and manage projects. Again,
your analysis of needed KSAs and competencies will drive your gap analysis conclusions.
Figure 10 provides an example of Workform 2 filled out showing the gaps that have
been identified.

Step 1.5
Develop a Plan to Bridge the Gap
The last section of Workform 2 asks for your plan to fill the gap or reallocate the surplus.
This step provides you with ways to determine how to do that for each gap analysis you
perform. Remember, you don’t have to perform a gap analysis for all activities, only those
with significant staffing implications.
As was explained in chapter 1, strategies refer to broad approaches to achieving a
goal, while tactics are short-term or smaller-scale actions. You will have to develop both
tactics and strategies as you determine solutions to your identified staffing needs.

Develop Strategies and Tactics

There are a number of strategies and tactics you can consider to address future gaps and
surpluses. The ones you choose will depend on a number of factors:
The amount of time you have. Do you have enough time to develop staff internally? Do
you need critical KSAs and competencies right now? Can you conduct a fast, effective
recruitment to obtain the needed KSAs and competencies?
The resources you already have. Do staff members have the KSAs and competencies re-
quired or the potential and desire to develop them? Do you have the resources necessary
to develop job descriptions and recruit, test, select, and train new employees? Is your com-
pensation such that you will be able to attract people with the characteristics you need?

28  Create Alignment

 Figure 10
Gap Analysis Example—Gap

WORKFORM 2   Gap Analysis

B. Staff resource required to accomplish C. Need D. Have E. Gap/Surplus
activity:
XX hours or FTEs of library staff time Knowledge: Someone who Knowledge: Two children’s Knowledge: Need specific
to plan and develop K–8 homework knows how to find and utilize librarians with extensive knowledge of K–8 curricula
assistance web page library resources in support of knowledge of library collections;
Skills: Need to broaden web
K–8 homework assistance limited knowledge of specific K–8
design, development, and main­
curricula; familiarity with local
Skills: Someone who knows how tenance skills; can’t rely upon
schools through school visits
to design, develop, and maintain just one person
a website Skills: Reference librarian who
Abilities: Children’s librarians
has ex­perience from previous
Abilities: Someone who can need coaching to become more
job in de­vel­oping, designing, and
make contacts with local confident in making school and
maintaining website
schools, obtain curricula for community contacts
grades K–8, develop and foster Abilities: Branch manager who
Hours or FTE: XX hours
a collaborative relationship with has had experience working with
required to design, develop,
teachers and administrators community agencies, including
and maintain web page; XX
local schools; enjoys developing
Hours or FTE: XX hours hours required to establish and
community contacts and
estimated for this activity maintain contacts with schools
partnerships

Hours or FTE: X hours available:

most hours scheduled on public
service desks, some community
work already being done

29
 Your internal depth. Gauging internal depth or “bench strength” is another way of look-
ing at the personnel resources you have. Do staff members already working for you have
the potential and interest to take on new or modified positions, or will it be necessary to
go outside to find what you need? Are there staff in the “pipeline” developing the talent
and skills you will need? Are you working to develop the pipeline?
Your competition. The local competition you have for “in-demand” skills and competen-
cies needs to be considered. Will you be competing with other employers for the same
skills? Do you remember the frantic Y2K preparations to ensure that computers could
handle the date rollover from 1999 to 2000? During that time, libraries found it very dif-
ficult to hire qualified information-technology support people and network analysts. A
couple of years later, a number of IT professionals, laid off after the dot-com bust, were
looking for work. If you find that the hot skills you need are also in heavy demand by
others in your hiring market, you might conclude that it makes more sense to develop
internal staff members to take on the jobs that will be created or even to outsource the
work or retain someone on a contractual basis.
Workplace and workforce dynamics. Workplace and workforce dynamics will also play
a major role in influencing the strategies that you choose to deploy. Do you have the
flexibility to move employees if workload or productivity declines? Are there union con-
tracts, personnel policies, or work rules that must be considered and possibly rewritten or
renegotiated? Have you adopted streamlined or automated techniques that have changed
the nature of the work that is done or how it is done? Have you written flexible job de-
scriptions? Have you cross-trained to allow employees to be moved among different units
fluidly in response to changing customer or staffing needs?
Compensation and job classifications. Current job classifications, position descriptions,
and compensation plans may not reflect or reward the future functional requirements
and competencies needed by the library. Does the structure of the classification system
(for example, a job series such as Librarian I, II, III) have enough flexibility to recognize
competency growth and employee succession in a timely fashion? Alternatively, are the
differences in the levels representative of additional competencies and skills that add val-
ue, or are they based on “seat time” only? Are job descriptions written so narrowly that
clerks balk at mailing out borrowers’ cards because their job description doesn’t mention
mailing things? Does the compensation plan allow for flexibility in compensation? The
tools and techniques in Developing a Compensation Plan for Your Library will help you think
through, modify, and update your compensation and classification plans if this is needed
2
to reflect and reward new realities.
Figure 11 is a table of some of the challenges discussed in this section and the strate-
gies and tactics that might work to solve them. Many of these will be discussed at greater
length throughout the balance of this book.
Figure 12 shows Workform 2 fully completed. Remember that this form is completed
for the staff required by an activity.
Before the individual activity staffing plan can be implemented, the appropriate re-
view and approval steps must be taken. These will vary from library to library, but it’s
important to remember that the director and possibly the library board need to review
and sign off before the implementation of the plan can begin.

30  Create Alignment

Figure 11
Challenges, Strategies, and Tactics

Challenge
(Gap/Surplus) Strategy Tactics

Position classi­fica­ Create position classifications • Review classification titles and descriptions
tions don’t meet that will • Develop a broader classification series
current or future • support the library’s • Redefine or consolidate titles; develop new titles
needs strategic plan • Write competency-based job descriptions and/or
• help find, keep, and deploy position profiles
the right people doing the
right things at the right time
and in the right place

Compensation Develop a compensation • Study broad compensation bands used in other

offerings philosophy, strategy, and industries for management and exempt employees
system that will attract, • Consider flexible placement within ranges for non-
promote, and retain management employees
employees with the skills and • Consider using incentives and differentials for evening
competencies needed and weekend work
• Consider whether your compensation system is
motivating or ineffective
• Review the benefits, perquisites, and allowances you
provide
• Consider the intangibles you can offer such as a good
work environment or strong quality of life in your
community

Succession planning Address future gaps by actively • Systematically develop lower-level staff so that they
“developing a bench” will be competitive as jobs open up
• Identify probable openings in all key positions where
you may not have much depth (interlibrary loan and
cataloging are specialty areas in which the knowledge
base is unique and often held by only one or a few
employees)

Recruitment Plan to hire the KSAs and • Target prospective candidates

competencies needed. Don’t • Think creatively about how you will find and attract the
be intimidated by a tight labor best candidates for your positions
market or one where hot skills • Revise your examination processes so that they
are in demand. encourage rather than discourage candidates

Create Alignment  31
Figure 11
Challenges, Strategies, and Tactics (Cont.)

Challenge
(Gap/Surplus) Strategy Tactics

Training and Plan training to keep abreast of • Train employees in a variety of modes and pacing
retraining how quickly library work, work • Offer new employee orientation, just-in-time training
processes, and technology are to update skills, structured curricula, and sequenced
changing training
• Provide employees with the opportunity to expand and
update their knowledge and skills
• Train to assure that identified key competencies are
available within the library workforce

Retention Keep the employees in whom • Evaluate the work environment you provide
you’ve invested time and • Think of ways that you can meet employee needs for
energy to recruit and train time off and flexible schedules
• Conduct periodic employee surveys so you know what
they are thinking and what motivates them
• Think through what it will take to be the employer of
choice for your employees

Redeployment, Be prepared to help employees • When employees are redeployed to different work
career counseling, deal with the realities of chang­ units, facilities, or specialty areas, offer transition and
transition counseling, ing needs and services at the separation counseling
separation library. Be compassionate and • When career paths shorten or close down try to offer
professional. other paths
• Allow voluntary transfer or demotion
• Offer career counseling and transition assistance when
employees find that the work they want to do and the
work that the library needs done no longer match
• Involve the bargaining unit in planning responses to
changes

Knowledge transfer Capture the knowledge of • Build in a process and enough time so that key
experienced staff members documents, manuals, procedures, etc., can be
before they leave the library, constructed or updated
particularly if they are in • Consider a mentoring period so that knowledge and
unique, one-of-a-kind   experience can be passed along
positions

32  Create Alignment

32
 Figure 12
Gap Analysis Example

WORKFORM 2 Gap Analysis

A. Activity: Analyze Community Demographics

B. Staff resource required to accomplish C. Need D. Have E. Gap/Surplus

activity:
XX hours or FTEs of library staff time Knowledge: Someone who Knowledge: Two children’s Knowledge: Need specific
to plan and develop K–8 homework knows how to find and utilize librarians with extensive knowledge of K–8 curricula
assistance web page library resources in support of knowledge of library collections;
Skills: Need to broaden web
K–8 homework assistance limited knowledge of specific K–8
design, development, and main­
curricula; familiarity with local
Skills: Someone who knows how tenance skills; can’t rely upon
schools through school visits
to design, develop, and maintain just one person
a website Skills: Reference librarian who
Abilities: Children’s librarians
has ex­perience from previous
Abilities: Someone who can need coaching to become more
job in de­vel­oping, designing, and
make contacts with local confident in making school and
maintaining website
schools, obtain curricula for community contacts
grades K–8, develop and foster Abilities: Branch manager who
Hours or FTE: XX hours
a collaborative relationship with has had experience working with
required to design, develop,
teachers and administrators community agencies, including
and maintain web page; XX
local schools; enjoys developing
Hours or FTE: XX hours hours required to establish and
community contacts and
estimated for this activity maintain contacts with schools
partnerships

Hours or FTE: X hours available:

most hours scheduled on public
service desks, some community
work already being done

F. Plan for filling the gap or relocating the surplus:

Analyze current workload and work processes of children’s and reference librarians. Provide coaching  
by branch manager to children’s librarians to increase their confidence and skills in making school and 
community contacts needed to develop collaborative ways to provide homework assistance through  
library web page. Determine amount of time that will be needed on ongoing basis to refresh and maintain 
web page. Provide training for additional staff members so that there is a cadre of staff with web page  
design, development, and maintenance skills.

Completed by ___________________________________________________ Date completed ___________________________________

33
Source of data ___________________________________________________ Library __________________________________________
 Step 1.6
Implement the Plan
The planning for implementation should occur at the beginning of the gap analysis pro-
cess, when you obtain buy-in from your library board, library director, and management
team. To achieve complete success, information about the process and the reasons for it
should also be communicated to library employees, decision-makers (such as your city
council, county commission, and library board), and to other interested parties (such as
the union that represents library employees, or a staff association). No one should be
surprised that such planning is going on.
Workforce planning is quite common in the public sector. However, looking critically
at employees’ jobs can make employees very ner­vous. It’s vital that the gap analysis and
your planning process be as transparent as possible. Remember to link gap analysis back
to what you intend to achieve, the activities that are essential to implementing your plan.
You may not feel you can share everything, but you do need to consider what informa-
tion you can share and what you cannot and why, so that you are prepared to respond in
a consistent manner to questions that might come up.
To ensure that your staffing plan is a vital, living document and not just one more
thing that takes up shelf space, you must be sure that you relate your staffing plan to
your strategic plan and other key activities (such as budget planning and preparation) and
documents. You will want to consider how you will include employees in the implemen-
tation process, and the unions or employee associations that represent them. You will
also want to decide how you will implement the strategies and tactics you selected as
you developed the staffing plan. For example, if you decide a tactic is to write new job
descriptions, how will you make that happen when you need it to happen?
Depending on your library’s structure, you may have to align your library staffing
plan with other workforce planning activities that are going on in your parent jurisdiction.
You may be part of a larger workforce planning effort and have to make sure that the
approach you are taking is congruent with that of the other departments or divisions in
your jurisdiction. Or you may find yourself undertaking a more complicated process that
involves persuading human resources personnel or others in the parent jurisdiction that
the library’s staffing planning process is worthwhile and that their assistance in providing
data or helping write new job descriptions is a valuable use of time and resources.

Monitor, Evaluate, Revise

This is vital to the success of the plan. You need to check your progress periodically
against the time line you’ve established. Are you progressing as you thought you would,
or have some things come up that have slowed down your progress? Have internal or ex-
ternal events created changes that require you to make adjustments to your staffing plan?
You will also want to make adjustments as you receive feedback on the plan.
As has been noted in previous books in the Results series, planning is a continuous
process. As soon as one planning cycle is completed, it’s time to begin the next one. The
New Planning for Results describes the cycle as having these components: estimate, imple-
3
ment, check, and adjust. Staffing for Results explained the process by describing the phases
of the plan-do-check-act cycle (sometimes referred to as the Shewhart Cycle or the Dem-
4
ing Cycle). Regardless of the terminology employed, the point is the same: planning

34  Create Alignment

 must continue and it must be evaluated. As soon as your plan is in place, it has already
begun to grow old. Circumstances, the environment in which your library operates, the
demographics of your community, and the budget and other resources you have will have
changed. These changes, along with what you learn from monitoring the implementation
of your plan and listening to the feedback you receive, should all cause you to make adjust-
ments and modifications. At the same time, you will be propelled into the next planning
cycle, as you address new workforce and orga­nizational issues that might occur.
This chapter establishes the importance of identifying activities as the foundation of
implementing your strategic plan. In chapter 3 you will learn how to incorporate activities
into job descriptions, and later, in chapter 5, into employee performance plans.

Notes
1. State of Washington, Department of Personnel, Workforce Planning Guide: Right People, Right Jobs, Right
Time, December 2000. http://hr.dop.wa.gov/workforceplanning/wfpguide.htm.
2. Paula Singer, Designing a Compensation Plan for Your Library (Chicago: American Library Association,
2002).
3. Sandra Nelson, The New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach (Chicago: American Library
Association, 2001), 142.
4. Diane Mayo and Jeanne Goodrich, Staffing for Results: A Guide to Working Smarter (Chicago: American
Library Association, 2002), 108–9.

Create Alignment  35
Chapter 3
Describe the Job

milestones
By the time you finish this chapter you will be able to
• create and use a position description questionnaire
• analyze jobs
• develop job descriptions

T he traditional terminology and approach to staffing (sourcing, recruiting, and hir-

ing employees) reinforced the idea that library employees are as interchangeable as
technical ser­vices’ processing supplies. Many libraries “requisition” or “order” employees.
This mind-set represents an outdated notion and reflects a tactical rather than a strategic
approach to staffing. The focus is on the immediate details of finding a warm body to fill
a vacant “slot” rather than on looking at the big picture of a longer time frame and keying
in on meeting the library’s needs and goals.
If you’re taking the same approach to staffing that you took 20, 10, or even 5 years
ago, you’re making a big mistake. A bad hiring decision, particularly one that isn’t reme-
died during the probationary period, can haunt you for years, even decades. We often see
problem employees or employees who don’t have the required technical or interpersonal
skills moved from location to location or work unit to work unit in an effort to farm out
the unfortunate hiring choice. This practice carries a heavy price in terms of time, energy,
and morale.
Staffing needs in libraries today go beyond technical skills and competencies. Even
routine jobs require skills and competencies greater than those once required. Years ago,
batteries of clerk-typists typed and filed catalog cards, overdue notices, and book order
slips. In most public libraries these very routine jobs, with their prescribed tasks and eas-
ily described performance standards, are gone. In many libraries, in fact, job titles and
job descriptions for low-level clerical positions have been eliminated because jobs of this

36
type no longer exist. Technology is both driving and providing the basis for these shifts.
Automated circulation systems prepare and deliver (often via e-mail or automated tele-
phone calls) overdue notices and bills, self-checkout equipment reduces the number of
clerks required to assist people, automated equipment tracks and checks in library materi-
als, and online catalogs eliminate the need for typed and filed catalog cards. Technology
can reduce the amount of routine work that employees have to do, but it can also increase
the experience, skills, and education required of a new employee, as well as the training
time that new employee will need.
The work done in libraries and the mix of duties have changed. In a library with
well-utilized self-checkout units, circulation clerks who interact with library customers
deal with educating them and with resolving problems, because transactions that don’t
involve problems (such as excessive fines or overdue materials) move easily through the
machines. Technology now touches virtually all employees. Pages, delivery drivers, main-
tenance personnel, shipment packers—in most libraries these positions routinely use the
integrated library system, e-mail, and computers. In small libraries, employees must often
be masters of a number of tasks. One person is often called upon to perform a number of
functions using a variety of technologies, from setting up the circulation desk to research-
ing and answering reference questions, to selecting and ordering library materials.
At the same time, many library orga­nization structures have flattened, either in re-
sponse to changes in management responsibility, such as the desire to push decision-
making down into the orga­nization and improve processes by involving those actually
doing the work, or in response to budget cutbacks. As a result, employees are asked not
to just show up for work but to actively engage in developing and maintaining high stan-
dards of work and customer ser­vice. With fewer layers of management, employees are
also expected to self-manage. While this is exciting and desirable for many, it is not for
those who want or need close supervision or who resent being asked to be the source of
ideas and improvements in how things are done.
All of these changes mean that you have to think strategically as you consider the
approach you want to take to staffing. Figure 13 represents the differences between the
traditional approach to staffing and the new strategic staffing model.
You will want to take great care in defining the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs,
defined in figure 5) required to carry out your library’s activities and to think clearly and
realistically about the jobs you have or need to fill in your library. What will you be
expecting an employee to accomplish? What skills and abilities, in addition to formal
education and experience, will be required for her to successfully achieve these accom-
plishments? How will you know whether or not the experience a person has is relevant
to what you need her to do? If you performed a gap analysis in chapter 2, you have many
if not most of the answers to these questions.
If you didn’t conduct a gap analysis, ask yourself what desired results and accomplish-
ments you need. This will help you, as you develop job descriptions, to move beyond
what employees may currently be doing in a job to what you will now require of them. If
you’re developing a job description for a new job, this question will help you crystallize
your thinking and help you avoid jumping to conclusions about the skills and abilities
that may relate to education and experience.
This chapter will help you write job descriptions that describe the jobs you need per-
formed in your library in order to carry out the activities necessary to provide the ser­vices
your community wants and needs.

Describe the Job  37

 Figure 13
Old and New Staffing Models

Old Staffing Paradigm Strategic Staffing Model

Think “job” Think tasks and responsibilities that are keyed

to the activities necessary to achieve the
library’s goals and that enhance the library’s
ability to compete

Create a set of job “specifications” Determine which abilities, competencies, and

skills are necessary to produce outstanding
performance in any particular job function
(e.g., flexibility, openness to change, the
ability and desire to learn and change)

Find the person who best “fits” the job Determine which combination of resources—
internal or external—provides the best
strategic approach to your staffing needs,
rather than specific people

Look mainly for technical competence (e.g., an Find people who are more than simply
MLS, five years’ experience) “technically” qualified and can carry forward
your library’s mission and values; look at
what they’ve done in those five years and
whether it meets the experience, not the
years, you need

Base the hiring decision primarily on the View the selection interview as only one of
selection interview a series of tools designed to make the best
choice in hiring

Task 2: Describe the Job

Task 1: Assess Required Staff Resources In this task, you’ll learn how to focus on a library classi-
Task 2: Describe the Job fication and describe it in detail. Depending on the num-
Step 2.1: Plan the project ber of employees your library has or needs, a job may
Step 2.2: Job analysis have a single incumbent in its classification or many.
Step 2.3: Write job descriptions Understanding what you want a person or persons to
Step 2.4: Obtain approval and communicate accomplish in a job is crucial to making effective hiring
Task 3: Identify the Right Person for the Right Job or appointment decisions (see chapter 4 for the details
Task 4: Develop and Implement a Performance Man-  and processes of hiring or selecting a person to fill a va-
agement System cant position), managing performance (see chapter 5),
Task 5: Develop and Implement a Retention Plan
and retaining a loyal, productive workforce (see chapter
6). Understanding a job requires analyzing the job and
then creating a job description.

38  Describe the Job

 Step 2.1
Plan the Project
If you are going to complete this task, refer back to the “Planning to Plan” section of
chapter 1. This information will help you plan the project, determine whether you need
a committee and, if so, select committee members, create a charge, and formulate a com-
munications plan.

Step 2.2
Job Analysis
In the last chapter, you learned how to take a close look at what resources and skill sets
are needed to implement your strategic plan or to develop orga­nizational competencies.
You learned how to conduct a gap analysis to determine what knowledge, skills, and
abilities you need and the number of employees necessary to carry out the identified
activities.
If you are developing job descriptions for current, vacant, or new positions and did not
complete the gap analysis in chapter 2, start by considering what needs to be accomplished
by the person or people in the job. Think about the results the person or people in the job
will be expected to produce. Be sure that the job descriptions you write reflect the activities
employees are currently carrying out, as well as any new activities they will be undertaking
as part of implementing your strategic plan or developing orga­nizational competencies.
Job analysis is typically conducted as a means of gathering information about jobs so
that accurate job descriptions can be written. Job analysis involves carefully and system-
atically acquiring information about the work that is done, the level of complexity of the
duties performed, the amount and kind of supervision exercised or received, the responsi-
bilities of the job, the education, training, skills, and experience needed, and the physical
and mental requirements of the work.
It’s important to prepare library staff for the job analysis process. Both the jobs being
studied and the managers of these jobs need to understand what the job analysis process
is—and what it isn’t. Staff are often concerned that a job analysis project means that jobs
will be eliminated and that they will lose their jobs. This is usually not the case. It’s impor-
tant to reassure them that this is a process designed to identify the work being performed
so that it can be described accurately in a job description. It’s also important to inform
staff that job analysis is not about how much work an individual is doing or how well
they are doing it. If those issues exist, they should be dealt with through workload studies
and the performance management process (see chapter 5). One final message to convey to
staff is that a job analysis does not mean that employees will get a raise. Compensation
studies address pay and benefits issues and may result in pay increases for some or many
staff, depending on the findings of the study and the library’s resources.
The job analysis process generally includes the following stages:
1. Employees fill out position description questionnaires (PDQs—defined below),
noting the major job tasks performed and the percentage of time spent on each
one.
2. PDQs are reviewed by the immediate supervisor for accuracy and completeness;
areas of discrepancy or where additional information is needed are noted.

Describe the Job  39

 3. Employees or employee groups may be interviewed to be sure job duties and
responsibilities are clearly understood.
4. Employee work locations may be visited and employees may be asked to
demonstrate their job duties.
Figure 14 provides dos and don’ts for job analysis, reiterating some of the points made
above. A more detailed discussion of job analysis and job descriptions is found in Design-
1
ing a Compensation Plan for Your Library.

Figure 14
Dos and Don’ts of Job Analysis

Do Don’t

• List the types of duties/tasks performed • Include exhaustive listings of job duties
• Describe the level of difficulty/complexity • Provide details about the amount of work
• Identify the skills and competencies required a person does. Workload is an issue to be
to do the job (interpersonal communication, addressed elsewhere.
problem solving, persuasive skills) • Describe how well an employee is doing
• Describe the kinds and quantity of contacts the work. Job performance is an issue to
(personal, organizational) required by the job be addressed through the performance
• Explain the level of discretion vs. following management process.
established procedures, policies, or   • Discuss the perceived “importance” of the
guidelines work
• Describe the supervision received and   • Include justifications for receiving a pay
exercised increase
• Define the scope of the work to be performed
• Describe the consequences of error, if any
• Provide details about the amount of training  
and education required for the job
• Describe the physical effort required, if any

Position Description Questionnaires

Position description questionnaires are typically the starting point in job analysis. If your
library is part of a larger jurisdiction, such as a city or county, you may very likely have
a form that you will be expected to use. If not, you can find various examples in books
on the topic or on HR websites. You may also use Workform 3, Position Description
Questionnaire, as the framework for your analysis. In any case, you need to make sure
that the PDQ used adequately addresses the job components important to your library. If
customer ser­vice is a key focus, for example, make sure employees have an opportunity
to describe the customer ser­vice-related duties necessary in their jobs.
As you can see, the workform asks employees to describe the work they do in terms
of the overall purpose of their job, the major activities they perform, and the percentage
of time spent on each activity. Employees are also asked to identify the level of supervi-

40  Describe the Job

sion they receive or exercise, the equipment and computer software they use, the educa-
tion and experience they think is required to perform the job in a satisfactory manner,
and the physical and environmental conditions under which they work. Some staff will
find this process easier than others. Staff with jobs that have cyclical responsibilities, such
as children’s librarians who manage the summer reading program, or fiscal staff who
manage budget preparation, may find this process particularly difficult. There is more
information on estimating the amount of time required to accomplish activities in Staffing
2
for Results: A Guide to Working Smarter.
The challenge is to have a form that asks enough questions and provides sufficient
guidance to the employee filling it out to ensure an accurate picture of the work required
in the job, but not having a form so long that the employee is discouraged from taking the
time to fill it out completely and thoughtfully. It may take up to an hour for an employee
to fill out the PDQ, depending on the complexity of the job. Be sure to clarify that work
time can be used to fill out the form.

Supervisor Reviews
After employees have filled out the forms, their immediate supervisors review the forms
and note any areas of incompleteness, inaccuracy, or differences of opinion about empha-
sis. This review (which is supplied in a separate area on the form) provides an additional
view of the work and may identify areas where the supervisor and employee do not
agree on the expectations of the job. If work is changing or the library’s priorities have
changed, the supervisor and the employee may have different views. It’s important that
the supervisors and managers who review the forms take the time to carefully document
any errors, omissions, or differences they perceive.

Employee Interviews
Another step in job analysis is to interview employees or groups of employees performing
the same job in order to ask additional questions, clarify any differences between PDQs
filled out by employees in the same job classification, or further investigate differences
between what the employee and supervisor report as the employee’s job duties.
Interviewing might be conducted by an HR analyst working for the city or county, by
an HR analyst who works for the library itself, by a manager working for the library, or
by an outside consultant hired to conduct the job analysis and write new job descriptions.
Regardless of who does the interviewing and writing, the person must be someone that
both library management and library employees view as knowledgeable and impartial.
Since the purpose of job analysis is to gain as thorough and accurate a view of the job du-
ties as possible, it will save time if the person doing this is conversant with library termi-
nology and understands typical library work processes, though this is not absolutely es-
sential. Well-trained HR professionals are skilled at analyzing work processes and asking
questions that result in an accurate picture of the work being done by library employees
at all levels.
For newly created positions, there may be no current incumbent and therefore no
one to complete a PDQ or interview. In these cases, have the supervisor or department
manager of the new position develop a PDQ for that position so that analysis may be
completed and a new position description written.

Describe the Job  41

 Step 2.3
Write Job Descriptions
Once the PDQs are reviewed and any necessary interviews have been conducted, the
work of writing job descriptions begins. The trend is toward writing broader rather than
narrower, more specific job descriptions. These broader, more generic descriptions pro-
vide greater flexibility to both the employee and library. Take a look at the current ratio
of job descriptions to employees in your library. Some libraries with narrowly written job
descriptions find themselves with almost as many job descriptions as employees. If you
have narrowly defined job classifications and job descriptions, ask yourself, “Do I really
need to differentiate between Branch Clerk II, Circulation Clerk II, and Technical Ser­vices
Clerk II?” You and your employees will have more flexibility in terms of job assignments,
cross-training, and addressing workload issues if you create broader job titles and descrip-
tions. In addition, this broader look at job descriptions will reduce the tendency of em-
ployees to request a reclassification or to balk at doing certain tasks because they are “not
in my job description.” Broadly written job descriptions will also enable you to undertake
new activities as priorities change without having to rewrite job descriptions, which can
be a long, drawn-out process, particularly if your library is part of a larger jurisdiction or
is unionized.
Use the gap analysis you’ve conducted or the thinking you’ve done to describe the
knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies you will require for the jobs you’re describ-
ing. You may find that some will be required for many or even all jobs (“Ability to estab-
lish and maintain effective working relationships with other staff and work as a team”
is an example), while others will be more job-specific (“Ability to safely operate relevant
cleaning equipment and safely use chemical cleaning products,” for example). This is
your opportunity to delineate requirements that support your library’s values (“Ability to
learn and practice the principles of intellectual freedom” for staff in support positions, and
“Thorough knowledge of principles and practices of intellectual freedom and the Library
Bill of Rights” for librarians) or the new activities you’ve selected (“Ability to create and
present training on the use of library computers and databases for audiences with a vari-
ety of levels of technical background and skill”).
Figure 15 includes a list of sample job titles for a smaller library operating from a
single building, as well as for a medium-sized library with one or more branches. As you
review the job titles in figure 15 and in your own library, be aware that titles can carry
emotional, professional, and orga­nizational impact. Titles like manager, supervisor, admin-
istrator, or coordinator should be used consistently and have a meaning that is understood
consistently. If your library uses titles like Branch Head or Branch Operations Supervisor,
will employees and the public understand what these titles mean? Will they know who
is in charge? Be sure you have created internal and external (to other county or city jobs,
for example) alignment in order to avoid confusion and to provide clear career paths for
your employees. In addition, don’t change titles lightly. Employees become attached to
and identify personally with titles. While a Circulation Supervisor and a Circulation Spe-
cialist II may perform the exact same duties, the change in title can feel very much like a
demotion or even an insult to employees who hold the title.
If your library is part of a city or county, you may need to use terms like department,
division, and unit in a very specific way, as well as understand the nuanced differences
among terms like specialist, coordinator, and manager. In the IT arena in particular, library

42  Describe the Job

Figure 15
Sample Job Titles

Small or Medium Library Large Library

Page Page
Circulation Clerk Circulation Clerk I (entry-level)
Circulation Supervisor Circulation Clerk II (three years’ experience)
Library Assistant Circulation Supervisor
Librarian Library Assistant I (entry-level with AA degree)
Manager (adult services, technical   Library Assistant II (three years’ experience)
  services) Librarian I (entry-level, MLS)
Branch Manager (large branch) or  
Librarian II (MLS, two years’ experience)
  Department Head
Assistant Director Manager I (small branch or central library  
  department)
Library Director
Manager II (larger branch or central library  
  department)
Division Head (technical services, head of 
  branches)
Assistant Director
Library Director

employees are often dismissed as less technically competent because of outdated job
titles and job descriptions. Many libraries still refer to their employees as “computer op-
erators” while others in their jurisdictions doing similar work have become “network
analysts”—who are often paid quite a bit more.
You may have a job description format that you must follow, or you may be in the
position of developing your own. If you wish, use Workform 4, Job Description Tem-
plate, to develop your job descriptions. Whatever format is used, it should contain these
elements:
Job title
Exemption status—exempt or nonexempt (pertains to Fair Labor Standards Act)
Reporting relationships (optional; some job descriptions include this, but others
don’t because the library doesn’t want to be locked into a fixed orga­nizational
structure or be forced to update job descriptions each time a change is made
in the orga­nizational structure)
Job summary (one or two sentences that explain the purpose of the job)
Essential duties and responsibilities (essential functions, per the Americans with
Disabilities Act; see the explanation of this in the text below)
Education/experience/certification requirements
Skills, abilities, and competencies required
Supervisory responsibility

Describe the Job  43

 Disclaimer statement (“Other duties as assigned” and the fact that the job
description is not intended to be inclusive of all possible duties. A statement
such as the following could be included: “Functions listed are intended only as
illustrations of the various types of work performed. The omission of specific
duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related,
or a logical assignment to the position.”)
Dates and approvals (by supervisor and HR)
Working conditions and physical factors (per the Americans with Disabilities
Act)
The information you’ve gathered from the job analysis should provide all you need to
fill in the required elements of the job description.
Figure 16 is a job description for a Library Clerk at the Tree County Library. Note
the “disclaimer” at the end of this job description. Wording like this should be included
to remind supervisors and employees that jobs change and situations change. All duties
performed by an employee cannot and should not be captured in the job description.
Two of the elements included in the list above require special attention. Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA) exemption designations are important because a position that is
“exempt” is not subject to the FLSA overtime or compensatory time requirements, which
state that a person working over forty hours a week must be paid time and a half or given
compensatory time off for the time over forty hours worked. A position that is “nonex-
empt” is covered by the FLSA requirements. Executive, professional, administrative, and
other highly paid workers are exempt, but the requirements are complex and designa-
tions should be made carefully. In some libraries, librarians are designated as “exempt”
but in others they are not and do receive overtime or compensatory time pay. Consult
with an expert in FLSA requirements to be sure that you are complying with the require-
ments of the FLSA law.
The second element that requires special attention is the one that refers to “essen-
tial duties and responsibilities.” Care must be taken to think through what duties and
responsibilities are essential because the Americans with Disabilities Act says a qualified
individual is one “who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the es-
sential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires.” The
“essential functions” are those basic duties that are central to a job and cannot normally
be transferred to another position or person without disruption in the flow or process of
work. For example, if your stacks are in a basement without an elevator, climbing steps is
an essential function for a page. However, climbing steps might not be an essential func-
tion for a reference librarian.
When writing the “essential duties and responsibilities” component of the job de-
scription, remember:
Focus on primary, required, current, normal duties and responsibilities of a clas­si­fi­
cation. The list should be descriptive and representative, not exhaustive.
The statements should be discrete, identifiable aspects of the work assignment,
described in one to three sentences, and should specify the expected results,
allowing for alternate means of performing the duty, changes in technology,
preferences of employees and supervisors, and accommodations for workers
with disabilities, without altering the nature of the duty itself.

44  Describe the Job

Figure 16
Sample Job Description

Tree County Library

JOB DESCRIPTION
Library Clerk FLSA: Non-Exempt
Grade: 2 Date: 05/05

Job Summary: Performs a variety of routine clerical tasks to support library operations; performs other duties as
assigned.

Essential Functions
1. Answers phones, greets and directs customers to appropriate areas
2. May • perform circulation duties such as checking materials in and out, registering customers for library cards
and providing orientation to library use, calculating and collecting fines and fees
• assist customers by locating and retrieving materials and demonstrating and providing instruction in the
use of library equipment, including computers
• reshelve materials and revise shelves as needed
• process ILL requests, holds for customers, and orders for materials
• perform clerical duties such as typing, filing, copying, or sorting and distributing mail
• calculate and maintain daily, monthly, and yearly statistics
• maintain, order, and receive supplies from vendors and distribute to branches and departments
• strip, clean, and process a/v materials and containers for reuse
• send old magazines to be bound for library’s collection
3. Performs other duties as assigned

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Ability to • gain working knowledge of TCL’s policies and procedures
• act as a representative of TCL to the public
• learn the current shelving system
• learn to operate relevant computer systems, including hardware and software, and simple office machines
• perform basic math functions

Education and Experience

1. High School diploma or GED
2. Six months to one year of related experience
3. Or equivalent technical training, education, and/or experience

Physical and Environmental Conditions:

Work requires no unusual demand for physical effort.

Work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of such
places as libraries, offices, or meeting and training rooms, e.g., use of safe workplace practices with office equipment,
avoidance of trips and falls, and observance of fire and building safety regulations.

The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working  
  conditions associated with this job. 
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job. 
This and all library positions are eligible for systemwide transfer.

Describe the Job  45

 The “essential duties and responsibilities” statement typically contains three parts:
1. Verb. Should be action-oriented, not profession-specific.
2. Object. What the verb is performing action on.
3. Purpose. What result is achieved?
Example: Library Clerk II: Assist customers by locating and retrieving materi-
als, and demonstrating and providing instruction in the use of library equipment,
including computers.

Job descriptions also indicate the knowledge, skills, abilities, education, and experi-
ence required to do the job. This is an area where inadvertent discrimination can oc-
cur. The educational requirement must be a real necessity for the job. If the work could
be accomplished by someone with equivalent job experience but who lacks a specific
credential or degree, the job description should contain an “equivalency statement.” For
example, the job description for a technical ser­vices paraprofessional might list qualifica-
tions in this manner:
1. Associate of Arts degree from an accredited college. AA in Library Technology
preferred.
2. Two years of library experience, including experience in a technical ser­vices
environment utilizing specialized cataloging and acquisitions software.
3. Or equivalent technical training, education, and/or experience.
Your library or local jurisdiction probably requires job descriptions. They are tradi-
tionally part of good HR management practice, since they spell out the job duties, report-
ing relationships, skills, experience, and educational requirements of a job. To ensure that
job descriptions are strategic tools which assist rather than hinder you in accomplishing
your objectives, you want to be sure that they adequately reflect the activities you want
carried out by your library’s employees.

Step 2.4
Obtain Approval and Communicate
Once the job descriptions have been created, the final step is to obtain the required sign-
offs and approvals. Again, what needs to be done will vary by jurisdiction. The important
thing to remember is that it must be done. The finalized job descriptions may have to
be approved or become official parts of a personnel system. Often this approval or ac-
ceptance date is printed on the job description itself so everyone knows that the version
before them is official. A dated copy also serves as a way to keep track of how old the job
description is.
Refer back to the communications plan you developed as part of the “planning to
plan” process outlined in chapter 1. Everyone involved in the job description development
process needs to receive notification that the process has been completed. Employees
who have filled out PDQs, been interviewed, participated in discussions of draft job de-
scriptions, or have otherwise been involved in the process will want to know that it has,
at last, been completed. If the process took place as part of a negotiated agreement, union
officials will also want to know that the agreed-upon activities have been concluded. Re-
member that anything that impacts an employee’s work life is potentially sensitive. Take

46  Describe the Job

 the time to explain what has happened and why at the end of the process, just as you did
at the beginning and during the process. Time spent on this now will mean not having to
spend even more time later correcting misunderstandings or partial understandings of the
process and its outcome.

Notes
1. Paula Singer, Designing a Compensation Plan for Your Library (Chicago: American Library Association,
2002).
2. Diane Mayo and Jeanne Goodrich, Staffing for Results: A Guide to Working Smarter (Chicago: American
Library Association, 2002), 52–53.

Describe the Job  47

Chapter 4
1
The Right
Plan the Project
Person
for the Right Job

milestones
By the time you finish this chapter you will be able to
• determine whether you should recruit for a position
internally, externally, or both
• enumerate and evaluate recruitment techniques and
strategies
• screen and test candidates
• identify the best interview technique to use for a position
• interview top candidates
• select the right person for the job

T he job market today is more competitive than it’s ever been. Many workers in the
public library workforce are nearing retirement age. The pool of younger workers
is smaller than that of the Baby Boomer generation, so employers will be faced with the
dual situation of an unprecedented number of openings and a smaller pool of potential
candidates. This situation is shared by all government, business, corporate, nonprofit, and
not-for-profit employers. It is magnified for libraries and others in the government and
not-for-profit sectors, however, since Generation Xers appear to have been less inclined
to major in subjects relevant to those sectors and less inclined to seek work in those sec-
tors (see chapter 6 for an explanation of generational differences). Consequently, libraries
are finding that they must compete aggressively to find and hire qualified candidates for
their positions.
In this chapter you’ll learn how to find the person you need. The “finding” may in-
volve an internal search for the person with the right knowledge, skills, abilities, and
competencies within your own library; it may involve an external search outside your
library orga­nization; or it may involve both.

48
Task 3: Identify the Right Person for the Right Job
Task 1: Assess Required Staff Resources
Once you’ve described what you want from a po-
Task 2: Describe the Job sition and the person in it, you will start the pro-
Task 3: Identify the Right Person for the Right Job cess of finding qualified candidates for the position.
Step 3.1: Plan the project Recruitment specialists call this process “sourcing.”
Step 3.2: Recruit candidates It’s an active process involving directors, managers,
Step 3.3: Screen and test candidates
and other staff members. Your past experience with
Step 3.4: Interview candidates
Step 3.5: Check references and make job offer
this step may have been placing advertisements in
Task 4: Develop and Implement a Performance Manage-  print or online locations (if recruiting externally) or
ment System on bulletin boards (if recruiting within the library)
Task 5: Develop and Implement a Retention Plan and waiting to see what responses came in. Much
more (and a much different) effort is needed now be-
cause the hiring environment (both within the library
world and the larger world of work) is so competitive and because you need to be more
involved in hiring decisions that help move your library in the direction it needs to go.

Step 3.1
Plan the Project
If you are going to complete this task, refer back to the “Planning to Plan” section of
chapter 1. This information will help you plan the project, determine whether you need
a committee and, if so, select committee members, create a charge, and formulate a com-
munications plan.

Step 3.2
Recruit Candidates
Effective sourcing entails developing a recruitment strategy. This strategy should be a
plan for when and where to look for qualified applicants, as well as actions that can be
taken to develop applicants (such as internships or on-the-job training opportunities) or
relationships with people who could become applicants. It’s an ongoing process, not just
something that happens when there is a job opening. Library managers should always be
thinking about where they could find applicants and use every opportunity to showcase
the library and the community as an attractive, desirable place to work.

Internal and External Recruiting

One of the first decisions that will need to be made is whether a particular recruitment
will be internal (recruiting from within the existing library workforce) or external (re-
cruiting from outside the library). You may decide to do both. Whatever you do will be
shaped by your existing procedures, policies, city or county policies if your library is part
of a larger jurisdiction, and labor contracts, if applicable, all of which could influence the
choices you have. Your recruitment choices will also be influenced by the position you
are filling. The local labor market will probably be able to produce a number of qualified
applicants for a driver or clerical position. If you are looking for someone who can catalog
in a non-Romance language, however, you will probably have to look beyond the local

The Right Person for the Right Job  49

 market and recruit regionally or even nationally to find the combination of skills and expe-
rience you require. The size of the region may also vary: it could be several cities, a county
or several counties, or even several states, such as the Pacific Northwest or New England.
It makes sense to recruit from the existing workforce if existing employees are known
to have the skills, abilities, expertise, and competencies being sought. Job announcements
can be posted on bulletin boards, in newsletters and on employee intranet sites, sent via
e-mail, and in other ways that the library typically uses to disseminate information in-
ternally. Of course, all existing civil ser­vice procedures, collective bargaining agreements,
and personnel policies will have to be followed in all internal recruitments.
Internal recruitment is typically less expensive and is faster than external recruitment.
The candidates are known to the library, and the library and the positions being recruited
for are probably known and understood by the candidates. Another real advantage is that
internal recruitment is popular with employees because it provides them with opportuni-
ties for advancement. To maintain these advantages, the library employer must ensure
that fair and open selection procedures are followed. If there is any sense of favoritism or
other inappropriate actions, the process can result in resentment and dissent among other
employees.
It is often a good idea to recruit both internally and externally. This allows internal
candidates an opportunity to move up within the orga­nization, while also giving the li-
brary the opportunity to cast its nets more widely to find a group of candidates with the
best possible skills and experience to meet the library’s needs. If internal candidates are
selected, they have the satisfaction of knowing that they were compared with a variety
of people with similar skills. If external candidates are selected, the internal candidates
can usually recognize that the external candidates brought unique or enhanced skills to
the positions being filled.
An external search will be necessary if it is determined that the qualifications needed
for the position are not found within the library’s current workforce. The extent of the
search will depend upon the skills and qualifications required and the library’s assessment
of where those might be found. For top managerial and specialized professional and tech-
nical positions, the search might be national.

Sourcing Techniques and Strategies

Your goal should be to hire the best people for the openings your library has. To do this,
you need to attract the attention of the best, so that you get a chance to tell them about
the job and your library. Hiring specialist Lou Adler makes an insightful distinction when
he points out that there is a fundamental difference between the best candidates and or-
dinary candidates. He provides several rules to follow:1
To find the best people, you have to use different techniques than you would use
to find ordinary people.
Candidates will only explore career opportunities that meet their personal needs.
The best people want careers, not jobs.
The best candidates for your jobs are not just looking for any job; in fact, they might
not be actively seeking a new job at all. They will only be enticed if they see that your job
provides something extra: a new challenge or opportunity for professional growth, or a

50  The Right Person for the Right Job

step in their career that they see as significant to them. All of your interactions, from the
job advertisement to the application and selection process, must be designed to interact
with the candidate and provide information that he or she will need to make a decision
about whether or not to work for your library.
There are three broad categories of job candidates:
Active candidates. These candidates are actively looking for another job. They need
one because they don’t have one or because they want to leave the one they
have. This is an easy group to attract, but experienced recruiters don’t view
this group as a pool of top candidates. There may be some great people in
the pool, but there will also be many average or even unqualified candidates.
Lou Adler estimates that this group represents 10–15 percent of the total labor
2
pool.
Semi-active candidates. These are candidates who are currently employed. They
may be looking for a new job periodically, especially if they’ve had a series
of bad days and want a different environment or challenge. They may feel
frustrated by their supervisor, peers, or work environment, or they may feel
underappreciated, overworked, or underpaid. They don’t have much time to
look for another job and need to be enticed by the potential of finding another
job that is significantly better than the one they currently have. Adler estimates
that this group is much larger, 30–40 percent of the labor pool. This is the
sourcing “sweet spot,” the spot you should aim for with your ads, contacts,
and recruitment and selection processes.
Passive candidates. These are people who are currently employed and don’t know
they want another job. They like their jobs enough that they aren’t looking.
How­ever, recruiters know that up to 80 percent of these people would be open
to exploring a new opportunity if someone (a recruiter or hiring manager)
called them directly and talked to them about an open position. These are
often very high-quality candidates, but they are expensive to woo. Because
they aren’t looking for a new position, considerable effort must be exerted to
interest them in the job. Paid, professional recruiters are often used to find these
candidates and interest them in the job. If offered the job, passive candidates
will often seek a compensation package that is higher than that sought by semi-
active candidates. However, for top managerial positions and library director
positions at large libraries, recruiting the passive candidate is often the route
that is taken to ensure that there is a pool of top-quality candidates.

Recruitment Techniques and Strategies

Bearing in mind the different kinds of candidates, what recruiting techniques are available
to you? There are a variety of options including job advertisements or announcements,
conferences or job fairs, employee referrals, networking, and direct contact.

J ob A dvertisements or A nnouncements
The job advertisement should be based on a current job description (for more informa-
tion on creating these documents, see chapter 3). You may be constrained by library

The Right Person for the Right Job  51

 requirements or those of your parent jurisdiction (city, county, etc.), but try to make the
advertisement as enticing as possible. Reciting the dry language of the job description will
attract only the active candidate. To attract the semi-active job seeker, you need to write
an ad with a catchy title or lead line: “Are you ready to lead a highly respected library into
an era of new excellence?”
You want to include verbiage that will key in to the motivations of the semi-active
job seeker. Describe the challenges and growth opportunities of the job, provide details
about what the person obtaining the job will be able to do, learn, or become, and include
the attractions of the location of the job and community that may appeal to personal in-
terests: “Can you enjoy living with sunshine and the natural beauty of the nearby Rocky
Mountains?” You may also want to comment on the reputation of the library or par-
ent jurisdiction: “Are you able to guide a historically successful library in responding to
the ser­vice needs of an increasingly multilingual and multicultural city?” (The quotations
cited are from an e-mail sent out to attract interest and referrals for the city librarian posi-
3
tion in Denver, Colorado.)
The job advertisement should also describe critical skills required for the position and
how they would be used. For example, a recruitment brochure for the library director po-
sition in Arlington, Virginia, indicated that the new director would be leading countywide
initiatives on the cable channel and website as examples of why the ideal candidate must
have had success working with other departments of local government in planning and
managing integrated ser­vices.
Your job announcement should include the following: why the position is attractive
enough for someone to leave their current one; something enticing about the library’s
location (such as natural beauty, sports, recreational, or cultural opportunities); a compelling
description of the challenges facing the person who will fill the position; a description of the
major responsibilities; reporting relationships (both who the incumbent will report to and
the departments or number of staff she will manage); budget responsibility; partnerships;
salary range and potential opportunities; and other perquisites or benefits such as a team-
based work environment, flexible hours, free parking, great health benefits, and so on.
The job ad may be posted on the library’s intranet or on job boards; sent to other li-
braries, e-mail lists, orga­nizations, or library schools; or used as the basis of an individual
pitch, in person or by phone or e-mail. A brochure or even a CD may be developed, pro-
viding a creative opportunity to describe the job, the library, and the ser­vice community.
Some libraries have even created non-job-specific brochures to distribute at conferences
or job fairs as a way to present themselves and seek candidates for future openings. To
reach minority candidates, consider how people live and participate in your community.
You might need to notify minority churches and colleges or specific business associations
about job openings.
You might also want to think about your library’s web presence. Does it only provide
information about current openings? Would it be worthwhile to create information tell-
ing prospective employees what kinds of jobs the library has, how exciting and fulfilling it
is to work there, how to find out when there are openings, and what the application and
screening process is? Studies have shown that younger adults and minorities make heavy
use of online information about jobs. If you want to attract them to the library, you need
to find ways to reach them using the tools that they naturally use. Figure 17 provides an
illustration of how one company used web recruitment effectively.

52  The Right Person for the Right Job

Figure 17
Web Recruitment

PriceWaterhouseCooper, a top accounting firm, has developed an exceptionally creative website

(www.pwcglobal.com/lookhere/) designed to recruit young college graduates to their company. The
site makes accounting sound positively exhilarating by combining images, words, and even music
to appeal to the next generation of CPAs and auditors. The navigation bar on the side of their page
uses phrases like:

• What did others bring?

• Propel your career
• Meet great people
• Get cool assignments
• Learn every day
• Find WorkLife
The website also shows that the firm has been named a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For,
has been voted a #1 Ideal Employer, and has been named by Working Mother to its Top 100 list for
ten straight years in a row.

The company’s commitment to work/life balance is summed up by this entry on its recruiting page:
“Life is friends, memories, new experiences and lots of stuff. That stuff defines who you are and
how you are unique. You should be able to bring all that with you when you start your career.”

C onferences and Job Fairs

Large libraries often send staff members to recruit at state, regional, and national confer-
ences. They staff a table, provide materials about their library, and discuss current or
potential openings with prospective candidates. If the conference hosts an employment
area or placement center, library staff will also be able to review the resumes of applicants
and schedule interviews with candidates. Even if your library doesn’t recruit formally at
a conference, you should take advantage of being with so many colleagues to distribute
information about your library and any openings you have and to meet with active and
semi-active candidates. You should always be actively assessing the people you meet.
Are you impressed with a fellow committee member or someone you’ve seen present
at the conference? Try to meet them and exchange contact information. You might also
want to talk to them about their career interests and let them know about current and
future opportunities at your library.
Be as proactive as possible. Perform screening interviews on the spot (even if you
aren’t formally recruiting or using the job center) and follow up with a telephone inter-
view if a candidate seems promising, or invite a prospect to visit the library to learn more
about it and any positions that are available.
Remember, too, that a conference is a great place to showcase your library. If your
library is seen as a leader and as progressive, innovative, and creative because of its vis-
ibility through conference presentations and articles in professional journals, strong can-
didates will want to be affiliated with you. Libraries with strong national reputations
typically report that they have dozens, if not hundreds, of applications for their openings.
People who are tops want to be with the best.

The Right Person for the Right Job  53

 Job fairs may or may not be cost-effective, depending on the positions you have
available. Local job fairs, especially those sponsored by orga­nizations that are interested
in equal opportunity, may be a good place to find candidates from groups that are under-
represented on your library staff. Just being at the job fair says that your library is inter-
ested in having a staff that is representative of the community as a whole. People may
never have thought of applying to the library if they haven’t seen others like themselves
working there. It’s obviously a great opportunity to inform candidates of the types of jobs
available, job requirements, and the selection process. Job or career fairs and conferences
are also designed for certain professions or fields (such as high tech), so become aware of
these opportunities to find candidates in such specialty areas as information technology,
public relations, marketing, finance, and human resources management.
Whichever type of job fair you attend, be sure to use the time there wisely. Staff your
table, but also be sure to mingle with attendees. Have hiring managers available so that
people can discuss real jobs with them and so that they can engage the top candidates.
Think of a gimmick or giveaway (a CD about your library, or a free book with a library
bookplate or travel coffee mug) that will attract people to your booth and serve as a re-
minder of how to contact you later. You might also consider holding a drawing to give
away an item of greater value so that you can get cards from potential applicants. Then
you can follow up with those applicants after the job fair.

E mployee R eferrals
One of the best sources for candidates for your open positions or future open positions
is the people who already work for your library. Ask staff to talk up the library with
family, friends, neighbors, and those in their religious, civic, youth, sports, or ser­vice orga­
nizations. Train staff members to talk about the library in a clear, crisp, and compelling
way. While your library’s nepotism policy would probably forbid employees working
directly for family members, employees are a wonderful source of potential candidates.
Why are staff so important? They know the culture, the work, and the institution best
and can serve as reliable screeners. This can be a particularly effective way to boost your
diversity hiring, since the staff you have will know others in the ethnic, racial, linguistic,
and other groups you’d like to see work for you. One large urban library is a model in this
regard. That library’s minority professional staff has consistently remained at 20 percent
due to thoughtful, proactive recruitment efforts.
Make the process of employee referrals a formal activity, heavily promoted through-
out the library. Let your employees know that you value their suggestions and will follow
up quickly to make contact with people they recommend to you. Ask staff to give you
names and contact information. Your HR department or hiring managers can then follow
up by providing potential applicants with the details of the job and the testing or selection
process that will be followed to fill the job.

Networking
Take every opportunity to find and cultivate potential candidates. Besides being visible
at conferences through presentations, meet and talk with colleagues at programs, recep-
tions, and through your involvement on committees and orga­nizational boards. If your
community is large enough to have a local library association, get involved and get to

54  The Right Person for the Right Job

know your colleagues. A top candidate may be working at a local academic, school, or
special library. Don’t let the experience they have at another type of library be a barrier
to considering what skills they could bring to your library. Review the job descriptions
you’ve prepared so that you know what knowledge, skills, abilities, and past accomplish-
ments you are looking for.
Use the top candidates you find to suggest other top candidates. Top performers
recognize other top performers. They may have worked with them, been on an associa-
tion committee with them, or admired their work from afar. As you talk with people and
describe the challenges and opportunities for growth and development in your library,
ask them for the names of others that they feel are exceptional performers in their area of
expertise or specialization. For example, the best source for information about qualified
technical ser­vices managers would be others who are specialists in that area. Don’t ask if
the people they refer are looking for a job; just ask for additional names that could be used
as resources for you. Ask what they admire about the people they suggest, and ask about
their qualifications. That can serve as an initial screening before you decide whether or
not it will be cost-effective for you to follow up. If you do follow up, you’ll already have
some good information as a basis for an exploratory conversation with the next person,
ending again by asking for additional names.
Figure 18 provides some interesting techniques that other professions have employed
to recruit successfully for new employees.

Figure 18
What Can We Learn from Other Professions?

Libraries aren’t the only institutions facing recruitment challenges. As Baby Boomers retire, all
facets of the public sector as well as private employers will be facing a huge drain of employees.
Every sector will be competing for new employees. Here are a few ideas a library could consider:

The FBI, after years of failing to attract minority candidates (the FBI is 83% white and 82% male),
decided to ask the peers of targeted recruits (i.e., minority college students) to assist them.

Students at Morgan State University in Baltimore (a historically black college) used the $2,500
granted to them to come up with a recruitment campaign using the theme “The FBI: Keeping
It Fresh, Bold and Innovative” and campaign ads that featured students on campus. They also
hosted “FBI fun nights” where real agents and their families met with college students in a
relaxed setting.

Clark Atlantic, another historically black college, held a mixer at a soul food eatery. Students at
both schools learned about the array of specialties in the bureau. These campaigns resulted in
330 new bureau applications from minorities for an array of jobs, ranging from investigator to
financial analyst.

The Oregon Center for Nursing, after projecting that one in five nursing positions in Oregon
would be unfilled by 2010, developed a campaign to attract more men to the field (only 11% of
Oregon nurses are male; nationally the figure is even lower at 5%).

Defying the stereotype of a white woman in a white cap, the OCN came up with a testosterone-
drenched campaign: “Are you man enough . . . to be a nurse?” The accompanying ads and
posters feature nine macho men, including a Harley rider, a black belt, a combat medic, a snow­
boarder, and a rugby player.

Other states have replicated the campaign. The OCN and other groups feature pictures of men
and of men and women of color performing a variety of interesting duties on their websites,
along with inspiring quotations about the value and gratification of their nursing work.

The Right Person for the Right Job  55

 Workform 5, Recruitment Process, provides an outline for a recruitment process, in-
cluding a way to track the person or group responsible for each step of the process and a
way to check off each completed step. If your library or jurisdiction doesn’t already have
a recruitment process in place that you are required to follow, the workform provides a
basic process.

Step 3.3
Screen and Test Candidates
The recruitment techniques discussed in Step 3.2 may result in many applicants. The next
step in the hiring process is to screen those applicants and to arrange for testing, if that
will be needed.

Screen the Applications

Applicants are typically asked to fill out an application form. They may or may not be
asked to attach a resume. Care must be taken that the information requested on the appli-
cation form directly relates to the job and that there are not information requests or ques-
tions that are not job-related. Inappropriate or illegal requests include those related to age,
race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or physical disability, or to personal information
that is not related to required employment information or potential job performance.
The information on both the application and the resume (if a resume was requested)
is used to determine whether or not the candidate has met the minimum qualifications
of the position during an initial screening process. This screening may or may not be
a straightforward process. It’s important that the person or persons doing the screen-
ing thoroughly review the job description to understand exactly what knowledge, skills,
abilities, experience, and competencies will be required to perform the job effectively.
Your library or jurisdiction may have specific procedures or guidelines for performing the
screening, but try to be as flexible as possible. For example, people who lack the formal
education listed in the job description but have indicated through their previous jobs that
they can do what is required of the open job should not be screened out. You may or may
not know this at the application screening process, depending on the detail of the ap-
plication, the applicant’s resume, and whether or not supplemental questions (discussed
below) have been used.
Some libraries also include supplemental questions as part of the application process.
Candidates provide written responses to the questions and submit them with their ap-
plication form and resume. These questions are usually used for higher-level profession-
al, technical (such as information technology, accounting, facilities management), and
managerial positions. As with all other elements of the selection process, these questions
should be job-related (the KSAs portion of the job description should be very useful in de-
veloping questions that will provide relevant job performance information) and should be
evaluated in an objective, consistent manner. The answers to supplemental questions are
not always used in initial screening (unless they are missing or so brief or lacking in qual-
ity that they clearly eliminate the candidate), but they may be useful in a later screening to
narrow a field of candidates down to a smaller number who are then invited to interviews.
If you decide to use supplementary questions, be sure that the questions are clear and

56  The Right Person for the Right Job

pertinent to the job. If you ask a lot of supplementary questions and they are complex,
some applicants may decide the job application is more trouble than it is worth.
If your library is part of a jurisdiction (such as a city or county) that manages the
screening process, you must be sure that the person in the HR department assigned to
screen applications has a thorough understanding of the job that is to be filled and has
objective criteria based on the job description written for the job. Depending on the poli-
cies and practices of your jurisdiction, you may not have the opportunity to be as flexible
in your screening as is recommended here.

Test the Candidates

Depending on the type and level of position, there may be other steps in the initial selec-
tion process. Many libraries conduct skills tests of some sort: keyboarding, demonstra-
tions of proficiency levels using standard office word-processing and spreadsheet prod-
ucts, alphanumeric filing, language proficiency, and demonstrating proficiency in a key
aspect of the position, such as preparing a news release or telling a story. Depending on
the type of job and number of applicants, these tests may be conducted for large groups
as an early screening activity, or they may be conducted later in the selection process with
only those candidates who are seen as the most competitive. For example, a large library
with numerous openings for page and clerical positions may conduct monthly alphanu-
meric filing and keyboarding skills tests. A library hiring a bilingual children’s librarian
might ask only the top candidates to tell a story in Spanish as part of its hiring process.
Whatever form of testing is used, it must be valid and reliable. A valid test measures
factors that are job-related: alphanumeric filing for a page and clerk, keyboarding for a
clerk, writing skills for an administrative assistant. To be reliable, the test must be con-
ducted in a consistent manner. Many libraries are part of a city or county civil-ser­vice sys-
tem that administers standardized tests, ranks applicants by score, and uses other means
to ensure that tests are conducted in a fair, objective manner. While these approaches can
add time and bureaucratic intricacies to the hiring process, they are designed to ensure
that candidates are rated on merit rather than on non-job-related factors such as who they
know, who they are related to, or who they support politically.

Step 3.4
Interview Candidates
Professional, technical, and managerial positions often entail an oral interview process.
Depending on the library’s size and structure, there may be a series of interviews held to
fill a position. The first interview might be designed to rank candidates, and a subsequent
interview might be the basis for the actual hiring decision. In other situations, everything
might be accomplished in one interview. Sometimes a library will decide to conduct
multiple interviews, perhaps because it has additional questions for the top candidates
(usually this is because there are competing strengths and more information is needed) or
because it wants additional people to be involved in the hiring decision. Whichever situ-
ation you find yourself in, remember to use interviewing techniques strategically, to help
you find the right person for your position.

The Right Person for the Right Job  57

 Interviewing Tips
There are some basic interviewing principles to keep in mind. You don’t want to lose a
strong candidate as a result of your own hiring process or by being discourteous. Remem-
ber, you are trying to attract the best and brightest, as are other library and nonlibrary
orga­nizations with which you are competing. Whereas interview advice has traditionally
been directed at candidates and relates to how they should behave during an interview,
the tables are turning. An equal amount of focus is now on employer behavior and pro-
cesses and what the interviewer or employer can do to accommodate the candidate. Here
are some tips for being proactive.
To start, always be prepared. Know the job, the reporting relationships, the perfor-
mance expectations, the compensation, and the career path. From the moment the can-
didate walks in, establish and maintain rapport: greet her warmly and display interest
throughout the interview. Remember, the interviewer is the salesperson for the job to be
filled. Listen carefully to the candidate, paraphrase what she says, and summarize your
understanding. Make the candidate feel heard. Provide realistic orga­nizational and job
information. Describe the library’s philosophy, plans, and practices and provide a job
description. If possible, also provide a tour of the library. Do not oversell the job or the
library. It is what it is; however, do describe the job’s challenges and growth potential.
In addition, be honest about hiring salary, work environment, and culture. If the library
really isn’t like a “family,” don’t say that it is. If work hours are flexible, mention that.
At the end of the interview, summarize and preview the next steps. Tell candidates
what to expect next and when you will get back to them. Always get back to the candi-
dates when you said you would! Be nice and pleasant, even if a particular candidate isn’t a
good fit. The candidate may have all the qualifications and KSAs for another job that hasn’t
opened yet, or she may apply for a vacancy in your library five years later. Candidates will
certainly talk to each other about the library and their experiences interviewing. It is always
a good policy to stay on good terms and present the library’s best face to candidates.
You should also be flexible. If a candidate has difficulty meeting during regular library
hours, arrange for an evening or weekend interview. Non-peak-hour interviews have
many advantages, including

• increased interview attendance by employed people who can’t normally get

away from their current job
• reduced cancellations by both candidates and managers due to last-minute
work conflicts
• more time for the interview, because there’s no rush to return to work
• a different approach, which makes you stand out among competitors
• making your library appear flexible to outside people (even to those who
don’t apply)
• increasing the number of candidates you attract, since there is more parking
and less traffic after hours
• fewer interruptions by the staff of a harried manager
• increased diversity of interviewees: one parent can provide child care while
the other interviews, and low-income candidates who cannot afford to miss
a day of work are more likely to attend.4

58  The Right Person for the Right Job

 If a candidate is from another city and your library budget doesn’t support travel, con-
sider interviewing via telephone or videoconferencing. Be sure that your paperwork for the
hiring process flows easily and quickly. Don’t keep a good candidate waiting for a response
from you, since you don’t want to lose her while you are waiting for the paper trail to catch
up. Expedite your recruitment and selection processes. See how you can streamline these
processes by trimming and combining several steps. The Library’s Continuous Improvement
5
Fieldbook offers a variety of tools for reviewing and improving work processes.
Bear in mind that while you are evaluating the candidate, she is also evaluating the
position and you as a potential supervisor. Do everything you can to stay on schedule.
Leaving a candidate waiting for a long time is rude and discourteous. Remember that
your behavior during this interview reflects directly on you and the library.
In many parts of the country and for many positions, it is a sellers’ market for talent.
Some Boomer and Traditionalist managers have expressed shock that GenXer and Millen-
nial candidates even interview them. This shouldn’t be a surprise, given the discussion in
chapter 6 about generational differences. You need to interview and treat candidates the
way they need to be interviewed and treated. So be flexible in your process, tailor it to the
person being interviewed, and be cognizant of her needs and expectations regarding infor-
mation, understanding of the job and the work, schedules, when she can expect a promo-
6
tion, and so on. Don’t get angry if she asks about telecommuting, vacation days, or if her
pension is portable. Answer her questions in an honest and forthright manner and you’ll be
assured of an employee who wants to work for your library and fits with your culture.

Interview Process
Interviewing is a selection procedure designed to predict future job performance on the
basis of an applicant’s responses to oral inquiries. Obviously, it’s a critical part of the
selection process. If the interview isn’t conducted well, a person may be hired who isn’t
a good fit for the job. This can result in large costs (related to managing substandard
performance, in addition to costs to recruit, select, and train again) if the person is termi-
nated during the probationary period, and even larger costs if the person is kept on but is
not able to perform effectively in the job. These costs relate to lost productivity and low
job performance, morale problems with the person in the job and coworkers, and costs
related to managing substandard performance. A poorly conducted interview might also
cause a qualified candidate to decide not to take a job at the library even if the job was
offered. A good interview process is a two-way street: the library is looking for the most
qualified candidate for the position, and the applicants are looking for a challenging and
rewarding job and work environment.
The intent of the interviewing process should be to find the candidate who is the best
fit in terms of the library’s orga­nizational values, the job’s objectives and specifications,
the needed job skills and competencies, the library’s culture, and the candidate’s past per-
formance and its relevancy to what the library needs in the current position.
Everyone involved in the interviewing process should be knowledgeable about the
job’s requirements. The job description is the key document to review, since it will
specify the required knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies and will provide an
overview of the key responsibilities and duties of the job. Job-specific questions should be
developed using the job description, and the questions should be reviewed by the hiring

The Right Person for the Right Job  59

 manager to ensure that they accurately reflect her priorities and will garner answers that
indicate whether or not a candidate will be able to accomplish the activities related to the
position. Be sure to focus on the entire job, not just the next big project or areas of the job
that have been performed poorly in the past.
It’s important that all candidates are asked the same questions during the interview
process that is used to rank candidates. This ensures fairness, since all candidates will
have been asked to respond to the same questions, and it also ensures that the interview-
ers don’t jump to conclusions about candidates. Oral interviews that are conducted to
rank candidates are typically the most structured, with all questions the same for each
candidate, asked by the same person, within the same time frame.
Oral interviews conducted during the last stage of the hiring process (that is, designed
to produce a final decision and job offer) may be less structured, using questions that
are different because they are designed to follow up on information gleaned during the
earlier, more structured process. For example, a library might have two final candidates
for a branch manager position. As is typical, each of the candidates possesses different
strengths and deficiencies. Final interview questions would be designed to probe more
deeply in both areas of strength and of comparative weakness. These questions will pro-
vide the information needed to make the final decision between the two candidates.
The interview itself can include a variety of different people. It might be one-on-one
between the candidate and one person representing the library. More typically, the inter-
view will be conducted by a panel made up of the hiring manager, other interested man-
agers, and often someone from outside the library who has expertise in an area related
to the job. As noted earlier, in some cases the interview process is sequential, with the
candidate being interviewed by a series of individuals or groups.
Whatever approach is used, interviewers must understand the job and what it is de-
signed to accomplish. If the interviewers don’t know the job they will substitute their
own perceptions of what it is, which will lead to faulty assessments. For example, if a
library is hiring a head of technical ser­vices and is looking for someone who is willing
and able to streamline workflow and negotiate vendor-provided ser­vices, it’s important
that interviewers know this. Otherwise, they might think that the most knowledgeable
cataloger among the applicants is the best candidate because that is their perception of
the job, or because that’s what the previous head of technical ser­vices did. However, it is
quite possible that the best candidate to evaluate and streamline technical ser­vices is not
someone who spends over half of her time creating detailed original records for audiovi-
sual and foreign language materials. Clearly, the assessment of the candidate will be quite
different depending on the interviewers’ understanding of the job.
It’s also important to consider that those who often appear to be the best candidates
may not necessarily be the best person for the job. Superior job performance is the ulti-
mate goal, not superior skills in facilely presenting oneself at the interview. A candidate
may be assertive, affable, articulate, and present herself well. The interviewer must probe
beyond these interview skills to find out what the candidate has actually done in her past
positions and what her level of self-motivation and drive are to ascertain whether or not
she will get the desired results on the job.
There are a number of approaches that can be taken to interviewing. Three approaches
that would be useful to libraries are described in figure 19. You can mix and match the
components, based on your needs and resources. In reality, you will probably use a com-
bination of the interview approaches in figure 19. However, you don’t want to ask too

60  The Right Person for the Right Job

Figure 19
Interviewing Approaches

Structured Performance-Based Behavioral

Description A set number of Questions designed Questions designed

structured questions to reveal actual work to describe specific
designed to elicit basic performance situations in past jobs
information that demonstrate
behaviors key to the
open job

Questions • Job interest Describe a major project Tell me about a time

• Current work status or accomplishment in you set a goal and were
• Work experience depth, including able to meet, achieve,
• when or exceed it (link to
• Educational back- 
job and behavioral
ground • where
competencies)
• Self-assessment • why
• how
• who

Best uses • Interview time is  • Skilled interviewers  • Library is looking for
limited available to  specific behaviors
• Position is structured tease out actual tied to needed
• Large candidate pool accomplishments knowledge, skills,
• Library seeks talented and abilities (KSAs)
employees rather than • Time and resources
talented interviewees are available to
develop good
behavioral questions
based on job and
organizational
analysis

many questions. Your time with each applicant will be relatively limited. Focus on ques-
tions that will help you determine whether the applicants have the knowledge, skills, and
abilities to do the job and to help you distinguish which of the applicants is most suited
to the position you are filling.
You’ll want to elicit basic information about a candidate’s educational and work back-
ground, but in order to be strategic in your selection and hiring decisions, you’ll want to
focus on what the person has done in the past and how that can relate to what you need
done at your library. Just because someone has ten years’ reference or children’s ser­vices
experience doesn’t mean she will fit into the reference or children’s ser­vices environment
in your library. If you’re looking for someone who will be comfortable as well as creative
in delivering ser­vices in a community center serving new immigrants, you need to ask
questions that will elicit the information you need. Before conducting the interview, jot
down a list of the attributes or abilities you will be looking for.
For example, a county library has developed a number of core and functional compe-
tencies for its library. The knowledge, skills, and abilities required to demonstrate these

The Right Person for the Right Job  61

 competencies have also been identified. The library has then created a number of inter-
view questions that can be used as staff are hired to fill positions. In this library, a basic
performance competency for all employees is the ability to provide excellent customer
ser­vice. Candidates for a circulation clerk position could be asked the following questions
as a way of determining their ability to provide excellent customer ser­vice:
How do you know if your customers are satisfied? Please give a specific example.
Please describe a situation when you didn’t have enough time to satisfy a particular
customer. How did you handle the situation?
How have you handled a dissatisfied or irate customer?
What do you think your customers would say about your work?
What should the interviewers be looking for in the answers to these questions? They
would want to hear how the candidate tried to meet customers’ needs, the steps she
took to address their concerns, whether or not she reacted with respect, how well she
appeared to listen, whether or not she allowed a customer to vent, the approach she took
to identify the complaint and the steps she took to resolve the problem, as well as the
follow-up she offered.
Workform 6, Developing Interview Questions, provides ideas for developing struc-
tured, performance-based, and behavioral interview questions.
Interviewing is a learned skill that improves with experience. Figure 20 provides some
suggestions for effective interviewing.
Remember, too, that it is inappropriate (and illegal!) to ask questions of a personal
nature. As with the application form, interview questions that cannot be asked include
those about marital status, race, nationality, religious affiliation, number of children, age
or date of birth or date of high school graduation, past medical problems, disabilities,
number or kinds of arrests, ethnic association of surname, or veteran status. Questions
must be job-related. For example, a library can state what an employee’s work schedule
will be and ask whether the candidate has concerns or conflicts with it. The library can-
not, however, ask if the candidate has children at home or what her religion is.
In some situations, a hiring interview is held after the first qualifying interview.
Whether or not this is done depends on local practice and whether or not a clear decision
can be made on the basis of the first interview. If it is done, the hiring interview provides
an opportunity to get to know the candidate even more and to talk about the actual job in
greater depth. You will do more talking at this interview, but you will employ the same
interviewing skills and follow the same dos and don’ts listed earlier. Your goal now is to
zero in on determining the best talent and skill fit for your job.
There are things you must know about each candidate, and now is the time to make
sure the candidate can do the entire job. Review figure 21 to make sure you have covered
all your bases. For every level of job in the library, you want someone who has energy
and drive and demonstrates initiative and self-motivation. Working through the checklist
in figure 21 will help you determine whether or not you have found these qualities in the
candidates you’ve interviewed. If you have, you will build an employee base that can
accomplish the activities necessary for the library to achieve its goals and objectives. If
too many of the needed KSAs and personal qualities are missing, you will have more per-
sonnel issues to manage and more training and development challenges to address.

62  The Right Person for the Right Job

Figure 20
Interviewing Dos and Don’ts

Dos Don’ts

• Prepare—learn as much as you can about the job; read • Avoid stereotyping or jumping to conclusions. Base
any materials (such as candidate applications and your impressions on what you hear and what the
resumes) you’re given ahead of time candidate can tell you about what she has done in
• Establish rapport with the candidates—be open and   past positions.
friendly and help them get through their initial nervous­ • Don’t make snap judgments. More hiring mistakes
ness are made in the first thirty minutes of an interview
• Ask the same questions of each candidate. You want to than at any other time. Why? If our initial impression
find out the same sorts of things. Using a structured set is favorable, we’ll begin selling the job, magnifying
of questions and consistent types of follow-up questions the positives we hear and minimizing any negatives
will ensure that you do. that come up. Conversely, if our initial impression is
• Listen carefully to what they have to say—ask follow-up negative, we dismiss the candidate before we’ve even
questions but fight the urge to talk extensively yourself heard much about her accomplishments in other
jobs.
• Watch for nonverbal cues or responses that might signal
evasiveness • Be wary of the halo/horn effect. This refers to our
being influenced by the last positive or negative thing
• Take notes—if there are more than a few candidates,
we heard or, in the case of a current employee, the
the interviews can easily run together. You want to be
last job activity. All information should be taken as a
sure your impressions are based on information you’ve
whole, with no one piece carrying a disproportionate
gleaned on past performance, not on your superficial
weight.
impressions.
• Avoid contrasting the candidate in front of you with
• Tell the candidates what will happen next and within
ones you have seen previously. Take in information
what time frame. If it takes several days to conduct
on each candidate and then make comparisons at the
interviews or process results, they need to know.
end of the interview day, after you’ve seen and heard
• Be sure that there is follow-up. Candidates deserve the them all.
courtesy of knowing where they are in the process. If
• Avoid telegraphing answers to candidates, verbally
they are ranked, eliminated, or selected to move to a
or through your own body language. Be friendly and
next step, they need to know as soon as possible.
open but don’t coach or lead the interviewee.

Figure 21
Things You Must Consider

Level of energy, drive, initiative, self-motivation

 Experience and education compared to job needs

Ability to work in environment like one library will
 Problem-solving and analytical skills using real

provide problems as tests
Motivation to do the type of work at peak levels
 Accomplishments­—get examples of previous projects

Technical competency and ability to apply that
 and accomplishments
knowledge to achieve the desired results Commitment and responsibility

Ability to meet all of the KSAs in the job description
 Confidence and positive attitude

Ability to meet managerial, team, and organizational

job responsibilities

The Right Person for the Right Job  63

 By now you’ve described the job thoroughly and honestly, you’ve gone over the per-
formance expectations, and you’ve heard the candidates describe their past accomplish-
ments. You should have a good sense of their motivations and skills. You’re about ready
to make your selection. There is just one more process left.

Step 3.5
Check References and Make Job Offer
The long road to hiring the best person for the job is almost over, but an important,
though often overlooked or minimized, step is next. You must contact references. Many
people avoid this or think that they won’t get useful information back, but it is an essen-
tial part of the hiring process. Some libraries or their parent cities or counties, afraid of
lawsuits if they give unfavorable references, will only provide minimal information. On
the other hand, not contacting references can set you up for negligent hiring claims! Hir-
ing managers (who should be involved in this process) are often able to obtain answers
to performance-based questions from references. Often the key is to label the reference
as personal or confidential.
Written permission should be obtained from candidates to contact the references they
have provided on their application or resume. Normally, the library will only check refer-
ences for those candidates being seriously considered for the open position. It’s a waste of
time and energy for the library to do checking any earlier in the process, and the candidate
often doesn’t want his current employer to know he’s job hunting until he’s close to being
offered a position. At that point he can inform his references, if he hasn’t already done so.
Think strategically during this process. What references have been provided? Are they
consistent with the job you’re trying to fill? In other words, will they have knowledge
of the applicant’s accomplishments and the scope of his current or previous jobs? Will
they be able to tell you about the job environment? References don’t have to be limited
to supervisors and bosses. Coworkers and even subordinates can often be excellent refer-
ences because of their firsthand knowledge of the candidate’s work performance and abil-
ity to interact effectively with coworkers and customers. They’ll be able to describe the
workload, types of customers encountered, physical challenges (such as a noisy, crowded
work environment), pace of work, and quality of the library’s processes and systems.
Most candidates provide as references only those who will speak highly of them per-
sonally and professionally. It is acceptable, and even advisable, to go beyond the list pro-
vided. Do call prior employers even if these are not listed by the candidate. You can Google
candidates and even view their profiles on MySpace and Facebook. The library community
is a small one, so contact peers, subordinates, and supervisors that you know personally
or professionally for additional insight about the work and work habits of the candidate.
Depending on your local situation, you may want to seek legal advice regarding contacting
others not listed by the candidate as references.
Prepare for talking with references as thoroughly as you prepared for the interview
with the candidate, bearing in mind that the amount of time you spend and the number
of questions you ask will usually correlate to the level and complexity of the position. Ask
questions of the person providing the reference to establish that person’s relationship to
the candidate, their title and job responsibilities. Prepare questions to ask about the can-
didate. There are a number of checklists available, and one is provided as Workform 7,

64  The Right Person for the Right Job

Reference Check Form. Customize whatever form you use to fit your own needs, and be
sure to ask some questions that relate directly to the job description and KSAs you have
for the position. For example, if you are hiring a circulation clerk who will be interact-
ing with a wide variety of customers in a number of situations, you would want to ask
the people providing references how they had observed the candidate handling difficult
customer interactions.
A good reference interview takes time. When you call a person for a reference, start
the conversation by asking if this is a good time to talk. If not, schedule an appointment
with the person and call back later. As with fact-finding during the interview with the
candidate, you want to get as many details and examples as you can. Don’t settle for gen-
eral statements (“He’s terrific!”). Ask the reference to back her statements up with specif-
ics. The reference will soon realize that you want to do more than fill in a form and will
begin to open up with you. However, remember that by law, human resources depart-
ments are only required to provide confirmation that the person did indeed (or does still)
work for their orga­nization and in what position/title, unless the candidate has provided
a signed release allowing additional information (such as performance) to be shared.
You need to approach reference checking with an open mind. The fact that you are
checking references means that the candidates have passed an initial screening and done
well in the interview process. You are already feeling positively toward the remaining
candidates and you are undoubtedly contemplating the end of a long, time-consuming
recruitment and selection process. You may have a candidate that you prefer, or there
might be two candidates who appear to be equally qualified. You’re eager to wrap things
up and get the new employee in the open position. This is a potentially dangerous time
for you. If you go into the reference checking with your mind made up, just looking for
confirmation of the decision you’ve already made, you’re wasting your time. Instead, you
must be willing to uncover things that would cause you to change your mind or at least
rethink the direction in which you’re leaning. You want to continue to be objective and
to remain in a fact-finding and fact verification mode. The biggest mistake you can make
is to hire someone who really isn’t right for the position.
When you have finished checking references, close your files and think over your
candidates. You have recruited top candidates, questioned them thoroughly, and learned
how to back up your interviews with real reference checks. Now you are ready to make
informed job offers with real confidence!
How you make the job offer will depend on the practices and policies of your library
and its parent jurisdiction (city or county). In some cases the director or hiring manager
makes the offer, while in others someone in the human resources department makes
the offer. The person making the offer should be prepared to provide information about
the proposed salary, benefits, and any other details such as reimbursement for moving
expenses. Depending on the circumstances, there may or may not be back-and-forth ne-
gotiations around these details. The offer is usually made by phone, then followed up
by a letter, which contains all the details that have been discussed verbally. If the offer is
conditional based on employment eligibility being verified (for example, the candidate’s
right to work in the United States) or on a drug test, the candidate should be informed of
these final requirements.
The candidate may want a day or two to make a final decision, which is reasonable.
If all goes well and the candidate accepts your offer, the employment relationship begins,

The Right Person for the Right Job  65

 even before the new employee has begun work. The work of making sure that the em-
ployee stays with the library has started during the hiring process and will continue as the
new employee is oriented to the library and her job. Chapter 6 provides information on
retaining your library’s best employees.

Notes
1. Lou Adler, Hire with Your Head: Using Power Hiring to Build Great Companies, 2nd ed. (Hoboken, NJ: John
Wiley and Sons, 2002), 236.
2. Lou Adler, “The Sourcing Sweet Spot: How to Find the Best without Really Trying,” The Adler
Group online newsletter, May 16, 2003. http://www.adlerconcepts.com/resources/column/sourcing/
the_sourcing_sweet_spot_how_to.php.
3. Recruitment for Denver city librarian conducted by Dubberly Garcia Associates, Inc., in 2006.
4. John Sullivan, “Hold Evening Interviews: Interview Candidates When They’re Available,” Gately
Consulting, article 156, July 2001. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/GATELY/pp15js00
.htm.
5. Sara Laughlin, Denise Sisco Shockley, and Ray Wilson, The Library’s Continuous Improvement Fieldbook
(Chicago: American Library Association, 2003).
6. Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman, When Generations Collide (New York: HarperCollins, 2005).

66  The Right Person for the Right Job

Chapter 5
Create a High-Performance
Workforce

milestones
By the time you finish this chapter you will be able to
• list the elements in a performance management system
• refine your current performance management system to
make it more effective
• link the goals in the library’s strategic plan to individual
employee work plans
• write measurable employee performance activities
• provide coaching and mentoring throughout the year
• evaluate employees without committing common rating
errors
• train managers and supervisors on your performance
management system

I f you followed the strategic planning model described in The New Planning for Results:
A Streamlined Approach, your library went through a community-based process that
ultimately developed ser­vice goals, objectives, and activities to support targeted commu-
nity needs. Implementation follows the approval of the strategic plan, and the next steps
would include considering the allocation of the resources necessary to execute the plan:
staff, library materials, facilities, and technology.
In chapter 2 you identified the activities required to accomplish the goals of your
library’s strategic plan. Even if you don’t have a formal strategic plan, you should have a
sense of what you want to accomplish. If you’ve used the Planning for Results model, you
know that your strategic plan of ser­vice is composed of goals and objectives designed to
provide the ser­vices that your community needs and wants. As you contemplated what
you needed to do, you probably also identified orga­nizational competencies that needed
to be developed so that you had the orga­nizational infrastructure or institutional capacity

67
 in place to accomplish your goals. You might, for example, find that you need to com-
pletely overhaul your policies and procedures so that the activities you need to perform
can be performed consistently and efficiently throughout the library. If so, a lot of infor-
mation about orga­nizing, updating, and creating policies can be found in another book
1
in the Results series, Creating Policies for Results: From Chaos to Clarity. All the activities re-
lated to planning and carrying out this project would be related to building orga­nizational
capacity.
The analysis of what you need, what you have, and the resulting gap or surplus
hinged on identifying required knowledge, skills, and abilities. This gap analysis helped
you develop a comprehensive look at your staffing needs at the work unit, department, or
possibly even the entire library level. You realized that strategic staffing required looking
at staffing not just as filling holes in the orga­nization or acquiring additional staff hours
to cover additional ser­vice hours or a new facility, but as a process of matching what you
specifically needed to accomplish (the identified activities) with the correct number of
employees possessing the correct mix of KSAs.
In chapter 3 you took the activities (the everyday work, the work required by new ser­
vices or expansions of existing ser­vices, and the work required to develop orga­nizational
competence or capacity) and used them as the basis for developing or reviewing job de-
scriptions. In chapter 4 you used your insight into what you needed, what you had, and
what you wanted your employees to accomplish in their jobs to recruit and select candi-
dates for open positions. In this chapter, you will again use the activities you’ve identified
and the job descriptions you developed or updated to work with employees to manage
their job performance.
If you used Planning for Results or another process for strategic planning, you will read-
ily see the need for a performance management system. A performance management
system is more than the completion of the employee’s evaluation form at the end of the
year; rather, it looks at performance management holistically and as part of a system
that includes the following components in an ongoing process: planning, coaching, and
reviewing performance, along with setting performance goals and providing feedback.
A performance management system includes setting specific activities to be carried out
during the performance year, day-to-day coaching and feedback among supervisors and
employees, and the formal evaluation at the end of the performance year. In many ways
it is the informal, ongoing process of feedback and coaching that is so important, because
it helps staff keep in touch with the supervisor’s and the orga­nization’s priorities and to
obtain feedback about how they are performing throughout the year, rather than only at
evaluation time. Using this ongoing, cyclical process of performance management allows
employees to refocus their efforts as necessary or to be aware of how they may exceed
the expectations set for them during the year.
An effective performance management system helps staff close the gap between what
they are doing now and what they will need to do to implement the results of the stra-
tegic plan efficiently and effectively. Even if you have not engaged in strategic planning,
you have goals, projects, or partnerships you want to accomplish. Following the task
and steps in this chapter will help you create a performance plan to mobilize staff to ac-
complish what is needed, and to identify clear, relevant expectations for employees. This
chapter, which builds on the activities you identified in chapters 2 and 3, will provide you
with the information, models, and appraisal forms you need to implement a successful
performance management system in your library.

68  Create a High-Performance Workforce

Defining Performance Management
What is performance management? Performance management involves designing an ef-
fective process that provides coaching and feedback throughout the year, as well as assist-
ing managers with performance appraisals and dealing with substandard job performance.
Performance management includes both employee self-evaluation and supervisory evalu-
ation. The word system is used to denote an ongoing process as opposed to a one-time
event. The performance appraisal form, while a part of performance management and
used to set performance expectations for the coming year and review the accomplish-
ments of the current year, is but one part of a larger process, or system. The focus is on
performance and results. Having an effective performance management system in place is
a statement of the library’s commitment to a performance-based culture, as opposed to a
culture of entitlement or favoritism, where all employees get the same increase regardless
of performance or where only certain employees get higher increases (based more on the
supervisors’ preference than on any true distinction in performance levels).
Effective performance management systems provide benefits for the library as a whole
as well as for managers and employees.

For the library. Performance management can help communicate your strategic
goals or objectives; identify needs for training and development; build stronger
working relationships; improve overall orga­nizational productivity; provide
a basis for promotions, salary increases, and other HR actions; and provide
formal documentation on performance deficiencies.
For the manager or supervisor. Performance management can identify high performers
for advancement; identify poor performers for coaching or counseling;
improve individual productivity and teamwork; identify areas for training and
development; and aid in developing or improving rapport with employees.
For employees. Performance management can satisfy the need to know, “How am I
doing?”; allow participation in the evaluation process; encourage responsibility
and accountability for performance; allow for feedback and two-way
communication between employees and supervisors or managers; clarify
expectations; and provide opportunities for personal and career development.
Most important, the cyclical nature of the performance management system
allows the employee to track her performance throughout the year with
ongoing feedback from the supervisor, in order to avoid the surprise of a less-
than-expected rating at the end of the performance year.

When thinking about performance management, it is essential to move away from

the concept of performance management as a one-time, once-a-year event. Successful
performance management is an ongoing process; ideally, some facet of performance man-
agement is occurring every day in your library. There should be no surprises at the formal
review time. The strategic planning process drives the cycle and is the only component
that may not occur afresh each year. The model in figure 22 illustrates the performance
management cycle.

Create a High-Performance Workforce  69

 FigURE 22
Performance Management

Tip: Provide feedback

regularly and often!

Performance
Planning

Activities
Monitoring
and Coaching
Strategic
Planning

Evaluation

TASk 4: DEvELOP AND IMPLEMENT A PERFORMANCE

MANAgEMENT SYSTEM

Task 1:  Assess Required Staff Resources Step 4.1

Task 2:  Describe the Job Review or Develop a Performance
Task 3:  Identify the Right Person for the Right Job Management System
Task 4: Develop and Implement a Performance
Management System It is possible that your current performance manage-
Step 4.1: Review or develop a performance ment system does not provide all of the benefits listed
management system in the previous section. The system you are using may
Step 4.2: Manage and monitor a perfor- not be a performance management system you designed
mance management system or control, but instead the system used by the city or
Step 4.3: Develop individual performance
county in which you work. Perhaps the system you
plans
Step 4.4: Monitor and coach individuals are using has been in place for years, or even decades,
Step 4.5: Evaluate and rate individuals without review. To ensure that it is an effective system,
Step 4.6: Plan for the next cycle start by reviewing the current system to see if it has the
Task 5:  Develop and Implement a Retention Plan following:

An infrastructure that ensures ownership and accountability for performance at

every level in the library. This includes a statement of purpose and a procedure
or instructions for use as well as training and education for both employees and
supervisors. It also includes the organizational understanding that the system

70 Create a High-Performance Workforce
 will be used by everyone according to agreed-upon timetables. In other words,
if the library believes that performance management is an essential activity,
everyone will participate in the process.
A system that is holistic and includes departmental and individual performance
planning, and ongoing coaching and evaluation
Tools that measure day-to-day work functions as well as activities that are project-
based, challenging, and developmental
Tools that provide the opportunity for employee development, motivation, and
recognition
Tools that specify the training and resources employees will need in order to
effectively and efficiently accomplish their job requirements and activities
A system—not a one-time process—that is continuous and which develops a
climate that supports people working together to accomplish mutually agreed-
upon activities
A system and tools that link individual performance activities to your library’s
strategic plan

If you are required to use a performance management plan or performance appraisal

tool as mandated by your city or county, you may be able to augment that tool by using
the techniques and workforms in this chapter. A number of ideas will be provided that
you may be able to use separately or in tandem with other required forms and tools.
Some local performance management systems are quite rigid, in which case you may
only be able to use these concepts to broaden your own thinking or as the basis for advo-
cating the use of a more strategic process locally.
An effective performance management system is a vital human resources tool you
can use to create and preserve the alignment between the library’s strategic plan (or the
identified sense of where it wants to go) and the activities of front-line staff. Effective
performance management systems include the following elements:

Strategic planning. The strategic planning process, as mentioned earlier, drives

the entire performance management process. If your library doesn’t have a
strategic plan, you may have identified goals and objectives in a less formal
way or determined annual priorities for units or departments. The important
thing to remember is that this book is designed to help you identify and
allocate the staff resources required to implement your ser­vice priorities. It
is not designed to help you set those priorities. It will be very difficult to
allocate staff resources effectively in the absence of clearly defined priorities.
As the Cheshire Cat said to Alice, if you don’t care where you’re going, then
it doesn’t matter which way you go.
Departmental performance planning. Your strategic plan provides a direct link from
your library’s goals to the activities and work plans (usually annual) for each
department or work unit in the library.
Individual performance planning. This occurs at the beginning of each yearly
performance period and links each employee’s performance to the department
or unit’s activities (which may have been articulated in an annual work plan)

Create a High-Performance Workforce  71

 and the overall strategic plan. The planning portion of the process is used to
communicate and align employee and orga­nizational expectations, as well
as to gain the employee’s commitment and buy-in to achieving the agreed-
upon activities. Performance planning provides a clear understanding of the
individual employee’s performance activities and expectations while also
promoting supervisor-employee communication. Employees and supervisors
should agree on the activities and discuss time lines and other measures that
will indicate success.
Training and resources. Effective performance management ensures that the neces­
sary resources and support for achievement of goals are available.
Monitoring and coaching. Coaching should happen continuously throughout the
year. Evaluation is ongoing, but is typically formalized only once or twice a
year. Good coaching will give both employees and managers great comfort
in providing positive as well as negative feedback as events happen, rather
than waiting until the end of the year. Some systems include prescribed
or mandatory check-ins (biannually or even quarterly) in addition to more
informal, ongoing coaching, which could occur on a near-daily basis. These
check-ins could be written into the evaluation form and would require that
the employee and supervisor sign to indicate that a performance discussion
has occurred. If you think your culture will be slow in adapting to coaching,
this may be a good way to begin showing how beneficial two-way feedback
can be. Of course, the predetermined check-ins should not be the only time
supervisors and employees talk, but rather just a way of making sure it happens
at least occasionally.
Evaluation. The formalized performance evaluation completes and restarts the
cycle as employees and supervisors discuss the year’s performance and the
coming year’s goals, challenges, and priorities. A successful evaluation cycle
will provide greater consistency in your library rating system, as well as a
shared understanding of what those ratings mean.

Each library’s performance management system will have different program compo-
nents based on that library’s unique, individual needs and the requirements of its parent
jurisdiction. One library might have a simple rating or evaluation system, while another
might have a multipart performance-planning process involving a very deliberate series
of training, coaching, mentoring, individual and work unit planning, formal and informal
evaluation, and individual development planning pieces.
If your library doesn’t have a performance management system in place, then you
will want to consider these elements, your library’s capacity to develop them, and clarify
what you want to accomplish with a performance management system. Use staff focus
groups, surveys, interviews, observation, and feedback from managers and staff members
to determine why a performance management system is needed. Are employees asking
what the library’s top priorities are? Do they want to know or need clarification about
what’s expected of them and how well they’re doing? Are managers asking for greater
accountability? Is everyone on the staff clear as to how their work helps the library ac-
complish its goals? Is assigned work done satisfactorily, completely, and on time or is
there confusion about work assignments and completion timetables? Do managers and

72  Create a High-Performance Workforce

employees feel that exceptional work is recognized and inferior work is corrected? Are
staff development and training needs recognized and addressed? A well-designed perfor-
mance management system can provide a way to respond to each of these questions. Use
the forms and procedures provided in this chapter to build your own system if one isn’t
already in place.
If you decide to build your own performance management system, it will be very
important for you to review the recommendations in the “Planning to Plan” section of
chapter 1. Performance management is a subject that affects every staff member, and they
will all be interested in the process. You will want to decide which staff to involve in the
process and you will need to identify the responsibilities of everyone involved. You will
probably want to develop a list of the tasks and steps required to create your performance
management system, and you will certainly want to identify the approval points within
those tasks and steps. Finally, you will need to develop a plan to ensure that all staff are
kept informed throughout the process and that staff have opportunities for input at ap-
propriate times.

Step 4.2
Manage and Monitor a Performance Management System
You may have a clearly defined and perfectly planned performance management system,
but you won’t receive any benefits from that system unless it is effectively managed and
monitored. There are few things more detrimental to staff morale than to have some su-
pervisors who follow the performance management process carefully and other supervi-
sors who ignore, or worse, subvert the process.

Performance Management System Training

No component of implementing a performance management system is more important
than ensuring that everyone in the library is educated about the elements of your library’s
system and understands how to implement it—and this is equally true if you are using
a system mandated by your funding body or using a system you developed internally.
Employees need to understand more than how to complete the forms. They need to
know how the system was developed, who provided input, and what it means to them
as employees. Any time you change a performance management system there are ques-
tions about compensation and rewards. Staff will want to know if their pay will be linked
to performance. Will an outstanding rating result in an increase in pay? If so, how much?
Will a poor rating mean they are immediately fired? Will it mean they lose a step increase?
Will the employee need to go through a work improvement program?
Your training should include specific evaluator modules so that supervisors and man-
agers can be trained in objectively rating employees and provided with assistance in de-
veloping, giving, and receiving coaching feedback, in avoiding rating errors, and so on.
Training, communication, and education options can include open sessions for employ-
ees, departmental meetings with the department head and supervisors, brown-bag lunch
sessions for employees to ask questions, and so on.
Figure 23 provides one possible outline that could be used to develop training for your
supervisors and managers on your performance management system.

Create a High-Performance Workforce  73

 Figure 23
Suggested Training Outline

✓ Basics of performance management—what is it?

✓ How system was developed (if new)
✓ How feedback from staff was incorporated (if applicable)
✓ Characteristics of the system
✓ Performance management model and performance evaluation process  
(description of the components and tools)
✓ How individual and department activities flow from strategic plan
✓ How to develop individual work plan for performance year
✓ Description of two basic types of activities (basic and development)
✓ How to write SMART activities
✓ Description of performance essentials (if applicable)
✓ Coaching
✓ Giving/receiving feedback
✓ Separate employee and manager training packages
✓ Communications skills
✓ How to prepare for and conduct a performance review meeting
✓ Documentation
✓ Performance rating errors

If yours is a library system where all performance evaluations are completed at the
same time, then your training should be tied to that cycle. A full training session should
be offered at the rollout of the program and six to eight weeks before evaluations are due.
Three to six hours should be allocated to training supervisors. The session should be in-
teractive and include an opportunity for all to try out their skills, learning, and behaviors.
Build short cases, examples, and role plays into the training. Let participants try out pro-
viding feedback to an employee and obtain feedback from their peers on the content and
process. Do the same with rating errors. Create model cases and see how the participants
in the training session would evaluate the library’s mock employee. Is there consistency?
Are there errors?
A brief training, perhaps as one or a series of brown-bag lunches, should be provided
two to four months later. Targeting these sessions to specific topics, such as coaching,
providing constructive feedback, evaluating fairly and consistently, what to do when an
employee adamantly disagrees, and so on, is worthwhile.
Nonsupervisory employees should receive training, education, or at least an orienta-
tion to the performance management process as well. It does not have to be as extensive
as the supervisory training, but it should cover the basics so employees can be partners in
and understand the process and their role in it. After all, every employee will be an evalu-
ator or evaluatee and many will be both.

74  Create a High-Performance Workforce

Monitoring Implementation
You cannot assume that because all supervisors are fully trained to implement the li-
brary’s performance management system, they are all going to do so in exactly the same
way. Performance management can be a difficult process for some supervisors, particu-
larly those in small units that have a long-term, close-knit staff. The emotional ties that
develop between supervisors and employees in situations like that can make objective
evaluation difficult, and these supervisors tend to avoid the whole subject if possible. On
the other hand, occasionally a supervisor uses the performance management process to
threaten or intimidate staff.
Managers throughout the orga­nization should carefully monitor the performance
management activities of supervisors who report to them in order to ensure consistent
and equitable application of the process.

Step 4.3
Develop Individual Performance Plans
Each employee needs to know what she is supposed to do, how well she is supposed to
do it and what that success will look like, and how her duties and responsibilities fit into
the big picture of the library. This is the time to capitalize on the work you did in chapter
2. You’ve identified most of the activities that employees need to undertake in order to
meet the goals of the library’s strategic ser­vice plan. Now you build on this earlier work
and use the activities as the basis for an individual performance plan. This plan lists the
activities each employee will perform over the course of the year in order to fulfill as-
signed goals linking to the library’s ser­vice priorities. The plan also lists the time frame
for accomplishing each activity, the measures of success for it, and any resources that
will be needed. Workform 8, Individual Performance Plan, can be used to plan individual
activities for the performance period. The workform should be completed initially by
the employee, then reviewed with the supervisor. Supervisors should provide support to
employees in completing the workform, particularly if they are new or recently promoted
to their position. The detailed recommendations for writing performance activities pro-
vided below should be carefully reviewed by both employees and supervisors. Coming
to agreement on appropriate performance activities will be an iterative process between
the employee and supervisor.

Writing Measurable Performance Activities

Performance expectations should be measurable and based on observable job perfor-
mance behaviors. As such, these expectations are in actuality performance activities.
These describe the specific tasks an employee will carry out to achieve the library’s goals
and objectives. Activities, as noted earlier, result in an output of things done or ser­vices
delivered. They form the basis for an individual performance plan because they explicitly
define the work that an employee is expected to do.
An effective method for writing measurable performance expectations/performance
activities is to use the SMART mnemonic:
Specific. Detail what needs to be done. Make sure it is not vague or open to
interpretation.

Create a High-Performance Workforce  75

 Measurable. Make the performance activity easy to measure by providing numbers,
amount of change, percentage of change, and so on.
Achievable. The activity should be a stretch, but achievable. Use action verbs like
create, build, lead, develop, and so on.
Relevant. Relate the individual activity to the departmental activities.
Time-sensitive. Indicate how long the activity will take or when it will be
completed.
Writing SMART activity statements is not hard, but it does require some careful
thinking. The following is an example of a series of SMART activities compared to those
that are vague and not measurable.

Vague SMART

Present programs in the community. Conduct 12 storytimes at nonlibrary locations

such as day care centers.
Prepare for Summer Reading Program. Have all Summer Reading Materials ready to
go to the printer by XX [date] and available
for distribution no later than XX [date].
Manage the adult literature and Weed a minimum of 5 percent of the 800
history collections. collection by XX [date].
Evaluate customer satisfaction. Design and implement a Materials Availability
Survey by the end of the first quarter. Review
the data from the Materials Availability study,
and by XX [date] develop an action plan to
improve the percentage of people who indi-
cated satisfaction with the library’s collection.

The differences between the two sides of the table are obvious. An employee pre-
sented with or suggesting the performance activities on the left side would not have a
clear idea of exactly what is expected, when it is expected, and so on. And yet how many
of us have seen or even written these types of vague and abstract activities for employees
and expected them to hit the ground running? Instead, activities must indicate the end
result and describe it in SMART terms; for example, by
quantity: make four community contacts each quarter
quality: that receive a rating of 4 or more out of 5
time frame: by the fifth of each month
percentages or other specific measures: respond to 90 percent
of reference questions the same day
cost or budget: cost per item, or overtime expenses incurred
When writing SMART activities, think about the breadth or depth of each activity,
its complexity, intensity of effort, and the time it may take for completion. Don’t forget
to consider the volume of work that will be necessary to create the desired outcome,
who else is involved, how the work will facilitate or hinder responsiveness to library and

76  Create a High-Performance Workforce

customer needs, how the work will foster or hinder positive relationships among staff
and library customers, the quality of the work that is expected, and how the activity is
linked to the strategic plan.
When thinking about the quality of the work, remember that quality does not have to
be an abstract concept with nebulous or no measures. Quality can be increased and mea-
sured by identifying, reducing, or eliminating errors and mistakes, complaints, do-overs,
waste, unnecessary complexity, and the time required to do the job, and by reducing the
number, difficulty, and length of time of each of the action steps required to do the activ-
ity (especially when project-based or where there are interdependencies that must be ac-
counted for). You could measure the number of customer complaints, calculate findings of
satisfaction or dissatisfaction from customer surveys, or measure accuracy (books shelved,
accounts paid, materials cataloged, employees paid the right amount of money, etc.).
Some performance activities lend themselves better to measures related to quantity or
volume of work. With some activities, quantity can be measured by setting standards for
the number of “work units” to be completed, for instance, phone calls to be made, books
processed, shelved, or cataloged, puppet shows developed, new teen programs created,
ILL requests filled, school visits completed, and so on. These types of measures may work
well for jobs in the processing, circulation, or shipping/receiving departments, but not
nearly as well for reference librarians or administrative assistants.
Now that you have a picture of how to write SMART activity statements that are spe-
cific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-sensitive, you are ready to write individual
performance activities. As you write your activities, reflect upon the following questions:

Does the activity support the library’s goals?

Is it results-oriented?
Is it supported by the needed authority and resources?
Is it challenging? Reasonable? Attainable? Measurable?
Can it be exceeded?
Is it expressed in specific versus general terms?
Is the activity agreed upon between the employee and the supervisor?
Is it SMART?!

With the answers to these questions, you are ready to plan the training and tools that
employees need to successfully complete their performance activities.
In addition, for performance planning purposes, there are two categories of activi-
ties: the activities that represent an employee’s day-to-day work and relate back to the
library’s goals and objectives (or relate to work that is in support of those goals), and
personal or professional development activities. Personal or professional development ac-
tivities are those that improve the employee’s ability to perform a job function or prepare
her for another job or broader responsibilities.
Generally, the day-to-day activities relate back to the goals and objectives in the stra-
tegic plan. For example, one of the goals in the Tree County Library plan is, “Children and
teens will have the resources they need to complete their school assignments and succeed
in school.” One of the objectives designed to measure whether or not the goal is accom-
plished is, “Each year, all fourth-grade classes in the county will visit the library.” There
is a clear link between this goal and its objective and the activity of preparing for and

Create a High-Performance Workforce  77

 presenting class tours. You can see that a number of other activities would also connect
to this goal: making school visits, preparing information to distribute to schools inviting
them to the library for a tour, issuing library cards and checking out library materials dur-
ing the school tour, helping the students find desired materials, and so on.
Personal or professional development activities relate back to the knowledge, skills,
and abilities of the job (see chapter 2 for a discussion of KSAs). A public ser­vice librar-
ian who will be managing a grant-funded program might take a course on project man-
agement or an advanced course in using Microsoft Excel, if those are skills she hasn’t
yet acquired.
The number of activities in each category will vary from year to year depending on
the library’s needs and priorities and the employee’s career and personal aspirations. In
general, you will find that for employees in jobs that are more routine, especially where
the employee is tenured in the job, the performance plan will be focused on basic, every-
day activities. Even so, at least one developmental activity should be agreed upon by both
the employee and supervisor for the performance period. Working with the employee to
identify a developmental activity underscores the value the library places on continual
learning and growth. An experienced circulation clerk may be very familiar with circula-
tion functions and perform them flawlessly, but she may decide to take a class in basic
Spanish so she can more easily and comfortably converse with the library’s new custom-
ers. A seasoned delivery driver may be encouraged to take the county’s new defensive
driving course or a course on lifting correctly to prevent back injuries.
Discussing and agreeing on activities during the annual performance planning session
ensure that employees and supervisors have the same priorities and expectations for the
job in the coming year and that the employee has the needed time, training, resources,
authority, staff, and learning opportunities to be successful.

Providing Needed Training and Tools

Once the SMART basic and developmental activities have been agreed to, there is one
more step to take. This step is too often neglected and may take some thought, but it
is well worth your while. Neglecting this step often results in poor performance, disap-
pointing results, or failed or delayed projects. It involves stepping back and reflecting on
the question: Does this employee have the training, tools, time, staff, authority, and re-
sources to accomplish the activities in the performance plan? Does she have the time and
resources to do all of them?
In the rush of excitement and desire to undertake projects, we often forget to ask:
“Can I do this?” or “Can this employee do it?” The following are real work scenarios with
examples of the questions that need to be asked and the issues to be pondered prior to
committing to an activity in a performance planning session.
If an employee is going to move from behind the circulation desk to driving the
bookmobile, does she have the appropriate driver’s license? What is involved
in getting that license? Will it take time? Money? Who will pay for it?
If a librarian is going to assume the task of chairing a committee to plan ser­vices
to teens, her excitement about the project will not be sufficient to ensure a
smooth process if she hasn’t learned about team roles or completed facilitation
or meeting-management training.

78  Create a High-Performance Workforce

 The cataloging manager recently promoted to head technical ser­vices may not have
sufficient time this year to serve on the collection development committee or
undertake special projects.
Does the branch manager who is opening the new mini-branch in the mall have
sufficient staff to run it during hours that parallel the mall’s schedule? Are the
resources available to provide ser­vices in a branch that is required to be open
each and every hour the mall is open to the public?
Does the librarian who is now going to assume responsibilities for the new birth-
to-two-year-old program know about emergent literacy theory and practice?
Does she know the music and stories for this population? Has she conducted
a lap-sit storytime since her own teenager was a baby? Would taking a class,
reading some books, or being mentored by a colleague help her facilitate the
success of the birth-to-two program?
Is the library associate tasked with developing a new customer survey statistically
savvy? Will she need to learn SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)?
Should she hire a consultant? Should she work with a faculty member at the
local college or university? Does the library have the necessary software?
Does the employee’s authority match the level of responsibility given to her?
Employees must be given the authority to accomplish each activity. This
authority should be made transparent to others via, for example, a team
charter and public announcement of a committee chairmanship.

Training is critical to ensuring that employees are doing the right work efficiently and ef-
fectively in order to achieve their performance activities. Training can also help move the
library toward better employee retention
While some training will require paying for instruction, there are a number of ways to
develop staff skills and abilities that do not cost money or require a consultant. Mentoring
programs, job rotation, and task force assignments take some committee time to develop,
but they will not cost the library additional money. Nor do they require implementation
by an HR person. Your library staff, perhaps working as a task force (another develop-
ment opportunity), can help to create a staff development plan. The plan might include
some of the following components:

Training and development programs put on and sponsored by your local

government
Partnerships with your local college or university
IMLS/LSTA-funded development plans
Pooling resources with other public libraries and your state library association
Researching best practices on mentoring
Creating a format for individual development plans or 360-degree feedback
Forming a study group
Planning to learn something new as a staff together; for example, Spanish
or a new software product
Creating a leadership academy

Create a High-Performance Workforce  79

 H ow W ill You P ay for T rainin G?
An early step is to check if there are available funds for the library and its staff in the
city or county budget. You might be eligible to piggyback on training that is provided or
brought in by the human resources department of your local parent jurisdiction. Some of
this training is excellent, so it makes sense to at least find out what is available. Contact
your local college and community college for additional possible partnerships. A public
library system did this very successfully, using faculty to offer classes on-site that formed
the basis of the library’s leadership academy. Capitalize on your relationships with other
local libraries and look for synergies. Share the expense of a costly speaker or consultant.
See who will be speaking at your state library association conferences, and if it’s someone
you are interested in having at your library, invite her to your library before or after her
engagement. It will save you travel costs and probably some fees as well. LSTA (Library
Ser­vices and Technology Act) grants are often available to support training, and Library
Friends groups and foundations are very generous in supporting training and develop-
ment activities. As you can see, training is critical, and there is no excuse for ignoring this
tool for productivity, effectiveness, and retention.
Ultimately it is everyone’s responsibility to develop the library’s workforce: the em-
ployee, her manager, and the board of trustees. The person who holds the major share of
the responsibility, though, is the employee. Employees who do not develop will become
obsolete very quickly, not only in the library world, but everywhere else as well. Employ-
ees should do the work to develop and advance themselves personally and professionally.
As you can see, considering whether or not the needed training and resources are
available is a critical part of the planning process. Before coming to the final agreement
on an employee’s performance activities, make sure that the plan as a whole is realistic
and achievable. This assessment will require the supervisor and employee to agree that
the employee will have sufficient time, training, authority, and support to carry out the
activities identified.

Completing Individual Performance Plans

The employee (possibly with her supervisor’s help) should now be ready to complete
Workform 8. She should have sufficient information to identify her activities and to de-
scribe them in SMART terms. After she has filled out the form, she and her supervisor
should meet to discuss the activities, to be sure that these reflect the library’s priorities
and link to the library’s overall goals and objectives. They should also discuss the training,
resources, and support required to successfully carry out the identified activities, the time
frames involved, and what successful accomplishments would look like. The supervisor
may have to find needed resources. If an activity requires support from another branch,
unit, or department, the employee or supervisor may need to coordinate the sharing of
resources, especially staff. The process of meeting face-to-face to discuss and come to
agreement on the activities of the individual performance plan is key to the library’s suc-
cessfully accomplishing its goals. The performance planning process and the personal
meeting clarify what is expected of an employee, ensure that an individual’s work activi-
ties are congruent with the library’s orga­nizational goals, and provide an opportunity for
the employee and her immediate supervisor to discuss and refine work priorities and the
components necessary (such as training and other orga­nizational support) for successful
work performance.

80  Create a High-Performance Workforce

Step 4.4
Monitor and Coach Individuals
Library employees need to know what’s expected of them and how their activities fit into
the overall strategic direction the library is taking. But knowing isn’t enough. They need
ongoing feedback and support. The overall purpose of a performance management sys-
tem is to help employees achieve their highest potential as they make their contributions
to the library’s strategic goals.
Well-designed and written activity statements will focus employees on results, not
just doing things. These activity statements can both measure and motivate. People like
to succeed. Challenging but doable activities energize employees, and measures of suc-
cess help them see where their efforts are paying off and where adjustments should be
made. Of course, feedback (especially positive) is critical. Checking on employees’ prog-
ress lets them know priorities and also lets them report how they are doing, where they
are doing well, and where they may need help.
Monitoring involves keeping track of what’s been agreed to and checking in to see
that it has been done. To do this you must identify the data needed to monitor the activi-
ties that employees are carrying out, develop a plan to collect and record that data, and
then develop a way to review the data. If problems occur, employees need to understand
that they have a responsibility to let their supervisors know so that the problem or issue
can be addressed and resolved. Many of the statistics you routinely collect can be the
basis for much of the monitoring you’ll need to do. Unfortunately, many libraries collect
statistics and other forms of data but never really do much with them except fill out the
state library report at the end of the year.
If all branch managers who work for the Tree County Library are supposed to make
four community contacts each quarter, the information on the contacts made should
be kept and reported. If a particular branch manager is showing, through her reporting,
that she has not made these contacts, then the reasons why should be identified and dis-
cussed. If no one collects and reports the data and if nothing is done if the contacts aren’t
made, then this activity has become meaningless. It was selected originally because it was
deemed an important activity, crucial to the library’s accomplishing its goals. It shouldn’t
be allowed to slip. The branch manager’s manager needs to address the issue, which takes
us to the next phase of the performance cycle: coaching.
A critical and continuous part of the performance cycle is coaching. Coaching is a
day-to-day event and involves observing employees as they work, providing them with
feedback (both positive and negative), reinforcing the feedback by being consistent in
both positive and negative comments, and giving and asking for feedback as a supervisor
or manager. As previously mentioned, coaching can also occur at more formalized events
such as quarterly or six-month progress review meetings. Employees need to know on an
ongoing basis how they are doing throughout the year. They should never be surprised
by what they hear at the formal, annual performance review meeting.
When coaching, managers provide instruction, direction, guidance, encouragement,
and correction as the employee works on the activities for which she is responsible.
Coaching should be part of the daily work routine and should provide a learning oppor-
tunity for employees as well as recognition for a job well done.
Offering feedback requires preparation of both content and the manner in which it
will be given. Guidelines for both giving and receiving feedback are provided in figure 24.

Create a High-Performance Workforce  81

 Figure 24
Guidelines for Giving and Receiving Feedback
Guidelines for Giving Guidelines for Receiving

• Recognize both positive and “challenging”   • Listen carefully and actively

areas of performance. • Don’t be defensive or overreact
• Identify the issue or topic you wish to • Paraphrase to ensure understanding
discuss • Use clarifying questions
• Be specific about what happened • Ask for actual examples of the behavior
• Be direct; get to the point being discussed vs. a nonspecific statement
• Be sincere and do not give mixed messages like “I don’t like how you acted”
• If giving positive feedback, be appreciative • Identify trouble spots and resolve how to
• If giving negative feedback, express concern avoid them in the future
• Give feedback face-to-face, as soon as • Ask how it could be done better
possible (positive) or as soon as appropriate • Ask for more feedback
(negative)
• State observations of what you saw, not
your analysis or opinion
• Listen

Just as important as knowing when and how to give feedback is knowing when not to
give feedback. Feedback shouldn’t be given if you don’t know enough about the cir-
cumstances of the behavior; if it is about something the person has little or no power to
change; if it is a low self-esteem day for you or the employee; or if your purpose is not
really to promote improvement but to put someone on the spot (a “gotcha”). The time
and place need to be appropriate as well, and unless the feedback is positive, it should
not be given in the presence of customers or other staff. Summarize the session when it
is complete. Taking notes to prepare in advance is also helpful, to increase the likelihood
of covering every point you want to make without getting off track or forgetting an im-
portant example.
Receiving feedback can be difficult. In a library that provides constructive feedback
rather than burying problems or hoping they will just go away or fix themselves, employ-
ees at all levels will find themselves to be recipients of feedback. Paying attention to the
guidelines will make receiving feedback a learning experience rather than a threat.
A coaching discussion with an employee regarding an area of work performance that
needs improvement should involve asking questions to gather relevant details about the
issue; identifying, discussing, and selecting an approach to address the issue; agreeing on
the desired outcome; and setting a follow-up date to review and check on progress on
that specific issue. The follow-up is very important. In a performance-based culture, the
employee must take accountability for performance improvement or new skills acquisi-
tion, and supervisors can help by providing feedback and support and expressing confi-
dence in the employee’s ability to accomplish the outcome effectively.
Work to reinforce an employee’s self-esteem when providing feedback by focusing
on the work, not the person. Be specific and sincere. For example, saying, “I appreciate

82  Create a High-Performance Workforce

the extra time you spent editing the report. There were no typos or errors. I enjoyed read-
ing it. Thanks!” is much more meaningful to an employee than, “Good job, Susie.” When
people feel good about themselves they are more motivated, productive, and cooperative.
And when they know exactly what it was they did that you thought was an example of
excellent performance, they will be able to replicate it. This type of feedback, recogniz-
ing the employee’s strengths and accomplishments, helps build self-assurance, which is a
powerful correlate to high performance.
Finally, make sure that employees are allowed and even encouraged to ask their su-
pervisor for feedback. A two-way communication process is thereby established and em-
ployees aren’t sitting around waiting for feedback—positive or negative. In addition, if a
supervisor isn’t “taking to” the coaching idea, empowering employees to ask for feedback
may encourage the supervisor to feel more comfortable with the process, and it certainly
gives employees some accountability by being active participants in the coaching and
feedback loop.

Step 4.5
Evaluate and Rate Individuals
Performance management should be an ongoing and continuous process. However, there
is always a formal evaluation at the end of each performance cycle. Many libraries are
required to use evaluation forms provided by the local government. If you have the op-
tion of developing your own evaluation forms, consider using Workform 9, Performance
Evaluation Tool, as your template. Workform 9 is a review of the information on Work-
form 8 and is expanded to cover your library’s “performance essentials.” Performance
essentials are the behaviors, skills, attributes, performance factors, and proficiencies that
every library employee is expected to possess and display. They are limited in number to
allow you to focus on them and are critical to the library’s success.
Four common, useful performance essentials are proposed: job knowledge, quality/
productivity, customer ser­vice, and (if applicable) managerial effectiveness. The defini-
tions of these essentials are provided on Workform 9. At the beginning of the evaluation
period, the employee and supervisor should review the performance essentials and estab-
lish measures so both agree on what success “looks like” in behavioral terms. Generally
libraries, working with a committee, select and define their own performance essentials
based on the values and direction of the library.
Supervisors and managers should be prepared for each performance evaluation meet-
ing. Remember, although the supervisor may have fifteen reviews to conduct, this one is
most important to this employee. Supervisors should review the employee’s activities and
her actual performance. The self-evaluation, if used, should be submitted to the supervi-
sor in advance so that she may review it prior to the evaluation meeting. There should
be no surprises at this point, since you’ve been reviewing and coaching throughout the
year, but it does not hurt to re-familiarize yourself with this information at this point.
Anticipate the employee’s potential objections to a less than stellar rating and think about
responses, even rehearsing dialogue. Of course, you will also want to have prepared some
activities to discuss for the next performance cycle.

Create a High-Performance Workforce  83

 Figure 25 provides guidelines for preparation of the person conducting the perfor-
mance evaluation.
When rating employees, be sure to go back over coaching notes and other documen-
tation you may have. Think about the individual pieces of the performance picture. Did
the employee successfully accomplish the day-to-day duties and responsibilities of the
job description? Did the employee achieve each activity fully, as expected, on time and
within budget (if those were parameters)? Remember, library priorities can easily have

Figure 25
Guidelines for Preparing and Conducting Performance Evaluations

Pre-interview Meeting
The evaluator should: 1. Set the employee at ease by getting her to talk about
1. Be familiar with the review form, strategic plan, and the job.
instructions. 2. Go over each aspect of the employee’s self-
2. Understand the employee’s job and responsibilities— assessment.
review job description; critical knowledge, skills, 3. Listen in an active way to the employee’s remarks
abilities, and competencies; your notes over the and views.
course of the year; and other documentation relating 4. Emphasize employee’s strengths and mention
to the employee’s performance. specific accomplishments.
3. Consider the entire period to be evaluated, and not be 5. Comment on improvements.
influenced by out-of-the ordinary occurrences, good
6. Be careful not to put the employee on the defensive.
or bad. Think in terms of job requirements and the
employee’s performance throughout the performance 7. Do not compare the employee with any other
period. employees.

4. Strive to be objective and fair. 8. Evaluate the performance, not the person.

5. Use a positive approach; mention accomplishments 9. Make suggestions for improvements and ask for the
and give practical and specific suggestions for employee’s input.
improvement. 10. Control the discussion tactfully.
6. Do not use the performance review as a disciplinary 11. Do not show anger.
tool. 12. Establish basic and development activities for the
7. Have specific examples to illustrate situations. next evaluation period.
8. Plan what to say and how to say it. 13. Ask if the employee wants to bring up any other
9. Establish a draft of developmental activities. points.

10. Consult with your manager if there are questions or 14. Avoid promises about salary increases, promotions,
problems. or transfers.
15. Summarize the key points of discussion and the
Time and place plans of action agreed upon. This assures joint
understanding and establishes expectations.
1. Set up a meeting time that is at least two hours
before the end of the employee’s workday.
2. Avoid interruptions.
3. Set up a relaxed and unhurried meeting atmosphere.
4. Select a private place where conversations cannot be
overheard.
5. Give the staff member sufficient time to review the
evaluation prior to the review meeting.

84  Create a High-Performance Workforce

 shifted during the year, and the employee’s activities may have changed as well. Figure 26
provides some general definitions of three levels of performance: outstanding, fully suc-
cessful, and needs improvement. The supervisor selects one of these rating levels for each
activity and performance essential and writes comments to support the rating. Provide
comments and examples of employees’ performance, using facts, not your conclusions,
opinions, or guesses about motivation.
As you can see from the sequence of performance management tasks, the system is
designed to make very clear the connection between an employee’s work (the activities
she carries out) and the library’s goals; to provide necessary monitoring, ongoing feed-
back, and monitoring; and to provide regular, formal evaluations or appraisals. For the
system to be embraced by managers and employees alike, it is these positive aspects that

Figure 26
Performance Levels

Although it is recognized that an employee’s overall job performance is made up  

of many factors, in general, performance may best be described as having the  
characteristics of one of the following levels.

Outstanding Fully Successful Needs Improvement

Constantly Surpasses Expectations Fully Achieves Expectations Needs Improvement to Achieve
Expectations

Performance constantly surpasses Performance consistently meets Performance does not fully meet
established expectations, requirements, established expectations, requirements, established expectations, requirements,
or standards. or standards. or standards.

Customarily increases job knowledge/ Effectively applies and pursues May not pursue developmental oppor­
skills to accomplish objectives. Regularly opportunities to increase job knowledge/ tunities, improve performance, and/or
accepts and achieves noteworthy success skills to complete objectives. apply new skills to meet standards.
on additional responsibilities.

Anticipates and proactively responds to Readily adjusts to changing situations and Exhibits difficulty adjusting to changing
changing situations and additional work additional work assignments. situations or work assignments.
assignments.

Contributes significantly to the organi­ Demonstrates proactive problem-solving May not exhibit proactive problem-
zation’s success well beyond job to improve and/or adjust work processes. solving to improve and/or adjust work
requirements. processes.

Routinely seeks, accepts, and achieves Produces results dependably, on time, Performs inconsistently, possibly leading
extraordinary success on additional and accurately. to some inaccurate, untimely, and/or
responsibilities. undependable results.

Contributes and leads innovative, Effectively meets the needs of customer- At times, displays actions which
workable solutions to projects and/or service relationships. Exhibits expected are detrimental to customer-service
problems. Accomplishes high work workplace courtesy and respect. Be­ relationships. May behave in a manner
quality and productivity while dealing hav­­ior positively influences working which is detrimental to the work group.
with obstacles to success. relationships.

Demonstrates constant commitment to Displays regular attendance to meet May display irregular attendance that
continuous improvement to increase organizational needs. Often demonstrates impacts work flow and organizational
job knowledge, customer service, and flexibility to meet organizational needs. needs.
productivity.

Create a High-Performance Workforce  85

 must be emphasized and supported. But there may be employees who do not, or are not
able to, carry out agreed-upon activities satisfactorily and whose ratings on performance
essentials indicate a need to improve in one or more areas. Guidelines for managing per-
formance should acknowledge this possibility and require that a performance improve-
ment plan be designed, with frequent check-in points as a way to assist the employee in
improving her work performance.
While not appropriate as the beginning point of a disciplinary or termination process
(the formal evaluation should not be the first time an employee is informed that her work
is deficient), the performance evaluation and other documentation of substandard job
performance should be used to substantiate or defend against disciplinary procedures.
It is critical that substandard work performance be carefully documented and the
employee provided with a fair opportunity to correct identified deficiencies before disci-
pline is imposed. A thorough coaching process can ensure that the employee does have
the time and opportunity to adjust and improve the identified areas. In some instances,
performance may improve, in others not, but the employee has been provided with the
opportunity to address it. She will ultimately be accountable for whether or not improve-
ments are made, provided the feedback is specific, within reach, and fair. For this reason,
it’s vital that managers not shy away from the important but sometimes time-consuming
and detail-ridden process of coaching, monitoring, providing feedback, and recognizing
improved performance. Ultimately, an employee who cannot effectively contribute to
the success of the library is a detriment to the orga­nization and her coworkers, who must
carry the slack her inabilities create.
Employees should be proactive in this process and prepare for the evaluation as well.
They should start two weeks before the performance evaluation meeting by reflecting
on the year or performance period and taking notes of their responses to the questions
posed in Workform 10, Self-Evaluation. This workform provides suggestions for helping
employees think through their past year’s performance, reflecting on strengths and areas
that need development, and planning for the upcoming performance period. Employees
should give the completed self-evaluation to their supervisor prior to the annual perfor-
mance review meeting.
Consider giving the written draft evaluation to the employee prior to the meeting.
Some libraries have found this to be a critical part of having a successful conversation
about performance. Receiving the written evaluation ahead of time gives the employee
an opportunity to reflect prior to the meeting. If this is done, it must be made clear to
the employee that confidentiality is expected and that the evaluation process is not over
until the employee and her supervisor have had a chance to discuss the draft and the
employee’s self-evaluation (if done) in the performance review meeting.
After both the employee and supervisor have prepared, it is time to hold the perfor-
mance review meeting. Sufficient quiet, uninterrupted time should be allocated for it. The
purpose of the performance review meeting is to discuss and finalize the performance
evaluation. Agenda items should include reviewing the job description requirements, in-
dividual performance plan, and ratings for the year’s work activities. Start with an em-
ployee self-appraisal. How does the employee think she’s done? In this situation, the
employee is doing the talking and the supervisor is doing most of the listening. Identify
any potential differences, discuss discrepancies with the employee, and ask the employee
to lead the discussion about the problem area. Supervisors should ask for the employee’s

86  Create a High-Performance Workforce

reactions and discuss the reasons for successes and the causes of problems. They should
then review the overall performance rating and ask the employee for ideas for continuous
improvement. Try to conduct a problem-solving discussion, reach agreement on perfor-
mance problems, and together establish a development plan for moving forward.
The table below provides a few examples of how to provide specific feedback during
the performance review meeting. The column on the left is compared to the nonspecific
wording on the right. As you can see, the feedback on the left provides the employee
with much more information about what work behaviors are considered to be good per-
formance.

Specific Feedback Nonspecific Feedback

Customers called me on five Bill is too lazy to provide good ser­vice to
occasions because Bill hadn’t gotten customers. (judgment, not fact)
back to them with information they
needed.
Suzy noticed that our copier broke Suzy shows initiative. (not a specific
down frequently, and she brought me example)
the brochure for a different brand,
which she used at her last job.
As a member of the work team to Mary Anne listens to and considers all
implement the new self-check system, points of view.
Mary Anne invited others to express
their views. One member was reluctant
to speak, so Mary Anne talked to her
privately.

Be sure to reinforce good performance when an employee uses skills or behaviors

well, especially as a follow-up to coaching done throughout the year. Reinforce good
behaviors, even if the desired outcome was not achieved. Don’t reinforce undesirable ac-
tions or skills. Above all, be specific, timely, and sincere.

Performance Rating Errors

There are many performance rating errors that managers need to be aware of and avoid,
including the following ones.

Past influence. Something the employee did (negative or positive) eight months ago
influences your rating of the entire year’s events.
Recent events. A good or bad event of the past month is allowed to outweigh or
overshadow events of the entire year.
Compatible (“similar to me”). People relate better to, and may be inclined to rate
higher, people they feel are “like them” and with whom they identify.

Create a High-Performance Workforce  87

 Few observations. Too little data can prevent you from forming an objective
assessment of the year.
Generalizations. “Oh, all of those circulation clerks did a fine job this year. I’ll give
them all the same rating.” Maybe so, but maybe not. Don’t lump people
together.
Historical. The employee has always received high ratings in the past, so even
though her work has been slipping lately, the evaluator is reluctant to reduce
the rating because “she’s always been such a good worker.”
Potential equals performance. An individual’s potential, in your opinion, may far
outweigh their actual performance. Rate on actual performance only.
Personality conflicts. You don’t necessarily have to want to spend time socially
with someone to give them a high rating. Ratings are based on an individual’s
performance, not their ability, or desire, to be your friend.
You should certainly avoid rating errors based on biases related to race, gender, age,
nationality, or sexual orientation. Likewise, don’t be swayed into giving high ratings to
those who merely look busy or “stay late” with no apparent increase in the quantity or
quality of work.

Step 4.6
Plan for the Next Cycle
The performance management process described by Steps 4.1–4.5 is typically completed
each year in a library. Although you will not want to revise or substantively change
your performance management process (Step 4.1) every year, you will probably want
to review the process and discuss any problems with supervisors at the end of each an-
nual cycle. You may be able to identify changes that you could make to streamline or
strengthen parts of the process.
Training (Step 4.2) should be an annual event whether or not the performance man-
agement system has changed. Supervisors who have used the process can attend a short
refresher course, but new supervisors should be required to attend the complete training
program. Too often new supervisors are introduced to the performance management sys-
tem in an informal way by a colleague or manager and, as a result, they often don’t fully
understand the system or their responsibilities.
Of course, each employee will develop a new individual performance plan each year
(Step 4.3). That plan can be developed as a part of the employee evaluation and rating
process (Step 4.5) or it can be a separate process that begins at the conclusion of the
evaluation period. Monitoring and coaching employees (Step 4.4) are ongoing activities,
and the evaluation of employees occurs annually on a cycle set by the library or by the
library’s governing authority.

88  Create a High-Performance Workforce

Summary
Creating a performance management system is critical to your library’s success in meet-
ing its strategic objectives and community needs. This process moves libraries toward
a performance-based culture where results count and all staff are accountable. The key
points of this model are to create activities which directly support the library’s strate-
gic objectives; explicitly describe performance expectations collaboratively with the em-
ployee; coach the employee at appropriate points along the way of completing activities;
reward successful behavior and accomplishments; discourage unsuccessful behaviors
which hinder the employee from meeting the activities; and directly confront areas for
improvement. Performance should be documented in a formal evaluation which is the
culmination of observation and discussion with the employee. Feedback must be objec-
tive, specific, and address behaviors, not individual personalities.
As a final note, in some library systems, performance appraisals are completed for
all employees at one time during the year (at the beginning or end of the fiscal year, for
example). In other orga­nizations the evaluation date coincides with the employee’s an-
niversary date, meaning that evaluations are staggered throughout the year. Whichever
case applies to your library, just be aware of the time involved in developing activities,
holding the evaluation meetings, etc., so that employees and managers are allotted suf-
ficient time to complete the formal evaluation process successfully rather than cramming
it in because “it’s that time of year and I’ve got to get these done.”

Note
1. Sandra Nelson and June Garcia, Creating Policies for Results: From Chaos to Clarity (Chicago: American
Library Association, 2003).

Create a High-Performance Workforce  89

Chapter 6
High-Impact Retention:
Retaining the Best and
the Brightest

milestones
By the time you finish this chapter you will be able to
• understand why employees want to stay employed in a
library
• create and sustain a culture of positive employee relations
• accommodate generational differences when designing
retention and development programs
• develop employees through formal and informal means
• build and maintain effective feedback and recognition
systems
• confidentially solicit employees’ opinions about their job
satisfaction, needs, and wants

H ow can a library generate and maintain commitment among its employees? This has
always been a challenging process and is becoming more difficult every year. Many
of the people currently working in libraries have been employed by the same library for 5,
10, 15, or even 20 years. It is not uncommon to find that over 50 percent of the employees
in a library have never worked elsewhere. However, the realities of library employment
are changing rapidly, and these fresh challenges are quite different.
In this new world a person’s education alone does not qualify her for a job. Instead,
library managers are writing job descriptions that focus on a prospective employee’s
knowledge, skills, and abilities, and they may also define her needed competencies. (See
chapter 3 for more information on job descriptions.)
Library jobs are no longer immutable. The work is continually evolving and the way
the work is managed is also changing. The old bureaucratic and hierarchical structure is

90
being modified and replaced with one that is flat, networked, and nimble. More libraries
are moving toward cross-functional and self-managed teams, with each team responsible
for a range of tasks. Employees expect to be included in discussions about the library’s
future and want to have a voice in making important decisions.
Library staff are expected to continue to develop their KSAs while on the job and
should be given opportunities to do so. In turn, their job tenure depends on their ability to
perform. This continual growth and development makes the employee more valuable in
her current and any future position in the library. Employees are expected to actively sup-
port the library’s vision and values. When they can no longer do that, they are expected
to look for new opportunities in other libraries, or other orga­nizations.
These expectations reflect today’s employment reality and may be very different
from the expectations that staff brought to their jobs twenty or even five years ago. The
psychological contract of a “job for life” has been broken. Public libraries twenty years
from now will not be employing the person they hired last year or will hire next year.
That person is likely to have had seven jobs by then—in three different careers! We are in-
creasingly seeing an exchange of lifelong employment for “mutuality of purpose,” where
an employee can be expected to do a great job for an employer as long as she is provided
with challenges, opportunities, and work/life balance.
Building and maintaining employee commitment is a process, one that begins during
recruitment and ends after retirement. The key question, then, is how to go about this
process of retaining the best and the brightest. The easiest place to start is with yourself.
Think about your needs and wants. Ask yourself this question: What keeps me at my
library? Think also about why your employees accept a job with your library and why
they remain once they are hired.
There has been considerable research on this topic. Employees report that they stay
with an employer for these reasons:

They have a feeling of connection and know that they make a difference; they
know how they and the work they do fits in and how they help the library
accomplish its mission.
They feel valued; their concerns, ideas, and suggestions are genuinely sought and
listened to.
They are respected and recognized for the work they do.
There is a feeling of safety in the work environment.
They have opportunities for personal and professional growth: formal education,
workshops, on-the-job training, new assignments, job rotation, and attendance
at conferences.
The work environment promotes continuous learning: jobs that are designed to be
interesting and stimulating, and the opportunity to participate on committees
and task forces to create and implement improvements.
There is good management as well as good communication with senior manage­
ment. A bad supervisor is most often cited as the reason why employees leave
an employer.
There are fair pay and benefits. Even though many work in libraries because
they love libraries and support their mission, employees have to receive pay

High-Impact Retention  91
 and benefits that allow them to live a comfortable life. While pay does not
motivate an employee to stay, pay that is not fair, especially in relation to
peers, is a demotivator.
Today’s reality is that the library cannot afford a culture of entitlement, nor can it
afford to lose employees who add value. The truth is that today your employees have
choices as to where they work; they are not limited to the library in the community in
which they live. It is incumbent on library leadership to create a culture that supports
the retention of the right employees. Management training is key, as is knowing and re-
sponding to what employees want.

Task 5: Develop and Implement a Retention Plan

Task 1: Assess Required Staff Resources
Using your own experiences as well as research, you
Task 2: Describe the Job can begin to develop and implement a retention plan
Task 3: Identify the Right Person for the Right Job that fits your library, its culture, and its employees. The
Task 4: Develop and Implement a Performance  plan starts with knowing the members of your library’s
Management System workforce and engaging them to high performance and
Task 5: Develop and Implement a Retention Plan
commitment.1 It is also important to be cognizant of
Step 5.1: Plan the project
Step 5.2: Understand workforce needs and
the political environment in which you work, as well
expectations as any civil ser­vice rules and union contracts that may
Step 5.3: Create the culture affect the library’s ability to “create the culture.” Talk to
Step 5.4: Define expectations your union representatives as well as local government
Step 5.5: Provide training HR staff. Get them on board with helping you make
Step 5.6: Build commitment
changes to your library’s culture to the extent possible.

Step 5.1
Plan the Project
If you are going to complete this task, refer back to the “Planning to Plan” section of
chapter 1. This information will help you plan the project, determine whether you need
a committee, and if so, select committee members, create a charge, and formulate a com-
munications plan.

Step 5.2
Understand Workforce Needs and Expectations
Earlier in this chapter, there was a discussion of how the expectations of employees and
supervisors have changed. One of the key changes is the demise of the hierarchical “com-
mand and control” orga­nizational structure in many libraries.2 It is critical to train manag-
ers and supervisors to create and support a work environment that appreciates and fosters
employee participation, encourages involvement in decision-making, and cultivates ini-
tiative and creativity. Even with training and development, a manager or supervisor who
is familiar and comfortable with the more traditional bureaucratic management structure
will not necessarily embrace this new approach or know how to make it work effec-

92  High-Impact Retention

 tively. The work environment and employee culture desired by library leadership will not
exist if those in middle management and supervisory positions are not also supportive
3
of them.
For this to happen, supervisors should be able to answer “yes” to each of these state-
ments with regard to every person on their team:

1. I inquire about how to make work more satisfying for my employees.

2. I realize that I am mainly responsible for retaining the talent on my team.
3. I know my employees’ career ambitions.
4. I take steps to ensure that my employees are continually challenged by their
work.
5. I respect the work/life balance issues that my employees face.

Getting to know something about each person who works with you shows respect
and concern and is highly correlated to retention. Employees want to know that you
know who they are, that you’ve considered their needs as you make decisions, and that
they have been heard.

Generational Diversity
There has been a lot of discussion about the differences between the various generations
that work in libraries (or anywhere else) today. What follows is not meant to stereotype
these generations, but rather to acknowledge some broad generalizations about their ex-
perience, behavior, expectations, and worldview. While each employee must be under-
stood as an individual, understanding the four generational groupings—Traditionalists,
Baby Boomers, Generation Xers (GenXers), and Millennials—can provide insight into
factors that influence their approach to work and to the ability to manage and retain these
4
employees in your library.
Two approaches to understanding generational differences are relevant here. The first
focuses on the events shaping the lives of each generational cohort, and thus shaping the
culture, expectations, and worldview of its members. This is referred to as the Event The-
ory of Generations. The second approach is the Career Stage Theory, which states that
the differences we perceive in the actions and behavior of the generations are attributed
to their career stage, rather than to life events. Both viewpoints have implications for hu-
man resource management, policies, and practices. Both offer insights into the retention
of employees at every age and career stage.

T he F our G enerations and Events S haping Their Lives

The four generations in the workplace today can be briefly characterized as follows.
Traditionalists. These employees were born before 1946. Traditionalists value hard
work, dedication, and sacrifice. They respect rules and authority and they believe in duty
before pleasure, self-sacrifice, and pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps. Loyalty to their
employer, hard work, and honor are very important. The Great Depression, the New
Deal, and World War II were the events that shaped the worldview of this generation.
Baby Boomers. Born between 1946 and 1964, many of these employees have come
to librarianship as a second career. They tend to be more concerned with clarity of orga­
nizational structure, opportunities for growth and challenge, and rewards than Tradition-

High-Impact Retention  93
 alists, GenXers, or Millennials. Boomers seek stability, wear their values on their sleeves,
possess a driven work ethic, value relationships, and often have a love/hate relationship
with authority. They want to be involved, are competitive yet have a team orientation,
and seek personal gratification and personal growth. They are optimistic and success-
oriented. The worldview of the Boomers was shaped by the cold war, the civil rights
movement, the Vietnam War and the antiwar movement, and the sexual revolution.
GenXers. Born between 1965 and 1981, these employees are results-oriented, value
a work/life balance, are relatively unimpressed with authority, technologically literate,
loyal to managers who treat them well, resourceful, self-reliant, pragmatic, independent,
and are more mobile than stable in their job history. The members of this generation
grew up in a time of reduced economic growth, and many of them were latchkey kids.
Their worldview was influenced by Watergate, the women’s liberation movement, the
end of the cold war, and the first Gulf War. Some are described as “slackers” who do not
live up to their potential, some as young people who work hard and play hard. Members
of this generation have been characterized more by concern for individual growth and
less with loyalty to their employer.
Millennials. Born between 1982 and 2000, these employees are collaborative, open-
minded, achievement-oriented, confident, optimistic, inclusive, and technically savvy.
They respect diversity, have high expectations, value public ser­vice, and are seen as
5
more positive and more realistic than the GenXers. Key events shaping their worldview
were the rise of high technology and the Internet, growing up in a child-focused world,
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the second Gulf War. Many grew up in
structured settings and value family and multiculturalism. This generation has also been
referred to as GenY, the thumbers, the MySpace generation, and the 9/11s. Figure 27 pro-
vides additional insight into the differences among these groups.
Challenges among the four generations arise at the library because of each genera-
tion’s differing attitude about work, the meaning of work, and the perceived value of the
job being performed. There are seven areas of potential conflict: respect for authority,
time on the job, advancement, recruiting and retention, skill building, work/life balance,
6
and recognition. While it is beyond the scope of this book to examine each in detail, a

Figure 27
Generational Differences
Traditionalist Baby Boomer GenXer Millennial
Before 1946 1946–1964 1965–1981 1982–2000

Outlook Practical Optimistic Skeptical Hopeful

Work Ethic Dedicated Driven Balanced Ambitious

View of Respectful Love/hate Unimpressed Relaxed, polite

Authority

Leadership by Hierarchy Consensus Competence Achievers

Relationships Personal Personal Reluctant to Loyal

sacrifice gratification commit

Perspective Civic Team Self Civic

94  High-Impact Retention

few potential conflict situations and tips on managing members of the four generations
in the library follow.
The most significant differences exist between GenXers and members of the Baby
Boom generation, first because the preponderance of most libraries’ employees fall into
one of these two groupings, and second, because the disparity between each group’s life
events and experiences is wide, thus creating the largest level of misunderstandings and
tension.
Feedback is a major area of work/life clashes. Chapter 5 spoke of the importance
of feedback in the performance management process, yet there are major differences
between the generations in the content and style of feedback sought and given. Tradi-
tionalists tend to believe that “no news is good news” and are surprised, and sometimes
bewildered, when their younger managers comment on their work. This is true of Boom-
ers as well, who are accustomed to once-a-year feedback supported by lots of paperwork.
In contrast, GenXers, and to a greater extent Millennials, expect feedback on a frequent
basis. They also give immediate and honest feedback, which can be seen as pushy, arro-
gant, and inappropriate by others. GenXers need positive feedback and coaching to know
they are on the right track. They will ask for it, and will sometimes interrupt to check for
it. Millennials will ask as well. Many seek constant feedback, and in real time. They often
interpret silence as their having done something wrong or as disapproval. They need to
know how they are doing, right and wrong. Boomers often give but rarely receive feed-
back, and Traditionalists do not seek lavish praise, but they do appreciate acknowledg-
ment of their efforts and accomplishments.
Authority is another area where differences in behavior are observed. Many Tra-
ditionalists and Boomers do not question the status quo or authority. This can cause
confusion and resentment among GenXers and Millennials, who have been encouraged
to challenge authority and make their voices heard. Boomer and Traditionalist manag-
ers too often view this challenge as a personal threat to them and their authority. These
managers believe that they earned the right to make decisions and that their seniority and
roles deserve respect. GenXers believe respect should be earned. Many Boomers manag-
ing GenXers feel challenged by this. At the same time, because their styles are different,
too often GenXers and Millennials fail to listen actively to Boomers and Traditionalists,
consequently losing the opportunity for gathering important information, perspective,
mentoring, and guidance.
What can you do? If you are a Boomer or Traditionalist manager, go out of your way
to engage, encourage, and capitalize on the KSAs, perspectives, and talents of the newer,
younger members of your library. You will gain credibility and trust by developing and
mentoring them. GenXers and Millennials need to acknowledge and respect Boomers’
experience and abilities. GenXer staff should pursue learning opportunities and make
managers aware of their willingness to take on new areas of responsibility, when ready.
Millennials should seek mentors or coaches throughout the library, learn how to ask good
7
questions, and listen patiently.

T ips for Managing Members of Each Generation

Traditionalists are at or near retirement age, but for a variety of reasons they may choose
to continue working. They may be looking for a position that allows them to take ad-
vantage of the skills and networks they’ve developed over their working life, but with a

High-Impact Retention  95
 schedule that gives them freedom to enjoy the activities they anticipate pursuing in retire-
ment. If you are managing Traditionalist employees, be open to part-time employment
and flexible working hours. Capitalize on their talents and institutional knowledge and
provide them with the opportunity to coach and develop new talent. This is also critical
for succession planning and to ensure a smooth transition of knowledge to the leaders of
the future.
Some tips for managing a Boomer are to give her public recognition, provide her with
opportunities to prove herself, show appreciation, let her know she has special contribu-
tions to make to the library, provide perks, acknowledge and reward her work ethic, ex-
plain the benefits of changes, and show respect for her experience and knowledge. Saying
“I need you to do this for me” goes a long way to motivate a Boomer.
GenXers like challenges, new learning opportunities, specific feedback, flexible work
options, and strong working relationships. GenXers like to do things their way; it’s best
to set the parameters of a project or activity and let them do the job their way. Don’t
micromanage, just coach and monitor progress. The work will be done. Include the mem-
bers of this generation in decisions that are made and let them offer their ideas and opin-
ions. GenXers want a mentor relationship with their boss, so finding the time for regular
coaching and feedback is critical. To promote retention, remember that GenXers value a
fun and informal work environment.
The members of the Millennial generation, the newest and fewest members of the
library’s workforce, are often compared to the Baby Boomers, who share a partiality for
public ser­vice and volunteer activities. Many persons in this generational group thrive
on learning opportunities and constant challenges. They want meaning in their job and
often choose to work for orga­nizations whose mission they value and for leaders who are
honest and have integrity. You can best manage them with very regular feedback, flexible
working options and schedules, and by acknowledging their ideas. Invite them to serve
on committees and reinforce how the library, and their job, contribute to the community.
Emphasize the meaningfulness of their role for the public and the ser­vices they provide
to many people.
What else can you do? Think about the differences we’ve discussed as you consider
the generations of employees working in the library. Talk about them with others. Ask
yourself and others the following questions:

1. What were some defining historical events for each generation?

2. What was “cool” for each generation (movies, TV programs, music, toys,
clothes, etc.)?
3. What are the core values of each generation?
4. Which generation predominates in the library?
5. What are the differences between members of the different generations
who work at the library?
6. What is the best way to bring the generations together at work?
7. What advantages are there to having multiple generations working at
the library?
8. Which generation do you admire the most at work and why?
9. What can each generation teach others?
10. What can each generation learn from others?

96  High-Impact Retention

T he C areer Stage Theory
An alternative approach is to analyze generational differences based on where each em-
ployee is in his or her career. From this perspective, one would expect 60-year-olds to
be more interested in retirement policies and 20-year-olds to focus on vacation policies,
regardless of the historical events and challenges faced by their generational cohort.
Career development generally means different things to newer, and often younger,
employees interested in skill acquisition than it does to employees seeking management
experience or pursuing an advanced degree. And for employees nearing retirement, men-
toring or teaching opportunities may be the preferred form of career development. Sup-
porting career development not only gives a library a means of aligning its goals with
those of its workers, it also offers challenges to employees, which is a proven factor in
building loyalty and retention.
Do not make assumptions about what employees at any point in their life cycle or
career really want or need. To find out, be direct and ask them. Talk to employees fre-
quently about their learning goals, their desire for personal and professional development,
and their career at the library. This information should be captured in the employee’s self-
evaluation and discussed during the performance review meeting.
Career development is not a one-time process; it must be ongoing. It’s about continu-
ous learning and development and should not be viewed in the context of promotion
alone. Especially in today’s flatter orga­nizational structures, there are fewer promotional
opportunities, but many lateral opportunities offering challenges or new experiences.
Most important, career development should be about both the individuals’ needs and the
library’s needs. It’s about linking and matching employee skills with the library’s strategic
priorities.

Step 5.3
Create the Culture
Why create, or change, a library’s culture? The most important reason is to ensure that
the library is able to attract and retain a committed workforce that is engaged and there-
fore gets the required work done in an effective and efficient way.
To ensure a committed workforce, the library needs to create the right intangibles—
the culture—that not only attracts but also retains a talented workforce. It’s not as hard as
you think, but it is more time-consuming than you’d hoped! You start by understanding
the workforce’s needs and expectations. Then you work to align how you treat employ-
ees, to the fullest extent you can, with their needs (not yours, theirs) and your mission.
The term workforce refers to each and every one of your employees, from the young
high school graduate in his first job to the veteran librarian with her thirty-year pin with
the tiny emerald stone. Knowing what each employee wants and needs doesn’t mean
that you can give everyone what they want and need. It’s about paying attention to each,
“hearing” them, and doing what you can to support their needs, goals, and aspirations, all
within a largely inflexible (public sector) framework. The challenge is to figure out ways
to be more flexible.
Some of the ways to respond require little more than listening, hearing, and being
creative. For example, it is important to keep in mind that different people define success
differently. While one of your newest library school graduates might aspire to be the

High-Impact Retention  97
 library director in a few short years, the other one who just joined your staff is defining
her success in terms of work/life balance. She wants a traditional family. She exercises
at the gym three mornings a week, does a lot of volunteer work during the week and on
weekends (at the soup kitchen on Wednesday, and building a house with Habitat for Hu-
manity on weekends), and plays soccer or volleyball at 5:30 p.m. twice a week.
And yet both of these Generation X librarians want to be continually learning and
challenged. Both want to know the latest technology and trends. Both expect to be in on
all decisions affecting their work and are committed to working in an orga­nization that
has meaning. It is important to create a culture that emphasizes
• participation
• shared decision-making
• sense of purpose and value
• initiative
• feedback
• creativity
• social aspects of the workplace
• balance
You also need to acknowledge that this environment is intended to support the library’s
goals and objectives, which always come first. Work, after all, is called work for a reason.
The items in the preceding list are good things to have if they do not adversely affect the
delivery of ser­vices.
You might ask, “How do we do this?” The first step is to train supervisors, train super-
visors, and train supervisors! While many supervisors are very effective and well trained,
others are not. Those supervisors are not malicious or evil; they just do not know how to
create the culture described. They haven’t been trained and they often have bad habits:
habits learned from their own supervisors in their first job after graduating from library
school. In many cases our profession has taken its best librarians and made them poor
branch and department managers. Developing well-trained supervisors and managers
is clearly the bedrock of creating a culture that supports retention. Developing a well-
designed supervisory and management training program is essential, a strategy that must
be adopted to ensure that the right employees are doing the right work in support of the
library’s goals and objectives.

Creating a Culture That Values Work/Life Balance

There are many ways to create an environment that tries to balance work with life, in-
cluding the following ones. As you consider these, be mindful of what is written in your
union contracts, civil ser­vice rules, and city or county policies. Not all of these strategies
are possible in every library.
Define the work in terms of what is to be accomplished. Don’t just say, “Our working hours
are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. . . . be there.” Unless an employee needs to cover a desk or at-
tend meetings, focus on the project or the program. Ask: “What needs to be done?” or
“What is the work?” Think about whether the work really needs to be completed on-site
and only during regular business hours.
Provide flexible work schedules. Allow for job sharing and out-of-the box ways of meet-
ing customer, employee, and library needs. Many public libraries have developed a

98  High-Impact Retention

 part-time workforce to cover evening and weekend shifts. It may be that other forms
of flexibility can also be accommodated. A study conducted by Catalyst showed that
two-thirds—67 percent—of Generation X employees would like to work a compressed
workweek, though only 6 percent actually did, and 36 percent would like to work part-
8
time, while only 4 percent did.
Provide flexible benefits plans. If possible, align what employees want with what they
get. If your library controls the health benefits you offer employees, consider alternatives.
Health benefits mean different things to different employees. For some, access to a fitness
center is an important health benefit. For others, subsidized health screening or family
insurance coverage is prized. To a still greater degree, helping employees to strike a work/
life balance means tailoring paid time off and benefits to their preferences, capabilities,
and level of responsibility both at home and in the library. Consider creating a cafeteria
benefits plan. Look into the new consumer-driven health plans, which give employees
a fixed dollar amount and make them responsible for managing their health care. While
new, these plans are starting to gain acceptance.
Are your employees permitted to use sick leave to care for a sick child or parent? It’s
better for everyone involved if a sick leave policy recognizes this eventuality and allows
employees to care for family members rather than lie about how they are using their sick
leave. Have you thought of a paid time-off plan, where all time off except holiday leave
is combined and employees spend it as appropriate for their needs and lifestyle? It’s likely
that the newer members of your workforce don’t have enough vacation time, and those
with many years of ser­vice can’t find the time to take the time off that they earn! Paid
time off can be a way to balance this equation. Figure 28 provides an illustration of one
model for providing paid time off.

Figure 28
Paid Time Off

Paid time off (PTO) provides staff members with paid time Accrual Example:
away from work that can be used for vacation, personal
Years of Service PTO Accrual
time, personal illness, or time off to care for dependents.
PTO takes the place of sick time, personal time, and 0–6 years 23 days/year or 15.33 hours/month
vacation. The benefit of PTO is that it promotes a flexible 7 years + 28 days/year or 18.66 hours/month
approach to time off. Staff members are accountable and
responsible for managing their own PTO hours to allow The amount of accrual can be increased for senior-level
for adequate reserves if there is a need to cover vacation, positions. A specified amount of accrued hours can be
illness or disability, appointments, emergencies, or other carried forward at the end of the year (example: 40 hours
needs that require time off from work. maximum may be carried forward). When a staff member
resigns, the accrued PTO can be paid to the employee.
PTO must be scheduled in advance and have supervisory
approval, except in the case of illness or emergency. All Part-time staff members will have pro-rated PTO. For
time away from work should be deducted from the staff example: If a staff member works 20 hours per week, she
member’s PTO bank in hourly increments (some exceptions will earn 50 percent of the above accruals.
for exempt staff) with the exception of fixed holidays and
time off in accordance with the library’s policy for jury duty,
military duty, or bereavement.

High-Impact Retention  99
 Evaluate alternative workplaces and telecommuting as options. Most library ser­vice takes
place in the library building, but there’s a strong tradition of taking ser­vices outside the
building as well. Think beyond bookmobiles and traditional forms of outreach ser­vices
and ask yourself if all the work of the library needs to be accomplished at the library.
Could telephone reference questions be answered at a more convenient location? Where
do web projects need to be developed? Could question-answering and research be con-
ducted from an employee’s home? Could committee work be done by telephone or vid-
eoconference? Could e-mail and intranets be used effectively to avoid having to call a
meeting at all? New technology and new definitions of acceptable work locations and
activities have broadened the possibilities for answering these questions for libraries of
all sizes and means.
Appreciate the dilemmas of child care, elder care, and employees playing multiple roles. The
reality is that you and your employees often have family obligations. There will always
be sick children, pregnancy leave, and aging and ailing parents. Accept it and to the fullest
extent you can, plan for it. Recruit, train, and work to retain a qualified substitute pool
(perhaps retired librarians or library school students) and treat them like valued members
of your staff. Create internships or work-study programs with your local college. Create
two “staff pools” of librarian and circulation staff in each region of your ser­vice area. Let
employees float between branches to fill in when the need arises. Do the same for depart-
ments in your central library. Create policies and practices that anticipate and support
these life-cycle events. Employees will appreciate not having to feel guilty when they
must take time off to care for a child or parent.
“Allow” voluntary demotions. Your library may “allow” voluntary demotions, but it is
important to create a culture where a demotion or a change of direction is safe and ac-
ceptable. What you want is a culture where an employee can take a risk and change her
mind without penalty or humiliation. When Mary Sue realizes that she really doesn’t like
supervising employees or all the paperwork associated with an administrative position,
make it easy for her to return to a job where she was competent and celebrate the fact
that she tried and learned. If her former job has been filled maybe she can’t return to it,
but perhaps there is another vacancy that fits her and the library’s needs better. She may
realize that she isn’t ready for a supervisory position but would like to try again in the fu-
ture, or she may realize that supervision really isn’t for her. Whatever she learns, it should
be accepted and appreciated for what it is without a negative value being attached to it.
Appreciate the diversity of personal values and priorities. Demonstrating an acceptance of
personal diversity can take a variety of forms. Accepting and supporting family obliga-
tions are one form, but there are others. Increasingly, HR specialists are writing about
the employees without family responsibilities who want time to do what interests them.
Their interests might range from taking windsurfing lessons to traveling, performing a
community ser­vice, or taking a class. Could this time be built into the employee’s and
library’s schedule? If not, why not? Paid time off and personal leave options might en-
courage both the recruitment and retention of the high-performers who want a position
that allows them to pursue personal interests.
Wonderful ideas, you say. But how can I implement them in my library? My library
operates under the mandates of our local jurisdiction. “No creativity allowed here!” is
the refrain heard in between the lines when we suggest a new program. Don’t despair.
There are ways to have your voice heard, but it will take some time and work. Here are
some tips.

100  High-Impact Retention

 1. Get involved. If your local jurisdiction is creating a bargaining team, studying
benefits, or assessing the workforce or the climate of employees, volunteer to
serve on the committee. You will learn what is happening, and a great deal more;
you will be the “go to” person for issues pertaining to the library’s workforce;
and most important, you will gain their respect, so that they will listen to your
suggestions when you want to try something new.
2. Take the long view. Most local jurisdictions are bureaucratic, and changing the
course, even allowing for some flexibility, can take a considerable amount of
time.
3. In the meantime, keep reinforcing your credibility and stay in dialogue. Be a
team player and don’t bad-mouth the process or the bureaucracy. Remember,
when you are ready, you want them to accept your ideas at least provisionally, if
not enthusiastically.
4. When you see the time is right, meet with the HR director of your local
jurisdiction. Turn her into an ally. Be prepared. Share the information you
learned from this book, other resources, and conferences. Anticipate resistance.
Have answers to the questions she will ask that pertain to best practices for
recruitment and retention as well as to how your plan for workforce flexibility
fits in to the library and its workforce. Offer to sponsor it as a pilot, so the local
jurisdiction doesn’t have to make a complete policy change. Tell the HR director
that you will share the library’s learning and even help make a case to the county
executive, civil ser­vice commission, union, staff association, or other group.

Being part of the team and understanding your local jurisdiction’s needs and resources
will make you a valuable member of that team. You will learn and understand its needs
as well. You will then be able to clearly articulate your case in a way that would make it
difficult for anyone to turn you down!

Step 5.4
Define Expectations
It seems obvious, but performance problems are frequently the result of the work not
being clearly defined. It is very critical for the employee to have clear answers to the fol-
lowing questions:

What is my job?
What must I accomplish?
To what level of quality/quantity/time frame?
How will I know I’ve been successful?
What resources are available to help me (including the supervisor, the library’s
intranet, city/county/library resources online, a mentor, the HR department,
training materials, peers, etc.)?

Most employees just want to be told “the bookends,” that is, the scope of the work.
What needs to be done? What are the expected results or outcomes? Tell them, and then
let them put their own imprint on “how” the work gets done.

High-Impact Retention  101

 Many supervisors have a hard time letting go of the “how” to do the job. These su-
pervisors have done the job for a long time and just “know” the best way. While it may
be the best way for the supervisor, the new employee might have a better way, or at
least a way that works really well for her . . . and fulfills her individual performance plan
(Workform 8). An individual performance plan lists the activities each employee will en-
gage in over the course of the year in order to fulfill assigned goals linking to the library’s
ser­vice priorities. It lists the time frame for accomplishing each activity, the measures of
success for it, and any resources that will be needed.

Rewards and Incentives

Motivated workers make the difference between failure and success, turnover and loyalty.
What employees want most is interesting work and appreciation for their efforts. Lack
of recognition or appreciation is one of the top reasons why high-performing employees
leave their jobs. Yet many employers neglect to use this simple management tool.
Some libraries create written, formal recognition programs. For the most part, sim-
plicity reigns. A library leader saying a sincere, personal “Thank you!” to the employee
is great, especially if done on the spot or at the time of the accomplishment. Referencing
a specific accomplishment adds value. Sending a handwritten thank-you note to an em-
ployee is silver medal territory, and offering a specific “Thank you” in front of other em-
ployees is gold. Celebrate a library accomplishment as a group and you’ve hit platinum.
Over the years, recognition programs have changed. Until recently they were formal,
centrally (HR) run, infrequent, based in cultures of entitlement, and selectively used for
the few very top performers. The norm now is multiple recognition programs and activi-
ties that are leader-oriented, informal, frequent, and flexible. They are shaped by cultures
of performance and are available to reward everyone.
If your library does not have a recognition program, you’ll be amazed to see how pro-
ductivity and morale increase by implementing even the simplest one. A few guidelines
for starting a program are
Make the program meaningful; the things that are recognized should be
worthwhile and not trivial.
Focus on the areas that have the most impact.
Involve employees.
Develop clear, objective criteria and recognize all who hit them.
Develop the logistics (i.e., schedules, time frames of events).
Announce the program with fanfare.
Publicly track progress; “if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it!”
Have lots of winners.
Allow flexibility of rewards.
Renew the program as needed; build on successes and learn from mistakes.
Link informal and formal rewards.
The program can be low-cost and still yield high-impact results. A medium-sized
public library offers “Everyone Counts” spot awards which can be used for video

102  High-Impact Retention

coupons, branch sale items (such as tote bags), store gift cards, book sale items, summer
reading T-shirts, or books sold at the circulation desk. The vouchers are valued at $1.50
each and can be accumulated for a larger item. A supervisor or coworker can hand one
to any employee on the spot. Ten-dollar vouchers for a gift basket, breakfast, or gift card
are also presented on the spot to employees who handle an emergency or a difficult li-
brarian-in-charge situation, fill in on another job, complete a special task, or consistently
present a positive attitude that inspires or gives time and assistance to an area or staff
person outside the assigned department or area of responsibility. This library system also
provides more formal incentives and recognition with its Customer Ser­vice Spirit and Ser­
vice awards twice a year. The awards are $200, and two each are presented at Staff Day
each year.
In addition to providing formal awards, a large public library offers “Applause” awards
that are spontaneous and can be given at any time by any employee to any other em-
ployee. They are awarded as a way to say “Thank you!” for going beyond expectations
and doing a great job. These are used to say, “I know the terrific job you did/are doing
and I appreciate your efforts.” These spot awards consist of a certificate and a $5 gift or
premium. This system also offers two large incentive awards ($500) for employees who
demonstrate an ongoing commitment to quality customer ser­vice, create a major project,
practice innovative thinking resulting in a significant improvement in library operations
or customer ser­vices, are willing to undertake new responsibilities or to participate in ac-
tivities not usually included in the job description, or produce an extremely high volume
of quality work output over an extended period of time.
Other libraries provide suggestion programs with cost savings shared by the employ-
ee and library. You can also have celebratory bragging sessions where employees share
their progress with library leadership; start staff meetings with good news and praise for
employees who deserve it; read thank-you letters from customers; schedule self-recogni-
tion or recognition days; or send a card on an employee’s anniversary date noting her ac-
complishments for the year and how important the person is to the department. You are
9
limited only by your creativity. If you need a boost, read 1001 Ways to Reward Employees.
It will help spur your creativity. Recognition programs are a very low-cost way to show
employees respect and appreciation. They focus on performance, help make work fun,
and lead to retention of top talent.

Step 5.5
Provide Training
When you hear the words staff development you probably think of formal training programs,
and these are certainly an important component of staff development. However, they are
not the only component. Developing your employees starts with orientation and doesn’t
end until retirement. It includes both formal and informal learning opportunities and it
focuses on the needs of individual employees.
An employee’s experience and impression of a place start with recruitment; that is,
before he or she is actually hired. The information in chapter 4 will help create a good first
impression. Recruitment, orientation, and assimilation processes provide chances to em-
phasize the personal elements of a prospective employee’s connection to the orga­nization.

High-Impact Retention  103

 Employee Orientation
Orienting new employees to the library and their job continues to be one of the most ig-
nored functions in libraries. Too often it is not conducted at all, and when it is, it is often
done poorly: paperwork overload, boring lectures, and overwhelming amounts of infor-
mation. Too often the new employee is left to sink or swim. New employee orientation
should be conducted within the first thirty days of employment.

W hy C onduct an Orientation Progra M?

Orientation is not just a “nice to have” function. Since new employees make their decision
to stay or leave the library within their first ninety days, it is an important component of
the recruitment and retention effort and serves several key purposes:

1. To make the employee feel welcome and help her get up to speed on the job
quickly
2. To reduce the employee’s anxiety about the new job and eliminate the stress of
guessing how she should respond to easy-to-answer questions
3. To reduce turnover by showing that the library values the employee and
provides the tools for success
4. To save the time of managers and peers by providing consistent information that
all employees need
5. To develop realistic job expectations, convey an understanding of the library’s
values and goals, and help the employee see where she fits into this picture

There are two types of orientations, and both should be provided: an overview of
10
the library and an overview of the job. The first provides the basic information a new
employee needs to get started and includes detail on the library and its context in lo-
cal government, the employee’s department or branch, important policies, information
about compensation and benefits, safety issues, employee and union issues, and physical
facilities. This type of orientation can be conducted by the human resources department
or by a skilled librarian or other staff person, since it is generic information that is not
related to any one job.
The second type of orientation must be handled by the supervisor or manager. It per-
tains to the library’s goals and how the employee and her job fits in: her job responsibili-
ties, performance expectations, and duties; policies and procedures; how the supervisor
likes to work with and communicate with employees; and an introduction to coworkers
and others. Workform 11, New Employee Orientation, provides a detailed outline of an
orientation program that addresses both types of orientations and the assimilation of the
new employee into the library.
You should consider completing paperwork and procedural tasks before the new em-
ployee orientation. That allows the employee to actually think about what she is experi-
encing during the orientation rather than worrying about all of the paperwork details that
accompany a new job. If the employee is moving to your area, helping with relocation,
inviting the new hire to introduce her family to the library and vice versa, and matching
her with local ser­vices (e.g., babysitters) foster the sort of personal connections that most
employees value.

104  High-Impact Retention

 The orientation should include basic elements (introducing the new employee to co-
workers, having the work space ready, providing instruction on the use of office equip-
ment and basic information about where to put coats, lunches, etc.) as well as the em-
ployee’s specific job and a more general orientation to the library as a whole. Creating a
checklist of points to cover can be helpful to the harried manager, so that both the most
mundane and the most critical points can be remembered. Adding a few extra touches
(balloons at the desk, a mug with the library’s logo, the director stopping by to introduce
herself) can make the new employee feel even more welcome and valued. One director
sends a “welcome card” to new employees. She writes in it: “At the end of some days
you’ll feel elated; after some you’ll feel completely drained; but may you always leave the
library knowing you contributed to our orga­nization!”
It can be helpful to survey new employees to get their reactions to the orientation
after they have been on the job for 30, 60, or 120 days. Share the feedback with library
leadership and then make adjustments to the orientation process as needed. That way
you can improve your library’s induction process while also communicating to new hires
that their input is valued. First impressions are extremely important, and taking the time
to find out if the library is making a positive and productive first impression will pay off
in increased feelings of inclusion and loyalty.
Going beyond surveying reactions to orientation is an important next step. Talk to
employees about what they are doing and about their thoughts and feelings toward the
library and their job. Managers and peers could also provide important information about
what is going well and what is not. Rather than leaving it to chance, assign a staff mem-
ber to this function. Taking the time to interact in a genuine way with new employees
is vital. Research shows that most new employees decide within their first ninety days if
they will remain on the job.
A new employee’s assimilation into the library workplace can be enhanced through
consciously acknowledging this process and developing standards and practices that sup-
port it. Managers need to know that they are expected to assist new employees through-
out their first few months of employment by purposefully creating ways for them to be-
come engaged members of their branch or work unit. Publicizing and recognizing creative
ways of doing this can inspire other supervisors and managers and create an environment
that is seen to value the thoughtful induction of new employees.

T ips for D esigning an O rientation Program

Workform 11 will help you plan an orientation program that develops loyalty, enhances
morale, and supports retention. It also reinforces the fact that you must consciously plan
a new employee’s introduction to your library and make sure that someone is assigned
to each piece of the orientation process. This workform (or any other orientation form)
should be reviewed and updated regularly in order to ensure its continued accuracy and
relevance.
However, before redesigning or creating an orientation program, gather input from
employees (both long-term and those recently hired), managers, and others and ask the
following questions:
What does the new employee need to know about this library and its work en­
viron­ment to make her feel more comfortable?

High-Impact Retention  105

 What impression do we want to make on the employee’s first day?
What key policies and procedures must the employee be aware of to avoid
mistakes in her first weeks and months of hire? Focus on key issues.
What special things (desk, work area, equipment, special instructions) should be
provided to make the new employee feel comfortable, welcome, and secure?
What specific things can supervisors and managers do so the employee begins to
know her coworkers?
What positive experience can I provide for new employees that they could discuss
with their families? The experience should be something to make the new
11
employee feel valued by the library.
What can we do to make sure this process is fun and welcoming?

Strategies for Developing Staff

Whether your library is large or small, there are a number of things you might consider to
help your staff grow and develop. Keep in mind any programs provided by your jurisdic-
tion, as well as requirements in your civil ser­vice rules or union contract. These programs
include the following.
Grow your own workforce. Provide support for employees seeking a bachelor’s degree
or an MLS. Give tuition assistance to employees who are working full-time while attend-
ing college or library school (any little bit helps), as well as some time off to study every
week. Just an hour or two makes a huge difference to a working student.
Promote MLS students to an interim job-grade level. After the student has successfully
completed half of her degree program, reclassify her job from library associate to librarian
trainee or another title. Award a grade increase, as well as a salary increase. The employee
will value your appreciation and show it in her work, as well as in her loyalty and her
decision to remain in the library after graduation.
Develop a program of job rotation and cross-training. Have staff swap jobs for three to six
months. All will return with increased job knowledge, vitality, perspective, and apprecia-
tion of the library, its work, and workforce. Do it as part of a structured program where
the staff keep a journal or record questions they encounter and discuss the key things they
have learned with their peers or a coach.
Job rotation does not have to be this extensive. Alternatively, you can rotate library
associates assigned to the central library into a branch for a week or rotate employees
among branches, if you have more than one building. Cross-train public ser­vice, tech-
nical ser­vices, and business office employees. Not only will these assignments develop
the individuals involved, but cross-training provides the library with a more flexible and
capable workforce, eliminating work stoppages or backlogs when a vacation is taken or
someone is out on extended sick leave.
Develop employees by asking them to serve on task forces or in interim job assignments. Do not
repeatedly ask the same people to serve on task forces or committees. For each new task
force or job assignment, seek out a promising person who hasn’t been given an opportunity
to participate. Ask her to serve. If she agrees, provide support and watch her blossom.
Implement a 360-degree feedback program. In a 360-degree feedback program, per­
formance data is obtained from peers, subordinates, and the supervisor in order to

106  High-Impact Retention

provide an assessment of an employee’s performance up, down, and sideways in the orga­
nization. It provides full circle, or 360-degree, feedback. This type of evaluation process
offers employees a learning tool and feedback mechanism to promote employee growth
and development. There are a variety of ways to conduct a 360-degree feedback program.
As with other approaches to employee performance evaluation, it is essential that every-
one involved understand the purposes of the evaluation and receive thorough training in
applying the process.
Create a dual career-ladder system for librarians. Career ladders allow employees to focus
on their expertise as an individual contributor (e.g., a children’s librarian) without having
to take on a management role to earn more money. In this scenario, an employee might
advance from Librarian I to II by taking on more responsibility in collection development,
conducting research, or designing new programs in early childhood learning. Other op-
tions might include the Librarian I moving up by becoming a specialist in literacy readers’
advisory, information technology, or training. There are many ways to acknowledge and
reward your staff for increasing their responsibility and value to the library outside of
advancement to a management position.
While the library might ultimately place the employee in a higher grade level and pay
her a higher salary, that amount will be far less than the cost of replacing her if she goes
elsewhere, or the cost of low morale and mistakes if she takes a management job she
doesn’t really desire just to earn more money.
Assign mentors to both new and longer-term employees. This is especially important when
an employee is promoted or assumes a new role. Mentoring can be a powerful tool in
employee development. An effective mentoring process takes some thought and pre-
planning. It is important to match the mentor and the mentee carefully. Their personal
styles and interests should be compatible. Allow a trial period for the relationship to settle
in, and if there are problems, make needed adjustments.
You will want to identify clear expectations for the mentoring relationship. Define
the results you expect and discuss responsibilities, roles, and expectations with both the
mentor and mentee. Provide training for mentors. Monitor and evaluate progress and
reset expectations as the relationship grows and changes. The formal mentor/mentee
relationship is not intended to be permanent. The last phase of the formal relationship
should be to encourage independence at the appropriate time. Lois Zachary’s The Mentor’s
Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships is a wonderful resource for developing a
mentoring program or relationship.12

Step 5.6
Build Commitment
The suggestions in Step 5.5 will help you build a workforce of competent and effective
staff members. Every orga­nization wants to retain the best and brightest members of its
staff, but that is becoming increasingly difficult. Today’s employees are more mobile than
ever before. The typical employee starting in the workforce now will have seven or more
jobs in her lifetime and in several different careers. Library managers need to think about
ways to build commitment in their employees.

High-Impact Retention  107

 Exit Interviews
Employees may leave for other, possibly higher-level or more lucrative library jobs, for
jobs in other sectors, or for retirement or personal reasons. Managers should learn from
each situation. Exit interviews can provide an invaluable source of information, espe-
cially when an employee is leaving for a job in another library system. Managers need to
learn more about what prompted a resignation. What pull did another job have, or what
pushed the employee to leave her current job? If you are having trouble retaining key
staff, carefully and systematically explore the causes. Losing staff is a symptom. Doing
something about it demands an understanding of the true causes.
The exit interview should be performed by human resources staff, an ombudsperson,
or a neutral person. The employee should be assured that the information she shares
will be confidential and used only as summary feedback to help improve retention at the
library. The exit interview should not be conducted by the employee’s supervisor or any-
one in her chain of command, in case supervision or leadership is the reason the person
is leaving the library’s employment. Even in large libraries, to the extent possible, you
should conduct exit interviews of employees at all levels, including pages and clerks. All
those separating from the library at their choice can be an important source of informa-
tion about library and management practices, as well as compensation, benefits, and the
work environment. While face-to-face interviews may elicit more information, they are
more time-consuming and harder to schedule. An online survey, hosted on the library’s
intranet or by SurveyMonkey.com or some other source, is a realistic alternative and may
even provide more candid information.
Workform 12, Exit Interview Questionnaire, will guide you through the exit inter-
view process.

Employee Climate Surveys

Not waiting until employees leave to solicit their opinions about life and work at the
library is a proactive way to understand the wants and needs of your workforce. Many
orga­nizations (and a few public libraries) conduct confidential employee climate or opin-
ion surveys and make changes based upon what they discover. You can study a variety
of issues, depending on the conditions in your library. The typical topics involved in how
employees think and feel about their workplace include
• job satisfaction
• leadership
• training
• compensation and benefits
• technology and tools
• customer ser­vices
• communications and information received
• supervision
• understanding the library’s vision and ser­vice priorities
• job expectations
Conducting a climate study is not as daunting as you might think. Start by creating
and chartering a “climate study” committee. Include a cross-section of employees and

108  High-Impact Retention

managers on the committee. Invite representatives from branches, the central library,
technical ser­vices, business ser­vices, and the union or staff association, as well as newer
employees, long-term employees, women, men, people of color, and so on. Strive for
diversity on this committee. Clarify if it is an advisory or a steering committee in terms
of the types of decisions the group will be authorized to make. Chapter 1 of this book
has more information on appointing committees, and Workform 1 will help you develop
a committee charter.
Decide what topics you wish to study and how you plan to collect the data. Will
some members of the committee conduct interviews or focus groups? Will you use a
consultant or local faculty member to help? What about collecting quantitative data via a
web-based survey? You could easily pick a handful of topics and ask 10 to 20 questions
on your intranet. If confidentiality is a concern, go to SurveyMonkey.com. For a very low
fee, you can purchase one or two months of this resource. SurveyMonkey, Zoomerang,
and other web-based survey companies will walk you through the design of the survey
and will also tabulate the data.
Write the questions to include in your survey. Think carefully about what you want
to know. It is easy to tabulate and analyze data from multiple-choice questions, but it is
much more challenging to code, tabulate, and analyze data from open-ended questions.
Now is the time to decide how you want to understand the survey responses when it
comes time to analyze the data. Do you want to be able to look at answers by depart-
ment, branch, or unit, by gender, race, tenure, age? If so, you have to ask the respondents
to identify themselves by those categories when they are taking the survey.
Always test the questions in your survey with a small group of the people who will
be taking the survey before you distribute the survey to the entire staff. You may be
surprised by how differently respondents interpret questions that you thought were per-
fectly clear. After the pilot test, review the surveys and talk to the people who were your
testers. Ask them if they understood the survey instructions and if the questions were
clear. You might also ask if the testers want to tell you about something that was not in-
cluded in the survey. Revise the survey and ask the testers to review the revised questions
to make sure they reflect the needed changes.
When the survey instrument is finalized, you are ready to publicize and conduct the
survey. Communication should be sent from the library director letting employees know
who the members of the committee are, the purpose of the survey, and what will be done
with the data. Confidentiality should be stressed, as should the commitment by the direc-
tor to review and implement findings as feasible. Implementation issues and approaches
will depend on the purpose of the survey.
After the closing date for returns, you are ready to analyze the data and act on what
you learn. Always report the survey results to employees, even if the results are not posi-
tive. If you don’t report the results of a survey, you can be sure that the grapevine will
assume the worst and employees will resent your starting a project without bringing it
to closure. Use simple bar graphs and pie charts to show the data to employees. Start by
asking them if there are any surprises or anything missing in the results. Get employees
involved in making changes suggested by the survey data.
The director should also provide one-to-one feedback on departmental findings to
each department head. Based upon their feedback, the committee and director should
plan and prioritize next steps and develop an action plan. Keep the committee active as

High-Impact Retention  109

 action is taken and changes are made, or if appropriate, appoint new committees to man-
age projects that result from the survey. Review lessons learned at every stage; celebrate,
monitor, evaluate, and survey employees again. Making changes based on what you learn
from the survey can be a powerful force for showing employees that you value what they
say. As a result, it creates a culture that is conducive to retention. Whenever possible, it
is often best to hire outside consultants to do these kinds of surveys. The outsiders have
more credibility and the staff is often more comfortable about confidentiality issues.
There are four tool kits in Demonstrating Results: Using Outcome Measurement in Your Li-
brary that will also be helpful as you develop, tabulate, and analyze your surveys: Tool Kit
C, Sample Confidentiality Forms; Tool Kit D, Tips on Developing Questionnaires; Tool
Kit E, Data Preparation, Coding, and Processing; and Tool Kit F, Sampling.13

Retaining Talent as They Age

Phased retirement is an important way to mitigate the impact of employee exit on the
library. By making schedules and tasks more flexible for those considering retirement,
managers can retain a talented pool of mentors. In a phased-in retirement or as retirees,
former full-time employees can provide a reliable, flexible, knowledgeable, and afford-
able addition to the library’s workforce.
Inducements could include flexible hours or assignments so that retirees can travel
or pursue other personal interests but still be available during parts of the year, parts of
the week, or for projects of several months’ duration. Some library employers are finding
ways to capture and celebrate the many years of experience and the deep knowledge base
their most senior employees possess. Others are developing ways for senior staff and
managers to take longer periods of time off while still retaining their employment status,
or to phase out by working part-time or on temporary assignments before they ultimately
retire completely. This latter option is most attractive when future retirement benefits are
not adversely impacted by such preretirement reductions in hours.
Retirees can be a great source of desk coverage or coaching. Keep them informed and
connected. Have them work in an on-call arrangement. Give them a cell phone, a com-
puter, and a coaching assignment!
You should review your local government’s civil ser­vice rules and personnel policies
to ensure that retirees can continue to work. Retirement rules vary by state and local ju-
risdiction. In some locales, retirees cannot continue to work at all in the orga­nization from
which they retired. It is considered to be “double dipping” from the local government.
In other jurisdictions it is acceptable, and in other instances where full-time work is not
permitted, hourly or consulting work is allowed, so check the details, as well as the regu-
lations pertaining to benefits, pensions, maximum salary permissible, and so on. Provide
assistance to these employees through local financial planners or retirement counselors to
ensure that they are comfortable with the arrangements, particularly if they are able to
collect Social Security.

The Keys to Commitment

A responsive work environment is a crucial source of employee commitment and thus
retention. The keywords here are

110  High-Impact Retention

 • communication
• accountability
• recognition
Creating and maintaining effective forums for employee input can connect leaders to
staff at all levels. Employee involvement in decision-making, made possible by open but
structured communication, invests everyone in positive and negative outcomes, such that
all are accountable to all. Finally, accountability is inseparable from recognition for contri-
butions and achievements. Whether it is just a “Thank you” and applause at a staff meet-
ing or a promotion or some other substantial acknowledgment, the universality of forms
of recognition in public- and private-sector orga­nizations is a testament to recognition’s
importance for cementing employee commitment.
These strategies are all about building commitment to the job and the employer, since
productivity and retention are greatly increased when employees are committed. Reten-
tion strategies must be intentionally designed so that employees know what they need to
do and what is expected of them; are involved in decisions that impact the work they do
and the ser­vices they provide; have opportunities to learn and grow; receive recognition
for good performance; and know they are responsible for their performance and are held
accountable if performance is lacking. Strategies developed with these factors in mind
will result in the best and brightest employees choosing to stay with the library that al-
lows them to contribute, learn, and grow.
In sum, productivity and employee retention are greatly increased when employees
are committed. This is especially important today, since job security and loyalty to an
employer are lower than ever. To enhance retention, remember these five keys:
1. Focus. Employees know what they need to do and what is expected of them.
2. Involvement. People support most what they help to create.
3. Development. Opportunities for learning and growth are encouraged.
4. Gratitude. Recognition (formal or informal) is given for good performance.
5. Accountability. Employees are responsible for their performance.

Conclusion
This book, written for public libraries as part of the Results series, is designed to help
library administrators and human resources staff become strategic in their efforts to im-
prove library performance, fulfill the library’s strategic goals and ser­vice priorities, and
effectively recruit, retain, and motivate a high-performing workforce. Making changes
based on the processes described in this book should help your library achieve maximum
productivity, sustain a competitive advantage, provide a balanced quality of work and
life for employees, capitalize on workforce adaptability to meet the needs of both the
employees and the library . . . and in short . . . achieve results!
To this end, we discussed the HR trends that will be affecting your library very soon,
if they haven’t already. We showed you the difference between tactical (day-to-day
transactional) and strategic HR practices that lead to results in the library. We suggested a
number of projects you should begin that will allow strategic human resources to become
a transformational force in achieving library results.

High-Impact Retention  111

 Some of the practices we suggested include the following: identify and support ex-
cellent people-management practices; provide metrics to library managers, thus putting
them in a stronger position to respond to trends and to forecast future situations that will
affect the library’s ability to carry out its ser­vice goals; develop effective communications;
recruit proactively; retain top performers; provide employee challenges; and engage in
strategic planning. We hope you find these and other practices and projects suggested in
this book to be important and valuable in supporting your library’s quest for results.

Notes
1. Marcus Cunningham and Curt Coffman, First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do
Differently (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999).
2. Christi Olson and Paula Singer, Winning with Library Leadership: Enhancing Ser­vices through Connection,
Contribution, and Collaboration (Chicago: American Library Association, 2004).
3. Ibid.
4. Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman, When Generations Collide: Who They Are, Why They Clash, How to
Solve the Generational Puzzle at Work (New York: HarperCollins, 2002).
5. D. Doverspike and A. O’Malley, “When Generations Collide: Part 1,” International Public Management
Association for Human Resources newsletter, February 2006. http://www.ipma-hr.org.
6. Doug Brown, “Understanding Four Generations in the Workplace,” Fort Worth Business Press, June 27,
2003, 11.
7. Carolyn A. Martin, “Bridging the Generation Gap(s),” Nursing 34, no. 12 (December 2004): 62–63.
8. Catalyst, Inc., “Workplace Flexibility Isn’t Just a Women’s Issue,” Viewpoints, August 2003. http://www
.catalyst.org/files/view/Workplace%20Flexibility%20Isn%27t%20Just%20a%20Women%27s%
20Issue.pdf.
9. Bob Nelson, 1001 Ways to Reward Employees, 2nd ed. (New York: Workman, 2005).
10. Bacal and Associates, “A Quick Guide to Employee Orientation—Help for Managers and HR,” http://
www.work911.com/articles/orient.htm.
11. Judith Brown “Employee Orientation: Keeping New Employees on Board,” http://humanresources
.about.com/od/retention/a/keepnewemployee.htm.
12. Lois Zachary, The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2000).
13. Rhea Joyce Rubin, Demonstrating Results: Using Outcome Measurement in Your Library (Chicago: American
Library Association, 2006), 104–12.

112  High-Impact Retention

Workforms

1 Committee Charge 114

2 Gap Analysis 116

3 Position Description Questionnaire 118

4 Job Description Template 124

5 Recruitment Process 126

6 Developing Interview Questions 128

7 Reference Check Form 130

8 Individual Performance Plan 134

9 Performance Evaluation Tool 138

10 Self-Evaluation 145

11 New Employee Orientation 147

12 Exit Interview Questionnaire 150

113
 Instructions WORKFORM 1  Committee Charge

114 
Purpose of Workform 1 E3: Describe the meeting space and equipment the committee will need to
Use this workform to define the purpose of the project committee. A project do its work.
committee may be created to manage, review, or provide advice on a variety of E4: Describe the administrative and computer support that will be provided,
projects described in this book. if any.
E5: Estimate the time commitment for the project committee members.
Sources of Data for Workform 1
E6: List any expert resources from inside or outside the organization that
The project purpose, resources, budget, etc., are the sources of the data for this should be included.
workform.
E7: List any other resource issues that are unique to your project.
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 1 6. Row F.   Describe the project committee’s accountability and authority
parameters (that is, whether the committee is advisory, its reporting struc­
1. The intent of the project should be unambiguous and provide a clear ture, etc.). There might be confidentiality considerations or there might be
statement of what you expect to accomplish. For example, a library approval steps that committee members and others need to be aware of.
planning on devising an employee performance management plan might
write this purpose statement: 7. Complete the information at the bottom of the form:

“Create a performance management process that links to the Completed by  Enter the name of the person or persons who completed
library’s strategic plan and clearly defines activities and expectations for the workform.
employees.” Source of data  Indicate the source of the data used to complete the
2. Carefully consider the resources that will be necessary to successfully workform.
complete the project. The charge provides a clear outline of expectations, Date completed  Enter the date the workform was completed.
scope, resources, time line, and possible limitations. Library  Enter the library’s name.

To Complete Workform 1
Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 1
1. Row A. Indicate the committee’s name.
1. Have you reviewed the purpose of the project to be sure that you
2. Row B. Identify the purpose of the project committee. understand what it is?
3. Row C. Provide the time line for the project. Include starting date, ending 2. Is the time line realistic?
date, and dates of any milestones in the project.
3. Are the deliverables clearly described?
4. Row D. List the project results or deliverables. These will also provide a
4. Have you identified the resources that will be available to the committee
picture of what the committee will accomplish and the project’s scope.
members and the time line for the completion of the project?
5. Row E.
5. Have you provided enough information to ensure that the project commit­
E1: Provide an itemized budget for the project (for consultants, etc.). tee’s members clearly understand their authority and the reporting
E2: Who will facilitate committee meetings? structure in which they will operate?

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 Instructions WORKFORM
WORKFORM
1  1
Committee
  Facility Projects
Charge
A. Committee Name: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B. Purpose of Committee:

C. Committee Time Line:

D. Project Deliverables: Specifically, what is the committee expected to produce?

1.

2.

3.

4.

E. Resources:

1. Budget:

2. Facilitation:

3. Meeting and working space and equipment:

4. Administrative and computer support:

5. Time commitment required of committee members:

6. Expert resources:

7. Other:

F. Accountability and Authority:

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

115
Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 Instructions WORKFORM 2  Gap Analysis

116 
Purpose of Workform 2 4. Section D. Describe your current staff resources in terms of hours available
Use this workform to determine what staff resources will be required to or FTE and knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies.
accomplish specific activities. These staff resources will be full-time, part-time 5. Section E. Define the gap between what you have and what you need. For
or hourly employees or, possibly, contract employees or consultants hired to do example, you might have a .5 FTE (that is, half-time) children’s librarian but
necessary work to achieve the library’s strategic goals and objectives. without any Spanish language skills or experience working with community
groups other than the local schools. You may feel you need a full-time
Sources of Data for Workform 2 person who has language and cultural proficiencies and is also experienced
in doing community development work. If you find you have more of a
Information about current staffing allocations (number of full-time equivalents
staffing resource than is needed, define the surplus.
([FTEs] or hours allocated per week) will be available as part of the library’s
personnel and budget system. You may have to estimate the number of hours 6. Section F. Describe the plan for filling the gap or reallocating the surplus.
needed to carry out a specific activity (such as planning and conducting a 7. Complete the information at the bottom of the form:
special event). In addition to the hours available, you’ll also need to assess Completed by  Enter the name of the person or persons who completed
the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies available to implement the the workform.
activities you wish to carry out. For example, you might determine that you
need someone who is bilingual and bicultural to provide outreach services to Source of data  Indicate the source of the data used to complete the
the Spanish-speaking members of your community. You would want the ability workform.
to speak Spanish as well as the ability to interact comfortably with the local Date completed  Enter the date the workform was completed.
Spanish-speaking community. Library  Enter the library’s name.

Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 2 Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 2
1. Carefully consider the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies 1. Have you reviewed the goals and objectives of your strategic plan to be sure
needed. Think beyond traditional job descriptions and formal education that the activity under consideration is a good choice as an implementation
and experience to consider what you need done and what the person activity?
being considered for the activity has accomplished in past jobs and other
2. Have you identified the human resources that will be necessary to
experiences, such as volunteer work, internships, etc.
successfully implement the activity? Have you considered the amount
of time you need and the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies
To Complete Workform 2 necessary to carry out the selected activity?
1. Section A. Indicate the activity that staffing is being analyzed for. 3. Is your plan for filling the gap or reallocating a surplus for this particular
2. Section B. Define the staff resource required to carry out that activity. If there activity realistic? Have you identified ways to eliminate or streamline tasks
is more than one, fill out a workform for each staff resource. to free up time that can be devoted to this activity?
3. Section C. Describe what you think you need in terms of knowledge, skills,
abilities, and competencies and FTEs or hours.

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 2  Gap Analysis

A. Activity

B. Staff resource required to accomplish activity C. Need D. Have E. Gap/Surplus

Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge

Skills Skills Skills

Abilities Abilities Abilities

Hours or FTE Hours or FTE Hours or FTE

F. Plan for filling the gap or reallocating the surplus

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

117
Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 Instructions WORKFORM 3  Position Description Questionnaire

118 
Purpose of Workform 3 To Complete Workform 3
The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather information about an employee’s 1. Section A. Fill out each line with appropriate information.
job. 2. Section B. Briefly describe the purpose of the job. One or two sentences
should answer the question: Why does this position exist?
Sources of Data for Workform 3 3. Section C. List the major duties and responsibilities of the job, including the
Depending on the number of employees the library has, every employee may percentage of time spent on the duty.
be asked to fill out the PDQ or only a representative sample. If a sample is 4. Section D. Answer every question in this section. If no response exactly
used, be sure to include employees in different locations within the library. matches the job, choose the one that reflects the job 90 percent or more of
Supervisors and managers who review the forms should be knowledgeable the time.
about the work that their subordinates perform.
5. Section E. The person who supervises the job fills out this section,
answering each question and providing additional comments, if necessary.
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 3
1. Provide employees with an orientation to the PDQ so they know how to fill it
out and what will be done with the information provided. Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 3

2. The PDQ job summary and job duty list should be a summary and a listing 1. Check to be sure that all questions have been answered. Follow up with the
of the basic, essential duties of a job, not an exhaustive listing of everything employee if information is missing.
an employee does. 2. Seek clarification if employees who seem to be doing the same work answer
3. Fill out the form in a way that reflects normal job duties currently being in significantly different ways. There may be actual differences in major
performed, rather than special projects or assignments or duties that are job duties or the percentage of time spent on job duties, or there may be
expected to be done in the future. differences in how employees perceive their jobs or how they express
themselves when writing about their jobs.
4. Complete every section accurately and thoroughly, without either
understating or inflating answers. Do not use acronyms or abbreviations.
5. Feel free to provide examples or attach comments or additional materials to
any section.

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 3  Position Description Questionnaire

POSITION DESCRIPTION QUESTIONNAIRE

Introduction the expected or normal routine of the job rather than special projects,
The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather information about your job. temporary assignments, or out-of-the ordinary occurrences; and
We are asking you to complete the questionnaire because you know the most the job as it is today, rather than what you expect it to become in the
about your job. Your answers, responses from other employees, and your future.
supervisor’s comments will serve as the basis for • Complete each section accurately and thoroughly. Try not to understate
• summarizing key position information; or inflate your answers. Please do not use acronyms or abbreviations.
• ensuring that all jobs are accurately assessed; and • Choose the best response for your job. If no response exactly matches
• determining how jobs within the library compare to each other. your job, choose the one that reflects your job 90 percent or more of the
time.
Instructions • Answer every question.
• Complete the questionnaire with your job in mind, not your personal • Provide examples.
characteristics or performance. • Feel free to write comments in any section and to attach additional
• Before you begin to answer the questions, please take a few minutes to materials if necessary.
read through the entire questionnaire, reading all instructions carefully.
• Once you begin to answer the questions, be as objective as possible, After you have completed this questionnaire, please give it to your supervisor
responding about your job and not your personal situation or by .
performance. Remember, it is your position, not your performance, that is [date]
being reviewed.
If you have any questions, please contact .
• As you respond to the questions, your answers should reflect
[contact person]
what would normally be expected of someone fully trained in the
job, rather than a beginner or someone performing over and above Thank you for your participation.
what is required;

(Cont.)

119
Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 3  Position Description Questionnaire (Cont.)

120 
A. Name: _______________________________________________________________ Job title: ________________________________________________________

Work location: _______________________________________________________ Full-time: _______

How long in current position: __________________________________________ Part-time: _______ Number of hours per week: _________

B. Position Summary
Describe the purpose of your job in your own language. This should be just
one or two sentences that answer the question: Why does this position exist?

(Cont.)

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 3  Position Description Questionnaire (Cont.)

C. Duties and Responsibilities

List the major duties of your job and indicate the percentage of time you spend on each
duty. For example, you might list “Check in returned library materials” as a major job
duty and indicate that 40 percent of your time is spent on this duty.

Job Duty Percentage of Time

TOTAL: 100%

(Cont.)

121
Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 3  Position Description Questionnaire (Cont.)

122 
D. Describe the type and extent of supervision you receive:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you supervise anyone else? If so, please list by job title. If you supervise more than one person with the same title,
indicate the number in parentheses after the job title.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Which of the following supervisory duties do you perform if you do supervise someone else (circle those that apply):

• Training • Budgeting • Inspecting work

• Performance appraisal • Coaching/counseling • Other: ___________________________________________

What education level do you think the job requires?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What amount of experience do you think is needed to perform the job? Answer in months or years.  _________________

What equipment, tools, machines, or work aids are used to perform the job?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Are there any personal attributes (special aptitudes, physical characteristics, personality traits, etc.) required by the job?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for the information you’ve provided.

(Cont.)

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 3  Position Description Questionnaire (Cont.)

E. Supervisor’s Comments 2. List any important job duties this person performs that may have been
omitted. Please add under the appropriate section as well.
This portion of the questionnaire is to be completed by your supervisor.
_______________________________________________________________________
As a supervisor, it is important that you review this questionnaire and
_______________________________________________________________________
identify any discrepancies between the employee’s responses and your own
knowledge of the job. Remember, this questionnaire is intended solely for the
_______________________________________________________________________
purpose of accurately describing the position and not the individual or his/her
performance. _______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to add a note or suggest a correction to any answer, please _______________________________________________________________________
do so next to the employee’s answer and identify your entry with your printed
initials, without changing the employee’s answer. In addition, please complete _______________________________________________________________________
the following:
3. Additional comments:
1. Do you agree with the answers provided by the employee? If not, please
explain. _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________
Supervisor’s Name Supervisor’s Title

________________________________ ________________________________
Supervisor’s Signature Date

________________________________ ________________________________
Department Director Date

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

123
Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 Instructions WORKFORM 4  Job Description Template

124 
Purpose of Workform 4 2. Section A. List the essential function of the job, using the PDQ and
Use this form as a template to create a job description. interviews (if conducted) as the basis for the list.
3. Section B. List other major functions of the job, using the PDQ and
Sources of Data for Workform 4 interviews (if conducted) as the basis for the list.
The information you gather from performing the job analysis will provide the 4. Section C. For each job function, enter the estimated percentage of time
data for this workform. You may have used Workform 3, Position Description spent on the function.
Questionnaire (PDQ), or some other form to gather information on job duties 5. Section D. Fill out each minimum job requirement area.
and responsibilities from employees. Minimum job requirements data may Complete the information at the bottom of the form:
come from PDQs and employee interviews, supervisor and management
recommendations, or existing job descriptions. Completed by  Enter the name of the person or persons who completed
the workform.
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 4 Source of data  Indicate the source of the data used to complete the
1. If discrepancies arise between an employee’s description of her job and the workform.
supervisor’s sense of the job, conduct additional interviews to determine Date completed  Enter the date the workform was completed.
actual job duties and responsibilities and the amount of time spent on the Library  Enter the library’s name.
duties.
2. Take care in distinguishing between “essential functions” (those basic
Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 4
duties that are central to a job and cannot be transferred to another position
without disruption in the flow or process of work) and “other functions” Make sure all questions are answered and that specifics are provided for
which might be performed in the job but are not essential. major job duties and responsibilities. If acronyms or library-specific terms are
used, find out what they mean. Clarify any differences of opinion or emphasis
3. Carefully consider the minimum job requirements. This is where you identify
between the employee’s and the supervisor’s view of the job.
the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the job.

To Complete Workform 4
1. Top of form. Fill out each line with appropriate information. Position
summary is a one- or two-sentence description of the purpose of the job.

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 4  Job Description Template

JOB DESCRIPTION
Job title: Salary range: FLSA status:

Department: Reports to:

Position summary:
C. Percentage
of Time
Spent on This
A. Essential Functions
Function
1. %

2.

3.

4.

5.

B. Other Functions

1.

2.

3.

D. Minimum Job Requirements

Education:

Experience:

Specific skills and abilities:

Specialized knowledge, licenses, etc.:

Supervisory responsibility, if any:

Working conditions:

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

125
Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 Instructions WORKFORM 5  Recruitment Process

126 
Purpose of Workform 5 6. Revise or write job description. Determine whether or not an up-to-date job
Use this workform as a way to plan and manage your recruitment process. description exists for the position. If not, revise or write one, making sure it
reflects job duties and responsibilities and needed KSAs.
Sources of Data for Workform 5 7. Fill out required paperwork. Note whether paperwork required to begin the
The data for your recruitment process plan and checklist will come from the job recruitment process has been completed.
description you already have or will prepare for a new position and the processes 8. Plan recruitment schedule. Develop the time line for all steps of the
already in place for recruiting new employees. If you don’t have processes in recruitment process. You may want to work backward from the date you
place, this workform will provide a process for you to follow. hope to have the person starting work in the position.
9. Determine where you will post job announcement. Indicate that you have
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 5
made advertising decisions that include the number of announcements
1. Depending on the position to be filled, your recruitment schedule and or ads, whether internal, external, or both, and where you will place the
approaches may vary. announcements.
2. Find out what paperwork requirements there are for your library or 10. Create job announcement. Note that you have completed this step. There
parent jurisdiction. These requirements may also include time lines and may be multiple announcements, depending on the recruitment strategy
recommendations or requirements for the approaches you can take and the and time line selected.
money you can spend on recruitment activities.
11. Create position brochure. You may or may not do this step, depending on
3. Take the time to carefully consider what knowledge, skills, and abilities and the position and your time line.
competencies you need. What do you want this position to accomplish? The
12. Determine if supplemental questions will be part of the application process.
job description you’ve written for the position should answer this question.
If you’ve decided to use supplemental questions, indicate that you’ve written
4. Position announcements, both internal and external, are often a brief the questions.
paragraph or two. Supplement this brief announcement with a longer, more
13. Encourage employees to notify others. Note that you have used various
detailed announcement and/or brochure describing the job, the library and
mechanisms (intranet, memo, general announcement) to make current em­
community, and the desired background, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
ployees aware of the job opening and to ask them to pass that informa­tion
5. Supplemental questions are sometimes developed for professional, tech­ along to others they know who might be good candidates for the position.
nical, and managerial-level positions. Determine if they will be needed. If so,
14. Attend job fairs, conferences, etc. If time permits and it is part of the strategy
write questions that reflect job requirements for the position and that will
for a particular position, note attendance at job fairs and conferences and/or
directly link with the job description.
networking contacts made.
Indicate “NA” if any of the steps are not applicable.
To Complete Workform 5
Complete the information at the bottom of the form:
1. Position. Indicate name of position being recruited for.
Completed by  Enter the name of the person or persons who completed
2. Type of position. Indicate whether the position will be full-time, part-time,
the workform.
hourly, contract, or some other type of position.
Source of data  Indicate the source of the data used to complete the
3. Responsibility. Indicate who or what group will be responsible for each step
workform.
in the recruitment process. It may be the responsibility of an HR office or
specialist, the hiring manager, or a library work group or team to handle a Date completed   Enter the date the workform was completed.
particular step in the process. Library  Enter the library’s name.
4. Check if completed. Check off each step in the process as complete. Indicate
“N/A” if it’s not applicable to a particular recruitment. Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 5
5. Describe position to be filled. Determine that you have described the posi­ This workform provides a process outline and checklist to use. The main factor
tion being recruited for as completely as possible by identifying what you to consider is whether or not you’ve assigned responsibility for and completed
want the person in the position to accomplish. each step essential to a particular recruitment.

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 5  Recruitment Process

1. Position ____________________________________________________________________ Location: ___________________________________________________________

2. Full-time/Part-time/Hourly/Contract/Other (circle which applies)

4. 5. 6.
3. Date Date Check When
Responsibility of: Started Completed Completed

7. Describe position to be filled: KSAs, competencies, what you

expect person in position to accomplish.

8. Revise or write job description, if required.

9. Fill out any required paperwork (personnel requisition, etc.) and

obtain required approvals.

10. Plan recruitment schedule, including scope, timetable, and

selection techniques.

11. Determine where you will post job announcement (internal bulletin
board or intranet, newspapers, professional journals, e-mail lists,
job boards, the library website, etc.) for the position.

12. Create job announcement. If using multiple resources, tailor

announcement to fit the resource being used.

13. Depending on the position and recruitment strategy, create a

position brochure.

14. Determine if supplemental questions will be part of the application

process. If so, develop and distribute with application materials.

15. Encourage employees to inform family members, friends, and

colleagues about the available position.

16. If timetable makes it feasible and depending on position, attend

and recruit at job fairs and professional conferences, distributing
job announcement and/or brochure. Network with professional
colleagues through e-mail, phone calls, and personal contacts.

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

127
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 Instructions WORKFORM 6  Developing Interview Questions

128 
Purpose of Workform 6 2. Column B. This column lists the three major types of questions you
Use this form to develop questions to use during candidate interviews. could ask.
3. Column C. This column provides examples of each type of question. Use
Sources of Data for Workform 6 these examples as guides to developing your own questions.
Consider the types of questions you want to develop. Use information from the 4. Column D. Write in your own questions. While space is given for four
job description to develop performance-based and behavioral questions. of each type, you might develop a different number of each question,
depending on the position you’re filling and what you are looking for in the
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 6 person you want to hire.

1. The questions should be designed to uncover relevant facts about the Complete the information at the bottom of the form:
candidate’s educational, experience, and work background and to elicit Completed by  Enter the name of the person or persons who completed
information about what she has actually accomplished in her past positions. the workform.
2. Develop questions that link directly to the knowledge, skills, and abilities Source of data  Indicate the source of the data used to complete the
required of the job, behavioral competencies, and objectives identified in workform.
the job description. Remember to ask not just about what the candidate has
Date completed  Enter the date the workform was completed.
(education, years of experience, etc.), but also about what the person has
actually done with her education, experience, skills, etc., in past positions. Library  Enter the library’s name.
3. Remember that non-job-related questions cannot be asked. Examples
of such questions include personal questions relating to marital status, Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 6
child care responsibilities, languages spoken at home, racial or ethnic Review your questions to be sure they will provide the information you need to
background, religious affiliation, disabilities, etc. make a hiring decision. You want to be sure that you know if the person being
4. There is no need to have an equal number of questions of each type. interviewed possesses the desired KSAs and what she has done with them in
previous positions.

To Complete Workform 6
1. Line A. Write in the name of the position that the interview questions
relate to.

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 6  Developing Interview Questions
A. Position: ____________________________________________________________________

B. C. D.
Type of Question Examples Questions for This Position
Structured: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your work background? 1.
Questions designed
What interests you about this job and what skills and strengths can you bring to it? 2.
to elicit basic
information Can you tell me about your current job?
3.
Can you describe a typical day in your current (or last) job?
What size budget do you manage? 4.

Performance-based: Please think of the most significant accomplishment in your career (or work life). Please 1.
Questions designed tell me all about it. [Ask follow-up questions to probe for details and specifics.]
to reveal actual Please draw an organization chart and tell me about a team project you were involved
work performance 2.
in; describe your role.
One of our key objectives for the person selected for this position is [describe objective
from job description]. Please tell me about something similar you’ve accomplished.
3.
One major problem (or issue) we’re now facing is [describe]. How would you go about
addressing it? What would you need to know and how would you plan it out? What
have you done that’s most similar? 4.

Behavioral: What three or four adjectives best describe your personality? Give me actual examples 1.
Questions designed of when these traits have aided you in the performance of your job and when they
to describe specific have hurt.
situations in past What sort of work environment do you prefer? What brings out your best performance?
jobs that demon­ 2.
How do you handle conflict? Please give an example of how you handled a workplace
strate behaviors key
conflict in the past.
to open job
Tell me about a recent major directive of management that you had to communicate
and implement. How did you go about doing this? 3.
Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem. What did you do?
What was your thought process? What was the outcome? What do you wish you
had done differently?
Working with people from diverse backgrounds or cultures can be a challenge. Can 4.
you tell me about a time you faced a challenge adapting to a person from a different
background or culture? (What happened? What did you do? What was the result?)

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

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 Instructions WORKFORM 7  Reference Check Form

130 
Purpose of Workform 7 To Complete Workform 7
Use this workform to thoroughly check references. References are usually Top lines
contacted by telephone. Don’t simply send the form. You want to have Fill out the top lines completely, so that you have a record of who you talked to
interaction with the references. and that person’s title, organization, and contact information.

Sources of Data for Workform 7 Questions

References provided by the candidate will be the source of data for the Ask each question and make note of the responses received. Ask follow-up
workform. questions to seek clarification and examples. Probe for specifics.

Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 7 Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 7

1. Maintain a friendly but neutral demeanor when asking the questions. Don’t 1. Be sure that the reference has sufficient knowledge of the candidate’s
lead the reference into providing the answers she thinks you want. work performance that she can answer the questions accurately. Does the
reference seem appropriate for the level of position that the candidate is
2. Select questions to be asked or how you use the form depending on the applying for?
level of the position: you’ll spend more time checking the references of a
subject specialist librarian or manager than those of a clerk. 2. Probe for specifics. Don’t be satisfied with generalities. Ask for work
performance-related examples.
3. Take the time to thoroughly discuss the candidate’s abilities and past
performance with the reference. Don’t hurry through the reference checking.
Stay objective so that you hear both positive and negative comments.

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 7  Reference Check Form

Reference check form

(Verify that the applicant has provided permission before conducting reference checks)

Applicant’s name: Date:

Position applying for: Position/Title of reference:

Person contacted: Phone no.:

Organization:

Questions:

1. Would you serve as a reference? (This remains confidential) Yes_______ No_______

2. When did this individual work for you? From: To:

3. Explain the job and ask how they think the person would fit into the position. Use the job description
in describing what you want the person to achieve in the job.

4. Please describe the job responsibilities or the type of work performed by the candidate:

5. How would you describe the applicant’s relationships with coworkers, subordinates (if applicable),
and superiors?

(Cont.)

131
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 WORKFORM 7  Reference Check Form (Cont.)

132 
6. Did the candidate have a positive or negative work attitude? Please elaborate.

7. How would you describe the quantity and quality of work output generated
by the candidate?

8. Can you tell me about some of this individual’s strengths and/or skills?
(Remember to ask for examples)

9. What areas could this individual improve upon?

10. How would you characterize his/her work in general?

11. Would you recommend him/her for this position? Why or why not?

(Cont.)

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 WORKFORM 7  Reference Check Form (Cont.)

12. Would you rehire this individual? Yes_______ No_______ If no, why not?

Insert additional questions as required to assess the candidate’s ability to meet

performance objectives you’ve identified:

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

133
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 Instructions WORKFORM 8  Individual Performance Plan

134 
Purpose of Workform 8 • Is it supported by the needed authority and resources?
Use this form to plan individual activities for the performance period. • Is it challenging? Reasonable? Attainable?
• Is it expressed in specific vs. general terms?
Who Should Complete Workform 8 2. Make sure each activity is SMART:
This form should be completed by the employee and reviewed by the Specific  Detail what needs to be done; this should not be vague or open
supervisor. Supervisors should provide support in completing this workform to interpretation.
with new or recently promoted employees.
Measurable  Provide numbers, amount of change, percentage of change,
etc.
Sources of Data for Workform 8
Achievable  It should be a stretch, but achievable. Use action verbs like
Sources of data include the library’s strategic plan, department work plan, and
create, build, lead, develop, etc.
the job description for the employee’s position.
Relevant  Relate the activity to the library’s and department’s priorities;
In completing this form, ask: address library culture, context, environment, pace, resources
• What are the library’s priorities for the upcoming year? available, policies, etc.
• What are the department’s priorities? Time-sensitive  Indicate how long it will take, start to finish.
• How does this job contribute to the library and/or department meeting its 3. Ensure adequacy of resources:
goals? Ask: Does the employee have the knowledge, training, and resources to
• What are the activities that will need to be accomplished by this employee accomplish the activity? Does she have the authority? Is there enough:
in order to move the library forward?
Time
• What personal or professional developmental activities should be
undertaken? Fiscal resources
• What are the major functions, or basic work activities, that a person in this Staff resources
job must do regularly in order to be successful?
Training
• What resources will be needed to complete the identified activities?
Will the person in the job need support from another branch, unit, or Authority
department? Tools (technology, hardware, bookmobiles, etc., as appropriate)

Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 8 To Complete Workform 8

The employee and supervisor should focus on the development of each activity 1. Line A. Write in the name and position of the person completing the
in general, ensuring each is SMART and assessing the adequacy of training and workform.
resources.
2. Line B. State the review or performance period covered by this workform
1. Questions for each activity:
3. Column C. List key activities for the upcoming year. (Note that activities may
• Does the activity support the library’s and department’s goals? exceed one year. List milestones for activities that are long-term or have
• Is it measurable? multiple milestones.)
• Is it results-oriented?

(Cont.)

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 8  Individual Performance Plan Instructions (Cont.)

4. Column D. List the measures of success for the position. How will the Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 8
supervisor and employee know if the activity has been accomplished? What 1. Ensure that all activities are either day-to-day or development; that they link
will be different? At what cost? Over what period of time? to the library’s ongoing or strategic goals; and that they are SMART.
5. Column E. List the resources that the employee will need (if any) to 2. If any of the activities are dependent on resources from another department,
accomplish the activity. make sure that these are available.
6. Column F. Enter the start and end (expected completion) dates of the 3. For larger projects/goals, break up into phases or modules
activity. If it is ongoing, write “ongoing.”
• Set a time limit for each phase.
7. Column G. This column allows you to write any comments pertaining to the
• Do progress checks as you go along
activity, including assumptions made about resources, etc.
to make sure phases are completed.
If you need help with the definitions of any of these concepts, refer back to the 4. Attach additional sheets as necessary.
text in chapter 5.
Complete the information at the bottom of the form:
Supervisor  The supervisor should sign and date the workform.
Employee  The employees should sign and date the workform.

135
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 WORKFORM 8  Individual Performance Plan

136 
A. Name of employee: ____________________________________________ Position: _________________________________________

B. Performance period:  From: ________________ To: ________________

C. F.
Activities D. E. Begin/End G.
(in order of importance) Measures of Success Resources Needed ­Date Comments

1. • •
• •
• •

2. • •
• •
• •

3. • •
• •
• •

4. • •
• •
• •

5. • •
• •
• •

6. • •
• •
• •

(Cont.)
Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 8  Individual Performance Plan (Cont.)

C. F.
Activities D. E. Begin/End G.
(in order of importance) Measures of Success Resources Needed ­Date Comments

7. • •

• •
•
•
8. • •
• •

• •

Employee: __________________________________________ Date ____________________________________

Supervisor: __________________________________________ Date _____________________________________

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

137
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 Instructions WORKFORM 9  Performance Evaluation Tool

138 
Purpose of Workform 9 To Complete Workform 9
Use this form to evaluate the employee’s performance for the entire 1. Row A. Complete this row at the beginning of the performance period.
performance period. Write in the name and title of the person being evaluated, the supervisor’s
name and title, the dates of the review or performance period covered
Who Should Complete Workform 9 by this workform, and the date of the planning discussion. The employee
should also sign in this row to indicate that the discussion took place and
This form should be completed by the supervisor and reviewed at the
that the employee is in agreement with the activities and performance
performance evaluation meeting with the employee.
essentials as defined.

Sources of Data for Workform 9 2. Row B. Complete this section when the required progress review has
been completed (if the system requires such a review). The supervisor and
Sources of data include the employee’s individual activity plan, the employee’s employee both sign and date this section to indicate that the discussion took
self-evaluation (if used), the supervisor’s coaching notes, the employee’s job place.
description, and the supervisor’s general performance documentation for the
employee from throughout the performance period. 3. Rows C, D, and E. Complete these sections if optional progress reviews have
been completed (if the system includes such reviews). The supervisor and
In completing this form, ask: employee both sign and date this section to indicate that each discussion
• Did the employee successfully accomplish the day-to-day duties and took place. Additional rows for optional progress reviews can be added if
responsibilities of the job description? necessary.
• Did the employee achieve each activity fully, as expected, on time and 4. Section F. This serves as a reference to define the performance rating levels
within budget (according to parameters)? available to the supervisor in rating the activities of the employee.
• Did library priorities shift during the year or period and cause the 5. Section G. This section is used by the supervisor to rate each individual
employee’s activities to change? If so, did the employee successfully activity laid out by the employee and supervisor during performance
accomplish the newly identified activities? planning or updated during the year.
• Has the employee met the library’s performance essentials as defined (if 6. Column H. Enter the activities from Workform 8, Individual Performance
applicable in your system)? Plan, completed by employee and supervisor at the beginning of the
performance period.
• Have you provided comments and examples of the employee’s
performance, using facts, not conclusions, opinions, or guesses about 7. Column I. Enter the measures of success for the position for each activity
motivation? from Workform 8.
8. Column J. Check the box indicating if the activity is basic work (B) or
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 9 development (D).
Supervisors and managers should be prepared for each performance evaluation 9. Column K. Enter the rating for each activity, based on the employee’s
meeting. Supervisors should review the employee’s activities and actual performance during the year in accomplishing the activity. Refer to the
performance. The self-evaluation should also be reviewed (if used) prior to the measures to ensure success was achieved.
evaluation meeting. Supervisors should refamiliarize themselves with coaching 10. Column L. Enter comments on each activity to provide the employee with
notes and documentation and think about employee’s objections to less than specific, factual feedback.
stellar ratings. Think about responses and rehearse dialogue. Supervisors
11. Section M. Use this section to rate the employee on the performance of
should review and understand potential performance-rating errors and review
activities related to the performance essentials defined by the library. If
comments and feedback to ensure these types of errors are not present. Finally,
the library chooses to use performance essentials, these categories of
supervisors should have activities prepared for discussion regarding the next
performance are included in the evaluations for all employees, though they
performance cycle.
may include additional categories for management staff.
(Cont.)

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 9  Performance Evaluation Tool Instructions (Cont.)

12. Column N. This defines the performance category or performance essential. 21. Section W. Complete the information at the bottom of the form. Both the
13. Column O. Enter the activities agreed upon by the supervisor and employee supervisor and employee should sign and date the form, indicating the date
during performance planning that relate to each category. of the discussion. There is also a space for a second reviewer’s signature.
Use this space if the library has department heads or the director review the
14. Column P. Check the box indicating if the activity is basic work (B) or
completed evaluation forms.
development (D).
15. Column Q. Enter the rating for each activity, based on the employee’s
If you need help with the definitions of any of these concepts, refer back to the
performance during the year in accomplishing the activity. Refer to the
definitions of the performance category as necessary. text in chapter 5.
16. Column R. Enter comments on each activity to provide the employee with
Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 9
specific, factual feedback.
1. Ensure that the supervisor has familiarized herself with common rating errors
17. Section S. Enter the overall rating for the employee during the performance
and provides factual and specific feedback to the employee.
period, in consideration of the ratings on individual activities and
performance essential categories. 2. Review and consider the employee’s self-evaluation (if used) in completing
the evaluation form.
18. Section T. Enter comments on the overall performance of the employee
during the performance period. Make sure to avoid rating errors and to 3. Provide comments and feedback in each section (positive or constructive)
provide factual, useful, and specific feedback the employee can use to in order to facilitate improved performance or to reinforce outstanding
improve or reinforce performance. performance.
19. Section U. Employee comments. 4. Attach additional sheets as necessary.
20. Section V. Check one box to indicate if the job description for the position
is up-to-date or has changed. If the job description has changed, revise and
attach an updated job description.

139
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 WORKFORM 9  Performance Evaluation Tool

140 
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

A. Performance Planning
(complete at the beginning of the performance period)

Employee Name: _____________________________________________________________ Position Title: _________________________________________________________

Supervisor Name: ____________________________________________________________ Department: __________________________________________________________

Performance Period:   From _________   To _________ Performance Planning Discussion Date: ________________________________

Employee Signature:* _________________________________________________________

* Indicates that employee agrees to work toward meeting these activities and performance essentials

B. Progress Review: Required

(one review required midway through the performance period)

Supervisor Signature: _________________________________________________________ Discussion Date: ________________________________

Employee Signature: ** _______________________________________________________

** Indicates only that this discussion between employee and supervisor was held

C. Optional Progress Review

Supervisor Signature: _________________________________________________________ Discussion Date: ________________________________

Employee Signature: ** _______________________________________________________

** Indicates only that this discussion between employee and supervisor was held

(Cont.)

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 WORKFORM 9  Performance Evaluation Tool (Cont.)

D. Optional Progress Review

Supervisor Signature: _________________________________________________________ Discussion Date: ________________________________

Employee Signature: ** _______________________________________________________

** Indicates only that this discussion between employee and supervisor was held

E. Optional Progress Review

Supervisor Signature: _________________________________________________________ Discussion Date: ________________________________

Employee Signature: ** _______________________________________________________

** Indicates only that this discussion between employee and supervisor was held

Expand as necessary with additional progress checks.

(Cont.)

141
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 WORKFORM 9  Performance Evaluation Tool (Cont.)

142 
F. Performance Rating
(Rate by Category)

3  Outstanding     2  Fully Successful     1  Needs Improvement

G. Individual Activities
K.
J. 3
B 2
H. I. D 1 L.
Activity Measurements Activity Results Comments
1.

2.

3.

4.

(Cont.)
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 WORKFORM 9  Performance Evaluation Tool (Cont.)

M. Performance Essentials

Q.
P. 3
N. B 2
Performance Category O. D 1 R.
Measures Measures Activity Results Details/Comments

Job Knowledge 1.
Understands and executes job duties, processes,
and/or procedures. Uses ingenuity and skills 2.
to continuously review and identify internal
departmental process improvements.
3.

Quality/Productivity 1.

Work is done on time yet fairly, accurately,

completely, and in accordance with established 2.
procedures. Does not sacrifice quality for
speed, etc. 3.

Customer Service 1.

Responsive to external as well as internal

customers. Has the ability to maintain customer 2.
confidence and trust. Is able to get positive results
in adverse situations. 3.

Managerial Effectiveness 1.
(If applicable)

Creates and achieves a desired future through 2.

influence on organizational values, individual
and group goals, and processes and procedures. 3.
Consider how well the employee coaches and
develops subordinates.

(Cont.)

143
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 WORKFORM 9  Performance Evaluation Tool (Cont.)

144 
Evaluation

S. Rating:

T. Supervisor Comments:

U. Employee Comments:

V. Please check one:

The job description is up-to-date.
The job has changed. An updated job description is attached.

W. Performance Evaluation
(complete at the end of the performance period)

Supervisor Signature: _______________________________________________________________ Date: ________________________________

Second Reviewer Signature: _________________________________________________________ Date: ________________________________

Discussion Date: ________________________________ Employee Signature: *** _________________________________________________

*** Indicates only that this evaluation was reviewed with employee

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 Instructions WORKFORM 10  Self-Evaluation
Purpose of Workform 10 To Complete Workform 10
Use this form to allow employees to provide feedback on their own 1. Section A.  The employee answers the questions relating to her perspective
performance. on her performance during the current performance period. She can refer to
notes kept on her performance throughout the year, or attach documents,
Who Should Complete Workform 10 certificates, or other attachments that will be useful in answering the
questions.
The workform should be completed by employees preparing for their annual
performance evaluation meeting. Employees should submit the completed self- 2. Section B.  The employee answers the questions relating to the upcoming
evaluation to their supervisor prior to the evaluation meeting within the time performance period. She should refer to the accomplishments or areas for
frame set forth by the library. improvement in the current performance year in determining the areas of
focus and planning for the upcoming year.
Sources of Data for Workform 10
Sources of data include the employee’s own notes and documentation on her Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 10
performance throughout the year. Ensure the questions about the current performance year take the entire year
into consideration vs. recent events only.
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 10 Think about the resources and support that will be necessary to accomplish
Encourage employees to think about their entire year’s performance, not just the items listed in answer to the questions in Section B. Be as specific as
recent events. Some employees keep a notebook to jot down key happenings possible so that these can be included in Workform 8, Individual Performance
or milestones in order to remember them when preparing for the evaluation Plan, for the upcoming year.
meeting. Alternatively, employees can keep a copy of this document in their
computer in order to keep a running file on the year’s activities.

145
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 WORKFORM 10  Self-Evaluation

146 
SELF-EVALUATION
Two weeks before the end of the performance period, please reflect on the year 2. What can be done to help you provide better service to your customers
and respond to the following questions. It may also be helpful to keep notes or (internal and external)?
a journal of your accomplishments during the year so that you can refer back to 3. How can your supervisor or others help your succeed?
them at the end of the performance period.
4. What are your career goals for the next three years? Five years? Are they
compatible with the library’s strategy?
A. Current Performance Period
5. What competencies and skills will you need to build to be ready for these
1. Of what accomplishments and skills acquired during this performance goals?
period are you particularly proud? 6. What developmental activities would be helpful to you in building these
2. What areas of your work do you believe need strengthening? skills and competencies?
3. What were you expected to do, what did you do, and what else did period, please reflect upon the year and respond to the following. It may also
you do? be helpful to keep notes or a journal of your accomplishments during the
year so that you may refer back to them at the end of the performance
B. Upcoming Performance Period period.
Please expand as necessary.
1. What can be done to make you more effective in your job?

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 Instructions WORKFORM 11  New Employee Orientation
Purpose of Workform 11 To Complete Workform 11
Use this workform to develop or revamp an employee orientation program and 1. Column A. Review the action items and outline for an orientation program.
plan for the success of new hires. 2. Column B. Note the person who is responsible.
3. Column C. Note the due date.
Sources of Data for Workform 11
Sources of data include your understanding and knowledge of staff and
Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 11
procedures, feedback from new hires and current employees, and personnel
policies and procedures. 1. Developing the basic orientation program will be easier if the library has
a written employee handbook that includes policies and procedures. If it
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 11 doesn’t have policies all in one place, they will need to be gathered and
summarized.
1. Other library staff will be involved in this process, so be sure to plan in
advance and coordinate their schedules. 2. The orientation program can take place in one-half-day blocks over a period
of time to help avoid information overload.
2. Assign one person to manage the orientation process. This may be someone
from your human resources department or a librarian or other person 3. The orientation program should be fun and interactive. Several people
knowledgeable and skilled in adult learning and HR policies. should be involved in conducting it, even if they visit for only a short time,
e.g., to talk about the library’s history and strategic plan, or about their
3. Except for item 6, the outline of an orientation program, this workform
department or service (e.g., children’s programming or circulation) or
should be started by the hiring manager as soon as the new employee has
program (e.g., the employee assistance program).
accepted the library’s offer of employment.
4. The orientation program should not be boring or overwhelming. Remember
4. Spend time during the orientation on customer service (item 6c). Don’t just
that employees can absorb only so much at a time.
state the library’s policies. Give examples, ask employees about good and
bad customer service, ask them to role play a variety of situations, share 5. Ask the library director to attend the orientation program, even just for a few
experiences (both as a customer and a provider), etc. The orientation is a minutes, to welcome new employees.
wonderful opportunity to begin to acculturate new hires into their role as a
leader in providing excellent service to all customers.

147
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 WORKFORM 11  New Employee Orientation

148 
A. New hire (name): ________________________________________________________________ Date of hire: ______________________________

B. Position: _________________________________________________________________________ Department: _____________________________________________________

C. Supervisor: ______________________________________________________________________

D. Staff member tasked with responsibility for the New Hire Orientation Plan: ________________________________________________________________________________

A. B. C.
Actions That Will Ensure Success of New Hires Who Is Responsible Date Due

1. Before the first day of work:

a. Send the employee an agenda of the orientation program.
b. Stay in touch with the employee to answer questions or provide other assistance.
c. Prepare the work area, including space, desk, computer, and telephone.
d. Let staff know that the employee will be starting; encourage coworkers to
stop by and say hello.
e. Develop FAQs that will help the employee get jump-started.

2. Get the paperwork (hiring and insurance forms) out of the way even before the
employee’s first day.

3. If new to the area, help the employee get settled.

4. Make the employee’s first day welcoming. Have balloons; breakfast/lunch to

introduce her to her colleagues; ask the library director to stop by. Create
a positive experience.

5. Start orientation with the basics: what the employee needs to know to get
through the first week(s) of work.
a. Location of restrooms; work hours, lunch and break periods; use of staff lounge
b. Procedures if employee needs to be late for work or leave early
c. Parking, transportation
d. Pay; including payday, procedures for submitting time cards; when and how
paychecks are be distributed
e. Dress
f. Use of telephone and equipment; e-mail
g. Emergency procedures
h. Provide employee handbook
(Cont.)
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 WORKFORM 11  New Employee Orientation (Cont.)

A. B. C.
Actions That Will Ensure Success of New Hires Who Is Responsible Date due

6. Contents of the orientation program should include

a. History and goals of library; governance; organizational structure; vision and
values of the library; ethics
b. Working for a government organization, merit system, role of the board of
trustees
c. Customer service in the library
e. Career development, continuing education; tuition assistance; promotions and
transfers, performance management
f. The role of the union
g. EAP (employee assistance program)
h. Safety, including worker’s compensation
i. Pay and benefits
j. Other:

Note: You could follow your employee handbook and highlight key areas.

7. Ask for feedback about the orientation program in a consistent way (provide a
form). Use the data and make changes.

8. Assign a buddy or mentor.

9. Ensure that managers know that successful orientation is their responsibility.

10. Follow up with the new hire. Check in after 30/60/90 days. Respond to employee’s
needs and concerns. Make changes to the orientation as appropriate.

11. Other:

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

149
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 Instructions WORKFORM 12  Exit Interview Questionnaire

150 
Purpose of Workform 12 To Complete Workform 12
Use this workform to interview employees who have resigned their positions. Section A. Fill in the relevant information.
This will broaden your understanding of how employees see your library. Section B. Fill in employee opinions.
Questions 1–8. Ask the employee these questions.
Sources of Data for Workform 12
Questions 9+. Ask other questions that are relevant to your library.
This is strictly employee opinions, thoughts, and feelings.
Question 13. Ask the employee for any other comments she might have.
Factors to Consider When Completing Workform 12 Question 16. This is the space for interviewer comments, thoughts, and
observations.
1. Let the employee know that the answers she provides are confidential and
the purpose of the exit interview is to learn about her experiences with the
goal of making improvements. Factors to Consider When Reviewing Workform 12
2. Allow the employee to say whatever she chooses to share. 1. How will this data be reported without breaking confidentiality? To whom
3. Do not engage the employee in debate or try to counter her opinions. will it be reported?

4. Do not take what is said personally. 2. What will you do with the data?

5. Prepare follow-up questions and probe gently if the employee is providing 3. Keep in mind the context of the information you are receiving. Did the
superficial answers. employee have “an ax to grind”?

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 12  Exit Interview Questionnaire

EMPLOYEE EXIT INTERVIEW

Section A

A. Employee name: Position: $Pay:

B. Date of hire: Last day of work:

C. Initial position: Final position:

Section B

1. Why are you leaving your job as a __________________________________________________________ at the Library?

2. Did it (the new job) find you or did you find it?

3. If you are going to another job, what does that job offer that your job here did not?

4. What factors contributed to your accepting a job here? Were your expectations met?

5. How would you evaluate your current salary and benefits at the Library? How do these
compare to your salary and benefits in your new job?

6. How would you describe your working relationship with your supervisor?

7. How would you describe the working relationships you had with members of your
branch/unit/department and other members of the staff?

(Cont.)

151
Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 WORKFORM 12  Exit Interview Questionnaire (Cont.)

152 
Section B

8. Did your work fulfill you? Give you a sense of accomplishment? Was it challenging?

9. What could the Library have done to make the job more fulfilling or challenging?

10. Did you feel you had opportunities to expand your knowledge and learning?

11. What knowledge, skills, and abilities do you feel were required to do your job, and did you have them?

12. What did you like best about working at the Library? What did you not like?

13. What comments or suggestions do you have that will help us make the Library an even better place to work?

14. Would you recommend the Library to a friend as a place to work? If yes, why? If no, why not?

15. If there was an opportunity to return, would you?

16. Other comments

Expand as necessary

Completed by_ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Date completed __________________________________________________________

Source of data _____________________________________________________________________________________ Library _ _________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2007 American Library Association. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational purposes.
 Index

A audiences for communications plan, and work by retirees, 110

abilities, definition, 16, 17f 13–14 coaching of employees
accountability, 111. See also evaluation authority and generational differences, monitoring performance, 72, 81
of performance 95 in performance management system,
achievable performance activities, 76 68, 81–83
activities B by retirees, 110
and assessment of staff resources, Baby Boomer generation, 93–94, 95, 96. and substandard performance, 86
24–26 See also generational differences See also mentoring programs
definition, xv, 17 bargaining units and union contracts commitment building, 91–92, 107–111
gap analysis, 22–23 and library culture, 98 committees. See employee climate
identification of, 19–22 on project committee, 10 surveys; project committee
measurable behaviors for, 75–78 and recruitment, 50 communications program
in planning process, xii serving on bargaining team, 101 and employee commitment, 111
and strategic plan, 77 and staff development, 106 as human resources function, 6, 8
activity views, global vs. local, 20, 22f and staffing plan, 30, 34 job descriptions, 46–47
activity-based implementation, 18–24 behavioral interviews, 60, 61f. See also for project, 13–14
administration/employee relations, 3 Workform 6 community vision and needs, xii
advertisements for candidates, 51–52 bench strength of staff resources, 30 compensation and benefits, 3, 8, 30, 99
after-hours interviews, 58 benefits. See compensation and benefits compensation studies vs. job analysis, 39
alternative workplaces, 100 bias in evaluations, 87–88 competencies, definition, 16, 17f
Americans with Disabilities Act, 43, 44 brochures for job candidates, 52 competition for staff, 30
announcements for candidates, 51–52 conferences and job fairs, 52, 53
“applause” awards, 103 C consultants
application forms, 56 candidates, types of, 51. See also and job analysis, 41
approvals recruitment to project committee, 11
gap analysis plan, 30 Career State Theory, 93, 97 costs of training, 79, 80
job descriptions, 46 caregiving responsibilities of employees, 8 courtesy in interviewing, 58–59
See also decision makers challenges to employees, 7. See also cross-training, 30, 106
assessment of required staff resources, training and development culture of library, 97–101
24–35 charge to committee, 11, 12f. See also
determination of needs, 24–26 Workform 1 D
determination of present resources, civil-service systems decision makers
26–27 and library culture, 98 and communications plan, 13–14
develop a plan to bridge gap, 28–30 and recruitment, 50 hiring decision, 62, 63 fig. 21
gap identification, 27–28 and staff development, 106 implementation of staffing plan, 34
implementation of plan, 34–35 and testing of candidates, 57 See also approvals

153
delivery time and place, 21 flexible work schedules, 98–99, 110 job rotation, 79, 106
demotions, voluntary, 100 Friends of the Library, 80 job skills. See knowledge, skills, and
depth of staff resources, 30 abilities (KSA)
development. See training and G job titles, 42–43
development gap analysis, 22–24
disciplinary procedures, 86 identification of gap, 27–28 K
diversity, personal, 100. See also minority and job descriptions, 42 knowledge, definition, 16, 17f
candidates, recruitment of See also Workform 2 knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA)
documentation of performance, 86 generational differences, 48, 59, 93–97 assessment of required staff
draft evaluations, 86 GenX generation, 94, 95, 96 resources, 24–25
dual career-ladder system, 107 goals and objectives definition, 16–18
and activity identification, 19–22, 77 gap analysis, 28
definition, xv interviewer’s understanding of, 60
E
employee support for, 91 in job description, 46
educational requirements in job
and individual performance plans, 80 on-the-job development of, 26, 91
description, 46, 90
in orientation program, 104 and staffing models, 37
effectiveness scale, 20, 21f
and performance management See also job descriptions
effectiveness vs. efficiency, 3–4, 18
system, 67–68, 71
e-learning, 8
in planning process, xii L
employee climate surveys, 108–110
and project definition, 10 labor unions. See bargaining units and
employee referrals, 54
and strategic HR, 5 union contracts
employment law, xiv, 8
Googling candidates, 64 learning plans for employees, 7. See also
equivalency statement in job description,
training and development
46, 56
H legal compliance, xiv, 8
errors in performance ratings, 87–88
health care costs, 7 library board, 13. See also approvals;
“essential duties and responsibilities”
hiring decision, 62, 63 fig. 21 parent jurisdiction
statement, 44–46
hiring interview, 62 library director, 13
evaluation of performance, 83–88
human resources management, library school students as employees,
in performance management system,
overview, 1–4 106–107
72
library website, 52, 53f
360-degree feedback program,
I lifelong employment, 91
106–107
implementation of performance location of library, appeals of, 52
See also Workform 9
management system, 75 loyalty. See commitment building
Event Theory of Generations, 93–95
individual performance plans, 80, 102
excellence, xi
internships, 100 M
exempt employees, 44
interview questions. See questions for management tasks, 4–5
exit interviews, 7, 108, 150–152
candidates measurable performance activities,
expectations of employees, 91, 92–97,
interviews, exit. See exit interviews 75–78, 76
101–103
interviews of candidates, 57–64 media and communications plan, 13
experience of candidates, 61–62
at conferences and job fairs, 53 mentoring programs, 79, 96, 107. See also
export of jobs to developing countries, 8
principles, 58–59, 62 coaching of employees
types of interviews, 59–60, 61f metrics. See statistics and metrics
F interviews of employees in job analysis, Millennial generation, 94, 95, 96. See also
Facebook, 64 41 generational differences
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 44 minority candidates, recruitment of, 52,
family, changing definition of, 8 J 54, 55f
family leave policies, 99, 100 job analysis, 39–41 monitoring performance, 72, 81. See also
feedback from employees, 83, 105 job classifications, 30 coaching of employees
feedback to employees job descriptions, 38–47 motivation of employees. See
conflicts between generations, 95 analysis of job, 39–41 commitment building
in evaluations, 68, 81–83 flexibility of and gaps in staff, 30 MySpace, 64
specificity, 87 planning, 16
360-degree feedback program, writing of, 42–46 N
106–107 See also Workform 4 needs assessment. See assessment of
See also recognition programs job fairs, 54 required staff resources
flexibility of culture, 97 job offers, 65–66 networking, social, 54–56

154  Index
new employees. See orientation policies and procedures, 68, 98 S
programs position description questionnaires safety and security, 7–8
new or reallocated staff, planning for, (PDQs), 39–41. See also Workform screening candidates, 56–57
28–30 3 self-esteem and feedback, 82–83
nonexempt employees, 44 pre-planning. See planning, preparation self-evaluation by employees, 83, 86. See
numeric analysis, 26 for also Workform 10
present resources, determination of, sick leave policies, 99
O 26–27 skills, definition, 16, 17f. See also
oral interviews, 60 priorities, establishment of, xiii knowledge, skills, and abilities
organizational structure, 37, 92 problem employees, 6 (KSA)
orientation programs, 104–106. See also process analysis, 26–27 SMART activities in performance plans,
Workform 11 professional associations 75–78
for human resources professionals, sourcing. See recruitment
P xiv sourcing techniques and strategies,
paid time off, 99, 100 and recruitment, 54–56 50–51
parent jurisdiction trainers from, 80 specificity in performance expectations,
and communications plan, 13 project committee, selection of, 10–11, 75
and flexibility in policies, 12f. See also Workform 1 staff association, 10
100–101 project definition, 9–10 staff concerns about job analysis, 39
and performance management project management, 9–10 staff referrals, 54
systems, 71 promotion of library, 53 staff training. See training and
on project committee, 11 development
training by, 80 Q Staffing for Results, 26–27
PDQs. See position description quality of work, measurement of, 77 statistics and metrics, 6, 81
questionnaires (PDQs) quantity of work, measurement of, 77 strategic HR, 31–32
people-management practices, 6 questions for candidates, 60–61, 63 fig. characteristics of, 6–7
performance essentials, 83 20. See also Workform 6 gaps in staff, 28–30
performance levels, 85 questions for references. See references staffing models, 37, 38f
performance management system, for candidates vs. tactical HR, 4–5
67–89 strategic plan, 18, 71, 77
advantages, 69 R structured interviews, 60, 61f. See also
cycle of, 70f reallocation of staff, 26–28 Workform 6
definition, 68, 69 recognition programs, 102–103. See also substandard performance, 86
development of, 70–73 feedback to employees substitute pool, 100
as human resources function, 3, 7 recruiters, 51 success, different ideas about, 97–98
management of, 73–74 recruitment, 49–56 succession planning, 7, 96
review of, 88 as human resources function, 3, 6–7 suggestion programs, 103
performance planning internal vs. external, 49–50 supervisors
for individuals, 75–80 (see also techniques and strategies, 51–56 feedback from employees, 83
Workform 8) See also Workform 5 monitoring of performance, 72, 75, 81
in performance management system, references for candidates, 64–65. See also performance evaluation meetings,
71–72 Workform 7 83–88
performance planning meeting, 80 relevant performance activities, 76 reviews of PDQs, 40–41
performance review meeting, 86–87 results effectiveness scale, 21 training of, 73–74, 98
performance-based interviews, 60, 61f. retention plan, 90–112 See also dual career-ladder system
See also Workform 6 and building commitment, 107–111 supplemental questions on job
personal leave options, 100 and culture of library, 97–101 applications, 56–57
personal questions in interviews, 62 and expectations for employees, survey design, 109
personnel administration, limitedness 101–103 SurveyMonkey.com, 109
of, 2 generational differences, 92–97 surveys
planning cycle review, 34–35 as human resources function, 3, 7 and consultants, 11
Planning for Results process, xi–xiii training, 103–107 employee climate surveys, 108–110
planning, preparation for, 9–14 retirees as resource, 110
communications plan, 13–14 retirements, preparation for, 8 T
project committee, 10–11 review of workforce plan, 34–35 tactical HR, 4–5, 28–30
project definition, 9–10 rewards and incentives, 102–103 target audience effectiveness scale, 21

Index  155
task force assignments, 79, 106 KSAs for staff, 17–18 Workform 3: Position Description
technology trends, 8, 36–37 measurable objectives, 77–78 Questionnaire, 40–41, 118–123
telecommuting, 100 monitoring performance, 81 Workform 4: Job Description Template,
telephone interviews, 59 overview, xv 43, 124–125
testing of candidates, 57 trends in HR, 7–8 Workform 5: Recruitment Process, 56,
360-degree feedback program, 106–107 tuition support, 106 126–127
time requirements for performance Workform 6: Developing Interview
activities, 76 U Questions, 62, 128–129
tools for training activities, 78–80 union contracts. See bargaining units and Workform 7: Reference Check Form,
Traditionalist generation, 93, 94f, 95–96. union contracts 64–65, 130–133
See also generational differences Workform 8: Individual Performance
training and development, 103–107 V Plan, 75, 80, 134–137
career stage theory, 97 videoconferencing interviews, 59 Workform 9: Performance Evaluation
and commitment, 111 voluntary demotions, 100 Tool, 83, 138–144
and depth of staff resources, 30 vouchers as rewards, 103 Workform 10: Self-Evaluation, 86,
and generational differences, 98 145–147
as human resources function, 3 W Workform 11: New Employee
orientation programs, 104–106 web recruitment, 52, 53f Orientation, 105, 148–149
in performance management system, work environment and culture, 98 Workform 12: Exit Interview
72, 73–74, 78 work in libraries, types of, 15–18 Questionnaire, 108, 150–152
provision of, 78–80 workforce needs and retention, 92–97 workforms, use of, xvii
trends, 8 workforce plan work/life balance
Tree County Library (case study) and gap analysis, 23–24 in advertising, 53f
assessment of present staff resources, implementation of, 34–35 conflicts between generations, 95
26 Workform 1: Committee Charge, 11, valuing, 98–101
assessment of required staff 108–109, 114–115 workplace and workforce dynamics, 30
resources, 24–25 Workform 2: Gap Analysis, 116–117 work-study programs, 100
charge to committee, 11, 12f sample, 25, 26, 27f, 29f, 33
job description, 44, 45f use of, 23

156  Index
Jeanne Goodrich is a consultant and trainer who specializes in public library planning,
work and workflow analysis, and data collection and analysis. Before going into consult-
ing full-time, she was deputy director of the Multnomah County Library in Portland,
Oregon. She has more than thirty-five years of experience in public library management,
including directing medium-sized libraries and serving as deputy director for library devel­
op­ment at a state library agency. She is the coauthor of Staffing for Results: A Guide to
Working Smarter (2002).

Paula M. Singer is the principal consultant of The Singer Group, Inc., a firm specializing
in compensation, leadership and human resources development, strategic planning, suc-
cession planning, and orga­nization design. She has more than twenty years of experience
as a consultant. She also teaches graduate classes in orga­nization development and stra-
tegic human resources at Johns Hopkins University. Singer is the author of Developing a
Compensation Plan for Your Library (2002) and a coauthor of Winning with Library Leadership:
Enhancing Ser­vices through Connection, Contribution, and Collaboration (2004) and Best Practices
in Learning and Development (2002).
E
xpanding on the highly effective PLA Results Series, Goodrich and
Singer offer a strategic approach to the human resources (HR)
function in the library. The book focuses on a variety of possible
projects and how to staff them, allowing each library to decide where and
when to focus its attention.

• Align staff resources with what needs to be done

• Identify the right people for the right jobs and develop
meaningful job descriptions
• Create a high-performance workforce through performance
plans, coaching, and evaluations
• Retain the best and brightest by creating a positive culture,
designing expectations, and building commitment

Packed with practical tools, this hands-on guide includes a familiar case
study that illustrates how the information can be applied, along with twelve
workforms to help collect and organize the data needed for making informed
HR decisions.

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