Subject: Response to Civil Grand Jury Report No. 1406, Entitled "county Employee Evaluations" Recommendation(s):*

Board of Supervisors and the County Administrator have stated that "departments are required to conduct annual performance reviews on all employees." Response: The respondent agrees with the finding. Although the September 11, 2007 response to Grand Jury Report No. 0709 included agreement to the recommendation that "departments are required to conduct annual performance reviews on all employees" a clear policy was not developed. The August 21, 2012 response to Grand Jury report number 1214 did include an informal policy. That policy direction has been implemented and staff has begun the process of developing the tools for implementation. Implementation has taken much longer than anticipated due to the complexities involved with the number of classifications. Approximately half of the employees (over 4,000 employees) in the County do not receive

annual evaluations. Response: The respondent partially disagrees with the finding. Data collected during October of 2013 for evaluation completions during FY 2012-2013, may not appropriately capture the previous year's annual evaluation completions. Additionally, the numbers reported were for formally documented performance evaluations. Some departments responded that informal meetings between supervisors and staff were conducted annually, if not more frequently, to discuss individual employee's performance and goals. Therefore, employees not accounted for in the reported numbers, may be receiving informal annual evaluations.

The two largest departments, Health Services and Employment and Human Services accounted for over 3,000 incomplete evaluations last year (FY 2012-2013). Response: The respondent agrees with the finding. Based on the information reported by both departments in October of 2013, they accounted for over 3,000 incomplete evaluations during the FY 2012-2013. However, the number of evaluations is understated due to the lack of centralized reporting of these reviews. Responsibility for tracking performance reviews by department heads has not improved

completion rates. Response: The respondent partially disagrees with the finding, other factors have hindered evaluation completions during the reporting period, which are not specifically tied to the Response to Grand Jury Report No. 1406 delegation of responsibility to department heads. For example, the Department of Conservation and Development was in the process of transitioning to a new, more detailed performance evaluation tool. During that time, performance evaluation completions were put on hold until agreements were reached with labor unions. Additionally, plans to track evaluations through a centralized tool have been delayed due to extended implementation.

While most departments have an internal function to track employee evaluations, many of these departments track only probationary and merit/step increases as required by the County for pay increases. Response: The respondent agrees with the finding.

Merit/step increases can term out as quickly (typically 5 years for most job classifications) resulting in long-term employees not receiving performance evaluations for years or even decades. Response: The respondent agrees with this finding. Departments that do not have internal practices of completing annual evaluations after an employee has reached their final salary step may result in long-term employees not receiving performance evaluations. There is no formal written county-wide policy on completing annual evaluations for all

employees except for the response to past Grand Jury reports by the Board of Supervisors. Response: The respondent agrees with this finding.

Only half of the departments in the County have a written policy concerning conducting annual employee evaluations. Response: The respondent agrees with this finding.

Departments are not reporting annual evaluation completion rates to the County Administrator or the Board of Supervisors. Response: The respondent agrees with the finding.