I had my annual performance review with the City Council at the Council’s May 19 meeting. The review is organized as an internal 360-degree review facilitated by an outside consultant. The Council likes it that way because it provides a little greater separation for employees to be honest and forthcoming with their comments about my performance. I also provide the Council a self-assessment of my performance from the past year.
The consultant consolidates the comments and self-assessment into a report which is presented to the Council in closed session. The Council discusses the report and their own individual experiences with me during the past year. Then they wrap it all up into a final report that is shared with me. They also deliver a short verbal report at that evening’s Council meeting.
Included in my self-assessment are the performance goals that I proposed for myself for the upcoming year. I share them each year about this time in my blog as I think it’s helpful to my co-workers if they know what I’m trying to accomplish in the upcoming year. Most of my goals are actually accomplished through others, so it’s both interesting and necessary for them to know what I’ve got my eye on for the year ahead.
For 2009-2010, here they are:
1. Lead the City through an organizational contraction in 2009 with minimal loss of employee morale or public confidence.
2. Lead an effort to acquire federal funds to complete the environmental remediation of the WAFTA site.
3. Build a local City-Business coalition to advocate for transportation improvements to benefit the Golden Triangle Office & Industrial Park area.
4. Write a quarterly commentary for the local newspapers.
5. Lead the City’s effort to prepare a plan for the continuation of City operations during a public health pandemic emergency.
Those are the the goals. That’s not all that I’ll be working on in the year ahead. 90% of my job is recurring stuff: budget, personnel and other organizational management issues. The biggest challenge coming up this year will be the city’s 2010-2011 budget planning process. We are facing financial constraints like we’ve never experienced before. Keeping both expenses and revenues moderated for the next two years is going to take equal doses of creativity and discipline.
I work with a lot of smart people here. I am confident that we are up for the challenge.
