Are Open Data Efforts Working?; Government Technology, March 2018

Adam Stone, Government Technology; Are Open Data Efforts Working?

"Data managers say that in their fondest dreams, they’ll do more than count data sets and track clicks. They are looking for metrics that connect open data to social outcomes.

Are babies healthier because of open data? Are streets safer? That’s the holy grail of open data metrics, and data chiefs from cities large and small agree that we’re not there yet. In these still-early days of open data, there’s no algorithm that will cleanly and clearly describe the impact of open data on society at large.

“There needs to be more conversation at the national level about how to measure success, especially on the public side,” Roche said. “Maybe there needs to be a standard set of metrics across cities to let us benchmark the use of open data. It’s something we all need to be exploring.”"

Openness Is Key to Becoming Employer of Choice for Millennials; Inside Counsel, February 17, 2017

Devdeep Ghosh, Ally Klein, Inside Counsel; 

Openness Is Key to Becoming Employer of Choice for Millennials

"To drive change, it is important that these values are communicated to the entire department through sustained campaigning. While documented policies and guidelines (both from an HR and departmental perspective) are essential, it is critical to design a messaging campaign around the rollout of such culture-building initiatives. In the messaging campaign it is critical to answer the “what’s in it for me?” question; i.e., the law department needs to show how these values and the openness help each and every attorney and staff member in their daily work. The rollout of such a campaign needs to have a framework that will work in a loop to identify and develop the content needed, roll out the message, gather feedback and revise periodically. The framework should include types of communications, proposed media, frequency/cadence and audience, as well as success measures.

To ensure a cultural change, law departments also need to find a way to measure and review their alignment to these values. For example, criteria can be built into performance management reviews in order to ensure that all attorneys and staff are adhering to and promoting a culture of openness and collaboration instead of one that solely promotes competitiveness and individual merit. The law department should promote and require open feedback, as well as encourage employees to share information and be honest, responsive and transparent with their colleagues."

Rethinking the Much-Dreaded Employee Evaluation | Leading from the Library; Library Journal, 6/30/16

Steven Bell, Library Journal; Rethinking the Much-Dreaded Employee Evaluation | Leading from the Library:

"Perhaps the most frustrating part of employee evaluations is determining rankings—or figuring out what they mean. I’m supposed to rate librarians on their ethics. How exactly does someone earn “significantly exceeds expectations”? Still, it’s an improvement over the old point system, where staff were rated on a scale of zero to four. Is an employee earning a 3.7 more ethical than one earning a 3.2? Even employee evaluations for dummies is barely helpful in figuring this out. I’ve evaluated staff using the most simplistic of paper forms and sophisticated electronic systems, and I’ve yet to figure out just exactly how we make sense out of some final overall ranking number or label. It’s the necessary evil of having to produce ratings that detracts from the benefits we can derive from the annual employee performance review system. What really matters is having a system for structured reviews and conversations that allow us to set goals, monitor progress, build strengths, and celebrate accomplishments. Leaders need to develop employee reviews that make sense and truly contribute to worker growth."

Why John Deere Measures Employee Morale Every Two Weeks; Harvard Business Review, 5/24/16

Brad Power, Harvard Business Review; Why John Deere Measures Employee Morale Every Two Weeks:

"Here’s an example Tome shared with me: In one cycle, a high-performing employee scored his motivation lower than normal. There were no visible signs of problems: the employee was still highly productive, engaged, and a pleasure to work with. However, in the next cycle his motivational score dropped even more. Although there was still with no visible change in his performance, the survey raised a red flag and prompted a manager to understand the employee’s issue. It turned out the employee had concerns about his career development, which the manager was able to resolve. By paying attention to the motivation metric, the issue was caught quickly before there were any performance problems, and there was no need for any formal corrective actions.

Without regular, frequent updates on the state of morale, most managers become aware of issues only when they show up in employee performance – e.g., a missed deadline or botched effort – or when the employee quits. At that point it is often too late or too difficult to address the motivation problem because then there are actually two problems that must be solved: the performance issue and the motivation issue. The early warning provided by motivation data changes the conversation from, “We need to address your performance issue” to “Help me understand why you are feeling the way you are.”"