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View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
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View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
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View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsNurseGrid and Keener - HealthStream's mobile apps built by nurses, for nurses - help nurses take control of their schedules, practice self-care, and build a more sustainable career.
View All ProductsTake the stress out of scheduling with real-time technology that engages nurses and healthcare workers from HealthStream.
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View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreBy Donna Wright, MS, RN, Consultant, Creative Health Care Management
Performance appraisal and competency assessment fall into the same basic family, but they also have some differences. Performance appraisal often refers to the overall employee evaluation. Competency assessment is the component of a performance appraisal that evaluates the current competencies required for the job. Performance appraisal and competency assessment may or may not be linked in the same paper/automation tracking system, but they are both part of the employee evaluation process in its fundamental concepts.
Here are a few basic guidelines around how the timing of each evaluation system should be handled:
Some organizations do performance appraisals on the anniversary of hire for each employee. Other organizations select a date that all employees will have their performance appraisals. The overall purpose of performance appraisal time is to formally have a chance where supervisor and employee can have a discussion. During this time the supervisor and employee review the year and overall performance of the individual, as well as set goals for the next year. This meeting is NOT the only time you evaluate the employee. That is actually being done throughout the year. If there is a performance issue on any day of work, a supervisor will address it at the time rather than waiting months to bring up the issue.
Because competency assessment reflects the ever-changing nature of the job, competency assessment is communicating the latest expectations of skill required in the job functions. Therefore each employee needs to have the same time frame to accomplish this development or advancement of the new requirements or changes in knowledge or skill. If you used anniversary dates, employees would have different time frames within which to complete the required competencies. Legally, that would be viewed as not providing employees with equal opportunities in the job.
For example, if one of the new competencies for this year is that all employees of a certain job category need to know how to operate a new piece of equipment, each employee must learn how to use it and verify their competency of its use. If you use anniversary dates, then some employees may only have a few week to achieve and show competence, and other employees would have 8 – 9 months to do the same expectation around this competency. Therefore in the same job category, you would have different expectations for employees. That would be viewed as an unfair employment practice and should be avoided.
One aspect of competency assessment is articulating what is new and changing in the job. Then the second part of competency assessment is verifying those expectations. By doing competency assessment on a cyclical basis, every employee is given the same time to complete the competency assessment.
Competency assessment and performance appraisal can be done together as one system or they can each be done separately in two tracking processes. Either is OK; just know the purpose and rationale your organization has for each and how you will use this information in overall employee evaluation. This will help keep your system strong and healthy for all employees and the organization.
A staff development specialist known for her irreverent wit, Donna brings a global perspective to her work. In this country and in the over two dozen others, Donna’s best known for the work she does based on two of her books, The Ultimate Guide to Competency Assessment and Relationship-Based Care (co-authored with several Creative Health Care Management colleagues). The Ultimate Guide has become the industry standard for HR departments in establishing and assessing competency, and Donna specializes in setting up systems for organizations to ensure accountability and measure competency. Contact Donna at dwright@chcm.com.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsImprove the preparedness of your staff, increase survival rates, and cut costs with the advanced resuscitation training services from HealthStream.
View All ResuscitationNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsDelivers everything you need to request, gather, and validate information about a provider to create a single source of truth for downstream processes.
View All CredentialingMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All Scheduling & Capacity ManagementNurseGrid and Keener - HealthStream's mobile apps built by nurses, for nurses - help nurses take control of their schedules, practice self-care, and build a more sustainable career.
View All ProductsTake the stress out of scheduling with real-time technology that engages nurses and healthcare workers from HealthStream.
View All ProductsProvide an easier way to view healthcare staff capacity insights while seeing a patient’s journey with HealthStream’s operational intelligence and machine learning products.
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