Attachment #6
ESP Program – General Guide for Topic Expert Evaluators
Why you have been chosen as an evaluator.
Your role as evaluator is critical to the success of the program. You are the one who must recognize good and usable ideas contained in employee suggestions, bring them to management’s attention, and see that they are implemented and the suggester rewarded. Open-minded, fair and prompt evaluations will encourage others to participate, increase program credibility, promote a spirit of cooperation, and generate more good ideas to benefit the County, and create financial rewards for employees.
Your role also is to exercise judgment to prevent the acceptance of frivolous or ineligible suggestions or ideas which cost more time, effort, and money than yield benefit, thereby protecting the integrity of the program.
YOU have been chosen for these qualities:
Openness to innovation.
Objectivity in judgments and recommendations.
Respect for fellow employees.
Flexibility – Your ability to see the merit in a seemingly impractical suggestion and your ability to make changes to make an idea work.
Analytic ability – Your ability to review records, investigate possibilities, project and document savings, and understand ESP rules.
Communication skills – Your ability to communicate orally with others in your Department who know about current operations to get their input about the suggestion and your writing ability to complete a thorough and clear review.
Familiarity with Department and County operations.
Promptness – Your understanding that fair and prompt evaluations promote program success. The faster evaluation and implementation occur, the sooner suggesters receive their awards.
These are the qualities to use as you make your evaluations!
Preliminary Evaluation of a Suggestion
Am I the appropriate evaluator?
Upon receipt, read the suggestion promptly to see whether it falls within your area of knowledge and responsibility. If you are not the right person to evaluate the suggestion, return it to the ESP Coordinator so that it can quickly be reassigned.
Do I need to know more?
Make sure you understand just what the suggester has written so that you can proceed with your evaluation. If you wish to get clarification from the suggester, contact the ESP Coordinator with your request.
Whose input shall I seek?
Contact both managers and employees affected by the suggestion – they are the people who will ultimately make it work. Find out how things are done and how the suggestions might make improvements. Suggestions may be implemented in a modified form and still be eligible for an award.
Completing the Evaluation Form
The time allowed to complete an evaluation is 30 days. Within this time period all necessary contacts should be made, evaluator(s) should complete their reviews, calculation of benefits be made and explanation of the recommendation be written. If, as you work on the evaluation, it becomes apparent that you will not be able to meet the time frame, please let your ESP Coordinator know as soon as possible.
Subject Eligibility
Before forwarding a suggestion to you, the ESP Office will have checked for ineligible subjects such as the following: issues of personal grievance, compensation or position classification; changes in County fees; problems that can be resolved through routine maintenance or stricter enforcement of existing regulations; recommendation of a specific brand or matter outside County control.
Other items are also ineligible and you, as Departmental evaluator, are asked to screen out such suggestions which:
*Duplicate previous suggestions or purpose similar applications to one already considered.
*Suggestion concerns matters that management is considering or considered in the past or implemented more than 60 days before. (An employee, who has presented an idea informally which has been implemented, may apply for payment by formally submitting the suggestion to the ESP Office within 60 days of implementation.)
*Result from assigned or contracted audits, studies, review, or research.
*Relate to new systems, equipment, procedures, or forms that are already being evaluated.
If your response on the evaluation form is that the suggestion is not new to your Department, or that it has been considered before, please explain the Department’s prior experience with the idea, indicate what documentation of this prior experience exists, and return the form to your ESP Coordinator. You will not be asked to do an evaluation if the suggestion is ineligible.
Remarks
Explain why you do or do not favor adopting the suggestion. Your words will be used in response to the suggester. Please be sure to reflect a thorough examination of all the issues presented and try to provide the type of explanation that you would want to receive, with sensitivity to rejections. The explanation for adopted suggestions, including where and how improvements and savings are achieved, will form the basis for scripts used during award ceremonies.
Helpful Hints
Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the current situation or process. Gather data; talk with employees to be affected by the proposed change.
Pose the following questions to yourself:
*Does the problem addressed in the suggestion really exist?
*Will the proposed solution resolve the problem, i.e., will the idea work?
*What improvement will it make and how? (Does the suggester make a logical case for savings even if calculations are not precise; is the suggester making valid points even if technical terms are absent?)
*Is there a better solution to the problem?
*Would implementation bring undesirable side effects that would destroy the value of the suggestion?
*Should the suggestion be tested?
Recommendation
Summarize your evaluation with a recommendation to implement, to not adopt, or to defer adoption.
For recommendations to “implement,” indicate whether the suggestion has been or will be implemented and the date. Indicate suggester eligibility for monetary award. Indicate estimated quantifiable savings or point score for non-quantifiable benefits and associated award.
For recommendations to “defer adoption,” explain reason. Indicate type of testing or further evaluation to be done to determine the workability of the idea.
Summary of Evaluation Steps
Be positive, look for ways to make a suggestion work.
Get the facts.
Check the eligibility.
Look at costs and savings.
Amortize new costs.
Test the idea.
Implement the suggestion.
Write a clear and concise explanation.
Return evaluation to your coordinator within the time limit (30 days).
The ESP Coordinator will convene the evaluation panel for final disposition of the suggestion.
Calculation of Benefits
When a suggestion is recommended for implementation, the benefits of the suggestion must be calculated. This calculation will form the basis of payment. If rejection of the suggestion is for economic reasons, show how costs exceed savings in your remarks.
First check whether suggestion benefits are “tangible” or “intangible.” Then use the appropriate evaluation form to calculate the award.