“I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas.”

Jack Handy

Writing Critical Results

Critical Results must be achievable, observable, objective, and results-oriented. A good place to begin is with a Purpose Statement. This need not necessarily be a written statement, although that may be a wise step, particularly for new positions and/or new employees. The Purpose Statement is: why the position exists, what the key duties are, and who benefits. Position Descriptions (PD) contain much of this information, and provide descriptions of duties and activities. The Purpose Statement should also be linked to the BLM’s and organizational unit’s strategic goals. When descriptions of duties and activities are converted into statements of desired accomplishments for a given rating period, these are the EPPRR Critical Results.

Once you have drafted the Critical Results, scan for words and phrases which could indicate a problem with how they are written. An abundance of verbs (i.e. writes reports, serves customers, conducts meetings) may indicate you have only described activities and not accomplishments. Take for example: “Employee conducts inventories and writes reports.” This only describes activities. “Employee conducts inventories and completes written reports on the five areas assigned within the established timeframe of one per month.” Now this Critical Result describes a measurable and observable result of the activities. Also look for these words and phrases:

courteous, safe, friendly, positive attitude, enthusiastic, up-beat	You may be straying into the pitfall of including conduct and/or personality traits into the EPPRR.
team, group	Only hold the employee accountable for what they can be held responsible for as an individual.
all, always, never, no, none	You may have written an unreasonable and unattainable Critical Result.
late, fails (“i.e. Fails to meet production deadlines 5% of the time.”)	Write positive Critical Results (i.e. “Meets production deadlines 95% of the time.”)
usually, most, timely, high quality, generally, applies knowledge, demonstrates ability, uses skills	Consider omitting vague and subjective terms from the Critical Result, assuming that you then link the Critical Result to the applicable Performance Indicator(s).
percent (i.e. “performs accurate work 93% of the time”) specific number (i.e. “answers every call within 4 rings”)	Be practical when determining what and how you will measure accomplishment. Utilize tracking systems already in place if possible.

A good test of whether the Critical Results are well written is to visualize what it would take for the employee to either fall short or surpass each Critical Result. Critical Results are often written such that the range of acceptable performance is just too broad and/or vague. Above all, concentrate on writing Critical Results that describe desired accomplishments, and time-frames for completion, rather than just the activities leading up to it. It is also a good idea to provide for some flexibility to account for changes in priorities or circumstances that could occur during the rating period.

Contents

Why Appraise Performance?

Why Don't Some Employees Perform

Understanding the EPPRR Form

Conduct, Performance, and EPPRRS

Ways to Motivate High Performers

Writing Critical Results

EPPRR Do's and Don'ts

Credits/Intro