Organization and staff renewal using assessment

Collect data that will help library leaders make informed decisions. Look at the library's stated mission, goals, and strategy plan. Examine the budget and how resources have been used to learn what the priorities have been. All of this information contributes to a better understanding of the mission and values of the organization. It can also be useful for targeting particular areas of the organization that need further study. The data can help to identify barriers to success. Follow through by distributing results of the assessment and discussing them widely in the library. The recommendations should be thoroughly reviewed and discussed and then approved, revised, or tabled by the library's leaders. Generally a team or individual with the help of a committee and individual stakeholders will work on implementation.

Libraries must be sure to evaluate the results of assessment. Consider the reasons the library had for undertaking the assessment and consequent changes. Has the library met the goals and collected all the necessary information? Has the library implemented changes with success? Interview the stakeholders to find out if the assessment has allowed them to analyze the workflow and make changes based on the information they collected. Follow-up is usually the responsibility of an implementation team or the managers of the area. Review the success of the changes after they have gone into effect by seeking information from managers and staff in the areas that have been affected by the assessment. Personal interviews or written reports elicit information about what is working well and what is not working well. If the library has installed formal performance measures, see how performance has changed. Has it improved? If not, what adjustments must be made? By whom? Continue to review findings, and do periodic assessments. Make revisions and further changes as necessary. After this kind of approach is well established, issues and events can be addressed efficiently as they arise.

Continue to plan, test ways to measure and assess performance, and make changes based on the results of your assessment. Continue to employ methods that work: tools such as change management techniques, excellent communication, flexibility, training for future needs, planning, and participation. Continue to develop employees with an interest in and the skills to do measurement and evaluation, analysis of data and results, seeking and interpreting feedback, and change management. Develop employees with an understanding of organizational structure and development, theories of learning, individual and group development, analysis and intervention skills, and leadership development. Keep staff involved in assessment activities and be responsive to their career and development needs.

An example of a system-wide analysis of jobs that led to redesign of work by library staff is described by Hayes and Sullivan (2003) and was conducted by four suburban Chicago libraries--Cary Area Public Library District, Des Plaines Public Library, Ela Area Public Library District in Lake Zurich, and Warren-Newport Public Library District in Gurnee. In this project the library staffs were heavily involved in the outcome; they were trained to conduct the workflow analysis and redesign of jobs themselves. The library directors shared a goal "to identify a means to create a work culture in which library staff would contribute high-quality performance and in which they would find meaning and purpose in the ever changing workplace" (Hayes & Sullivan, 2003, pp. 87-88). Results of the study include a deeper involvement on the part of staff in designing work and solving problems by looking at how the change will affect customer service. It has stimulated interest in changing work to serve customers better, and staff participate more in decision-making activities in the libraries (Hayes & Sullivan, 2003).