14 · Survey Results: Executive Summary
(21 of 49 responses) reported that they adjusted com-
pensation after a systematic review. Twenty-seven
percent (13 responses) take a more ad hoc approach,
adjusting compensation only after an employee raised
a concern, and 20% (10 responses) indicated they don’t
make adjustments to employees’ compensation.
Compensation management challenges are preva-
lent among 44 responding libraries: 66% (29 respons-
es) indicated they are unable to offer competitive merit
raises, 52% (23 responses) indicated that their salaries
are not competitive with similar jobs external to the
organization, and 41% (18 responses) indicated that
salaries are not equitable within the organization.
Performance Assessment
Performance assessment is the most commonly used
management process and has a correlation with im-
proved performance (Effron and Ort 2010). This sec-
tion of the survey asked about the use and frequency
of performance assessments, as well as which employ-
ees received assessments.
Nearly all of the responding libraries (50 of 51,
or 98%) offer performance assessments annually.
However, annual performance assessments are not
conducted for all employee segments. Almost all li-
brary support staff and other professional staff (49
of 51 responses each, or 96%) receive annual perfor-
mance assessments. Fewer professional librarians
(41 responses, or 80%), unit managers (42 responses,
or 82%), and executives (40 responses, or 78%) receive
annual performance assessments. Qualitative data
for those who receive appraisals on a non-annual
basis show that some professional librarians receive
biannual appraisals and tenured librarians tend to not
receive appraisals. Several responses indicated that
head librarians and deans receive appraisals every 5
years when their contracts were up for renewal.
The most prevalent challenges libraries face with
performance assessments are inconsistency in rat-
ings and rate inflation (23 of 47 responses, or 49%).
Additionally, 19% (9 responses) indicated that staff
compensation is not aligned with performance.
Competencies
“A competency is a measurable characteristic of a
person that is related to success at work. It may be a
behavioral skill, a technical skill, an attribute (such
as intelligence), or an attitude (such as optimism)”
(Lombardo and Eichinger 2001, p. 5). While the litera-
ture is not conclusive, it does suggest that the use of
competencies has a positive influence on employee
engagement, employee satisfaction, and manager suc-
cess (Effron and Ort 2010). This section of the survey
explored competency usage among libraries and iden-
tified the top critical competencies needed.
Thirty-one of 50 respondents (62%) have identified
competencies for their employees. About two-thirds
of these use or refer to competency models devel-
oped by one of the library associations. The others use
models developed by their university or state human
resources offices. When asked whether competencies
are aligned with organizational strategy, responses
presented a wide range of alignments: three of 24
respondents (13%) indicated they had identified com-
petencies that are aligned with the library strategic
plan and are used for all employees. One library has
aligned competencies to the library strategic plan, but
they only use them for non-librarian staff. The most
prevalent theme was that the library used the univer-
sity-defined competencies that were aligned with the
university strategy (6 of 24 responses, or 25%).
The most compelling data from the competen-
cies section identified the top critical competencies
employees need to possess in order for libraries to be
successful. Of the 31 respondents who answered the
question, 45% (14 responses) indicated communica-
tion, 45% indicated collaboration and teamwork, and
32% (10 responses) indicated flexibility and adaptabil-
ity. Some referred to the communication competency
as having writing and verbal skills and others defined
it as an organizational practice of internal and exter-
nal communication.
Professional Development
In a study by the Corporate Leadership Council (2004),
personalized development plans and a commitment
to employees’ careers had a significant impact on dis-
cretionary effort put forth by employees. Additionally,
training and development programs that use a mix
of experience-based (on-the-job experience), people-
based (learning through others such as mentors and
coaching), and traditional learning methods (such as
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