Management
Whether large or small, each election office is an organization that must function well year-round to meet the myriad responsibilities of administering elections. The necessary abilities include building a positive culture, navigating resource needs and effective staffing through hiring, training and management. Together, these operational competencies allow election offices to carry out their regular duties and foster a resilient organization capable of adapting to changing technologies, laws and voter needs. This is one of five standards that define excellence in election office operations. This draft standard will be updated based on feedback from the election community.
Standard
Your election office effectively manages and retains competent staff by providing clear expectations, ongoing support, and recognition. To achieve this standard:
- You define roles to allow for specialization and delegate work to balance workloads.
- Your managers motivate staff by connecting the mission and values of your work to employees’ job functions.
- You delegate meaningful work that provides staff with leadership opportunities and ownership of their work.
- You strive for flexibility to accommodate staff members’ individual needs, autonomy, and preferences.
- You solicit feedback from staff and find opportunities to improve based on their suggestions.
- You regularly provide staff with specific and timely feedback, recognition, and coaching.
- Your staff receive regular performance evaluations across all positions and are offered opportunities for improvement, professional development, or advancement.
- Your managers receive ongoing management development and feedback to continually grow their mindset and tools.
Why this standard matters
It is important that we are explicit about the underlying why for each standard. While not attached to measurements, the intended impact of an election department achieving this standard is that:
- Staff will be empowered to make decisions, solve problems, and act as leaders to support the integrity of elections.
- Staff will feel supported and appreciated at work, leading to greater job satisfaction.
- Election departments will reduce employee turnover, resulting in more stability and office resilience.