Measuring quality: evaluating personnel competencies

Historically, quality and performance evaluation have been considered a management responsibility and have been completed retrospectively. In this article, I am proposing a radical shift. Specifically, I am encouraging the elimination of performance appraisals and, in their place, the introduction of continuous progress reviews and competency assessments which are initiated by each individual, not by management. Quality care will continuously improve in direct relationship to improved personnel competence which can be measured by using established quality indicators and expected client outcomes.