Performance Development

Managers and employees may reach out to Human Resource Services (HRS) for assistance with any part of the performance development process or performance reviews. Assistance may include: reviewing a performance review for content and proper wording prior to the review meeting; help with making a decision regarding an overall evaluation rating; answering questions regarding the availability of training and development programs; assisting in the coaching effort as it relates to an employee’s performance gaps; assisting an employee prepare for a performance review meeting; and/or providing guidance with planning difficult conversations, moving forward with a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), or disciplinary action. Requests for assistance may be directed to the Employee Relations Coordinator.

Expectations that are clear, collaborative, and aligned are one of the foundations of effective performance management. Expectations that are clear to both the manager and the employee can help build a culture of accountability and give employees a voice in their performance development. We recommend managers provide context when setting expectations and ensure employees understand the “why.” This can help create buy-in and minimize apprehensions about what employees should reasonably expect - not only from their manager but also from their position at UNI.

Discussions about expectations can range from establishing call-in procedures, phone answering etiquette, giving and receiving feedback, recognition, work performance metrics and/or inclusion efforts. To ensure common understanding, managers must communicate clearly and directly, ask open-ended questions, and define what successful performance will look like for each employee. Additionally, managerss should state what employees can expect from them as well.

Finally, set the bar high. When you have established expectations that are achievable and created a plan to meet those expectations, you can trust that together all set goals can be achieved.

Merriam-Webster defines accountability as "an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions." 

At work, accountability should be shared between a manager and the employee. While the employee ultimately chooses whether or not to take ownership, managers should pave the way for individuals to fulfill their commitments successfully. Managers are responsible for establishing extrinsic motivators, such as; setting expectations and appropriate goals; treating all employees equitably; providing developmental opportunities; recognizing progress and growth; creating psychological safety; giving autonomy and control over how work is performed; and providing opportunities for collaboration and belonging. Accountability is not something leaders do to people - it’s something they help people do. Watch the LinkedIn video "Management 101: Accountability Basics While Managing" to learn more about the basics of accountability.

Coaching is the “...ability to make other people more successful by helping them identify and eliminate roadblocks, guiding them to achieve their full potential, and preparing them for success at the next level.” (Canaday, 2020) The focus should be on empowering employees to discover solutions, with guidance, using comprehensive and probing questions. This, along with open communication and encouragement, can lead to increased confidence, better working relationships, productivity, and job satisfaction. Managers should prioritize coaching and make a commitment to provide coaching to all their employees - not just those who may be struggling.

The most common framework used by coaches in a business environment is the GROW Model:

Goal: What do you want to achieve or what do you want to accomplish?

Reality: What is the current situation?

Options: How can we move forward?

Will: How committed are you to achieving your goal and how can we ensure we get there?

To learn more about the benefits of coaching, check out Coaching Skills for Leaders and Managers by Sara Canaday on LinkedIn learning. Note: You can find a coaching self-assessment, scenarios, common pitfalls, and other coaching resources by downloading the “Exercise Files” located under the “Overview” of this course.

Effective feedback should focus on outcomes. This means recognizing wins, large and small, to help employees identify positive patterns within themselves they can recreate and refine. Critical feedback rarely improves performance; therefore, focus should be on highlighting people’s strengths and efforts to empower them to do their best work. If critical feedback must be given, we recommend asking open-ended questions and using the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model to guide those conversations:

Situation: Use facts and objective information to describe the situation.

Behavior: Describe the observed behavior.

Impact: Describe the impact the observed behavior had on you, others, the work environment, the team, etc. Never assume intent.

Avoid common mistakes when giving feedback, such as; being too vague or giving too many details; focusing on personal traits vs. actions; or muddying the feedback by bringing up or including other non-essential information. For more information on giving effective feedback, check out the July 2022 Manager Newsletter issue on the HRS webpage.

Finally, managers must be open to receiving feedback. We cannot expect employees to receive feedback if managers are not open to do so as well.

Performance goals provide employees with direction and understanding of their job duties, responsibilities, and help establish priorities. Goals can be short-term, long-range, individual or team-oriented, and focus on processes, performance and/or outcomes. They should be collaborative and take the employee’s career aspirations, abilities, and resources into account.

Effective goal setting allows employees to:

1. Build trust with their managers and/or peers.
2. Increase their self-confidence and reach their full potential.
3. Direct their efforts and increase engagement and motivation.
4. Become accountable for their performance.
5. Align their goals with the organization’s goals.

Effective goal setting allows managers to:

1. Keep the lines of communication open.
2. Develop objective and collaborative means for evaluating performance.
3. Encourage, motivate and develop employees.
4. Recognize employee efforts.
5. Effectively address performance deviations.

Types of Goals:

1. SMART (Specific | Measurable | Attainable | Relevant | Time-based)
2. PACT (Purposeful | Actionable | Continuous | Trackable)

We recommend including a mixture of these two types of goals, as well as keeping the number of goals to something that is attainable. While goals can be set at the start of a review period, you should check in often and evaluate and/or modify those goals as necessary. Finally, goals should be a collaborative effort. Building a culture where “your goals” become “our goals” can help create a psychological contract and help to build mutual trust - especially when managers take part in helping employees achieve success.

We recommend managers keep detailed documentation of an employee’s performance throughout the year and use that information to help guide discussions and complete any required performance reviews. Documentation may include records of work performance discussions, specific examples of observed performance gaps, commendations, special achievements and/or training records. Documentation should be written in a manner that is specific, objective and accurate, and focuses on observed behaviors - not attitudes or personality traits. Sharing this information with your team members is a great way to create common understanding. As such, the information presented should never be a surprise to the employee nor should it be the first time an employee learns they are not meeting standards or expectations.

Employees should also keep track of information pertaining to their own performance. This helps employees to engage in conversations with their managers and become active participants in their own development.

Merit and P&S performance reviews are scheduled based on the employee’s start date in their new position. Employees should receive reviews at the intervals listed below.

1. Two-Week Performance Discussion
2. Three-Month Performance Review (Probationary Merit)
3. Six-Month Performance Review (Probationary Merit)
4. Annual Performance Review

NOTE: The reviews conducted at the third and sixth months are extremely important since they are issued during the probationary period. Once an employee has reached the end of their probation, they automatically become permanent employees - regardless of whether or not a review is completed. Therefore, it is imperative that managers complete these reviews in a timely manner and reach out to HRS if there are any performance concerns which may lead to a release from probation.

When a performance review is initiated in UNI Works, it starts with the employee’s self-review of their performance throughout the review period. This provides the employee an opportunity to share their perspective, acknowledging their accomplishments and how they have sought out methods of improvement. 

Once the employee completes the self-review process, the review will move to the manager. Managers should consider whether the employee met their goals and expectations for the review period. If not, were there any external circumstances (new objectives, staff vacancies, technical difficulties) that limited the employee’s ability to meet those goals? How did the manager provide the employee with feedback and coaching throughout the year? Do you have records of specific examples of successes, improvements, or weaknesses? All should be included in this performance review. This should be a comprehensive review, documenting the employee’s performance throughout the entire year.

Next, managers will need to evaluate the employee on each of the rating factors noted within the review form. This requires evaluation of the mutually agreed upon expectations compared to actual employee performance, outcome of goals, and should include information that accurately captures the entire review period. Avoid making generalized statements, focus on facts not feelings, and address the established performance expectations. Additionally, raters should avoid relying on memory as this can allow rater errors and biases to invade the process.

All comments made should be meaningful and consistent with performance ratings. Examples of observed behaviors, positive and negative, should be given to support all ratings. Beware sending mixed messages. If a “Needs Improvement” or “Unsuccessful” rating is assigned, HRS recommends that the manager provide at least three examples to demonstrate how that specific expectations was not met.Additionally, managers should include what actions the employee can take to increase their performance for the upcoming review period.

TIP: Writing comments in the performance review first can provide clarification and guidance to assign a proper rating. 

Remember, certain information is never appropriate to include in a performance review. For example, there should be no mention of an employee’s medical information, naming of other employees, use of protected leave terms such as FMLA/ADA, or any other terms regarding an employee’s protected class or personally identifying information (age/color/race/disability/national origin/religion/sex/sexual orientation/political affiliation/marital status, etc.)

Rater errors are personal perceptions and biases (conscious or subconscious) that may influence how we perceive an individual’s performance and could undermine the effectiveness of performance development objectives and/or the performance review process. Oftentimes, raters are unaware these errors and biases are being made; therefore, great care must be taken to understand how they occur and what steps should be taken to minimize and/or eliminate them.

A great way to uncover our biases/prejudices is by continually engaging in activities that challenge our status quo. Using tests such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) are also great tools to become more self-aware. Additionally, regularly seeking feedback and input from employees, peers, and/or our managers can help us obtain an objective view of our own attitudes and behaviors.

The goal of the performance review meeting is to come to a mutual understanding of an employee’s review ratings and goals for the upcoming year. We recommend notifying employees of their scheduled performance meeting at least one week in advance in order to give them ample time to read through their review and prepare to engage in a thoughtful discussion. The date and time should be mutually convenient for the manager and the employee. We recommend doing so in a private space where interruptions can be avoided. When scheduling consecutive performance review meetings, managers should ensure there is enough time between them so the review process isn’t rushed. Additionally, managers should anticipate any concerns the employee may have so they are prepared to respond appropriately.

Employees should also be prepared to engage in a thoughtful discussion and bring up any concerns, if any, that should be addressed by the manager.

Employees should be given adequate time to review their performance review prior to meeting with the manager to discuss and finalize the form. It is the manager's responsibility to maintain adequate documentation; however, employees should be able to provide examples to support why they may agree or disagree with any portion of the review. While managers are instructed to take the information an employee provides into consideration, this may not always result in changes to the final ratings. Employees have the opportunity to provide final comments and elaborate as to why they may or may not agree with any portion of the review. An employee’s signature signifies they have received a copy and that the managers reviewed the form with them - not necessarily that they agree with any portion of the review, including the overall rating.

There are many general tips that can enhance the effectiveness of a performance review, the review discussion, and facilitate ongoing feedback between an employee and their manager. Preparing for a performance review helps employees focus on examining their performance in a more objective way. It is in the employee’s best interest to seek feedback throughout the year, even if the manager does not initiate it. The sooner employees know where they stand in terms of their performance, the sooner priorities can be shifted and/or problems can be fixed. Remember, communication is a shared responsibility.

To learn more about how to prepare and become an active participant in your performance review, read the How to Prepare for and Participate in Your Performance Review supporting webpage. Employees may also reach out to HRS to request guidance.

Expressing emotion is part of the human experience and experiencing a range of emotions helps us process situations in a healthy way. However, we must understand that while emotions themselves are not problematic, the resulting behaviors could be.

Occasionally, employees may have strong reactions to a manager's review of their performance and could derail positive and productive conversation. If you find yourself in this situation, we recommend the following actions to help get back on track:

Silence: Silence can be an indicator of disagreement, resentment, resistance, embarrassment and/or disengagement OR a sign someone is processing the information being given. Managers should ask open-ended questions and look for verbal and non-verbal cues to determine the root cause of the silence. If an employee becomes silent and refuses to engage, it may be best for the manager to reschedule the conversation for a time that may be more productive. If employees need time to process the information being given, it is best to state that and request additional time to process the situation. Resistance stems from a lack of control or fear that the “status quo” may be disrupted. Managers should focus on those things that are not changing and reassure employees that they will have support when moving forward with new goals and/or tasks.

Anger/Frustration: While it is possible to have a productive conversation when frustrations arise, anger rarely leads to positive outcomes. Anger can “hijack” our rational thinking processes; therefore, managers and employees should take active steps to prevent and/or de-escalate negative conflict. Focusing on our breath and acknowledging our emotions can help us stay grounded. If you feel anger taking over it’s best to remove yourself from the situation. You can say, “I’m beginning to feel angry and need some time to process,” OR, “I think it’s best that we reschedule once I can positively contribute to the discussion.”

Anxiety/Sadness: Receiving feedback, specifically critical feedback, can heighten a person’s anxiety or could lead to sadness. Managers should anticipate these reactions and take steps to minimize these emotions. One of the most common reasons why employees fear the performance review process is due to lack of communication. This occurs when managers do not regularly have performance discussions; therefore, care must be taken to ensure nothing within the review comes as a surprise to the employee. Above all, managers should proceed with compassion and lead with empathy.

When receiving critical feedback, or feedback we may not agree with, it can be easy to distort what is being said and assume negative intent. Research tells us that suppressing emotions may be detrimental to our health. So, how do we strike a healthy balance and create space for emotions while maintaining a professional environment?

We can do so by acknowledging our emotions and learning ways to respond in appropriate ways. To learn more about emotions, read "How to develop emotional regulation skills to bbecome a better manager".

A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is a supportive measure (not a punitive measure) designed to assist an underperforming employee achieve successful performance. A PIP can be implemented any time and may sometimes follow the yearly performance review process. On average, the duration of a PIP ranges anywhere between 60 to 90 days; however, this can vary and is assessed on a case-by-case basis. There may also be times when PIP extensions are necessary. A successfully implemented PIP will have the following components:

1. A thorough summary of any/all performance deviations and/or deficiencies.
2. A detailed plan outlining the specific requirements and steps the employee will need to take in order to achieve success.
3. A plan for check-ins, additional training requirements and/or any assistance that may be needed to ensure the employee can be successful.

While PIPs are designed to assist employees be successful, we understand some may be apprehensive about the process. To reduce this fear, we encourage managers to include employees in the process, maintain open channels of communication, and follow-up frequently.

1. HRS Learning and Development
2. LinkedIn Learning
3. Recognizing Others
4. Managerial Newsletters
5. Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Jesse Heath
Employee Relations Coordinator
(319) 273-6219
jesse.heath@uni.edu OR hrs-performance@uni.edu