Performance Management

Issues

The low scoring areas reviewed by the sub-group are:

Survey Statement 2016 UMW
(% Positive)
2016 UMW
(% Negative)
2015 Honor Roll
(% Positive)
2015 Carnegie
(% Positive)
1 Our orientation program prepares new faculty, administration and staff to be effective. 49 20 72 56
2 Our review process accurately measures my job performance. 52 21 70 60
3 Promotions in my department are based on a person’s ability. 53 22 71 59
4 Issues of low performance are addressed in my department. 43 29 60 51
5 I am confident that concerns about disrespect or unfair treatment will be handled appropriately. 54 21 * *

Recommended Actions

  1. Our orientation program prepares new faculty, administration and staff to be effective.

Implement a buddy system for new staff. Pairing new staff with a veteran staff member will provide all new employees with a friendly and accessibly contact to help them get answers to questions and address problems during their extended on-boarding process.

  • Our review process accurately measures my job performance; promotions in my department are based on a person’s ability; Issues of low performance are addressed in my department; I am confident that concerns about disrespect or unfair treatment will be handled appropriately. The Performance Management sub-group feels progress can be made in all of these areas through enhanced training for UMW managers and supervisors. There is too much variability in how managers conduct performance reviews and address employee goals and concerns. This is likely the result of either people being promoted into manager positions with no training, or trained managers who simply don’t understand or follow UMW management standards.
    • Implement mandatory training for all managers and supervisors. This will ensure all managers understand UMW standards, policies, procedures, and processes for management.
    • Provide refresher training for staff/faculty/chair managers on a regular basis. This will encourage a continuous, common understanding of standards, policies, procedures, and processes for managers.
    • Create a post-tenure review process with “teeth”. The faculty representatives in the sub-group feel the current process does not allow faculty managers to adequately hold tenured faculty accountable for performance.
    • Encourage / expect managers to conduct brief performance evaluations with their staff sessions 3 to 4 times per year. This will provide staff with regular and clear feedback on their performance throughout the year, giving them the opportunity to adjust their performance prior to their annual evaluation.
    • There should be consequences for a negative performance evaluation. UMW managers should be supported in their efforts to sanction staff that perform poorly. Supported sanctions should include suspension or termination.
    • Managers need to understand that part of their role is to help develop staff. Part of manager training should be how to mentor and develop all staff to help them grow achieve their professional goals.
    • Manager training should include how to prepare and deliver an effective performance evaluation.
    • Criteria for performance evaluations must be objective and measurable.
    • Move to online performance evaluations. The current performance management process is paper-based, making it inefficient and frustrating for staff and managers. The entire performance management process, including electronic signature, should be automated by moving it into the Careers system. Activating the performance management module in Careers costs $15K per year
    • If the performance evaluation process remains paper-based, remove the requirement for the second “Reviewer” signature, which adds little value and makes the process overly bureaucratic.