Staff Review and Development

A new online form (MyReview) for conducting Staff Reviews which will be available to Academic Pathway 1 and 3 staff, and Administrative / Professional staff from 1 October 2013.

Download the MyReview information leaflet (PDF 580KB)

Academic Pathway 2 staff and Technical / Operational staff will have access to the system from 2014. Until then these staff should continue to use the Staff Review and Development Forms.

At its simplest level Staff Review & Development (SR&D) is a meeting, probably lasting around an hour and a half between two people. Experience has shown us that it is the way in which this meeting takes place, rather than the process itself, that makes a real difference to people. There are important responsibilities on the part of the individual and reviewer to maximise its positive impact

SR&D is a simple process of REFLECTION and PLANNING. Some of this takes place before the meeting, some during, some immediately afterwards and then some throughout the year. Whilst a meeting takes place on a particular ‘date’ the process should be seen as more on going and fluid than this. You may wish for example to return to your staff review record and objectives to ‘check in’ on your progress, and on what you and your reviewer agreed would happen from time to time.

We have created a simple online process to help with this that make sure the right things happen in the right order, such as completion of a form; a meeting; and a set of recorded outcomes. You are able to return to this throughout the year and a record of reviews will all be stored in a single place so you will know where to find it.

Download the MyReview information leaflet (PDF 580KB)

Benefits are to be gained from the discussion and not the forms or tools. However a web based tool that works well, and helps to ensure actions take place for you at the right time, can really help the process run smoothly. This is why the University of Bristol in partnership with a number of other universities, have invested in developing an online tool specifically for the HE sector.

Development has included extensive consultation and feedback from thousands of staff working within HE so we are confident in its quality. The tool will:

• Remind you via email when it is time to set up your 1:1 meeting
• Give you access to an online form for you to complete
• Allow your reviewer to see this form before the meeting
• Record the views of the reviewer
• Be stored and ‘locked’ - an agreed record for you to refer to at any time in the future.

The ability of people to ‘see’ forms within this new web based process is unaltered from the traditional paper process, i.e. it is only the ‘reviewer’ (and line manager if not the reviewer) and Head of School/Division that will be able to see forms.

The new approach to SR&D and the online tool will be rolled out to Phase 2 staff in 2014, in the meantime please continue to use the existing staff review forms.

1. A date for the meeting is agreed and entered into the first part of the online form
2. The reviewee spends time thinking about how any objectives in the last year have gone, what barriers they encountered and what they wish to achieve next year
3. The reviewee completes the online form to help them record their thoughts
4. The reviewee invites their reviewer to see their comments by sharing the form with them
5. The reviewer looks at the online form (having been prompted via an email) and reflects on what has been said as well as thinks about not only their response but also any other items they wish to raise
6. In addition to completing the review form it's a good time to make sure you have completed some essential training on data protection, diversity and health and safety that all staff must undertake. Take a look at the essential training pie chart, record what you have completed, and take part in the areas you have not. Its quick, easy and hopefully interesting and informative. Its a good idea for reviewers to just check that reviewees have engaged in this important development also.

1. Use the items on the form as an ‘agenda’ for the review with discussion taking place about items raised
2. Make sure both parties record actions that need to take place as a result of the discussion and agree ‘who, when, how’
3. Be clear about areas that may need further discussion outside the review itself, for example items that need input from others, and make sure these happen
4. Try to break the discussion down into a process of ‘reflection’ and ‘planning’ firstly looking back on how thing have gone, last year’s achievements/successes, objectives and any barriers encountered, then looking ahead to the next period
5. Agree the proposed objectives and if they are to be altered then who will do this and by when
6. Agree how you are going to review these objectives once the SR&D discussion is over, you may choose for example to review them as part of a more regular meeting format that you already have in place.

1. Make sure both parties complete the ‘actions’ section at the end of the form that records things you have agreed to do and by when so that they are not lost
2. Complete the final ‘reviewee final comments’ and ‘reviewer final comments’ parts of the form and both press ‘share’
3. Once both are happy with the final form both press the large green ‘Complete’ button – the form is then locked and stored for reference.

1. Actions and objectives (work tasks, training etc) will not happen just because the SR&D discussion has taken place
2. Make diary notes to take forward actions that you have committed to do
3. You may also want to make a diary note of the actions the other party has committed to deliver
4. Think about the goals you have set and establish a plan with milestones outlining how you are going to get there – RECORD THIS SOMEWHERE THAT WORKS FOR YOU
5. The online review tool has a new ‘notes’ feature – you can use this at any time to record progress against a goal, upload evidence or simply record how you think things are going. You can choose to keep this private or share it with your manager – have a look, if it helps use it.

The SR&D process will require a performance discussion to take place at least once per year with additional 1:1 meetings taking place as appropriate.

The SR&D meeting is primarily about the conversation, secondarily about filling in the forms.

The SR&D discussion will review performance and contribution over the past year(s), as well as looking ahead at future objectives and considering development needs and opportunities.

The SR&D discussion will not result in any output that has a direct impact on pay. It will, however, provide a forum for discussion on matters such as eligibility for progression/promotion; career development aspirations/opportunities; training and development needs/aspirations; barriers to performance.

The SR&D conversation will be aided by ensuring an “evidence-based” approach to discussions. Evidence might include reference (relatively and/or absolutely) to relevant internal or external comparators/benchmarks for activities (such as research income per FTE; teaching load per FTE; number of transactions processed per day/week etc., depending on the nature of the role).

Quality as well as quantity will be discussed, e.g. peer review is an important element of the qualitative assessment of teaching; information from end users on the service provided. There will also be reference back to previously agreed objectives, which link directly into the School/Divisional or Faculty plan.

The normal expectation will be that reviews will ‘cascade’ through the Division or School – i.e. that any manager/reviewer will have been reviewed before reviewing their own staff/reviewees.

A key output from the process will be clear and transparent objectives for the role-holder, that link to school/divisional/faculty/organisational goals. The aim will be to agree objectives that find an optimum balance around individual goals and aspirations and those of the School/Division/organisation. Whilst objectives should always be attainable, they should also provide a degree of ‘stretch’ for the individual.

The reviewer will provide feedback on how far the individual has contributed towards the achievement of the objectives set the previous year(s), and both parties will reflect on the reasons for success and any shortfalls.

At the outset of the annual review cycle, Heads of School/Division will normally meet collectively with all reviewers to identify key School/Divisional objectives and any other major themes or issues that will inform review conversations and objective setting for the coming year.

On-line forms will be provided to manage the workflow, to guide the discussion and to ensure all relevant areas are fully explored and clear objectives agreed.

Reviewers for most staff will be their line manager or will be chosen by the Head of School or Division, or Faculty/School Manager, drawn from a pool of senior trained staff from within the School/Division/Faculty.

Within Schools, it will be an expectation that all professorial staff will form part of that potential pool of reviewers.

Ideally, each reviewer should normally conduct no more than 8 staff review meetings.

All reviewers will be required to participate in training in conducting effective SR&D discussions. SR&D training will also be supplemented by guidance.

Heads of School/Division have an obligation to receive and consider feedback from all SR&D discussions for staff within their department and to take appropriate action where necessary in relation to individual issues, or where themes or common problems seem to be emerging.

It is the expectation that all staff will participate in SR&D. Should an individual refuse to meet with their reviewer then the reasons for this will be explored with them and appropriate action taken. For academic staff, it will be made clear and explicit that full participation in SR&D is part of the ‘citizenship’ requirement.