1. End of Year Performance Review Meetings and objective setting for 2018/19
This briefing pack is designed to be used by line managers to brief their teams on next steps in the My Contribution performance and development cycle and make them aware of the training and support available to them.
It is recommended that you allocate at least 15 minutes for the briefing and potentially longer if you want to give staff the opportunity to ask questions.

2. Briefing agenda Background to My Contribution
Our performance and development annual cycle including;
The end of year performance review meeting
Setting objectives for
Outline the support available to line managers and employees
Provide awareness of University communication timelines
Provide a next steps summary checklist
Any questions?
Briefly talk through the agenda and ask if there are any other key points the team would like to discuss at the end

3. Background to My Contribution
Designed to support the University to achieve our Strategy 2020
Launched in April 2017
Ensures we’re all working towards the same goals by aligning objectives to the corporate plan
Focus is on supporting and developing staff to perform at their best through clear objectives for performance, personal development and career progression:
My Review
My Development
My Career
New process has supported 95% of employees to have objectives
As a result, there has been a 10% increase in those who understand how their objectives link to Strategy 2020
My Contribution was originally designed following the creation of the University 2020 strategy. At the time, it was identified that there was no clear link to show that the previous Professional Development Review (PDR) process supported the alignment of objectives to the University strategy. Work commenced in 2016 to redesign the PDR process to ensure staff clearly understood their objective alignment and their contribution to the Universities success.
My Contribution, launched in April 2017, enables staff to record their objectives online and clearly select how those objectives contribute to our strategy and school/ department plans.
In addition, there is now a clear route for staff to record their perfomance, personal and career aspirations within the online system, enabling staff and managers to have improved conversations in these areas.
The new process has, for the first time supported over 95% of employees to have clear objectives. As a result, our staff engagement survey saw a 10% increase (since 2015) in staff understanding how their objectives link to the University strategy, which is great progress to enabling our overall achievement of our strategy.

4. Our performance and development annual cycle
This is our performance and development process
The red circle indicates where we currently are in the cycle
We are approaching the end of our academic year and with that the end of our first My Contribution performance cycle.
Throughout June, July and August all managers are asked to hold end of year (EoY) performance review meetings with their staff and agree ratings as part of a discussion around their achievements and how they have lived the University’s values throughout the year.
At the same time , it is important to agree refreshed/ new objectives for the new academic year ( ). These must be completed by the end of August.
Please note that the usual cycle indicates end of July for end of year performance review meeting and agreeing objectives – this has been extended to end of August for 2018 only.

5. The end of year performance review meeting & setting objectives
Line Manager
Staff
Before Meeting
End of Year
Book room and invite employee to meeting at least two weeks before – book suitable room or meeting area
Seek feedback from other stakeholders
Review employee’s end of year summary form
Prepare your assessment of employee’s performance
Review each objective at least two weeks before meeting – assign a WHAT rating online and complete comments
Reflect on performance throughout year and gather evidence (if required)
Complete self assessment/end of year summary at least one week before meeting, including WHAT and HOW overall ratings
Objective Setting
Provide guidance available to employee for example, the corporate plan, your own objectives, department plan, local plan
Plan any relevant generic objectives for your team and send to employee
If appropriate, ask employee to consider what their objectives for coming year should be
Review any guidance or proposed generic objectives sent from your line manager
If appropriate, consider and propose potential objectives for 2018/19
During Meeting
End of year
Listen to the employee talk through their self-assessment
Give feedback on their performance and agree an indicative rating
Challenge constructively if required
Attend the meeting
Talk through your self assessment form
Listen to feedback and challenge constructively if required
Aim to reach agreement on rating
Discuss following year’s objectives including ‘why’
Agree content and next steps
Discuss objectives for following year – ask for clarification and support if required
After Meeting
Review all evidence offered by employee
Complete indicative ratings page within one week
Complete reviewers comments by writing overall summary – ensure it is evidence based
Confirm with employee when final ratings recorded
Arrange meeting if different from indicative rating
Review feedback from end of year review and consider how to incorporate into Personal Development Plan
Follow up meeting by ing employee to ensure they add performance objectives to My Review online form
Update performance objectives on My Review form within one week of the meeting
This slide gives a quick summary of how managers and staff can;
- prepare for the end of year review meeting,
- review objective progress
And
- agree new/ refreshed objectives for
This includes what needs completed before, during and after the meeting and by who at each stage of this process.
This slide can also be issued to staff by managers as handout/ guide to help remind them what to do
NB: It is the role of the manager to schedule the meeting, book an appropriate room/space and invite the employee.

6. What support is available?
End of year
Objective Setting
My Review user guide booklet
Employee and manager roles and responsibilities one page process checklist
Guide to setting SMART objectives
This briefing pack – End of Year Performance Review Meetings and objective setting for 2018/19 - to help communicate to your team
Having performance conversations training (for line managers)
In addition
Frequently Asked Questions (regularly updated)
Video guidance will be available on how to complete online forms
Support in answering specific question via HR Services
Training workshops for managers and staff (book via HR Connect)
There are lots of tools and support available to help; here are just a few of the options available to you and your staff to help you. All of these can be accessed via the My Contribution Intranet page on the staff intranet.
In addition, there are training workshops being run throughout May - July for staff and managers to attend if they would like a reminder on how to hold an end of year review meeting and discuss examples around agreeing ratings to objectives. Search for My Contribution on HR Connect to find the workshops.

7. Training workshops synopsis
For Managers – 2 hours 30 minutes
For staff – 90 minutes
By the end of these workshops delegates will be able to:
Describe the 2017/18 end of year performance review process in detail
Understand what is required by line managers and staff before, during and after review meetings, including input to online forms
Understand the My Contribution performance ratings
Understand what is required for setting performance objectives for the coming performance year
Know where to find guidance and support if required
Ask questions
For line managers there will be the opportunity to prepare for specific situations
When we launched My Contribution, we received a lot of feedback for training on the process for both staff and managers. To support with the end of year process and the setting of objectives for our new academic year, we have designed a specific training session to ensure our staff and manager are confident in what to do and when.
All staff are invited to attend – dates are available on HR connect and run regularly through May - July. If you have any specific training needs, please contact to discuss.

8. Communication timeline
MAY - Line Managers brief their teams on end of year process, support and training available
MAY to AUGUST - Further reminder communications to all staff via The Bones, providing support and guidance links to all staff
25 MAY – Inform all staff that My Review 2018/19 form available to record objectives
MAY to JULY - Training workshops for staff and managers are available to book via HR Connect to support the end of year process
JUNE to AUGUST - End of year reviews and objective setting meetings take place
OCTOBER – Confirmation of final ratings to all staff following a University calibration
This slide outlines the full process timeline which starts in May, with line managers using this pack to brief their teams on the process and offer the option to attend further training.
The process ends in October in 2018 following all staff end of year meetings being completed and a final calibration review of our University ratings.
Ongoing communication and support will be available to staff and managers throughout

9. Next steps checklist Action By who By when
Cascade this briefing pack throughout all team members
Senior leadership teams
31 May 2018
Schedule your My Review meetings with your direct reports
All line managers
as soon as possible
Ensure your team members have completed their self assessment review in My Review
Before you hold your end of year review meeting
Hold end of year review meetings with all your team members and agree overall end of year rating
Agree objectives for with your team members
By 31 August 2018
Ensure your team members have updated their objectives in the My review form before the deadline
These next steps clearly outline what needs to be completed, by who and by when.

10. Any Questions? Ask the team if they have any questions.
If you are unable to answer them, contact your HR Partner or HR Services on or