All full- and part-time salaried University staff employees (employees) must participate in the University’s performance management and career development process.

Employees are expected to participate in some form of career development every year, stay current in their fields of expertise, and maintain satisfactory levels of performance. Employees who have achieved mastery in their fields are encouraged to continue learning, expanding their skill sets, and embracing new challenges, thereby fostering ongoing professional growth and career development.

The University provides tools and opportunities that allow employees to plan and grow their careers. Supervisors are expected to support and encourage the career development of their direct reports in accordance with this policy.

1. Performance Management:  
   There are three components of the University Staff Performance Management System:
   1. Performance and Development Planning:  
      Supervisors will work with employees to establish performance expectations and goals, review past performance and plan for future development, and review and support the employees career goals.
      • Discussing performance expectations allows employees and supervisors to identify specific goals aligned with the University’s mission, goals, and objectives for the performance cycle.
      • Reviewing past performance allows employees and supervisors to acknowledge accomplishments, identify areas for development necessary for success in the position, and align with the University’s core values and leadership principles.
      • Having a performance conversation allows employees and supervisors to focus on goals and acceptable performance expectations, solicit feedback, and support the employee's professional development.

   2. Ongoing Discussions and Feedback:  
      Performance expectations and the University’s Mission Statement and Code of Ethics are the criteria used by supervisors to engage in meaningful, ongoing discussions and feedback throughout the performance cycle regarding the employee’s work efforts, skills, and behavior. An ongoing discussion is the performance management process that takes place on a regular basis throughout the performance cycle, where the supervisor sets expectations and provides performance feedback to the employee. At a minimum, the ongoing discussion includes the initial 1:1 meeting that occurs within 30 days of hire, the six-month review (for new hires during the probationary period), and the annual review. It also includes routine scheduled and unscheduled check-ins between employee and supervisor during a performance cycle where the employee’s performance, progress, objectives, and goals are discussed.

      Employees must advise their supervisors if support is needed to achieve performance and development goals. If there are performance issues, the supervisor must address the issue(s) in a timely manner. When necessary, a corrective action plan must be implemented. In addition to ongoing discussions, supervisors are strongly encouraged to provide employees with interim evaluations.

   3. Performance Evaluation:  
      All salaried University staff employees must receive at least an annual evaluation. The annual evaluation consists of ratings of employee performance, taking into account employee’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and actions.

      Employees are strongly encouraged to complete a self-evaluation in the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) as part of the performance management process. Supervisors are strongly encouraged to collect feedback from multiple sources, as relevant for the situation. This may include feedback from other supervisors, co-workers, and employee customers. Supervisors will use the employee’s self-evaluation and any multi-rater feedback collected in completing their evaluation of the employee. Employees will be rated according to the performance expectations that have been established for the employee and the position. Supervisors are responsible for updating employee expectations during the performance cycle if major changes occur. Supervisors are responsible for documenting discussions in the HRMS.

      The performance management process will be conducted in a fair and consistent manner. The University will not prescribe the number or percent of employees who must fall within each performance rating.

      If an employee changes jobs, the supervisor of record in the HRMS at the time the employee submits their self-evaluation shall be responsible for completing the manager evaluation. If appropriate, the supervisor of record in the HRMS may solicit feedback from a prior manager or mutually agree with the prior manager to reassign the manager evaluation task to the prior manager.

      As it pertains to the Performance Planning and Evaluation policy established by the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Human Resources Management (Policy 1.40: effective April 1, 2001 and revised effective August 6, 2001), the University will follow the re-evaluation process associated with the annual performance evaluation that is outlined in Policy 1.40: Performance Planning and Evaluation for classified employees. Those University staff employees receiving a rating of unsatisfactory or inconsistent on their annual performance evaluation will be re-evaluated and required to undergo a re-evaluation plan. If after the re-evaluation period the employee’s performance fails to meet expected performance measures (unsatisfactory or inconsistent ratings) the manager may demote, reassign, or terminate the employee by the end of the three-month re-evaluation period.

2. Career Development:  
   Career development encourages intentional career planning, continuous self-improvement, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Its results include increased job satisfaction, enhanced capabilities, and higher performance. Integrated with meaningful performance planning, evaluation, and effective pay practices, career development forms the foundation of the University Staff Human Resources (HR) Plan.

   1. Career Development Planning:  
      There are two steps to the career development planning process. The first step is to encourage employees to develop a long-term career strategy in which they explore their career choices and establish long-term milestones for their selected career direction toward enrichment in their current work, progression along their current career path or transition to another job family.

      The second step is to prepare an annual Development Plan. Together, employees and supervisors create career development goals and actions for the performance cycle. Supervisors conduct periodic Development Plan progress meetings with employees throughout the year. Employees who successfully achieve their Development Plan goals during the performance period may have the opportunity for promotions and to influence their compensation.

   2. Job Families:  
      Job families organize similar jobs into occupational categories. Job title summaries, within each job family, describe the core capabilities needed to qualify for and be successful in each category. The information in the job title summaries provides a basis for career development planning.
   3. Development Opportunities:  
      The University provides tools and opportunities to support employees and supervisors to create and implement employee career development plans. Development opportunities may be designed to increase employees’ career expertise and performance in their current jobs, and to increase awareness about and prepare employees for new career opportunities. Development opportunities may include:
      • Career planning and development programs sponsored by UHR.
      • University training, external occupational and vocational training, professional education courses, or degree programs.
      • On-the-job opportunities such as cross-training, job rotations, special projects, or other experiential career programs.
      • Participation in professional conferences, workshops, seminars, discussion groups, etc.
      • Independent learning through reading technical manuals, professional journals, books, web-based materials, etc.
      • On-line offerings that support development goals.

3. Roles and Responsibilities:  
   The employee is responsible for:

   • Understanding the performance expectations established for their position and how their duties and responsibilities contribute to the University’s mission and strategic goals and objectives.
   • Participating in the process of developing performance expectations.
   • (if electing to) Completing a self-evaluation in the HRMS, including reporting on progress toward achievement of goals and any other relevant work information.
   • Performing duties of the position in accordance with established expectations.
   • Participating in performance conversations with their supervisor.
   • Becoming familiar with UVA employee career development and actively participating in the annual Development Plan process.
   • Keeping job skills current.
   • Collaboratively identifying career development opportunities and developing goals with supervisor.
   • Communicating with the supervisor on career development progress and support needs.
   • Participating in career development programs.
   • Participating in occupational, professional development, education and/or training programs.
   • Making their own career decisions.

   The supervisor is responsible for:

   • Understanding and actively supporting the University’s performance management and career development process.
   • Submitting performance evaluations and performance ratings in a timely manner.
   • Communicating employee performance expectations and the University’s core values and goals.
   • Providing the employee ongoing feedback, performance coaching, and corrective action (when needed) to enhance employee performance. Regular one-on-one conversations are highly recommended to make employees aware of how they are performing throughout the performance year.
   • Documenting one-one-one conversations and feedback in the HRMS.
   • Changing employee work expectations when major changes to an employee’s job occur.
   • Conducting interim evaluations, probationary evaluations, and annual performance evaluations in a timely manner to apprise the employee of how well they are performing.
   • Offering the employee the opportunity and encouraging the employee to complete a self-evaluation.
   • Having a performance conversation with each employee as part of their performance review to maintain and support achievement of their career development and goals.
   • Actively participating in the annual Development Plan process.
   • Encouraging and supporting learning opportunities for employees.
   • Offering career development opportunities in a consistent, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory manner.
   • Considering the strengths, talents, and interests an employee wants to use in the future as well as anticipating organizational needs in creating career Development Plans.
   • When considering career development opportunities, taking advantage of experiential learning opportunities within and outside the employee’s current work role.

   Vice Presidents, Deans, and Department Heads are responsible for:

   • Providing training for supervisors to be effective in their role as manager of employee performance.
   • Developing and implementing performance evaluation processes to promote fairness and consistency in ratings.
   • Maintaining the integrity of and facilitating compliance with this policy.

   Talent Management (UVA HR) is responsible for:

   • Monitoring and administering the performance management process.
   • Providing training, tools, and resources to maximize employee and manager performance and support employee career development.
   • Providing support and coaching to supervisors and employees.
   • Consulting in the design of performance evaluation ratings calibration processes.
   • Maintaining official records and providing reports as necessary.

4. Compliance with Policy:  
   Failure to comply with the requirements of this policy (including, but not limited to, the ongoing responsibility to participate in performance conversations as part of the performance evaluation process and Career Development Plans) may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination in accordance with relevant University policies.

   Questions about this policy should be directed to Talent Management (UVA HR).