Tag Archives: goal setting annual performance review

It’s Performance Review Time – Who Should Receive a Review?

Annual Performance Reviews are to completed in the ePerformance module of my.SMU no later than December 14, 2018.  Your senior leader may have communicated an earlier deadline and if so, you should adhere to their guidelines.

As a manager you should be guiding your team through the process to ensure that the review is timely, engaging and productive.

Who Should Receive a Performance Review?

All regular, benefits-eligible staff, including Post-Doctoral Fellows, should have the opportunity to discuss their goals and progress toward completion, as well as receive feedback on their accomplishments.  This is also a time to course correct when performance is nwork during the annual review with their manager.

If you have employees who do not fall into this category (i.e. temporary staff, student workers, non-benefits-eligible staff) and would like for them to engage in goal setting and track progress toward completion, we can provide you with an interactive word document which mirrors the on-line goal setting process.  Email us at DevelopU@smu.edu to request the document.

Learn about goal setting in ePerformance  – attend the Performance Management -Goal Setting Workshop October 9 from 1:00-3:00 pm in the HRTR.  Enroll via my.SMU>Learning and Development>Request Training Enrollment.

Questions about Performance Management?  Email us.

The Manager’s Role within ePerformance to Prepare for Annual Reviews

Managers move their direct reports through the annual cycle of  performance management at three (3)
checkpoints:

  • Checkpoint 1:  approval of goals
  • Checkpoint 2: mid-year review
  • Checkpoint 3: finalize goals (in preparation for the annual review)

 


Next Steps for Teams Who Have Been Entering and Tracking Goals During the Performance Year 

If your team has been entering goals and tracking progress throughout the performance year of September 15, 2017 through September 14, 2018 including conducting the mid-year review, there are two (2) steps to prepare the employee’s performance document for the evaluation phase.

  1.  Give your employees time to update any information in the system and include a due by date.
  2. Once the employee has updated their goal information, you will open that person’s Performance Document and  click the “Complete” button in the top right hand corner of the document.  Clicking complete locks the document  and it is no longer editable.  You will be prompted to confirm that you want to finalize goals for this employee.  Click “Yes” to confirm.  Clicking “Complete” also generates the self-evaluation form for the employee and the Manager evaluation form.

Next Steps for Teams Who Have Not Been Tracking Goals During the Performance Year

Employees who have not yet entered goals and/or had them approved by their Manager should follow these steps in preparation for the Annual Performance Review.  Note that after each step, the employee and Manager must exit the Performance Document and re-open it in order to document the updates.  You may do this by clicking the home (house) button on the top right of the screen and navigating back to the employee’s Performance Document.

Reference the Employee and Manager Training Guides for additional information.  See the Resources section.

  • Employee: enter past year’s goals in the Performance Document with a period beginning 9/15/2017 and ending 9/14/2018.  All information should be up to date and include what the employee would like to discuss in the review conversation.
  • Manager: Review, edit as necessary, and approve goals
  • Manager: the Mid-Year Review is scheduled to occur in mid-April and because we are past this timeframe you should click “Skip Checkpoint”
  • Manager: Click “Complete” (top right corner) to finalize the criteria (goals) and advance the Performance Document to the Self and Manager Evaluation step.   The Performance Document will be locked and no future edits can be made.

Completing the Employee and Manager Evaluation

The employee and the Manager should simultaneously complete their respective evaluations.

Note: The employee cannot see the Manager’s evaluation and vice versa until the document is shared in the system.  Once shared by either, no further edits may be made to the evaluation document.

Important:  both the employee and Manager should rate performance on each goal AND each competency with options being:

  • Exceeding Expectations
  • Meeting Expectations
  • Not Meeting Expectations

For a description for each rating, click on the rating icon.

Each goal and each competency also have text boxes where comments specific to that goal or competency may be documented and feedback summarized.

The Goals and Competencies sections each also have summary areas at the bottom on the page.

Note:  the calculator icon on the screen will average the ratings assigned for each area.

Employees are not required to submit a rating for each goal and each competency and may advance to the next step if selections are not made.

Note: if an employee misses a rating and has shared their Self-Evaluation with their Manager, they will not be able to go back to update a rating or add additional comments.

Managers however must, at a minimum, rate each goal and each competency and complete the summary ratings.  They may not advance without being prompted to finalize their evaluation.  The Manager evaluation is considered the evaluation of record, therefore must be fully completed.

The Annual Review Process

Once the employee has completed their Self-Evaluation, they should share it with their Manager.  The employee may export and save/print their evaluation at any time before the review meeting.

Note:  The Manager does not share their evaluation until after the review meeting.

After the Review meeting, the Manager should update their Evaluation for the employee, as necessary, based on the conversation with the employee.  When complete, the Manager should share their evaluation with the employee.

The final step is for the employee to review the Manager’s evaluation and then click the “Acknowledge” button at the top right of document.  They are acknowledging that they have been provided with a copy of the Manager’s evaluation.

When clicked, the document is re-routed to the Historical Folder where it may be viewed by both the Manager and the employee going forward.  The document may not be edited once in the Historical folder.

Resources:

Manager Training  Guide SMU Box
Employee Training Guide SMU Box
Manager Calendaring Tool SMU Box
Goal Setting Job Aid SMU Box
ePerformance FAQ SMU Wiki

ePerformance is Now Available in my.SMU

HR recently announced enhancements to the performance management process including the launch of SMU ePerformance, an electronic performance management system. The changes will support managers and team members in sharing feedback and progress on performance goals throughout the year.

Performance Documents for Your Team are Available

Performance Documents have been created within my.SMU and are available for you to access.

Employees have already been notified via an HR Headlines email and should be starting to enter goals in their personal Performance Document.

Managers may access these Performance Documents for their direct reports by navigating to my.SMU>Manager Self Service>Performance Documents>Current Documents.

From this location, a list of all employees reporting to the Manager is viewable.  Click on the appropriate person to access their individual Performance Document.

Please notify HR at smuhr@smu.edu should you have questions about your list of direct reports.

Revised Performance Management-Annual Performance Review Schedule

Earlier this year, Managers were notified of a revised Annual Performance Review schedule (email dated 2-14-17 from smuhr@smu.edu).  The Annual Review time-frame will move from the Spring to the Fall, in order to coincide with the annual budget period .   Performance Reviews were not mandatory during Spring 2016 due to the  revised timeline.   Performance Reviews completed in the my.SMU system will be required in the Fall 2017.

The current performance year started on September 15, 2016 and will end on September 14, 2017.  Annual reviews are to be completed within the system no later than December 15, 2017.  

Merit Information

Merit allocations provided to HR in Spring 2016 went into effect as of June 1,  2017.   Fall performance review information will inform merit allocations for a June 1, 2018 implementation.  Additional information will be shared regarding this in the Fall.

Start Using ePerformance to Track and Monitor Goals

Managers are encouraged to begin to work with their team to use the online system to document goals in preparation for the revised Annual Performance Review schedule.   Managing goal creation and tracking progress toward completion on regular intervals ensures that impactful conversations about occuring and that employees:

  • know what is expected of them
  • understand what success looks like
  • are communicating with their Manager regularly about the strategies they are using to achieve goals
  • understand behaviors (competencies) which will lead to success.

In addition to the above, another benefit of regular goal tracking within ePerformance is that the Annual Review will require less time and energy as documentation will already be entered, requiring only the completion of the evaluation step and the in-person conversation.

If you  have been using the interactive Word document (The Year Ahead form) the employee and the manager may simply copy and paste the information into the system and then continue to document progress within the online system.

Resources to Support You 

There are several resources to support you as you learn the new system.  In addition, you may schedule a session for your team where an HR representative will come review the process within my.SMU and best practices for goal setting.  Email us at DevelopU@smu.edu.

Note:  resource documents are located in SMU Box.  You will need to login with your SMU credentials to access these documents.  Video tutorials are located on YouTube.

Training Materials:

Professional Development:

Visit the Performance Management and the Performance Review webpages under Manager Resources on the SMU HR website for more information.

Questions?  Email us at smuhr@smu.edu or call 8-3311 and your call will be redirected to the appropriate person.