Performance Management
Performance management is crucial for the success of both employees and the college. At a high level, it involves communicating expectations and feedback between managers and employees.
Performance Management is essential for several reasons:
- Aligns Position Descriptions and Employee Goals with Departmental Objectives.
- This alignment helps everyone work towards the same goal.
- Improves Employee Performance
- By setting clear expectations and regularly reviewing performance, employees can understand how they perform relative to their goals.
- Enhances Employee Engagement
- Employees who receive regular feedback and feel their contributions are recognized are more engaged and motivated, which leads to higher job satisfaction.
- Identifies Training Needs
- Performance management helps identify areas where employees may need additional training or professional development.
- Facilitates Career Development
- Regular Performance reviews provide opportunities for discussions about career aspirations and growth.
- Fosters a Culture of Continuous Improvement
- Continuous improvement is vital for individual and department growth. It increases efficiency, encourages innovation, supports adaptability to change, and boosts morale.
Performance Cycle by Employee Classification
SHRA Employees (Performance Cycle: April 1 – March 31)
NC State University’s commitment and practice is to provide timely performance feedback to each SHRA employee. The development of annual performance plans and regular performance appraisals provide an opportunity for employees to understand how their responsibilities and performance expectations align with the goals and priorities of their work unit, Sciences Strategic Priorities, and the University’s strategic plan initiatives. The SHRA Performance Appraisal Program places emphasis on both institutional goals and individual goals while streamlining the content of the performance plan, standardizing the categories for evaluation, increasing the accuracy and defensibility of performance ratings, and promoting effective communication between employees and supervisors. The policy and program applies to all SHRA probationary, time-limited and permanent, and career-status employees. This process does not apply to temporary employees.
The Wolfpack Performance Program (WPP) is an online system that replaces a paper-based evaluation process. Asynchronous WPP training for SHRA employees and supervisors of SHRA employees can be accessed through REPORTER HR-LOD60.
Detailed instructional guides are available HERE for Employees and Managers.
The annual SHRA Performance Cycle is as follows:
- April 1: Beginning of performance period
- June 1: Define Criteria (due within 60 days of performance period or start date)
- July 1: Optional Checkpoint(1)
- October 1: Required(2) or Optional(1) Checkpoint
- January 1: Optional Checkpoint(1)
- March 31: Conclusion of performance period
- April: Complete self evaluation, complete manager evaluations(3)
- May 31: Complete Annual Appraisal
(1) The Checkpoints are an optional interim review placeholder and is the suggested time to revise goals, if needed. A checkpoint may be held at any time during the work cycle. If the plan changes, the supervisor should include the revision date in the comments to document the date of the actual change and discussion.
(2) Supervisors must complete a Checkpoint with employees who received any rating of “Not Meeting Expectations” on their last annual performance appraisal or employees who have an active disciplinary action.
(3) The College of Sciences’ best practice is to schedule a private, 1-hour meeting with each employee to take place in the month of April. During this meeting, managers should conduct the performance evaluation and develop next year’s plan.
Further guidance on the SHRA performance appraisal program is available on the SHRA Performance Management page and in the UNC System Office Policy.
Exempt Professional Staff (Performance Cycle: July 1- June 30)
NC State University’s commitment and practice is to provide timely performance feedback at least annually to each EHRA non-faculty employee. The development of annual performance plans and regular performance appraisals provide an opportunity for employees to understand how their responsibilities and performance expectations align with the goals and priorities of their work unit, Sciences Strategic Priorities, and the University’s strategic plan initiatives. They also provide a defined cycle of review for managers and employees to assess employee success toward meeting operational needs and professional development goals.
The Wolfpack Performance Program (WPP) is an online system that replaces a paper-based evaluation process. Detailed instructional guides are available HERE for Employee and Manager.
The annual EHRA Performance Cycle is as follows:
- July 1: Beginning of performance period
- September 1: Define Criteria (due within 60 days of performance period or start date)
- October 1: Optional Checkpoint(1)
- January 1: Optional Checkpoint(1)
- April 1: Optional Checkpoint(1)
- June 30: Conclusion of performance period
- July: Complete self evaluation, complete manager evaluations(2)
- August 31: Complete Annual Appraisal
(1) The Checkpoints are an optional interim review placeholder and is the suggested time to revise goals, if needed. A checkpoint may be held at any time during the work cycle. If the plan changes, the supervisor should include the revision date in the comments to document the date of the actual change and discussion.
(2) The College of Sciences’ best practice is to schedule a private, 1-hour meeting with each employee to take place in the month of July. During this meeting, managers should conduct the performance evaluation and develop next year’s plan.
EHRA Faculty Employees (Performance Cycle: January – December)
The College of Sciences evaluation timeline is on a calendar year basis (January – December); a faculty member would receive the evaluation by the end of Spring for the prior calendar year.
Faculty are evaluated in various ways. Links to several policies are listed below. Additional information regarding faculty performance management is found on the Policy, Regulations, and Rules website.
Postdoctoral Scholars(Performance Cycle: June 1 – May 31)
Postdocs are encouraged to complete an Individual Development Plan (IDP) at the beginning of their postdoctoral appointment and use this document as a communication tool with their faculty mentors. This, too, can be used as a part of an annual performance review.
The development of annual performance planning and regular performance reviews provide an opportunity for Postdocs to understand how their responsibilities and performance expectations align with the goals and priorities of their work unit, Sciences Strategic Priorities, and the University’s strategic plan initiatives.
Faculty mentors are expected to provide postdocs with annual performance evaluations for all postdocs who have been employed at NC State University for at least 90 days.
The Postdoc evaluation timeline is June 1 – May 31; a Postdoc would receive the evaluation by the end of June for the prior performance year.
Annual performance evaluations are due June 30. The following documents are two options that may be utilized in this process:
For more information, please click here.