Skip to Content

Human Resources
Performance and Development

Overview

Performance and Work Plans

Performance and Development forms part of the work planning processes for the year / semester. The P&D plan complements other work planning processes i.e. Academic Workload Models, TAFE Teacher semester plans and day-to-day work allocations, by providing further detail on certain of the position responsibilities that constitute priorities / initiatives / improvement activities for the year and associated professional development.

Academic Workload Model

The Performance and Development plan for academics will be consistent with the allocated academic workload for the year and will not involve extra work to the activities established from the Workload Model.

TAFE Teacher Semester Plan

The Performance and Development Plan for teachers provides further specifics for scheduled and unscheduled duties allocated in the Semester Plan.

Swinburne Strategic Planning Cycle

Swinburne Strategic Planning Cycle

Objectives of the Performance and Development Cycle

The Performance and Development process consists of 3 stages to be completed over a calender year (in conjunction with the University Planning cycle). Performance and Development provides a framework for:

  1. Planning (beginning of year) - Establishing a plan to ensure priorities that take the person and the area forward are scheduled for completion in an achievable timeline;
  2. Progress Review (mid year) - To determine whether everything is on track and to make any necessary adjustment to the plan; and,
  3. Annual Review (end of year) - To assess how things went as a learning exercise and discussing what are the next steps for the coming year (what worked, what didn't and where to now);

A meeting should be conducted for each stage of the cycle, to discuss and clarify issues and reach a shared understanding of the objectives and outcomes. The cycle is designed to provide continual development by providing ongoing feedback and guidance to the individual on how they are doing, what they can do to develop in their work and to identify key areas for skill development.

Performance & Development

 

Performance and Development Templates

Academic and General

TAFE Teachers

TAFE Managers

Top

Stage 1. Performance Plan

Why Plan?- achievements need a time frame, things don't happen on the never-never. people not only perform better when they work to a plan, they have a greater sense of achievement when they have a yardstick to see how they are doing

The aim of the planning discussion is to produce performance and development objectives to be achieved for the year. The planning discussion is an opportunity to look at the position duties and responsibilities, to problem solve, to clarify current strategic directions and how the position gives effect to unit objectives. It is up to the participants whether they prefer to meet first, and then the employee can draft a plan based on the discusion, or whether the employee drafts a plan which is then discussed in the meeting and further refined.

The plan developed determines priorities and clarifies expectations for the year, whether in terms of the improvements, initiatives or the further development of key skills. It is recommended that the planning discussion be completed around the end of January.

The Performance Plan states:

  • what needs to be done
  • how it is going to be achieved
  • what outcomes are being sought
  • what professional development is needed

Preparation

Update the Position Description

Ensure the Position Description outlining the duties and responsibilities, required qualifications and experience, position location, salary classification, as well as reporting lines for the position is up-to-date and represents the current activities of the position. The staff member should provide a current resume to ascertain experience, current skills and knowledge and potential areas for development.

Strategic Alignment

Identify activities that the staff member could contribute to development of the department or school. Strategic alignment is informed by eg.

  • Department/Faculty Plan
  • Quality Systems
  • Government Initiatives

The Plan

Objectives and Actions

- what is to be achieved?
- how it is to be achieved?

Setting objectives to achieve for the year for:

  • Strategic Alignment: To activities important to the success of the management unit & Swinburne.
  • Continual Improvement: To identify opportunities to develop departmental systems, processes, work practices etc

Performance Objectives are based on strategic development objectives and position responsibilities. Identify 4 to 6 performance objectives for the year by discussing objectives relevant to the current unit plan, position responsibilities and organisational process / practice improvement eg. quality review reports.

Types of Objectives

  • Products: an item / report / program to be created.
  • Targets: results (number, dollar frequency or percentage value).
  • Swinburne Attributes: achieving exemplar standards for the performance of position responsibilities - Click here

Actions

The objectives are what has to be achieved. The actions is how it is to be achieved. The actions are a broad outline of what will need to be done to achieve the objective and specific project plans may have to be developed for all the steps involved in implementing the strategy.

Measures and Timeline

- what outcomes will make it worthwhile?
- when will it be done, how long will it take?

How will you know whether you have achieved what you set out to do, that you got the results you were looking for? Keep it simple by answering the questions:

  • What outcomes will make the effort and investment worthwhile?
  • What would be a really outstanding outcome?
  • This will give you a baseline and a stretch target.

Measures

- how many / how well etc.?
 - by when?

Measures are the outcomes that the objective is aimed at achieving. What results are being sought? What outcomes will make the exercise worth while?

Measures can be stated as a combination of:

  • Quality - how well / what value?
  • Quantity - how many / what number?
  • Cost - how much / what amount?
  • Time - by when / in what period?

Information on Performance

  • Where are you going to get the information to be used in the Annual Review to judge whether you achieved what you set out to achieve?
  • Source - the manager/supervisor, co-workers, subordinates, students, internal or external clients and/or self-appraisal by the staff member, and
  • Type - surveys, work diaries, reports, quality systems instruments or work products eg. publications, spreadsheets, databases, etc.

Note: It is better for managers / supervisors to make notes on performance than to rely on memory that can be inaccurate or incomplete.

Development

What professional development activities would support the achievement of the objective or for ongoing skill or longer term career development?

The most effective development is having the opportunity to undertake new challenges and learn on the job. Development activities should be thought about in the broadest terms eg.

  • the staff member being coached by another person who is skilled and experienced in the area
  • reading a well regarded "how to" text and then developing an 'action learning' plan on how to incorporate what has been learnt into the person's work.

Feedback

Feedback! and more feedback! - there is no such thing as too much feedback. Feedback from a variety sources is the most important factor for ongoing improvement. Feedback = performance coaching and clarity about what is required

People need to receive constructive and regular feedback. Timely, fair and accurate feedback is the most important factor for improving performance. managers / leaders need to be knowledgeable about the performance of the people they are leading in the process.

Constructive feedback is about problem solving. It includes acknowledging strengths and achievements and identifying areas and strategies to improve on current performance.

People perform best when they can work from their strengths i.e. are given sufficient opportunity to do the things they like doing and do well. So managing performance is about appreciating and using the diversity of talents within a team to good effect.

Top

Stage 2. Progress Review

The Progress Review is a mid-cycle review (held approximately 6 months into the Performance and Development cycle) provides an opportunity to:

  • discuss progress to date and any difficulties that may have been encountered, and
  • reassess the Performance Objectives established in the Performance Plan - whether the objectives need to be revised due
  • to changes in direction or problems that have arisen.
  • If progress is not on target, then necessary adjustments are made to get things back on track and the question of development and resource needs are re-examined.

Top

Stage 3. Annual Review

The Annual Review is undertaken at the end of the twelve-month review cycle between a staff member and reviewer to evaluate performance over the previous year. At this meeting the staff member and reviewer discuss in detail the results achieved against the agreed performance objectives.

The discussion of performance is used to develop plans for the improvement of work systems, processes and practices and opportunities for professional and career development. For the review stage, the employee can provide their assessment of how it has gone and then this should be discussed in a review meeting to identify: issues that may have occured; the lessons to be learnt from what went right (don't take success for granted) and what went wrong; and, to use the assessment as a basis for planning the "where to from here?"

Be Positive! - people perform better when they receive constructive feedback about what they have achieved and how they can do even better

Reviewing Performance

  • Evaluate whether the performance objectives have been achieved against the measures set in the Performance Plan
  • Emphasize the positive. Identify what has worked well and opportunities to go the next step. Discussion of areas for development must be clearly focussed on specific suggestions of how to get better and improve. Emphasizing weaknesses can dramatically decrease performance. Develop plans for the improvement of work systems, practices or future projects. Learn not only from mistakes, but also from successes. Things don't always go to plan, so if something has been a great success, work out why and see if there are any lessons to be learnt to repeat the success in the future or to improve practices, processes etc. in other areas.
  • Evaluate general performance, separate to the specific objectives. Evaluation should be a reflection on the position description responsibilities and duties. Feedback should be constructive - focussed on solutions, on opportunities for improvement and should acknowledge successes.
  • Identify opportunities for professional and career development.

Resolving Disagreement

Where the manager / leader and staff member have differences of opinion about the Performance Plan or Review and agreement cannot be reached, the manager / leader decides on the appropriate work requirements, as part of the employee's workload allocation.

Professional Development

Consists of on-the-job development and more formal training / study / instruction. The most effective development is the opportunity to undertake new challenges in a supported way. A statement of the factors that will lead to the successful achievement of the objective i.e. what good performance looks like, what steps are involved, is useful to guide a staff member undertaking a challenge for the first time.

Career Plan

Against the backdrop of the performance review, short and long term development needs are discussed, as well as future career aspirations and how the supervisor can assist with professional development and career planning.

Top

Additional Information

Contacts and Assistance

Human Resources Reception, x4616
will be able to refer you to an available HR representative that is able to assist you.

Responsibilities

Managers or Supervisors and staff members are jointly responsible for the development of agreed performance objectives and standards that accurately reflect their key accountabilities and goals for the review period. These should be developed consistent with the classification standards applying to the staff member’s classification.

The Manager / Leader is responsible for:

  • the conduct of the process,
  • guidance to the staff member in the development of the plan - getting started and breaking the objective down into manageable steps
  • constructive feedback
  • identification of professional development needs
  • ensuring that recording of the results of each stage of the process occurs.

Faculties / departments may assign this responsibility to members of senior staff more closely associated with the work of the staff member as necessary.

Links with Other Human Resource Processes

The Performance Planning, Review and Development Process is a separate and stand alone process, however, information obtained through this process (i.e. the identification of performance objectives, review of outcomes, future career and training requirements) may be relevant to other University human resource processes. In such cases, the process will be handled separately from Peformance and Development, in accordance with current Swinburne policy for these matters including OSP, study leave, incremental progression, promotion, probation, unsatisfactory performance etc.

Administrative Procedures and Confidentiality

The documentation will be confidential between the University and the employee. Any paper records relating to the review will be kept for seven years by the management unit and stored confidentially.

The employee can print out a copy of the record and may use it to support an application for promotional or development opportunities within the University.

Top

Sections

 arrow iconOverview

 arrow iconOnline/Word Templates

 arrow iconStage 1. Performance Plan

 arrow iconStage 2. Progress Review

 arrow iconStage 3. Annual Review

 arrow iconAdditional Information