Human Resources
Waller Hall, First Floor
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97301
503-370-6210 voice
503-370-6570 fax
Willamette University Performance Management Program
Annual evaluations are an important part of on-going communications between a manager and his/her staff, and Willamette University believes strongly in performance evaluation as a means to improve both job satisfaction and performance. The forms and resources below are intended to facilitate both annual and ongoing feedback.
Annual reviews are performed on a "uniform-date" basis for all employees who have been employed at least 10 months as of the end of the calendar year (December 31). For those employees who have been employed less than 10 months, supervisors may choose to provide a short-year evaluation. Administrators should receive a "feedback circle" evaluation once every three years.
It is a best practice to provide a written six-month review for all new employees. The six-month review can simply be provided in summary format in a letter or memo to the employee and copied to Human Resources.
Administrative (Exempt) Staff Evaluation Forms
*Note, this is just a sample document to assist managers in conducting required "feedback circle" or "peer" evaluations for administrators once every three years. Managers may utilize more simplified procedures for obtaining peer feedback, but this document should help construct a framework for the process. It is our hope to develop a more user friendly and universal utility for this process in the future.
Classified (Non-Exempt) Staff Evaluation Forms
Providing Ongoing Feedback
Where possible, supervisors should make a practice of providing feedback throughout the year. Some can accomplish this by scheduling regular meetings (biweekly, monthly, or quarterly). Where departments are large, it may be impractical to schedule each employee for a performance meeting on a regular basis. In such cases, providing "ad hoc" feedback when and where good or poor performance is witnessed becomes more important.
Whether you schedule regular feedback meetings or provide feedback as the opportunity presents itself, keeping a performance activity log for each of your employees can go a long way toward helping you when the time comes to complete annual evaluations. It is unrealistic and can be unfair to the employee you are evaluating to rely on your memory of the past year's events. It is often said that nothing that appears in a performance evaluation should come as a surprise to the employee being reviewed. Documenting what you see throughout the year and documenting the occasions where you have communicated with the employee about performance matters is an important management responsibility.
The following sample Performance Activity Log ("PAL") can be helpful to you in documenting and communicating performance observations through the year so that there are no surprises.
Performance Management Actions
Unfortunately, from time to time, it becomes necessary to provide formal counseling on employee performance issues, actions, or behaviors. Such performance issues generally fall into two categories: 1) Policy Violations 2) Sub-standard Performance. When incidents occur that fall under one of these categories, it is important for supervisors to discuss the issue/behavior/action that is of concern as soon as possible with the employee. For more serious incidents, the discussion should happen immediately. For more ongoing and continuing behaviors that are problematic, discussions can be more methodical and discussed at the next regular meeting. Of course, if further information is needed to confirm the situation, a longer time may be needed.
When Performance Management Actions are taken, it is important to document the action. Use of the following form is proscribed for all documented employment actions. In some cases, this form may simply be maintained in the supervisor's folder for his/her employee. However, in cases of a formal written warning, the form should be copied to Human Resources to be included in the employee's personnel file.
Disciplinary/Counseling Report
As always, Human Resources is here to help supervisors who are facing performance challenges or violations among their staff. Please don't hesitate to call on us to schedule an appointment for assistance at ext. 6210. In addition, the University has an Employee Assistance Program which provides unlimited supervisory consultations in addressing employee performance issues. Please don't hesitate to call on Cascade Centers EAP for help at (800) 433-2320.