Performance Development Review (PDR)

Conducting a quality PDR conversation between a reviewer and reviewee is the most important part of the PDR process. Conversations should take place throughout the year and can either be scheduled as standalone meetings or form part of regular one-to-ones. Not all areas need to be discussed at every meeting, however, meetings should be frequent enough to allow all involved the opportunity to discuss the key themes. Once a year colleagues are expected to participate in a review which is formally documented. Decisions on the timing of this would need to be agreed by reviewer and reviewee.  

As a minimum two dedicated PDR conversations should happen each year (one of which should be formally documented - see PDR form below). To ensure that the PDR conversations remain live beyond the PDR meetings it is recommended that PDR outcomes are kept under continuous review during regular 1-2-1s.

Subject to a minimum of 2 PDR conversations taking place each planning/financial year (August-July), decisions on the annual timeframe for PDR conversations will be made by each Faculty/Professional Services Division, based on the needs of their operations. Faculties/Divisions may delegate these decisions to Departments or teams. It is advised that for our academic colleagues that they may wish to consider the timing of other processes such as workload allocation and promotions schedule when deciding on the timing of conversations. For professional services colleagues there maybe other processes which may need to be considered as part of the scheduling of conversations.

To monitor the effectiveness of this policy, the University will collect data confirming that PDR conversations have taken place and whether colleagues found this to be valuable. To support this, colleagues are expected to provide information when requested. Data will be shared anonymously at University, Faculty, Professional Services Divisions and Department level. The data will be made available through a dedicated dashboard on the MI Hub.

• ESS PDR Recording

It is recommended that the PDR conversation be undertaken using a coaching style, further information about a coaching style can be found on the PDR support SharePoint. The following is a suggested list of areas to discuss as part of the ongoing PDR conversation, please note that this is not an exhaustive list and should be tailored to the needs of the employee if required.

• Reviewing achievements and challenges
• Working environment, wellbeing and inclusivity
• Workload and priorities
• Future work plans and/or objectives (this may be linked to department/ divisional strategic plans)
• Development, opportunities and experiences
• Career development, opportunities and longer term plans 

To allow both reviewers and reviewees to keep track of objectives, tasks and agreed development/support, a summary of each PDR conversation should be recorded using the PDR form, detailing the key points and/or actions decided as part of PDR conversations. It is recommended that these ongoing conversations are recorded by annotating and updating the formal PDR documentation which should be completed each year (see Frequency of PDR Conversations above).

The form is designed to act as a summary of conversations that have taken place rather than a verbatim record. Particular consideration should be given to recording sensitive personal information, for example regarding the colleague’s wellbeing. The reviewer and reviewee should use their discretion to agree what is recorded on the form.  A copy of the PDR form should be retained by both the reviewer and reviewee. To support career development, training investment and the alignment of personal objectives with the objectives of the Faculty/Department/Division, PDR forms will be shared with the Head of Department (academic colleagues) or with the Executive/Divisional Director (professional services colleagues).

The PDR form should not be shared more widely without the permission of both the reviewee and reviewer.  In some cases, the PDR form may need to be used as part of informal or formal performance processes: both the reviewer and reviewee will be notified if this is case.  

• Managers (reviewers) conducting PDRs are required to attend training and refresher training (every 2 years) for reviewers on conducting effective PDRs. In addition to PDR reviewer training, reviewers are also encouraged to attend relevant coaching training:
  
  
  • PDR Reviewer Training for Academic Colleagues
  • PDR Reviewer Training for Reviewers of Research Staff
  • PDR Training for Reviewers (Professional Services)
    
    
• Reviewees should attend university training which will help you get the most from your PDR conversations: Getting the most out of your PDR

• Resources for reviewers and reviewees are also available on the PDR Sharepoint. 

• Academic PDR form
• Professional Services PDR form