2015 has seen another outstanding year for the University of Glasgow, and that would not be possible without the contribution, skill and commitment of every colleague, writes the HR team.

The Performance and Development Review (PDR) process has a key role to play in continuing to help us deliver our Strategy 2015-2020 and we are pleased to offer some initial information on the process for 2016.

The PDR Process   

As in previous years, PDR is a University wide process to support staff in maximizing their contribution and furthering their development. The three primary elements of PDR are:

  • Performance review
  • Setting of aligned objectives
  • Planning for relevant professional and career development

The PDR process gives every colleague the valuable opportunity to pause and reflect on their individual achievements over the past year and how these contributed to both team and University goals. Importantly, it also gives the opportunity to consider goals for personal and career development for the forthcoming year, and how these can be achieved.

Your Feedback

Following a period of feedback and reflection we are delighted to confirm robust changes to the PDR for 2016, aligning the process more closely with the needs of colleagues across the University. The changes we’re implementing are a direct result of input from across the University and we would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone involved for their insightful feedback.

Some of the most frequent comments we received were around the speed and ease of the process, and as a direct result of this feedback a number of key changes have been made to help address these issues.

What’s changed?

There are five key changes we would like to highlight, all implemented with the aim of making the process easier and more beneficial to deliver:

  • Reduction from five to four performance outcomes; giving colleagues greater direction and clarity
  • The removal of moderation for Grades 9 and 10 staff; making the process swifter and less onerous
  • Performance assessment outcomes to be determined by performance across the role; not solely on the achievement of objectives
  • An increased focus on team objectives
  • A re-design and simplification of PDR documentation; a focus on objective setting aligned with strategic priorities at unit level and the development needs of the reviewee

Plus an exciting innovation…!

In addition to the above changes, we are delighted to announce that in 2016 we are moving to an online PDR process, delivered through our CoreHR system.

This is a very exciting innovation which will further enhance the PDR process, complementing the above changes to give us a PDR process which is more streamlined, more integrated and more intuitive – and above all, easier and speedier to use.

What are the benefits to me?

There are a number of benefits to the new process for both the reviewer and reviewee:

  • An efficient, streamlined and robust PDR process
  • A more intuitive system, making full use of the ability to auto-populate the R&T PDR form with data gathered from across  University systems, meaning less data input required
  • Better PDR facilitation between the reviewer and the reviewee, offering an improved dialogue  

What’s next?

The new process and system will be launched across the University in a phased roll-out during May and July; this phased launch will to help us cascade objectives in line with the University strategy – Inspiring People Changing the World.

More information on the updated process and new system will be coming out shortly – so do keep your eyes peeled on Campus e-news over the coming weeks! 

First published: 26 April 2016

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