/Institutions/University-of-Dubai/json/2024-2025/Policy-and-Procedure-Manual-local.json

/Institutions/University-of-Dubai/json/2024-2025/Policy-and-Procedure-Manual.json

Policy and Procedure Manual 2024-25 > Faculty and Professional Staff > Staff evaluation and staff development policy

Staff evaluation and staff development policy

Policy 

The HRD has established a Performance Management Review (PMR) process to help assess its staff performance, and to provide them with support to achieve their personal and professional goals, in line with the University’s mission and goals.

 

1. Performance Management Review

Performance management is an ongoing process of identifying, evaluating and developing the work performance of employees so that the University of Dubai strategic goals and objectives are more effectively achieved. This can only be achieved by aligning employees’ goals with UD goals and consequently employees’ performance with UD’s strategic goals. 

At its best, performance management as a tool helps senior managers ensure that their team members:

1. Have a clear understanding of job expectations. 

2. Receive regular feedback about their performance.

3. Receive advice and steps for improving their performance.

4. Are rewarded for excellent performance.

Senior staff/Line Managers shall initially develop explicit goals for their subordinates within their roles, against which their performance is assessed annually. The results of the review process enable the University Management to develop remedial measures, including relevant training and development opportunities, to improve the performance of all employees within the organization.

For information related to the performance management and review of academic faculty members, please see Policy No.  FP 5.5, “Faculty Development and Evaluation.”

2. Prerequisites to the Performance Management Process

1. Line Managers must communicate the UD strategic plan, and their unit’s tactical/operational plan to their staff, and to make sure the plans are clearly understood.

2. Line Managers shall meet with their staff at the beginning of the academic year to review their job descriptions, update it if necessary, and to explain what is expected from them for the upcoming year.  More specifically, the Line Managers must identify the key performance indicators along with their relative weights (importance) and the expected performance targets/metrics. Behavioral expectations and competencies must also be outlined.

3. The Line Managers must receive adequate training on conducting the performance management process by either the HR Department to ensure the efficient and correct implementation of the Performance Management System.

 

3. The Annual Performance Management Process

The Performance Management process operates on a full twelve-month period beginning in January of each year until the end of December of the same year. It consists of two stages: Planning and performance evaluation

3.1 Planning 

1. An initial meeting is to be held between the employee and his/her Line Manager at the beginning of the academic year (by 15th January) to review and clarify the employee’s current job description. Minor changes may be made with a copy to the HR Department (Section 1 of this form).

2. In the same meeting, the Line Manager discusses with the employee the expected KPI’s along with its importance (weight) and the expected targets upon which the employee will be evaluated at the end of the academic year (See Section 1 of the form in Appendix I). In addition, the Line Manager outlines the expected behavioral/core competencies. 

 

3.2 Performance Evaluation 

 

1. The performance evaluation process starts at the end of the academic year with the employee completing a self-assessment of his/her achievements relating to the agreed-upon key objectives and targets for the previous year (Section 1 of the form in Appendix I) prior to meeting with his/her line managers. This activity is usually done toward the end of the academic year (by 15th December).

2. The Line Manager will prepare in parallel an evaluation of the employee’s behavioral competencies (Section 2 of the form in Appendix I).

3. The Unit Head/Line Manager will meet with the employee to discuss his/her performance, and to provide the appropriate mark for the achieved KPI’s as percentage of the expected, based on the submitted information. 

4. The Unit Head/Line Manager will also provide his/her evaluation on the employee’s behavioral competencies and discuss any required revisions. 

5. At the conclusion of this activity, the Unit Head/Line Manager shall add the overall evaluation marks, and provide recommendations for future development ensuing from the Performance Management process.  

6. Following this review, any changes to the nature of the tasks and duties initially undertaken by the employee shall be reflected in the expected duties of the upcoming year. The Unit Head/Line Manager will also provide recommendations to fill the employee’s development needs/ skills gaps in order to enhance the employee’s career and performance.  

 

3.3 Method of Assessment

 

1. Staff performance in the University are evaluated through a combination of the following four components, and in which no priority should be inferred from the order of the list: 

2.   Employee performance appraisal is a basic managerial and supervisory responsibility. In particular line managers and supervisors are required to:

• Set  individual performance objectives and discuss with direct report employees during the next review period.

• Regularly review performance on agreed goals and competency levels of employees under their direction.

• Discuss performance gaps with the each direct report  employee, address weak performance through appropriate feedback, and coaching.

• Review, discuss and recommend development/ learning needs of reportees.

• During the year, the employee and his line manager will discuss the employee’s progress toward meeting the objectives, and making adjustments as mutually deemed appropriate.

Each Area/indicator should be evaluated under the following rating scale

 

If the employee does not agree with the rating and refuses to sign the final evaluation, the line manager, the Dean/department head or next management authority with a notation of this conclusion. The Dean/Line Managerand the HR Director will meet and discuss the contents of the evaluation as well as the comments submitted by the employee. Consensus must be reached between the administrators present at this meeting regarding each of the review components and a final score calculated. The final evaluation, comments and score recommended will be forwarded to the President/VPAA/DOA for review. The decision of the President VPAA/DOA will be final.

Unsatisfactory/Improvement Required Annual Performance Evaluation

If an employee’s overall annual performance is evaluated as unsatisfactory or  identified as requiring substantial improvement, the Dean/Line Manager, in consultation with the employee, shall design a professional development plan that will be supervised by the line manager. The university will provide support for a focused program designed to improve performance agreed upon.

The employee will be evaluated against this achievement towards the plan at the following performance evaluation.

If the Dean/Line Manager determines that the employee has not satisfactorily accomplished the objectives of the plan, sanctions may be implemented against the employee in accordance with  the disciplinary policy FP5.9. Sanctions may include but are not limited to dismissal.

• The year-end review is completed, and the forms submitted to the HRD by the 30th of December.

• The full Review process including duties planned for the upcoming year to be completed by the 15th of January.

 

Although the evaluating supervisor will try to avoid any bias or mistakes in the evaluation process, it is possible for the employee to feel that the evaluation received was less than deserved. In such cases, the matter should be referred to the relevant unit head to resolve any grievances. At the end of the process, all the related forms shall be submitted to the HR department for recording purposes. Copies may be sent to the employees and Line Managers for their records. Such documents must be retained in the personnel file and remain confidential.

3.4 Supervisor’s Responsibilities

The reviewing supervisor is responsible for the following: 

1. Develop a work plan for each member of staff with the active participation of that employee.

2. Coach, counsel and monitor employee’s job performance throughout the year.

3. Conduct a fair, unbiased and equable performance review for each member of staff.

4. Ensure the employee is given continuous constructive feedback to enable him/her to improve his/her work performance throughout the year.

 

3.5 HRD’s Responsibilities

The Manager of the HRD is responsible for the following: 

1. Administer and monitor the performance review system. 

2. Include the results in staff training and development programs.

3. Communicate the feedback to the top management to incorporate in succession planning.

4. Update the employee’s file with performance results.

5. Ensure system enhancements to achieve the best results.

 

4. Training and Development
Training is one of the most important ways that organizational performance can be improved. It is essential for all employees, whether they have experience or not to improve performance, which will result in overall increased organizational performance. 

4.1 Induction Program

The induction program prepared by the HRD and the line managers shall include a training schedule for new employees. The new employees are expected to learn the necessary skills to perform their jobs appropriately. The Line Managers will provide the new employees with adequate information and skills required to get the job done at acceptable standards. This will require the Line Managers to mentor, guide, and coach the newly hired employees and provide them with assistance when needed. Training and development programs shall continue if the employees undertake more responsibilities or occupy new roles because of promotion and /or internal transfer.  

4.2 Identifying Training & Development Needs

The training and development needs for each employee can be identified through the following resources:

1. Reviewed job analysis which may indicate new roles assigned to the employee and the new skills required to perform the job properly.  

2. Skill gaps identified through the performance management reviews.

3. Succession plans which describe the potential development needs for successors.

4. Discussions between the employee and the Line Manger with feedback communicated to the HRD.
   
   

The Manager of HRD will meet with the unit heads and discuss training needs and to solicit their feedback to produce a conclusion on the training needs for each employee in their units. This process shall start by the beginning of November of every academic year.  The HRD Manager will summarize the needs, and group employees with similar needs to establish a training needs budget.

4.3 Organize Training Programs

The HRD will create a training and development needs matrix for all staff, and will consult the (CED for training solutions. The CED will provide the HRD with quotations which will be forwarded to the COO and the UD President for approval. Based on the approved quotations, the HRD will develop a training schedule and communicate it to the unit heads and staff.

4.4 Delivering & Assessing Training Programs

The HRD with the collaboration of the CED will administer the delivery of the training programs as scheduled. The training matrix may be updated as it seems necessary. Workshop assessment forms will be distributed for all staff to solicit their feedback. CED will provide a comprehensive evaluation report to the HRD which will   identify strengths and weaknesses which the HRD will incorporate into following years’ training and development programs.

4.5 Additional Development Opportunities

Training and development programs organized by the HRD will attempt to cover all development areas required for improving the skills and the performance of employees. Employees may additionally seek any special training programs offered outside UD. This could be a workshop organized somewhere else with career peers or a conference which is expected to enrich employees’ knowledge, skills, and attributes. Shall this be the case; a formal request will be addressed through due process to the President for approval. Employees who get requests approved will be granted paid leave for the relevant period. The employee will submit a copy of the attendance certificate to the HRD upon his/her return to be included in their personnel file. The employee shall also share the knowledge gained in the outside training with colleagues in his/her department.

All University administrative staff have the opportunity to avail 5 days of study leave in a given academic year under the training leave allocation. 

4.6 Employee Access to Professional Development Opportunities

Due to budget constraints, the University of Dubai may not be able to fund all requests for training and development. A UD employee may opt to attend/pursue related activities at his/her own expense. 

4.7 CED Courses

1. Any training/courses running by the CED will be free of charge for UD staff if the training is relevant to their position/field. Employees are requested to coordinate with HR to enroll in the program.

2. UD is offering a 50% discount on the fee of the course/training run by CED if it is not relevant to the employee’s position/field. 

3. In such a case, the employee is requested to coordinate with HR and finance departments to enroll in the program.

4. All UD employees will have full access to the University library and learning resources in accordance with the library policies.  

 

4.8 Sanctions
The completion of the required training shall be considered as part of an employee’s annual evaluation performance.  Employees that consistently and willfully fail to follow the allocated training program will be subject to a range of disciplinary action, which includes but is not limited to:

1. Verbal warning.

2. Written warning.

3. Salary deductions.

4. Suspension of promotion.