Constructive conversations

“As part of delivering our People Strategy, we began a review of the Personal Review Development Plan (PRDP) – the former appraisal process - back in early 2022 and responded to ongoing feedback from the community that there was much to improve in the process and experience of people's appraisal conversations.

“The staff survey results that followed indicated some dissatisfaction around the processes to discuss and address career development and performance management. This validated the review we were already undertaking and allowed us to use the Survey results to influence the way in which we designed and implemented the new process.

“I know from my own practitioner experience and research in the field of organisational behaviour that getting this process ‘right’ is central to how people feel heard and get access to the support they need.

Getting views on the process 

“We conducted a formal review, and external consultants were commissioned to conduct interviews and focus groups. They spoke with managers, leaders and staff across all job families and from every job level.

“A key theme in the feedback received as part of the review indicated that staff really valued where their manager demonstrated an interest and care in their work, in their development and in any support needs. They felt that under the old PRDP system there was too much focus on performance at the expense of other supportive factors.

“Some managers admitted that they often stored up feedback to give to someone at the PRDP conversation because they felt that was the only time they had permission to do this. As a result, some people often dreaded their PRDP and didn’t know what would come up in the conversation. Some managers also felt ill equipped to support someone in their career development.

“I established a steering group that worked with the outputs of the review, and we put together a new design of the PRDP and called it ARC.” 

More productive conversations  

“ARC gives staff an opportunity to have a conversation with their manager about the factors that help them perform well and thrive at work. It is a conversation where your performance will be reviewed and it is also a place to have a supportive conversation about how you are experiencing work, what you feel you've achieved, what you could have done better, and to have clarity about what you're going to do in the year ahead. Your ARC conversation will set the tone for ongoing conversations throughout the year.  

“The process involves the manager and individual scheduling the ARC meeting. Individuals then complete an online ‘preparation survey’ that asks people to note their reflections and learning from the past year and select the topics that they would like to discuss related to ‘working well’, career development and support. This completed survey gets sent to the line manager for their input – it creates transparency about what topics in addition to reviewing performance and learning will be discussed. The manager and individual can access a number of tools to help them prepare from the ARC toolkit.

“The manager and staff member have their ARC meeting and discuss the points selected in the preparation survey. During the conversation they also look at planning their objectives for the next year including any performance or career development objectives. 

Being in control 

“Following what I hope is a supportive and useful conversation, the individual then completes an ARC Outcomes form to capture the key actions discussed along with the agreed objectives. The manager also provides a paragraph of feedback to add to the form. The plan objective section is the only part that is shared with relevant departmental managers.

“We hope through ARC that all staff feel much more in control of the conversation and the performance review is done constructively and in a much more supportive way.” 

Implementing ARC  

“Before we went live with ARC, I met with many EDI and Culture committees and the university’s management boards to socialise our plans with them. We ran briefing sessions, put together guidance for department leaders and created a toolkit for leaders, staff and managers to make ARC happen effectively. We really focused on providing the right toolkit for leaders, staff and managers to make ARC happen effectively. Local support is critical to ARC working well across teams and departments.

“So far, we've run one pilot season and we're now embarking on the first formal rollout of ARC. Engagement is strong and early evaluation is telling us that we are heading in the right direction with this new process. We’ve had high levels of participation and attendance at the online briefing sessions, for example.

“We connect with department leadership at various points throughout the ARC process. Their feedback has been positive – they’ve said people really appreciated being asked how they would like to have their meeting, knowing the agenda in advance, as well as the more supportive aspects of ARC.”

“We will have two seasons of ARC per year and departments will choose their ARC season. Support will be provided around those times.” 

Staff survey impact  

“The staff survey results have contributed to the Annual Review Conversation work and have highlighted the critical role line managers can play in creating a supportive working environment. We have evaluation processes built into ARC and welcome people’s feedback on what is working well and what can be improved. We can continue to make a positive difference through ARC and through co-evolving it together.”