Staff Performance Appraisal Process: Complete your Self-Appraisal by April 30

As part of the annual performance appraisal process, staff employees are asked to prepare a self-appraisal. The self-appraisal is an opportunity to explain your achievements, strengths, areas for growth and development, and the goals you want to work on next year.

Here are some things to consider when rating yourself in the different categories:

• Exceptional  – Have you gone above and beyond what is normally expected of you? As compared to your colleagues, would you describe yourself as being within the top 10% of performers?  What did you do that makes you stand out from the rest? Provide an explanation. Tip: Be selective about this rating - reserve it for an area where you really shine and can easily describe why.
• Exceeds Expectations – Have you gone beyond what is normally expected of you? Do you feel like you are doing a good job? As compared to your colleagues, would you describe yourself as being within the top 30% of performers? Provide an explanation. Tip: Choose this rating if you are doing good work and can give examples.
• Meets Expectations – Have you done what is normally expected of you? Do you feel like you are a steady and reliable employee? If you choose this rating, you do not need to provide an explanation. Tip: Most employees meet expectations.
• Below Expectations –Have you not done what is normally expected of you? Where did your performance lapse? If you choose this rating, you have already had a conversation with your supervisor about your performance. Explain what you are doing to improve. Tip: Very few employees are performing below expectations.

The self-appraisal is a tool to help you communicate with your supervisor.  Use the comment box to make him/her/hir aware of or reminded about the things you have done this year.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call HR.

Setting Goals for Next Year

This year, you will be able to “link” your goals to strategic plan goals.  With this functionality, HR will be able to run reports that show the overall institutional progress on goals.  HR will ask staff to update their goals every quarter.

When setting your goals, think of how they tie to the strategic plan and cross-cutting themes of diversity and technology in learning.  While in your self-appraisal, write your goal in the space provided under “New Goals” then click on the chain “link” icon.  You will be able to link to one of the six major stratetic plan goals, which are listed below.  (Note:  choose the “link” option and not the “copy and link” option.  This will allow you to write an explanation of your goal in the space provided.)

The six strategic plan goals are:

1. Enrollment
   a. Attract, enrich, and graduate a diverse and talented student community.
   b. Create a student body that individually and collectively reaches a remarkable record of achievement and that maximizes the interactive learning opportunities for all Grinnell students.
2. Teaching and Learning
   a. Re-envision Grinnell’s commitment to a liberal education and its value in the twenty-first century.
   b. Create an innovative and evolving student centered, liberal arts curriculum (academic experience) that enables students to be successful in an ever-changing world and informs and enriches the lives of Grinnell graduates.
3. The Grinnell Learning Space
   a. Build learning spaces that encourage collaboration, creativity and inquiry. 
   b. Design operate, and support all spaces on the campus to enhance the academic, social and environmental success of the Grinnell College community.
4. Career Development/Post Graduation Success
   a. Instill an orientation to the future and intentionally connect the Grinnell Education experience to post-graduate endeavors. 
   b. Create a curriculum and learning environment that enables and encourages students to pursue and succeed along multiple life paths and careers.
5. Alumni Engagement
   a. Foster life-long learning and contributions of alumni in the College’s intellectual life, service, and mentorship and advising. 
   b. Design the Grinnell Alumni community, the alumni-to-alumni relations, and the College-to-alumni relations by purposefully including alumni in all of the strategies.
6. The Management of Grinnell’s Human and Financial Resources
   a. Transform administrative practices to maintain continuous, collaborative, and adaptive planning for the College.
   b. Create a fiscally sustainable business model that supports the College’s continuing enhancements and maintains stability through variations in revenue sources and expenditure patterns.

In addition to the six strategic plan goals, also consider how you can improve campus climate issues identified in the 2013 survey results.  When writing your goals, focus on making them S.M.A.R.T.

• Specific - To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W" questions:  Who, What, Where, When, Which, Why.  Be precise.
• Measurable – Answer: How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
• Achievable - Plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Check your progress.
• Realistic - Determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.  Don't set your goals too low.
• Timed - When can you expect completion of this goal? Assign target dates.