New staff evaluation process will encourage briefer, but more frequent and meaningful conversations

In July, UFHR will launch “UF Engaged,” a new approach to staff evaluations designed to encourage quarterly conversations between managers and members of their team. The new approach and the system supporting it will be designed to facilitate more frequent conversations in a less concentrated time to encourage managers to be more intentional and deliberate about the kind of feedback they are giving.

“We’ve lost track of why we conduct evaluations,” said UFHR Vice President Jodi Gentry. “With UF Engaged, we’re returning to first principles about how we engage employees about their work by flipping the system to encourage the behavior that we know is most effective: providing regular, specific feedback.”

After a review of best practices, UFHR determined that the university’s former annual performance review process, rating levels and categories were not meeting the needs of managers or staff. With UF Engaged, there will no longer be annual appraisals, ratings or complicated categories; the new system also is not designed to be “the old way x 4.” UFHR is not requiring managers to have four extensive evaluations or “big deal conversations” each quarter, unless such a conversation is needed.

Rather, UF Engaged will provide an abbreviated, more agile format that enables more frequent conversations in a less concentrated amount of time. Leaders and managers will get a quarterly reminder to provide feedback to employees, arranged around each employee’s anniversary date.

A simple and easy-to-use “ePerformance” module will be available in the myUFL system that will include space for notes and provide reminders to leaders and managers when it’s time to have quarterly conversations designed to improve their team’s performance.

“We know managers are often busy and lose track of conversations that are needed,” said Gentry. “UF Engaged is a way for us to help reinforce and support the best practices of managers who are already doing a great job and to encourage managers who may need more support and guidance.”

In the coming weeks, UFHR will provide a variety of opportunities to learn more about UF Engaged. If you have questions or comments in the meantime, please email UFEngaged@hr.ufl.edu.