1. Performance Excellence
Stronger, Simpler and Online
This is close to “walking Around” intro doc

2. Why change?
Northwestern is increasingly investing in the performance, growth, and engagement of our staff.
Accumulated feedback from staff suggests their experience with legacy Performance Excellence could be improved.
Exciting new developments in the field point to a better way.
An extensive pilot of new Performance Excellence validates the new approach.
Performance Excellence is part of a broader strategy to make Northwestern a great place to come and have a career.
Performance Appraisals in most organizations including ours are often highly charged and administratively cumbersome. When we consider the time and effort our people put into Performance Excellence, we think we can help supervisors and staff members get a lot more value out of their investment.
Our pilot implementation in Performance Year 16/17, which included select departments in Weinberg, Feinberg, and all of ARD and HR, demonstrated the value of the new approach.
We all recognize this is a big change – and will take time. So we view this as a multi-year journey.

3. Elevating Performance Excellence
Three-stage experience throughout the year.
Starts with supervisor and staff member aligning expectations and setting challenging goals.
Ends with summarizing the year’s accomplishments and growth.
Most important activities occur throughout the year, as feedback and coaching conversations help staff perform at higher levels and feel more engaged in their work.

4. What’s Changing? Focus Goals Behaviors Ratings User Experience
One form, one discussion. Completing a form at the end of the year.
SMART framework. Often many goals with a focus on tasks and responsibilities.
Eight behaviors that applied unevenly to different jobs. Not much focus on inspiring behavior.
Each behavior rated.
Seven rating points. Emphasis on making minute distinctions in performance.
Word or PDF form stored on users’ computers and shared manually.
Ongoing conversations to update priorities, and share performance coaching and feedback. Notes can be stored online.
SIMple framework. Fewer, more meaningful goals focused on positive outcomes and impact created.
Five inspirational Northwestern values. Descriptive behaviors underlie the values. The “how” work gets done generally informs rating.
Four rating points, with clear descriptions and guidance. Emphasis on growth and development.
Online, shared experience with workflow and linked access to helpful resources.
Focus
Goals
Behaviors
Ratings
User
Experience

5. Timing HR All Staff Meeting This will be a transition year.
FY17
FY18 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Go Live
Schools/Units transition staff into new experience
Prep School/Unit admins
Communicate with End Users – primarily through short videos
Provide live and on-demand training and resources
This will be a transition year.
(Darker purple at top) Schools and units will decide when to transition their staffs into new Performance Excellence. Most will be after the rush associated with the start of Fall Quarter.
Many staff have already set goals. Schools/units can have staff use the new goal setting framework to enhance their goals. Or simply have staff enter their previously-created goals in myHR Learn.
(Lighter purple below) Partners in the Office of HR will be supporting end users (supervisors and non-supervisory staff) throughout the year, with timely advice, communications, training, and tools).
Enable Coaching & Feedback through training and tools
Support Year-End process
Merit process

6. Sponsorship Role of School and Unit Leaders
Understand the Change
Familiarize yourself with “what’s changing,” included in this document
Communicate the Change
Convey support and excitement through written communications, everyday conversations, and meetings/events unique to your school or unit ( template provided mid-September)
Support the Change
Support your staff, and supervisors in particular, to adopt the new experience by promoting training offered online
Lead by example, using new Performance Excellence with your teams
Celebrate early wins such as completion of entering goals within myHR
Staff will take their cues from leaders.
Your HR Business Partner can help you with strategies to align your leadership team.

7. Performance Excellence Design
The following section is for audiences that want to understand the new design in more detail.

8. The annual performance cycle
Performance Goals
Job Responsibilities
Values & Behaviors
Development Plan
Self-Review
Rating
Annual Review Meeting
Merit Pay
Check-ins
Feedback
Coaching
Development Opportunities
How we’re thinking of the cycle, and it’s three core phases.

9. S I M Performance goals Keep it SIMple: pecific mportant eaningful
Enhance
Performance
Set
Goals
Review
Results
Performance goals
Keep it SIMple: S I M
pecific
mportant
eaningful
Changing from SMART goals, to SIMple goals.
2-4 performance goals, stated as OUTCOMES that have IMPACT.
Goals should stretch the staff member, by being challenging but achievable.
Specific means measurable within a timeframe.
Important means aligned with the goals of the team and unit. Achieving the goal moves the team forward.
Meaningful means the staff member has a personal stake in achieving the goal. They will find it fulfilling when they accomplish the goal.
A guide to goal setting is on perform.northwestern.edu.
Two to four performance goals stated as outcomes, not activities.
Goals may highlight the most critical aspects of your ongoing responsibilities or focus on project work.
Effron, Marc, The Secret to Setting Great Goals, Talent Strategy Group, 2016

10. Northwestern Values
Enhance
Performance
Set
Goals
Review
Results
Northwestern is developing a common set of values across staff, faculty, and students. For staff, these replace the Northwestern Behaviors. This can be a helpful feedback and coaching resource throughout the year.
we act with Integrity building safety and trust
we embrace our Diversity fostering a vibrant community
we engage in Collaboration achieving success together
we strive for Excellence taking pride in what we do
we learn through Discovery growing all the time
Values replace behaviors – wanting to engage staff in more inspirational and aspirational ways to engage.
Northwestern has always had values. As our environment grows more complex it is helpful to make our enduring values more explicit.
Each value has an attendant set of staff behaviors. Perform.northwestern.edu

11. Leadership Development Curriculum
Feedback and coaching
Enhance
Performance
Set
Goals
Review
Results
HR Business Partners
School/Unit Leaders
People
Resources
Feedback and Coaching for Performance
Coaching for Development
Leadership Development Curriculum
GuideSpark Videos
NeuroLeadership Institute “Connect”
Lynda.com
Online Education
Many people and resources available to support building a culture of ongoing feedback and coaching.
HR Business Partners increasingly partnering with schools/units on talent strategies. Excellent resources for organizational and managerial needs.
A quick, on-demand resource we piloted successfully is the Connect online curriculum for Supervisors (we licensed from the NeuroLeadership Institute), which helps supervisors have conversations that build staff members’ intrinsic motivation, insight, and growth mindset.

12. Ratings Achieving Excelling
Enhance
Performance
Set
Goals
Review
Results
Role Model
Few employees (5-10%) are Role Models and made a profound impact this year.
Excelling
Some employees (20-30%) are Excelling and made a significant impact this year.  
Achieving
Many employees (50-70%) are Achieving and made a solid impact this year.
New rating scale has fewer rating points and has descriptive labels rather than numbers.
Ratings based on:
fulfilling core job responsibilities (doing the job is tablestakes).
attaining performance goals
exemplifying the values and behaviors
Staff members will do a self-review but not give themselves a rating.
Supervisors will provide an overall narrative summary and one overall rating.
Development plan is not rated, but critical in achieving future performance.
Rating guide at perform.northwestern.edu.
Need
Improve-
ment
Few employees (5-10%) Need Improvement and made a limited impact this year. 

13. Performance Excellence is online
myHR Learn is the place for learning and performance.