Provide feedback on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of staff members’ achievements

During this performance review cycle, it’s important that managers provide feedback to employees on both the “what” and the “how,”—namely “what” did the employee achieve and “how” was it done.

When assessing the “how” it’s important to understand competencies.  Competencies represent the Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviors that staff members need to be successful in their roles. 

Some competencies, such as Job Knowledge and Technical Skills, will vary by department or by Job.

Some Behavioral Competencies are also unique and critical for specific positions.  For instance, in Employee Relations and Staffing there are five Competencies that have been identified as critical for HR Generalists and Recruiters (Relationship Management, Strategic Thinking, Influencing, Counseling & Advising, HR Service Delivery).

Some Behavioral Competencies, however, are more foundational and are required for many positions throughout the University for an employee to be successful.  Some departments across Yale have already been using competencies to evaluate performance for a number of years (e.g. Finance, Drama, Facilities, Library, IT, EHS) and Yale’s C&T form already includes a competency evaluation as well. In reviewing the performance assessment forms already used across Yale, the Organizational Effectiveness and Staff Development (OESD) team found some of the common competency themes shown below.

•    Communicate Effectively
•    Customer Focus
•    Collaboration & Teamwork
•    Results Orientation
•    Building Capability
•    Change Leadership
•    Leadership & Strategic Vision (especially for Managers)
•    Champions Integrity

For this year, OESD has not hard-coded these competencies into the M&P Performance Assessment Form.  Instead, they created a Competency Reference Guide to help managers understand the concept, and provide feedback to employees on where they see their Strengths and their Areas for Development.

Explore the Performance Review website.
Check out the Behavioral Competencies.