Pay & Reward

INTRODUCTION

PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

REWARDING CONTRIBUTION AND PERFORMANCE 
    
    Appendix 1: Exceptional Performance – Sample of Example Indicators
    Appendix 2: Value Added Performance – Sample of Example Indicators
    Appendix 2: High Performance - Sample of Example Indicators

INTRODUCTION

Effective staff performance and development is key to Aston’s ability to meet the challenge of increased domestic and international competition for students and funding. The Performance Development and Reward Scheme is designed to support, retain and develop existing staff and attract new staff to Aston.  The purpose of this guide is to set out information about the means by which performance and contribution is encouraged, assessed, reviewed and rewarded. The guide also covers the criteria used for the assessment of accelerated and contribution increments and one-off performance payments for all staff on Grades 1 to 10. 

The scheme came into operation in the 2008/9 academic year following which it was reviewed. In future years it will be reviewed in partnership with the joint unions and at least every 3 years.

The Performance Development and Reward Scheme sets out to provide a coherent and practical approach to recurrent and one-off payments to staff to reward individual contribution within their role, and to ensure transparency, fairness and equality of access.

The performance development review element of the scheme ensures that each member of staff has at least one structured meeting with his or her line manager or an appropriate individual nominated by the Executive Dean/Department, during the year. This meeting should be considered as the documented stage of an ongoing process, and other informal meetings may be arranged in order to provide a more frequent review of progress, in accordance with specific School/Departmental requirements. Awards made under this scheme are designed to relate to the person and how they carry out their role and not to the role itself.  Executive Deans and Heads of Departments are encouraged to define their own priorities, in line with the general criteria set out below, to reflect their School/Department objectives. The criteria for the awards to be adopted by the School/Department should be reported to the University’s Executive Team.  It is important that the criteria are published and made available to staff at the beginning of the review period.

PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

Performance Development and Review meetings are an opportunity to discuss an individual’s performance, to chart progress, to identify achievements, to consider the individual’s contribution to the section, department or centre and, where relevant, to the University.  The process should also identify barriers to more effective performance; and identify training and development needs.

Line managers are encouraged to ensure that staff receive regular and continuing feedback about their performance throughout the review period.  This should include ensuring that staff have their contribution recognised and achievements acknowledged. This activity will culminate in the Performance and Development Review meeting.

The Performance and Development Review will promote effective two-way communication between staff at all levels, which should have a positive impact on morale and motivation.

It is recommended that the formal annual review meeting should be undertaken in two parts (which may take place at the same meeting) but Schools and Departments may develop their own processes provided that they broadly take account of the guidelines set out below. 

Part One – Role and Performance

This part of the meeting will includethe following.

• Identification of progress and achievement in the work that has been undertaken over the review period.

• Discussion about the role requirements in general and the factors that have assisted and/or hindered the individual in terms of meeting their objectives.

Part Two – Role and Development

The purpose of stage two is to determine the objectives for the following review period.  The discussion between the line manager and the member of staff should:

• identify the aims and objectives for the forthcoming review period together with the resources needed to achieve them.

• identify areas of development which will enable an individual to enhance their contribution to the University.  (It may be appropriate for participants to consider drawing up an action plan and/or seeking guidance from Centre of Staff Development)

• reflect on how the individual’s abilities are being used

• identify areas which will enable an individual to enhance their contribution to the University 

An appraising manager’s objectives will be agreed with their manager (these being derived from University and School/Department objectives).The objectives agreed between a manager and an appraisee will be derived from the manager’s own objectives and the knowledge of the job and experience / skills of the appraisee.

Each appraisal report and objectives will be confirmed and signed by the appraiser’s manager.  This is a key part of ensuring fairness, consistency and transparency and is also an opportunity to highlight the achievements of more junior staff to senior managers in the University.

For individuals the benefits of the reviews are:

• to provide an opportunity for staff members to celebrate success and achievement and to identify and discuss any problems and difficulties in a supportive context
  

• to help staff to understand how their work contributes to School/Departmental and institutional objectives
  

• to provide individuals with an opportunity to identify training needs, and to discuss career planning.
  

The University will benefit from the scheme because:

• it will provide an opportunity for sectional, departmental and institutional objectives, and the roles that individuals play in these, to be communicated to staff

• it will contribute to School/Departmental planning, allowing opportunities for work allocation and provide a tool for training needs analysis

• it will support the achievement of the University’s aims and priorities by ensuring that these are disseminated throughout the organisation

• the upward flow of information generated through the Performance and Development Review process will help to provide, among other things, a planned and focused approach to staff training and development, ensuring that staff receive the support they need

Performance and Development Review is widely regarded as good practice.

Probation

The Performance and Development reviews for newly appointed staff who are subject to probationary procedures should incorporate and take account of all aspects of the processes and procedures set out in this part of the document.

REWARDING CONTRIBUTION AND PERFORMANCE

Purpose

The University wishes to recognise performance.  To enable this to be done fairly, performance will be assessed by taking into account the full scope of what people do, the level of skill and competence they apply and the results they achieve (which all contribute to the University achieving its goals).

The University aims to attract, retain and motivate the best staff.  It is committed to deliver equal pay for work of equal value and therefore has a rigorous job evaluation/role analysis methodology.  Basic salary, up to the contribution threshold for each grade, reflects the normal performance expectations for each grade. The Performance Development Review process sets objectives for each member of staff and identifies their development and training requirements. 

Contribution-Based Pay

Contribution-based pay adjustments are:

• the award of accelerated increments to reflect an individual’s progression within their job towards the normal salary maximum, at a faster rate than would normally be expected; or contribution increments which are the award of increments above the normal salary maximum of the grade. This type of award recognises that the individual’s knowledge, skills and behaviours can continue to develop and also thereby increase their contribution towards University and School/Departmental objectives.

Contribution-based pay adjustments are normally effective from 1 August following a review year. They will be paid from School/Departmental budgets and should be included within the budgetary process.  More than one increment may be paid in very exceptional cases

Performance Related Payments

If the University decides to make payments they will be in the form of one-off, unconsolidated amounts linked to a review of performance and achievement of personal objectives, agreed through the Performance Development Review process.

The scheme will recognise four levels of performance which are set out below.

1.      Exceptional  Performance

This will apply to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding contribution. and; is recognised by others as a role model, both with respect to what they have done and how they have gone about it. Examples of performance indicators for Exceptional Performance are set out in Appendix 1.

2.      Value Added / High Performance

Applies to an individual who has performed well against their objectives.* All in this category will have demonstrated a positive contribution that adds value to the University, and for some their overall performance will have markedly exceeded expectations. Examples of performance indicators for Value Added / High Performance are set out in Appendix 2.

3.      Meeting Expectations

Applies to an individual who has performed their role satisfactorily, meeting a number of their objectives and making a positive contribution to their team or department.

4.      Not Meeting Expectations

Applies to individuals whose performance is being managed under one of the formal procedures set out in the University’s Performance Management Scheme.

*Note:

The objectives referred to above are those that are identified at the Performance and Development Meeting.

The payment of any personal performance award will depend on the University achieving a satisfactory level of performance.  Budgets allocated to each School and Department for PRP purposes will be based on a single sum or an across the board percentage of salary costs.  Each School and Department will be allocated the same percentage of their salary costs. Schools and Departments would have to make a case to the Executive if they wish to exceed their budgets

Level of Awards and Funding

Each year the University will decide on the amount to be paid as one-off payments in total.  From this, calculations can be made for the percentages of salary to be paid for Value Added/High Performance and Exceptional Performance.

One-off performance related payments will be paid in October following the review year.

Newly Appointed Staff

Staff first appointed on or after 1 February in any review year will not qualify for a Performance Related Payment for that initial year.

Process for Determining Awards

Award recommendations will be made by the line manager in the form of a report that will be considered by the School/ Department/ Business Unit Performance Development Reward Panel. It is recommended that wherever possible the line manager discusses the content recommendations with the member of staff before it is submitted to the panel.

The report should include a formal recommendation about whether the individual should receive an award under the scheme and the type of payment to be made.  In so doing the line manager will have taken account of the criteria for making awards as set out in this paper.  Members of staff who, through no fault on their part, have not had a Performance Development Review meeting, should not be denied consideration if their performance meets the criteria for a recommendation for an award. A recommendation must be evidence - based.  Any recommendation that is not substantiated by evidence will be rejected.

The School/Departmental Reward Panel will consider the category of reward to be made under this scheme at a meeting.  The panel will comprise the Executive Dean / Department Head and at least one senior member of staff as a minimum.  Panel members should not be present for consideration of their own award; the Executive Dean/Head of Department should ensure that the meetings are constituted (seeking guidance from HR) to prevent this.

Suitable arrangements should be in place for the decision of the Performance Development Review Panel to be communicated to those concerned.  Appropriate feedback should be given to individuals and to line managers involved in the process.

Monitoring

When Schools/Departments meet to consider award recommendations, they should monitor the pattern of recommendations in accordance with the University’s normal equality and diversity monitoring guidelines to ensure that the pattern of recommendations and proposed awards is justifiable. The Human Resources team will assist in this and provide guidance.

The Executive Team will review the overall allocations in relation to performance levels before payments are made

The University’s HR Department will review the actual distribution of awards across the University retrospectively.  An annual report detailing the distribution and amount of awards using the University’s normal monitoring categories in accordance with its equality and diversity policies will be sent to the appropriate committees and to the Joint Unions Committee.  This information will be incorporated in the University’s equal pay reviews.

Appeals

Grounds of Appeal

A member of staff could appeal if they consider that:

• there has been a failure of process in which the original panel may not have taken into account something that was relevant to the award or were influenced by something that was not relevant
  
• the type of award is inconsistent with the nature of an individual’s performance
  
• the amount awarded is incompatible with the level of award provided to others within the same School/Department/Business unit.

Appeals Process

Appeals should normally be made in writing to the Executive Dean/Head of Department within four weeks of the member of staff receiving notification the contribution/performance award.  An appellant may seek assistance in this from the HR team and/or their union representative.

The Appeals panel will take into account all of the relevant information (including the appellant’s letter) and will be able to either confirm the decision of the Development Reward Panel or increase the value of the appellant’s original award. The decision of the Appeals Panel will be final.  If a member of staff believes that the decision contravenes other staff policies then they can ask for that to be considered as a grievance.

Appeals Panel

Appeals panels are established by Executive Deans or Heads of Departments and will, as a minimum, comprise:

• three senior members of staff who were not members of the original panel (one of whom may be from another School/Department dependent on the circumstances)

• the Executive Dean or Head of Department

A Human Resources team member must also be present at Appeal hearings.

Training

The Centre for Staff Development will make available training for all managers who will be involved in the Performance Review process. Training should normally be undertaken before a manager can carry out a review.  Training arrangements will be publicised and for further information please contact Patrick Buckley ext. 4601.

Mentoring

It is important that members of staff are aware that the University has established a Mentoring facility to offer support in relation to all aspects of their employment at Aston. 

Administration

All documentation will be confidential to those that are involved in the review process. 

Review

The Performance Development and Reward scheme will be reviewed after the first year of operation in partnership with the Joint Unions and at least every three years thereafter.

APPENDIX 1

EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE - SAMPLE OF EXAMPLE INDICATORS 

*The indicators above are examples and are not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. They are not sent out in order of priority.

APPENDIX 2

VALUE ADDED PERFORMANCE- SAMPLE OF INDICATORS

*The indicators above are examples and are not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. They are not sent out in order of priority.

APPENDIX 2

HIGH PERFORMANCE – SAMPLE OF EXAMPLE INDICATORS 

*The indicators above are examples and are not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. They are not sent out in order of priority.

Last Updated July 2011