PDR Advice for UCU Members

15 April 2016

REVIEWEES

  • The main aim of PDR is to identify and facilitate professional development opportunities for reviewees (including training for advancement, as well as to enhance performance in their current post).
  • If your line manager requests that you attend a review meeting, this is normally a reasonable request that you cannot refuse.
  • If you have concerns about the capacity of your line manager to review your performance, then you should raise that directly with your Head of School/Directorate at least 7 days before the meeting to ensure there is time to address this matter.
  • If you had substantial periods of absence (illness, parental leave, etc.), or parttime work, or other factors affect the quantity or quality of your work, spell these circumstances out on the form, and refer to them in any text boxes where they seem relevant.
  • Agreed objectives should ideally be under your control (action-oriented and attainable), not fundamentally dependent on external factors beyond your control. For academics, for example, submitting a paper or grant proposal might be an attainable objective; in contrast, publishing a paper or winning a grant are hostage to external actors.
  • It is your choice whether the categorical overall assessment is recorded within the original categorical assessment fields, or is embedded as text within the comment section. If your reviewer asks you to do their job for them, you do not have to tell your reviewer what their overall assessment should be.
  • If you are asked to sign anything, do not sign unless you are happy with the content of the completed form and that it reflects your input into the process.
  • You should record concerns you have about the overall assessment or about the PDR process on the form itself, and keep notes to feed back to the University later.

REVIEWERS

  • The main aim of PDR is to identify and facilitate professional development opportunities for reviewees (including training for advancement, as well as to enhance performance in their current post).
  • Reviewers are expected to have the necessary knowledge and skills. Reviewers without relevant recent experience or training should complete training before acting as a Reviewer. Information regarding training can be found on the intranet (https://intranet.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/your-employment/your-performance/performance-development-review/help-for-reviewers ) or through the Staff Development Programme.
  • You should keep notes about concerns you have about the PDR process to feed back to the University later.