Academic Staff - Annual Performance and Development (APD) Process - Current staff

Academic Staff - Annual Performance and Development

Performance development at The University of Queensland strives to support all staff in their development journey in the pursuit of excellence.

Provided below is a message from Professor Deborah Terry AO, Vice-Chancellor and President, launching the Annual Performance and Development (APD) process.

Click on the following to learn more about the different elements of APD.

At UQ, performance and development is an ongoing process between a staff member and their Supervisor that includes:

goal setting
regular conversations, and
a formal annual review process.

All continuing and fixed-term academic staff employed for more than one (1) year are required to participate in the APD process.

Please note, continuing academic staff on a three-year probationary period will continue to use the legacy process until further advised.

The process supports you in your performance and development by:

Focusing on your career and professional development goals and needs.
Clarifying work priorities and expectations aligned with the Criteria for Academic Performance.
Reflecting on your performance and academic contributions through a range of different mechanisms.
Exchanging of feedback.
Recognising your contributions and efforts.

Anticipated benefits of APD include:

Improving the quality of the appraisal conversations with a view to supporting broader recognition of academic activity.
Providing tools and prompts for longer-term career advice.
Ensuring the process is fit for all academics, irrespective of level and job family.
Providing mechanisms to support supervisors to make informed and consistent performance evaluations.
Capturing performance and career development information consistently over time.
Providing visibility for Heads/EDs/IDs over outcomes in their org unit: including goal setting, developmental commitments and career aspirations.
A streamlined and user-friendly process.

The key dates and actions required for academic staff (Level A-E) are:

Prior to APD process	Conclude the 2021 appraisal using the existing annual process (forms below) against the legacy Criteria for Academic Performance: Form A - Academic Portfolio of Achievement (DOCX, 69.3 KB) as a Word document or online through the Academic Portal Form B - Achievements and Objectives Form (DOCX, 45.2 KB) (noting that if goals are set in Form B they will need to be transferred into Workday as outlined below) Form C - Appraisal Summary Report and Record of Assessment (DOC, 70.5 KB).
October 2021 – December 2021	APD process commences - staff receive a notification to start this process via Workday. Upload completed 2021 appraisal documentation. Draft and submit goals in Workday (PDF, 913.4 KB) for the year to come against the Academic Domains in the Criteria for Academic Performance: Teaching Research Supervision and Researcher Development Citizenship and Service Note: If academic staff have already set goals for the year ahead in Form B they can review for alignment against the updated Criteria for Academic Performance, amend as needed and then transfer these into Workday. Supervisor to review draft goals and prepare for APD conversation (PDF, 113.3 KB). Staff member and Supervisor engage in an APD conversation to discuss goals and submit these in Workday. Heads of School, Executive Deans and Institute Directors to review and approve goals as required. Staff will receive an acknowledgement request summarising any changes to the goals set for the year.
~ May 2022	A mid-year check in is encouraged to review progress against goals and development areas. This is an informal process and provides opportunity to update and add goals or record progress via Workday.
October 2022 - December 2022	Full APD process commences including the 'year in review' and 'year ahead' process

For further information on APD, read the Academic Annual Performance and Development Policy and Procedure [5.70.15].

The Individual Activity Profile (IAP) is a 'one-stop-shop' that provides each academic staff member with a suite of data articulating their academic contribution and output relevant to academic achievement.

From 2020 onwards, it is expected that continuing and fixed-term academic staff will use their IAPs in their APD reviews where practical.

View your Individual Activity Profile (staff login required)

Training videos

Detailed training videos have been developed to help staff members and academic supervisors understand the IAPs and how they can be used in the performance development process.

Understanding the IAP

Background to the IAP

Role of the staff member

Each person is responsible for driving their own development journey at UQ. To get the most from the APD process, it is recommended that you:

Draft your goals (PDF, 115.7 KB) and gather the relevant material ahead of the APD conversation with your Supervisor. Submit this via Workday ahead of the conversation.
Proactively book time with your Supervisor to discuss and plan next year’s goals.
Consider the development opportunities or career aspirations you might wish to discuss with your Supervisor.
Reflect on opportunities to contribute to the broader organisational unit or University strategy (PDF, 75 KB).
Enter into the APD conversation with a Growth Mindset ready to share and listen.

Role of the Supervisor

The role of the Supervisor is critical in the Annual Performance and Development (APD) process. A Supervisor’s role includes:

Preparing for the APD conversation by reviewing the staff member's goals for the year and considering alignment (PDF, 75 KB) with broader organisational unit / University objectives.
Scheduling the APD conversation with your staff.
Jointly reflecting on the past year's achievements in the context of identifying priority areas for the year to come.
Planning for the coming year through goal setting (PDF, 115.7 KB) to align with the Criteria for Academic Performance domain areas.
Using coaching questions to draw out development areas.
Connecting regularly with your staff member throughout the year (noting that one mid-year check-in is the minimum number of recommended connections outside of the formal APD conversation).