For the last eight months, the coronavirus pandemic has created challenges to the way we work and altered many of our duties and responsibilities. Your willingness to take on sometimes unfamiliar tasks and to put in untold extra effort has enabled Lawrence to adapt to the crisis and continue educating our students. At the same time, many of the expectations and goals we set during last fall/winter’s performance evaluation period are no longer priorities as we complete our work at this time.
Because it would be difficult to assess progress against those benchmarks and to relieve some of the current administrative burden, it has been decided to make participation in the formal University performance evaluation process optional for this year. If an office or department would like to move forward with conducting performance evaluations, they are encouraged to do so and should not feel compelled to meet regular deadlines if additional time for completion is needed. Feedback compiled through the supervisor evaluation web form will not be collected this year.
If an office or department decides to forgo the formal performance evaluation, supervisors are encouraged to conduct feedback conversations with their employees. Providing constructive feedback is vital to employees’ ongoing development. It can open up a dialogue, communicate and clarify expectations, and play a crucial role in promoting professional growth. Supervisors are especially encouraged to meet with new employees or those that would most benefit from this 1:1 time. These conversations can be documented and utilized for reference in future year’s performance discussions.
If needed, the Performance Evaluation webpage provides the documents to complete the annual performance evaluation. This webpage also provides helpful information on providing ongoing feedback, introducing change, setting annual objectives and goals, and more. Please do not hesitate to contact your Human Resources representative with any questions you may have or if any support is needed.
Thank you for all you have done to contribute to keeping Lawrence University a strong and vibrant community.