You ask, we answer.....
1. The use of the word "Peer" commonly means - someone at the same level. When choosing Peers to review us, should we be choosing somebody who works at the same level as us?
For the purpose of our appraisal process, a Peer is somebody who is not our manager, and who does not report to us.
We should choose as our peer reviewers people that we work with, but who are not our close friends. The purpose will be to try and get some useful feedback as to the things that we do well, as well as helping us identify opportunities for development.
2. What is a "Review Cycle Interval" and how do we know when it is due?
A Review cycle Interval is how frequently a particular type of review process takes place. At Pickering, we currently have one Review Cycle - which is an Appraisal and Development review, which will take place every year.
You will receive email notifications informing. you of each stage of the review cycle, and People and Culture will publish information about the review cycle in advance.
You can see the dates of the 2024 Cycle here: Part 1: Peer Selection
3. What happens if I get asked to review too many people?
You are in complete control of how many people you review, and can decline any reviews that are requested.
People and Culture will be reviewing the amount of requests that each individual receives, and will be making sure that no one person gets asked to do too many reviews
4. Will we still need to complete pre-PDR forms?
Once the review writing stage of the process commences, everybody will be asked to write a Self-Review. This will replace the pre-PDR part of the process.
5. How do I manage somebody who is new to my Team?
Somebody who is still in a probation period because they are new to the company will not be included in the annual review cycle.
If somebody has recently transferred into your department from another part of the company, then it may be worth having peer reviews from some of their previous colleagues (if they are different to now), because even if they cannot comment on the new role, they may have some opinion on soft skills (helpfullness, flexibility etc).
You may also consider conducting the appraisal with the previous Manager.
6. How frequently should 1-1 meetings between manager's and their staff be scheduled?
The recommended baseline schedule from P&C is that once every 6 weeks is an appropriate target.
However, this is ultimately at a Manager's discretion.
There may be instances where a more frequent check-in may be required - for example, somebody is going through a very stressful time, or they may have been recently promoted and would benefit from additional support.
Likewise, a manager may feel that a particular employee may not need 1-1s as frequently.
7. I talk to my team all the time, why do I need regular 1-1s?
It's definately a good thing if you talk to your team all the time! However, these conversations are likely to be around day to day tasks and issues.
The purpose of 1-1s is the opportunity to take a step back and have a slightly more in depth conversation, possibly covering topics such as how things are going in general, workload, opportunities for development and training, support etc.
The outputs and actions from these meetings will then be available when the annual review process takes place, hopefully making it an easy and stress-free process.
8. Will the annual appraisal/PDR still take place on the anniversary of the employee's start date.
No, this new review process replaces that, and all reviews will take place in the third quarter of the year (July to September).
9. Are salary reviews to be conducted during the annual appraisal?
No, the new appraisal process is to be used for discussions around setting objectives, development and training.
This process will take place in Q3, and Manager's will be reviewing and applying for budgets in Q4.
Once budgets have been approved, Manager's will be in a position to have individual discussions around pay increases in Q1.