Performance Review General Questions

Performance reviews provide an opportunity to receive written feedback, assess training and development needs, clarify expectations, discuss progress toward previously determined goals and set new goals for the next review period. The review process can help improve efficiency and effectiveness and contribute to personal growth and job satisfaction. 

Competencies can be viewed here.

The employee should first speak with his/her supervisor for clarification.  If an understanding is not reached, the employee may submit a written rebuttal to Human Resources for inclusion in his/her personnel file.  

Performance reviews are required for all administrative staff.  Faculty reviews are handled through a separate process administered by the Office of the Provost.  

Ratings are evaluated on the following 5-point scale:

Unsatisfactory- Performance generally fails to meet the established expectations or requires frequent, close supervision of worker.

Needs Improvement- Performance meets some of the job expectations but does NOT fully meet the remainder.

Meets Expectations- Performance fully meets the established job expectations, and may on occasion exceed expectations.

Exceeds Expectations- Performance frequently exceeds expectations in many areas.

Exceptional Performance- Performance is consistently exceptional.   

Supervisors are required to conduct an annual evaluation every 12 months and are encouraged to monitor performance, provide feedback, reward and recognize excellent performance, discuss goals and communicate about issues throughout the year. Employees also are encouraged to initiate conversations with supervisors as often as needed. 

The person who supervised the employee for the greatest period during the year, i.e. the majority manager, should complete a review.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

​​​​​​​The new supervisor should work with his/her senior staff in determining a review process for these individuals.

Yes, training is available for supervisors to conduct an evaluation. You can find both synchronous and asynchronous training modules here. 

Staff reviews are not required for any employee who has been with the university less than 90 days.

We have compiled some resources to help you write smart goals here. 

For updates to your organizational chart contact hrprocessing@howard.edu.

Moving forward, you can expect to participate in goal setting, a mid-year review and a performance evaluation in BisonHub (formerly known as Workday). 

The performance review is completed in 3 simple steps:

1. Self-evaluation- Employee
2. Manager Review- Manager
3. Employee Acknowledgement- Employee 

No, Performance improvement plans are an optional inbox task that will appear when an employee does not meet expectations on their review. You do not have to complete the step but do remember that documentation is an important part of managing people. The Performance Improvement Plan can be completed ad-hoc at any time. Instructions are here. ​​​​​​​

Goals should be agreed upon prior to the review period since the performance evaluation is not the time to introduce new information. Therefore, only add goals that have been mutually agreed upon between manager and employee PRIOR to the performance evaluation should be included.  

Completed performance reviews are always available in your BisonHub(formerly known as Workday) user profile under the performance tab. Managers also have visibility to view past performance reviews of their employees.  

Self-evaluations should show up in BisonHub (formerly known as Workday) for all administrative staff. If yours is not visible please contact humanresources@howard.edu

Competencies should be visible during the self-evaluation and performance review process. If you do not see any when completing your review, please contact humanresources@howard.edu.

Performance processes can be advanced past the employee led step by the HR team. After the self-evaluation period ends, please send a request to humanresources@howard.edu to request a review advanced. The Human resources team may also consider an advance of all reviews after a certain date. 

Yes, you can find instructions on the development plan here. 

Anytime feedback is a great way to encourage and thank those who have made contributions to us from around the university. Find instructions for entering feedback here. 

Yes, you can find instructions for entering goals here. We will also offer 1:1 office hours starting in June. 

Explore our 'Performance Management at HU' program in BisonHub, featuring self-paced training courses tailored for individual contributors, managers, and executive leaders. Each course is thoughtfully designed to address the unique performance management needs of each learner group. Learn at your own pace and enhance your impact!

You could print a copy of the review to help facilitate the conversation using the ‘print’ icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. 

Your manager is still able to view your direct reports’ reviews, however, it is not a step in the formal performance review process. Instead, they may generate a report called Employee Reviews. Type the name of the report (Employee Reviews) in the search box on the Workday home page. 

Select the organization by typing in the manager’s name.

To see all the employees’ reviews for the whole organization, click on the Include Subordinate Organizations box.

Select Active by Review Type for the Review Template field; choose Performance Review: 2024-2025.

There are additional options to filter the results.​​​​​​​

The evaluation will remain in your BisonHub (formerly known as Workday) inbox until you complete the review process. If you will not be able to complete your employee’s evaluation by the end of May, please contact your HR team.