MU Employee Evaluation (version valid as of 15 January 2016)
Index 1 INTRODUCTION... 4 2 MU EMPLOYEE EVALUATION METHODOLOGY... 4 2.1 Internal employee evaluation guidelines... 5 2.2 Recommended evaluation procedure... 6 2.3 Recommended evaluation procedure schedule... 7 3 METHODOLOGICAL EMPLOYEE EVALUATION SUPPORT... 7 1 Introduction page No. 3/6
1 Introduction Quality assurance in higher education calls for the implementation of a high-quality internal employee evaluation system. The obligation to conduct an employee evaluation is determined by the Labour Code (section 302, letter a) and, in the case of academic employees 1, further regulated by the Masaryk University Career Code (section 7, subsection 1). A comprehensive employee evaluation system: provides a periodic overview of employee performance quality, helps optimize the university's existing human resource utilization, helps monitor unit development, boosts motivation and provides a transparent remuneration benchmarking tool, in accordance with the MU Career Code, employee evaluation outcomes are taken into account when determining the duration of an employee's employment relationship, including in the case of openended employment relationships. provides information on the annual performance of individual employees, their professional aims, career objectives and their fulfilment, annual employee evaluation outcomes constitute a basis for further evaluation procedures (unit selfevaluation, accreditation materials evaluation, etc.). Key requirements for the development of an employee evaluation system at Masaryk University included focus on its comprehensive and transparent nature, consistency throughout MU, flexibility designed to accommodate the specific needs of individual faculties and other MU constituent parts and the ability to cover a wide spectrum of activities while minimizing the administrative burden. The resulting EVAC 2 application, designed in collaboration with a specialized IS MU team, is capable of collecting data, providing a basic evaluation and generating output assessing the performance of MU employees. 2 MU Employee Evaluation Methodology Employee evaluation is carried out at the level of individual units at all MU faculties. Evaluators are generally unit heads, faculty deans or authorized vice-deans. The internal performance evaluation of 1 For the purposes of this document, academic employees include academic workers and other higher education employees who are not academic workers but who participate in educational, research and development activities as defined by the Masaryk University Career Code. 2 EVAC is an acronym which stands for EValuation of ACademics. Although the EVAC application focuses primarily on the evaluation of academic employees at MU faculties, it may be used at all other MU constituent parts. 1 Introduction page No. 4/6
employees is carried out on a regular basis, with specific dates for collecting data required by the evaluation process determined by the evaluator according to the needs of each faculty. A regular evaluation of academic employees must consider all key job performance areas, i.e. educational activities, research activities and organizational activities beneficial for the university, while also taking into account management activities and the performance of academic functions. Additional employee evaluation areas include the achievement of planned professional development (i.e. factual as well as formal qualifications) during the course of the past year, compliance with regulations stipulated by the employer, etc. An integral part of the evaluation process is also the assignment of objectives for the upcoming period. The annual evaluation process culminates with an evaluation meeting of the unit head and the evaluated employee; the senior employee can now rely on information obtained using EVAC, a dedicated IS MU application. Each employee is evaluated by the unit head individually with respect to obligations arising from the employee's position and other relevant circumstances. The final outcome of the process, i.e. a document summarizing the findings of the evaluation procedure, is placed in the employee's personal file (or, in case of electronic document approval using the EVAC application, in the employee's personal Records Service file). Evaluation records are not made available to third persons with the exception of the evaluated employee's direct superior, the head of the relevant constituent part of MU (or persons authorized by the head of this constituent part) and the Rector of MU (or persons authorized by the Rector). In case the EVAC application is used, all electronic records are kept in the IS MU; the same access restrictions apply. 2.1 Internal employee evaluation guidelines Throughout the employee evaluation procedure, it is essential to bear in mind that: 1. The regular employee evaluation system must be transparent (i.e. employee evaluation criteria must be clearly established). 2. The evaluation of an employee's performance must be conducted purely with respect to performance associated with the position in question (i.e. the performance of e.g. professors and lecturers must be evaluated according to different criteria). 3. In order to ensure equal opportunities, different standards may not be utilized for the evaluation of specific employees (standards must be consistent for individual positions). 4. Throughout the evaluation process, individual employees must be viewed comprehensively, i.e. taking into account all performance indicators (e.g. an employee cannot be judged on the merits of scientific performance alone in case their position also requires teaching). 5. Besides hard data, additional factors must be taken into account, including the employee's workload as well as various external or internal circumstances which could have affected their performance during the reporting period (e.g. the performance of additional activities beneficial to the university, placements abroad, habilitation thesis preparation, exceptional family-related or personal situations, etc.). 6. The overall employee evaluation also covers issues of professional ethics. 2 MU Employee Evaluation Methodology page No. 5/6
7. The evaluated employee must be provided with an opportunity to comment on evaluation outcomes. All comments made by both the evaluator and the evaluated employee are thus part of the final written record. 8. The employee in question has a right to discuss the evaluation in the presence of a third person acting on behalf of the employer and assigned for this purpose by the head of the relevant economic unit. 9. A written record which summarizes key evaluation outcomes as well as the employee's objectives for the upcoming period must be approved or rejected by the employee in writing. The record is archived in printed or electronic form (using the EVAC application). 2.2 Recommended evaluation procedure The EVAC application offered by the IS MU may be used for all evaluation stages described below. 1. The evaluator defines criteria for the evaluation of employees at a given unit, taking into account key job performance areas (education, research, organizational and managerial activities) as well as indicators facilitating the assessment of personal, work-related and social behaviour of the employee). 2. The evaluator sets a deadline for the collection of documents required for the evaluation and informs the employee of the collection period beginning and end dates (a period of no less than 10 days is recommended) as well as of the data collection method (e.g. using the EVAC application). The evaluator also informs the employee about the planned terms of evaluative meetings scheduled to take place following the completion of the document collection phase. 3. The evaluated employee provides the senior employee with any additional documentation requested during the designated data collection period; in case the IS MU application is used, the employee may be asked to add missing data electronically. The employee may comment on any of the monitored criteria (e.g. in order to clarify reasons leading to reduced work performance, etc.). The employee is required to complete a professional development schedule (i.e. including professional and formal skills) and propose a list of objectives for the upcoming period. The employee must provide the information truthfully. 4. The evaluator performs evaluation interviews, i.e. individual meetings with each evaluated employee. Evaluation interviews are based on previously collected data. The evaluator discusses the employee's job performance in individual evaluated areas, monitors the fulfilment of objectives set in the past and discusses the employee's work schedules and career growth planned for the upcoming period. 5. Outcomes of the evaluation interview are recorded in writing. The evaluator processes the final employee evaluation record either during or after the evaluation interview, i.e. once any circumstances potentially influencing the employee's performance have been discussed. The final evaluation record must be approved by both the employee and the evaluator (using either an electronic or handwritten signature). The record is subsequently placed in the employee's personal file (or, in case the personnel office is involved or in the event of electronic approval, in the employee's personal Records Service file). 6. Any disagreement with evaluation outcomes must be expressed by the employee in written form along with the relevant reasons. In such a case, the matter is referred to the head of the constituent part of MU or other authorised person. The outcomes of subsequent negotiations are recorded in writing and subsequently placed in the evaluated employee's personal file. 2 MU Employee Evaluation Methodology page No. 6/6
2.3 Recommended evaluation procedure schedule The frequency of academic employee evaluation is stipulated by the MU Career Code (section 7, subsection 1). The frequency of evaluation procedures designed for other employees is governed by the internal regulations of individual constituent parts of MU. In view of an employee's workload or employment relationship duration (e.g. workload of 0.5 or less, recently initiated employment relationship, etc.), the senior employee in charge of the evaluation may decide to cancel the evaluation procedure for that employee. The recommended term for holding an academic employee evaluation for a calendar year is the beginning of the spring semester of the following year, i.e. with data collection for the autumn semester completed, including all final exams (e.g. data collection for 2014 should not be launched until the second half of February 2015, with evaluation interviews and all concluding stages taking place in March or April 2015). 3 Methodological employee evaluation support Employee evaluation falls within the purview of the vice-rector for academic affairs. Methodological support is provided by the Academic Affairs Office of the Rector s Office. Up-to-date information regarding employee evaluation may be found on the website and any questions or comments may be directed to Academic Affairs Office employees. 3 Methodological employee evaluation support page No. 7/6