The 2019 Performance Assessment process for non-unionized appointed staff has begun. This annual practice serves as an important opportunity for managers to recognize employee accomplishments in a given year and to discuss opportunities for continuous professional development and growth.

It is the case that many employees receive excellent and exceptional performance ratings, year after year. While the majority of employees across the University achieve their professional goals, objectives and expectations each year, managers are encouraged to acknowledge their staff achievements and contributions without inflating the performance assessment ratings.

I encourage all managers to review and gain a thorough understanding of the performance assessment process, and the scoring framework behind the rating scales. Providing accurate assessments helps to ensure that all employees are appropriately recognized for their work and contribution to the University, and maintains fair distinctions between levels of staff performance in a given year and within Divisions.

To this effect, I am writing to reaffirm that the university expects a majority of the employees participating in the performance assessment processes to receive a High-Quality Performance rating (i.e. 3.0 or 3.5), where work is of high quality in all significant areas of responsibility. The excellent and exceptional performance ratings (i.e. 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0) are intended to recognize staff who have served in an above-and-beyond  capacity, and have achieved significant accomplishments in relation to their divisional and individual goals throughout the past year.