Changes afoot in performance management system

The Personal Performance System for PASS staff is going to look slightly different this year, UCT has announced.

The first important change is that staff members in Payclass 5 will not be subject to the PPS in 2012, as they now fall under NEHAWU, which, after polling its members, has advised that members in this payclass will not participate in the PPS this year. However, line managers are encouraged to continue to monitor the performance and development of all staff even if they are not subject to the PPS, as this is good management practice.

Further amendments will come out of the review of the PPS following feedback by staff in 2011. The review revealed a number of areas where there was a need to simplify, clarify and align policies and processes to remove some of the worst obstacles to the operation of the system. Coming out of that:

The rating scale has been amended to include 'U' (for 'Unrated'), for those instances in which it is too soon to rate performance (such as when the person has recently been appointed to the post or the post has recently changed substantially). In the past, employees in such a position were rated 'B', which was universally criticised as being both unfair and demoralising.

The timing of the PPS cycle has been amended to encourage the setting of objectives at the same time as the final review of the previous cycle, to extend the period under review. Objective-setting will now happen as soon after September (the time of the final review) as is practicable, and certainly before February (the original deadline).

The process of 'Exceeds' Awards has been amended so that the consistency-check committees of the various faculties and PASS departments will now review applications for these awards, make recommendations to the Central Consistency-Check Committee for ratification, and give feedback to the applicants through their line managers.

Changes have been made to the PPS02 form for greater clarity on the criteria and application process for 'Exceeds' Awards.

The Terms of Reference for the various consistency check committees and the appeals committee have been reformulated to include a Dean or ED from another faculty or department, respectively, on each faculty or PASS department committee. This reformulation also introduces the inclusion of all Deans, EDs and EU representation on the Central Consistency-Check Committee, to ensure transparency and greater consistency across the university.

The submission of the relevant portion of the PPS01 form to the HR Advisor is no longer required. A change to this form allows for only the page with the final review rating and comments to be submitted.

The Central Consistency-Check Committee is scheduled to meet early in November. UCT hopes to conclude the wage negotiations early this year and thus avoid the end-of-year rush that has been experienced in previous years. Further timelines and deadlines regarding the Pay for Performance Process will be communicated once the negotiations are concluded.

The deadline for the submission of final reviews was the end of September, as it has always been.

For any further information or assistance, please contact your HR Advisor, who will be co-ordinating PPS submissions at faculty and departmental level, or refer to the PPS and Pay for Performance Resource Guide.