Spring FY24 Update: Staff Performance Management Program

The following message was sent on May 28, 2024 to all employees from Lauren Turner, VP Talent & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer.

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to provide an update on our Staff Performance Management Program, following our prior communication.

As part of our continued efforts to enhance our performance review process, the Talent & Inclusion team established a Staff Performance Review Task Force. This group has gathered feedback from managers and staff members through focus groups, reviewed our existing procedures and forms, and recommended improvements. As a result of this work, we will be implementing the following changes to the performance process this year:

• Manager and employee review forms will be aligned to eliminate overlapping competencies, better support WPI’s strategic goals, and simplify the process.
• Revisions of some of the competency descriptions and evaluation ratings.
• Enhanced training offerings with a focus on key aspects of performance management as an ongoing process between managers and employees and an emphasis on its importance as a workforce management and engagement tool.
• Adjusted performance cycle dates to better accommodate organizational needs and strategic alignment.
• Going forward, the annual performance evaluation cycle will shift to June 1 through May 31 (instead of April 1 through March 30).
• This year, we will launch the FY24 process mid-June 2024, with evaluations to be completed by the end of August 2024. Because of the shift in the evaluation cycle, this year’s process will cover a 15-month period, spanning from April 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024. More information with be coming soon through Workday assignments on the timing for completion of employee self-evaluations.

Talent & Inclusion is adjusting Workday to accommodate the changes reflected above. We will also offer several performance management workshops for managers and individual contributors this summer, starting in June. More information about the launch of this year’s performance cycle and training will be coming soon.

We are confident that these improvements will be beneficial. Following these ‘Phase 1’ improvements, the Staff Performance Review Task Force will continue its work and expects to recommend additional changes for the FY25 cycle to further improve the process.

Please reach out to me, James De Leon, or your Talent Strategy Partner if you have questions, and feel free to provide any additional feedback to us or a member of the task force.

Thank you for your continued collaboration and support.

Best, 
Lauren Turner

Staff Performance Review Task Force Members

Division of Talent & Inclusion 
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 
100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609-2280 
508.831.5470 (O) 508.831.5715 (F) 
talent@wpi.edu