Foundations for Professional Staff

The Foundations document articulates the way in which we will inspire both our current and the next generation of our professional staff to provide an outstanding student experience and to serve our regions.

It articulates the professional capabilities and behaviours required for us to achieve service excellence which will drive the achievement of our Vision and our Strategic Plan. The capabilities and behaviours have been developed to bring our values of Excellence, Equity, Engagement and Sustainability to life.

The Foundations document also reinforces the importance of regular feedback and the PRD process in setting expectations, reviewing performance and developing our people.

Our staff have told us they would like more feedback and meaningful conversations about performance and goals, increased access to training and development and career mentoring and coaching.

Foundations was developed by professional staff for professional staff. The draft Foundations document went out for University wide-consultation in September 2022 which included an open invitation Zoom information session.

In the past few years, we have recruited a considerable number of new professional staff, many of them in the early stages of their careers. It’s important that we support them to understand our expectations in terms of performance planning and career development.

Supporting our managers and staff to have meaningful conversations about performance and goals, increased access to training and development and career mentoring and coaching is an ongoing priority as part of our commitment to continuous improvement. The Foundations document is a starting point and we will continue to introduce more tools and resources throughout the year.

You should start using Foundations during Performance Review and Development (PRD) conversations as the basis for setting goals and expectations for 2023 with members of your teams.  You should also start thinking about your own development and career aspirations, to guide your conversations during PRD with your manager.

Yes, Foundations for Inspiring People for Professional Staff has been developed and designed by professional staff for professional staff. Academic staff have their own model designed by academics for academics.

Foundations articulates the framework for setting expectations, reviewing performance and developing our people.

Performance Review and Development (PRD) is the University’s process for working with your Supervisor/Manager on setting goals, discussing performance and identifying development goals.

SuccessFactors is the tool to guide PRD conversations and for recording your progress, goals and evidence of your activities.

No. Leaders and staff should already be participating in the PRD process throughout the year. The Foundations document simply gives more context and provides guidelines to make the PRD process more meaningful.

Yes. Whilst casual professional staff are not required to undertake PRD conversations, Foundations articulates the professional capabilities and behaviours we expect of all professional staff to achieve service excellence.

Retaining high performing professional staff who are dedicated to upholding our values will be a key factor in our future success. Foundations has been designed to increase engagement and motivate staff through supporting their career development and mobility within the University.

Yes, Foundations is not prescriptive as goals should be individualised to the person and their circumstances, their role and level and also their development and career aspirations.

There are a number of guides on our webpages and eLearns in Discover in relation to PRD conversations, how to set SMART goals and how to use SuccessFactors.

The Capability and Development Hub SharePoint site houses a variety of resources to support learning and development, including options available to staff in relation to coaching and mentoring.