Classified Staff Goal Setting & Performance Planning

A well-crafted performance plan informs employees of the evaluation criteria for the future and provides clarity on job priorities. Every employee's performance plan should align with unit goals and the campus strategic plan.
Performance Planning Meeting Components

Performance planning requires a formal meeting between the employee and their supervisor at the beginning of the performance cycle. The meeting should include the following components:

  • Strategic Alignment: Review the campus’s mission, goals, and institutional priorities to ensure individual goals support the broader organizational strategy.
  • Work Plan Review: Define and discuss the upcoming year’s priorities.
  • Position Description Review: Review the employee’s current position description, making necessary revisions to ensure it accurately reflects their current role and duties.
  • Competencies: Discuss expectations and goals related to CU’s competency areas.
  • Training Plan: Review all required and optional training.
  • Peer Feedback: If you intend to utilize a Peer 360 Review, you must communicate this to the employee during the planning meeting.
  • Supervisory Requirements: If the employee is a supervisor, at least one goal must explicitly relate to their supervisory duties.
Goal Setting Best Practices
  • Plans should engage the employee and create a sense of personal responsibility in meeting individual, department, and university objectives
  • Differentiation of Work: Goals, Job Duties, Competencies
  • Be sure to consider an employee’s experience/tenure within the position
  • Foster a collaborative goal-setting dynamic
  • Empower employees to set their own goals
  • Utilize the SMART model for constructing goals
  • Align and cascade employee goals from University Imperatives and department or college strategic vision
  • If the employee is a supervisor, there must be at least one goal that relates to supervisory duties.
Tailor to the Developmental Stage

Consider the employee’s experience and tenure when constructing the plan:

  • Develop in current role:Focus on expanding depth of knowledge or coaching to ensure success (for new employees or those not yet fully successful).
  • Develop for high performance:Create “stretch assignments” to encourage high-potential employees to exceed base expectations (for employees succeeding in current role).
  • Develop for high potential:Focus on stretch assignments that align with a career path toward a higher-level role (for employees succeeding in current role who are ready for career progression).
Important:Performance plans are living documents. You may adjust goals throughout the year as priorities shift, provided you document those changes.

Supervisor Accountability and Compliance

Supervisors are responsible for providing employees with timely performance plans. Failure to do so may result in corrective or disciplinary action, up to and including suspension.

Mandatory Procedures

  • Chain of Responsibility: If a supervisor fails to provide a plan, the reviewer is responsible for completing it. If the reviewer fails to act, the responsibility escalates up the line of supervision until the plan is completed.
  • Consequences: Absent extraordinary circumstances, a supervisor who does not provide a performance plan within the required timeframe will be subject to corrective action and will be ineligible for merit pay. If the employee's performance plan or evaluation remains incomplete more than thirty (30) days after corrective action is issued, the designated rater may be suspended in one (1) workday increments following the completion of the pre-disciplinary process, until the required documentation is completed.

Classified Staff Training

To ensure supervisors are equipped to lead these conversations effectively, the following resources are available:

Goal Setting Reminders for Supervisors

A well-crafted performance plan informs employees of the criteria that will be used to evaluate their performance several months into the future. Every employee's performance plan should align with unit goals and objectives comprising the campus's strategic plan. The performance plan provides important clarity to employees on the priorities for their job. The plan also provides a basis upon which youcan direct coaching and development activities toward each employee throughout the evaluation period.

Goal Setting requires a meeting between the employee and their supervisor at the beginning of the performance cycle. The planning meeting consists of:
  1. A review of the campus’s mission and goals.
  2. A review and discussion of the work plan for the upcoming year. This work plan typically contains the priorities for the year.
  3. A review and discussion of the employee’s position description (with updates made as needed).
  4. A discussion of the employee’s goals and expectations related to CU’s competency areas.
  5. A review of required and optional training.

If a supervisor fails to provide an employee with a performance plan, the reviewer is responsible for completing the plan. If the reviewer fails to complete the plan in a timely manner, the reviewer's supervisor is responsible for completing the plan and up the employee's line of supervision until the employee's performance plan is completed.

Sanctions for failure to provide an employee with a performance plan will be imposed, up to and including disciplinary action. Absent extraordinary circumstances, failure by a supervisor to provide a timely plan results in corrective action and ineligibility for merit pay. If the individual performance plan or evaluation is not completed within thirty (30) days of the corrective action, the designated rater shall be disciplinarily suspended in increments of one(1) workday following the pre-disciplinary meeting.

Goal Setting & Performance Planning Guidance
  • Plans should engage the employee and create a sense of personal responsibility in meeting individual, department, and university objectives
  • Differentiation of Work: Goals, Job Duties, Competencies
  • Be sure to consider an employee’s experience/tenure within the position
  • Foster a collaborative goal-setting dynamic
  • Empower employees to set their own goals
  • Utilize the SMART model for constructing goals
  • Align and cascade employee goals from University Imperatives and department or college strategic vision
  • If the employee is a supervisor, there must be at least one goal that relates to supervisory duties.
Consider Employee Developmental Stage
  • Develop in current role –expand the depth of knowledge or experience to exceed in role or coaching to be fully successful in the role. (New employee/employee not currently fully successful in role)
  • Develop for high performance – create stretch assignments targeted to see if a high-potential employee can go beyond the base expectations of the current role. (Employee succeeding in current role)
  • Develop for high potential – create stretch assignments targeted towards a career path (a different or higher level role than current role or employee excelling in current role)
  • Plans can be adjusted during the evaluation year. Make note of changes.