Supervisors play an important role in ensuring that RHFAs are carried out in ways that are mutually beneficial to the University, our students, and our employees.
Tip: Conduct Stay Interviews at Least Once a Year
A "Stay Interview" is like an exit interview but conducted while the employee is still actively employed to demonstrate genuine care, promote open communication, build trust, and gain important insights about work.
A stay interview can be relatively informal, but it is helpful to give the employee advance notice so that they can think about what they would like to share. Stay interviews usually consist of few (3-5) questions and are constructive in nature.
Some examples:
- What do you look forward to at work every day?
- What aspect of your job do you wish you could change?
- What factors contribute to you doing your best work?
- What opportunities for self-improvement would you like to have beyond your current role?
- What talents, interests, or skills do you have that we haven’t made the most of?
- What kind of feedback or recognition would you like about you/your team’s performance that you aren’t currently receiving?
To get the full benefit of stay interviews, follow through is required. Beyond expressing your appreciation for the employee and their work, as well as their time and insights in the stay interview, consider what improvements you might be able to make based on employee input. Where possible and appropriate, institute changes and credit employee insights as inspiration.
Recruitment
Going forward, supervisors should work with department heads to determine a position’s RHFA eligibility prior to recruiting for and filling any position.
As a best practice, RHFA eligibility should be advertised when recruiting a new position or established when negotiating with a new hire. However, RHFA eligibility listed in job ads or negotiated with new hires should be no more permissive than RHFA eligibility of existing employees in the same job title where essential duties are largely similar.
Regular Assessment & Performance Development
All employees should receive regular feedback about their work, both verbally and in writing. Supervisors should take care to differentiate performance evaluations (including ePerformance for policy-covered staff) from RHFA position assessments.
While performance and RHFA are interdependent, they are two distinct matters.
RHFAs should be reviewed annually, at minimum, on an academic year basis.
Below are some general examples of how employee performance development and RHFA assessment processes might interact.
Performance is Not Satisfactory, but RHFA is Conducive to Essential Job Functions
Employee should receive specific feedback about job performance, with constructive advice to improve.
RHFA should not be rescinded as a disciplinary measure; however, it may be rescinded if the supervisor believes it will help to address specific performance issues.
Performance is Satisfactory and RHFA is Conducive to Essential Job Functions
Employee should receive specific, affirmative feedback about job performance.
Employee and supervisor should have ongoing discussion about communication, workflow, job task completion, etc., in order to maintain an effective working relationship.
Performance is Satisfactory, but RHFA is Not Conducive to Essential Job Functions
Employee should receive specific, affirmative feedback about job performance.
RHFA should be rescinded since business needs are not being met.
Obviously, in cases where performance is not satisfactory and the RHFA is not conducive to essential job functions, both matters should be addressed in a timely, fair, and thorough manner.