'How to' guides on one-to-one and informal capability meetings

We have been looking at how we can help managers talk to their staff about performance in a supportive and transparent way. It is important that these conversations balance appropriate levels of support and challenge.

With this in mind, we have produced two new 'How to' guides:

  • How to...hold a one-to-one meeting [pdf] provides managers with advice on conducting regular and structured one-to-one conversations with their staff throughout the year.
  • How to...hold an informal capability meeting [pdf] helps managers make early interventions in performance issues that links to the capability policy and procedure. It is accompanied by a template for a personal improvement plan, to record discussions where clear expectations need to be set about the improvement required.

Each of the documents explains what steps should be taken and signposts managers to further support and guidance.

Our induction guidance for managers has also been updated with reference to the University's research and teaching expectations. These standards should be taken into account when discussing performance and progress against objectives with staff on academic, teaching or research contracts.

For more on managing performance, go to https://www.york.ac.uk/admin/hr/browse/performance-management.