{"id":895,"date":"2019-02-01T13:32:54","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T13:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=895"},"modified":"2019-02-01T13:44:01","modified_gmt":"2019-02-01T13:44:01","slug":"professional-to-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2019\/02\/01\/professional-to-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"‘PROFESSIONAL’ TO ‘PERFORMANCE’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By its rapid growth, by the transformation of its activities and by the churn of its staff, there is a tendency for HR to forget (and so to ignore) the rules of the game, with the result that they seem to reset the rules as and when needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s try a thought experiment: the report of a grievance investigation is passed to a grievance appeal panel. With a three-person panel, impartial appraisal is likely. Yet, the company retains its trump card. Reports to HR are ‘private and confidential’, meaning that the complainant is prohibited from making the panel’s recommendations public. An act of censorship?<\/span><\/p>\n

Change is also noteworthy in respect of the annual PDR whose parameters have undergone many changes. Five or so years ago, the advice to PDR trainee reviewers was (i) to work with no more than eight individuals and (ii) that the purpose of a PDR is not to facilitate the task of managing a department. How times change.<\/span><\/p>\n

As ‘line manager’ (rather than a ‘first among equals’), it is implicit that the head of an academic department may apply such pressure upon their charges that (in the imagination of HR) it is now a ‘rare occasion where a reviewer and reviewee do not agree’. There is no basis to support the idea that disagreement is ‘rare’, as the current PDR format is spanking brand new. Within the current configuration of the PDR, HR advises that ‘if issues cannot be resolved by your Head, you should refer the matter to your Dean, Faculty Manager or Divisional Director (as appropriate).’<\/span><\/p>\n

Well-motivated independent ‘disagreements’ from colleagues with careers to build invite danger; and the pressure to comply with company lines is further heightened by the recent justification from HR of the use of outside consultants to resolve any PDR disagreements. Where trust and confidence are vital elements of collegial relations, the decision to appoint an outside consultancy on that ‘rare occasion where a reviewer and reviewee do not agree’ is indeed extraordinary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Language is indeed alive. Once familiar in their use but now largely devoid of meaning are ‘collegiality’, ‘primus inter pares’, ‘scholarship’ and ‘patet omnibus veritas’.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contributed by Gerry Steele.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By its rapid growth, by the transformation of its activities and by the churn of its staff, there is a tendency for HR to forget (and so to ignore) the rules of the game, with the result that they seem … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[21],"tags":[152,452,459],"class_list":["post-895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contributed-article","tag-hr","tag-issue-185","tag-pdr"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99sHo-er","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":816,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/11\/08\/ucu-say-no-way-survey\/","url_meta":{"origin":895,"position":0},"title":"UCU SAY NO WAY SURVEY","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 8 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2018 staff survey is now live. This has been covered by subtext already (see subtext 178 for example) but the real excitement for us this month is whether UCU's call for a boycott will gain any traction. After all, our staff traditionally take the path of least resistance with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":225,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/11\/23\/clod-hopping-hod-dropping\/","url_meta":{"origin":895,"position":1},"title":"CLOD-HOPPING HOD-DROPPING","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 23 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As the muted rows about the new processes for appointing heads of academic departments rumble on, it is worth reflecting on just how fundamental those changes are. The traditional Lancaster approach was, broadly, to allow departments to devise their own procedures, with the expectation that at some point all senior\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1209,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/02\/19\/subtext-192-strike-while-the-subtext-is-hot\/","url_meta":{"origin":895,"position":2},"title":"subtext 192 – ‘strike while the subtext is hot’","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"February 19 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Every so often during term time. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details: http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial, strike, casualisation, lancaster exchange, student politics, emeriti, gender stereotyping, new build, spineless, university future, widden's review, penguins, letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL 'Ultimately our aim is to protect our community's wellbeing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":297,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/01\/18\/university-of-the-year-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":895,"position":3},"title":"UNIVERSITY OF THE YEAR UPDATE","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"January 18 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"What is happening to our senior leadership? The last issue of LUText advertised for a new Dean of FHM, meaning that the incumbent is stepping down after less than four years in the post, not least in the midst of the development of the Health Innovation Campus, the biggest expansion\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1205,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/02\/19\/casualisation-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":895,"position":4},"title":"CASUALISATION NEWS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"February 19 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Casual readers may be forgiven for thinking that subtext's drones are embittered cynics whose philosophy can be summed up as 'D Floor bad, HR enablers of bad'. In an effort to challenge this notion, here's a vote of thanks for the new 'Fixed-term Contracts and Casual Working Policy and Procedure',\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":331,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/02\/01\/strike\/","url_meta":{"origin":895,"position":5},"title":"STRIKE!","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"February 1 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The dates have been announced, and it's the biggest strike in UCU history. Fourteen days of action in four consecutive weeks, taking place at Lancaster and 60 other universities: Thursday to Friday in Week 16, Monday to Wednesday in Week 17, Monday to Thursday in Week 18 and Monday to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":896,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895\/revisions\/896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}