What is Performance Dialogue?
Performance Dialogue, also known as PD for short, is a documented and time sensitive conversation between the supervisor and the employee that ensures organizational effectiveness and staff engagement. The conversation provides an opportunity to:
- Identify work objectives and evolving priorities
- Explore developmental/training options
- Recognize successes and determine areas for improvement
- Discuss career aspirations
First time doing Performance Dialogue?
Watch the video below to learn more about it, or consult the Performance Dialogue Plan and Appraisal Form (Instructional Guide) in the Templates and Guides section of this page as a starting point.
Key components of Performance Dialogue
| Component | Question(s) to consider |
|---|---|
| Unit Objectives | What are the current needs of the unit? |
| Individual Work Objectives | What can you do in your day-to-day to meet the needs of the unit? |
| Behavioural Competencies |
What are the "soft" skills you have that help you meet your individual work objectives? Which ones do you need to develop further? Learn more about Behavioural Competencies. |
| Training and Development | How will you develop your behavioural competencies and technical skills? What development would you need to meet and exceed your current and future individual work objectives? How can you you plan for your development? (see below under "Some additional considerations") |
| Career Aspirations and Associated Development | Where do you want to be 3 to 5 years from now? |
Some additional considerations
How can you plan for your development?
Think of a development plan as a map of your current role and goals, with your future aspirations on the horizon. As an employee, you can start by thinking about your current role and focus, as it relates to what you would like to be doing a few years from now. What are the commonalities? Is there an area that you need to further develop in order to reach your current and/or future goals? More concretely, your next steps should be to:
- Understand your strengths and define your development goals
- Discuss with your supervisor and prioritize your development goals for the reference period (focus on 1 or 2 goals)
- Recognize risks and opportunities
- Research various ways to develop/enhance your desired skill (workshops, books, informational interviews, job shadowing, etc.)
- Take action and develop your new skill (use your support network to achieve your goal)
- Measure your progress and success.
Although the Individual Development Action Plan is not mandatory to fill out for the Performance Dialogue Session, it can serve as a great guide for you when you’re thinking about your development.
How can you talk about Workload Management?
Discussions about organizing your tasks and yearly objectives should be had on a regular basis.
Together, both the supervisor and the employee are accountable for effective workload management. Workload management should be informed by effective identification and analysis of data/information and accurate and consistent performance reporting within the context of the unit/department’s function. More specifically, the employee and the supervisor should:
- Identify a potential workload issue
- Collect and analyze data
- Develop options
- Prioritize and implement an action plan
- Review and monitor the plan
Please find more information in the Workload Management Guide.
Templates and Guides
To assist you in the planning, monitoring and assessing phases of the performance dialogue process, we are also providing you templates and an Instruction Guide to help you in completing the form and bring more value to your discussion. Should you be experiencing any difficulties accessing the forms, please save them to your desktop first and then open them, or simply contact Organizational Development via email or by phone at 514-398-2000 for further help.
|
Template/Guide |
Description |
How to Use |
For Employees |
For Supervisors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Performance Dialogue and Appraisal Form - February 2024 FR - Performance Dialogue and Appraisal Form - February 2024 |
Form to be filled out by both the employee and the supervisor to inform the Performance Dialogue session. |
To be used as a developmental tool with a working draft filled out before the Performance Dialogue session.
Recommendation: Have employees fill out the forms first, then send it to the supervisor in preparation for the session.
For detailed instructions on how to fill out each section, please refer to the instructional guide.
|
X | X |
|
Performance Dialogue and Appraisal Form Instructional Guide - February 2024 FR - Performance Dialogue and Appraisal Form Instructional Guide - February 2024 |
Step-by-step instructions on how to fill out the Performance Dialogue and Appraisal form. | To be used as a guide while filling out the Performance Dialogue and Appraisal Form. | X | X |
| A concrete, supplementary plan to help supervisors identify performance issues for the employee, with appropriate support needed to help the employee better meet expectations. |
To be used by supervisors (with the help of their HRA) when an employee is not meeting their objectives.
|
X (with the involvement of their HRA's) |
||
| Worksheet to help guide you on how to think about your development plans. | (Optional) To be used as an additional tool to map out the development plan section of your Performance Dialogue and Appraisal Form, in preparation for your Performance Dialogue session. | X (The employee may or may not wish to share this worksheet with their supervisor) |
||
| A detailed 5-step process guide for resolving workload management issues. | To be used as a guide for conversations about an imbalance in the employee’s work (that may or may not be addressed during the Performance Dialogue). |
X |
X (Can be initiated by the employee or by the supervisor) |
|
|
|
Guide that provides you with concrete examples of how to incorporate sustainability-related tasks as a SMART objective. |
To be used as a guide while filling out the Performance Dialogue and Appraisal Form. (Optional) To support a theme of unit or individual interest. |
X | X |
| Guide that provides you with concrete examples of how to incorporate wellness-related tasks as a SMART objective. |
To be used as a guide while filling out the Performance Dialogue and Appraisal Form. (Optional) To support a theme of unit or individual interest. |
X | X |
