How are colleagues thinking about the new-style Annual Interview? 'I feel more confident in collaborations'
A boost to self-confidence and clarifying; this is how participants experience the new-style Annual Interview. The approximately 40 interviews conducted, used 360-degree feedback and an updated Result & Development form. Hanneke Hulst: 'I hope other units also dare to take the leap.'
Feedbacktraining
Giving 360-degree feedback was an essential part of the pilot that started in November 2023 within the Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit. A prerequisite is that everyone knows how to give and receive constructive feedback. Prior to the Annual Interviews, all people in the unit were invited to participate in a feedback training; PhD students, lecturers, staff members, office managers, research assistants and professors.
In addition, those who regularly conduct Annual Interviews received an additional training: 'The Good Conversation'. This training covered how to properly conduct an Annual Interview and how best to incorporate the feedback obtained into the conversation.
Preparation for Annual Interview
Each employee requested feedback from three different people; someone you supervise, someone who supervises you and a third person of your choice. This meant that a lot of people filled in feedback forms for someone else. What had been learned could be put into practice immediately.
Eye-opener
Out of about 40 interviews conducted, 35 participants filled in an evaluation form. This showed that people liked the 360-degree feedback and that it was a boost to self-confidence. It can also be an eye-opener to learn how a colleague looks at your behaviour.
Juriena de Vries, associate professor: 'I found the 360-degree feedback very enlightening: the feedback gave insight into how I act in collaborative relationships. What I do well, but also how I can develop further. I now feel more confident in cooperation situations, because I know that the cooperation is perceived as pleasant, but also what I can do concretely to do this even better.
The new Annual Interviews are more focused on your own development and your contribution to the team rather than individual performance; this made for an instructive and enjoyable conversation with a clear view of the future.'
Vulnerable
Managers especially liked the fact that multiple perspectives gave them a fuller picture of the employee. Of course, there were also areas of concern. For instance, it takes a lot of time to fill out the feedback properly. Also, some people indicated that the questions from the 360-degree feedback form did not sufficiently match tasks that are mostly performed alone, and that the feedback can feel personal and vulnerable.
PhD students indicated that it took some time getting used to the fact that the promoters and co-promoters were also present at the feedback training. At the same time, they found it insightful to learn that they too experience difficulties in some feedback situations.
Setting the bar
Hanneke Hulst, chair of the of Health, Medical and Neuropsychology unit: 'The biggest benefit of the joint training is that we set the bar together of how we want to work with each other. I hope this lowers the threshold for giving feedback to someone. In particular, I've heard that people are asking for feedback more often themselves, so I think that's already great to hear! Eighty percent of people say they want to do something with the feedback received, which is still substantial. Also, filling out such a form opens the conversation with employees among themselves. I hope the other unit in the institute have been inspired and are also willing to take the leap.'
The next step
The new Result & Development form updated by Leiden University's central HRM department will be launched in the University during 2024. The Health, Medical and Neuropsychology unit was able to provide some final feedback points through this pilot, such as that it would be good to explicitly ask about activities around valorisation and care tasks.
Hanneke Hulst will share experiences from the pilot with managers in several meetings.