Growth, Planning, and Support
Memos
Your growth is important to us at Salt Lake Community College. Through various mechanisms, including our Employee Engagement Survey and Staff Forums, the People and Workplace Culture team has worked to update our Growth, Planning and Support or GPS process. Based on feedback from employees and supervisors, we have made a few changes to our GPS process, effective for Spring 2022:
- Frequency: You are asked to have at least two GPS conversations each year with your supervisor; either you or your supervisor can initiate these.
- Accountability & Acknowledgment: While we will continue to encourage working documents between supervisors and employees, we will be asking you to document each time you complete a GPS conversation using this form. This form will route from the employee to the supervisor, who will then include an overall view of recent performance. The employee will get an email acknowledgement once the supervisor submits the form. We have also received feedback that not everyone knows if they have engaged in a GPS conversation. To ensure both supervisor and employees are in agreement a GPS conversation occurred, the form above will include an acknowledgement by both supervisors and employees.
- Goal Setting: At SLCC, we strive to be a “model for transformative employment and education” and embrace our value of “Learning.” For our GPS process, we are asking each employee (part time and full time) to set a learning goal to advance their knowledge of Salt Lake Community College’s Values.
Consider team members performance over the past six months and select a rating:
- Outstanding - The employee is working above and beyond position expectations and makes significant contributions to the team/department.
- Successful - The employee is meeting all the positions' expectations.
- Performing - The employee is overall achieving but may have some minor issues that could improve.
- Needs Improvement - The employee needs or is going through a performance improvement plan or corrective action.
- Open-ended questions - avoid questions with single word answers
- Clarifying questions – seek to understand
- Team members speak without interruption allowing for active listening
- How can I best support you in achieving your goals?
- Where have you grown the most and found the most success over the past year in your role?
- Please share with me how you came to the rating?
- What do you consider my strengths that I bring to the team? Or how can I better support our team?
- Are there any skills you think would be helpful for me to have in this role that I do not have already?
- Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Asking for Feedback as an Employee
- Building Creative Organizations ( Section 3: Turn blindspots into New Possibilities)
- Coaching Skills for Leaders & Managers
- Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
- Building Trust
We appreciate all you do for Salt Lake Community College and want to continue to both support your growth and be an organization that engages in feedback conversations.
Talking with your employees and colleagues about their growth at SLCC is a priority and expectation of your role as a Supervisor. For the past few years, you have been asked to meet quarterly with your team members to have discussions, we refer to as Growth, Planning and Support or GPS conversations. Based on feedback from employees and supervisors, we have made a few changes to our GPS process:
- Frequency: You are asked to have at least two GPS conversations each year with your employee. These conversations can be employee or supervisor initiated.
- Accountability & Acknowledgement: While we will continue to encourage working documents between supervisors and employees, we will be asking you to document each time you complete a GPS conversation using Etrieve GPS Acknowledgement form, which the employee will originate. To ensure both supervisor and employees are in agreement a GPS conversation occurred, the form above will include an acknowledgement by both supervisors and employees.
- Goal Setting: At SLCC, we strive to be a “model for transformative and inclusive education” and embrace our value of “Learning.” For our GPS process, we are asking each employee (part time and full time) to set a learning goal to advance their knowledge of the Salt Lake Community College values.
Consider team members performance over the past six months and select a rating:
- Outstanding - The employee is working above and beyond position expectations and makes significant contributions to the team/department.
- Successful - The employee is meeting all the positions' expectations.
- Performing - The employee is overall achieving but may have some minor issues that could improve.
- Needs Improvement - The employee needs or is going through a performance improvement plan or corrective action.
- Open-ended questions - avoid questions with single word answers
- Clarifying questions – seek to understand
- Team members speak without interruption allowing for active listening
- How can I best support you in achieving your goals?
- Where have you grown the most and found the most success over the past year in your role?
- Please share with me how you came to the rating?
- What do you consider my strengths that I bring to the team? Or how can I better support our team?
- Are there any skills you think would be helpful for me to have in this role that I do not have already?
To support you in these important conversations, additional resources are available here on our GPS website. You can also attend a session on giving feedback and setting goals with your team member through Staff Development or learn on your own via LinkedIn Learning.
- Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Becoming A Manager Your Team Loves (Section 5 includes four mini sessions on feedback)
- Building Creative Organizations (Section 3: Turn blindspots into New Possibilities)
- Coaching Skills for Leaders & Managers
- Building Trust
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What is GPS?
- GPS stands for Growth, Planning and Support. It is a program designed for staff employees and supervisors to engage in conversation about performance, goals and other work involvement. It is the College’s performance evaluation method for staff positions.
- Is GPS program voluntary?
- The GPS program is an expectation for all full-time and part-time employees. Supervisors are responsible for completing reviews for their employees.
- How often do we need to complete the GPS?
- GPS meetings are to take place at a minimum of two times a year. Follow-up meetings/check-ins with employees should be as frequent as necessary.
- Who is responsible for submitting the Etrieve form?
- The employee will submit the Etrieve form. From the employee, the form will route to the supervisor, who will then include an overall view of recent performance. The employee will get an email acknowledgement once the supervisor submits the form.
- Can an employee request GPS if the supervisor doesn’t initiate it?
- Yes, an employee may request a GPS meeting with their supervisor. We advise the meeting be schedule with plenty of time for both the supervisor and employee to be prepared.
- May we continue to do the GPS quarterly?
- GPS meetings are a minimum of two times a year, supervisors and employees may elect to do more as needed.
- Is this for full-time and part-time employees?
- We care about the growth, planning and support of all staff employees. Supervisors are responsible for completing reviews for each employee.
- Can I add an attachment to the Etrieve Acknowledgement Form?
- Employees can upload attachments. Supervisors will need to return the form the the employee for any attachments.