At West Virginia University, we believe each and every member of the Mountaineer family plays a critical part in bringing our land-grant mission to life through their individual roles, responsibilities and results. And by living our shared values every day, we can continue to move our University forward and create a positive workplace for the approximately 8,000 employees who call WVU home.
Supervisors across our University have a great responsibility in moving WVU closer to fulfilling its mission. As people-leaders, supervisors are accountable for efficiently managing assignments, working with their teams to achieve results and promoting a positive work environment in their department or function. They also are instrumental in setting the tone within their area and advancing the University’s culture.
However, through recent WVU Culture Surveys and Campus Conversations with faculty and staff, the Division of Talent and Culture recognizes many supervisors may not be aware of their individual strengths or opportunities for improvement as people-leaders.
As a result, we are rolling out a new developmental tool – called Upward Feedback – to promote supervisors’ personal and professional growth. Upward Feedback is designed to help supervisors identify their leadership strengths and developmental opportunities by capturing feedback from their direct reports.
Details of the Upward Feedback rollout include:
On Monday, Jan. 14, all WVU staff employees will receive an email from Employee Relations asking them to complete a brief online questionnaire on their supervisor’s managerial effectiveness.
Employees will have until Sunday, Jan. 27, to complete the questionnaire.
The questionnaire includes 12 questions and will take approximately five minutes to complete.
Although participation in the Upward Feedback process is not required, it is strongly encouraged.
To ensure confidentiality and anonymity, the questionnaire will use a six-point Likert scale rating for each response (i.e., there will be no open-ended questions).
Under no circumstances will names or other identifying information be associated with the results. Further, supervisors will not receive information about who completed the questionnaire.
During the first year of the process, the University will collect and communicate the aggregate survey results only. The results will be shared with WVU leadership and the broader University community in spring 2019.
Upward Feedback is for developmental purposes only and is independent of WVU’s performance management process.
The 2019 Upward Feedback results will be used to develop targeted training and development programs to increase leadership capabilities among supervisors.
In future years, supervisors with a designated number of direct reports/survey responses will receive a summary of the results within their specific area.
As with the WVU Employee Code of Conduct, the Upward Feedback questionnaire was developed with input from a wide range of employees. In fact, approximately 200 supervisors and employees across more than 70 schools, divisions and departments provided input in creating the final version of the questionnaire.
Visit the Talent and Culture website for more information and to view the Upward Feedback FAQs. Contact Employee Relations at 304.293.5700 ext. 5 or EmployeeRelations@mail.wvu.edu with questions.