The annual appraisal is where managers enter the ratings on their employees’ individual and institutional goals from the previous performance cycle. The goals entered on the performance plan at the beginning of the performance cycle become the goals the manager rate their employees on in the annual appraisal.

The main components of the annual appraisal are:

• Ratings on individual and institutional goals
• Optional employee self-assessment

Performance Cycle
At Carolina, the performance cycle runs April 1 to March 31 and is the year period that an employee’s performance evaluation is based on.

Employee eligibility for certain appraisal-related tasks and reviews is determined by whether an employee has worked at the University for at least six months during this cycle. Performance-eligible SHRA and EHRA Non-Faculty employees are on the same performance cycle. See Eligibility section below for details.

Performance Season
The performance season runs March 15 to June 3, which is the three-month period when the previous performance cycle ends and the next performance cycle begins. Most of the planning and documentation tasks related to employee performance occur during performance season.

The dates below outline the general timeline for the performance season:

• March 15 – 31 is the two-week period for employees to complete the optional self-assessment to close out the previous year.
• April 1 – June 3 is the timeline for managers and employees to meet to discuss performance and plans and for managers to complete their employees’ annual appraisals and performance plans and, for SHRA employees, the Employee Competency Assessment.

April 1–30

• Managers complete the performance appraisal (Manager Review task in Carolina Talent)

Beginning April 1

• Managers and employees begin to consider performance planning and collaboratively draft performance and development goals for the coming year (to be included in the employee’s performance plan)
• Managers begin the employee competency assessment for SHRA employees

May 1–20

• HR Representatives complete the HR Checkpoint and review appraisals for compliance
• Managers can begin planning for their performance conversations with employees including:
• Scheduling these meetings to occur in the May 21-June 3 timeframe
• Preparing for how to provide feedback, recognize employees, discuss development areas and discuss future goals

May 21-June 3

• Managers complete any remaining competency assessments for SHRA employees
• Managers sign the employee appraisal and release it for employee review (Manager Release task in Carolina Talent)
• Managers and employees meet for a performance conversation to discuss the annual appraisal and finalize performance goals and development plan for the coming year
• Managers submit the employee’s performance plan in Carolina Talent, including employee performance and development goals for the coming year
• Employees have 15 days following manager submission to acknowledge the performance plan and SHRA competency assessment in Carolina Talent.

More about Key Dates in performance season.

The following employees do NOT receive an annual appraisal:

• Probationary SHRA employees who have NOT worked at the University for at least six months
• EHRA Non-Faculty employees who have NOT worked at the University for at least six months
• Faculty
• Temporary employees
• Student employees
• Employees on leave for six or more months during the performance cycle or on leave during the performance season
• Employees in position types that follow an alternative performance appraisal procedure
• Post-doctoral scholars

For more information about eligibility and exceptions, see the Employee Performance Management and Appraisal Policy.

• Employee consistently exceeds the level defined in the performance plan in terms of quantity, quality, timeliness, cost, and customer satisfaction due to the employee’s own effort and skills.
• Employee’s work performance is consistently characterized by exceptionally high quality work accomplished with minimal oversight.

• Employee generally performs at the level defined in the performance plan in terms of quantity, quality, timeliness, cost, and customer satisfaction due to the employee’s own effort and skills.
• Employee is responsive to guidance and feedback from the supervisor such that only moderate oversight is required to ensure sufficient work is being accomplished.

• Employee often performs below the level defined in the performance plan in terms of quantity, quality, timeliness, cost, and customer satisfaction due to the employee’s lack of effort or skills.
• Employee has a performance deficiencies that have not improved after receiving corrective feedback by the manager/supervisor, and/or increased oversight is required to ensure work is being accomplished.

Managers must hold a mid-cycle review the following October for each employee who receives any rating of Not Meeting Expectations on their last annual performance appraisal.

Employees that receive any rating of “Not Meeting Expectations” cannot receive an overall rating of “Exceeding Expectations,” regardless of the results achieved on other goals.

Note: Managers should NOT apply the “Not Meeting Expectations” rating to employees whose objectives became misaligned with evolving priorities, leading to unmet goals due to changes unrelated to their performance. Please contact your HR representative to assist in updating goals within Carolina Talent to accurately represent these adjustments.

General guidance in distinguishing among the three performance rating levels :
UNC System Descriptions of 3-Point Rating Scale (pdf)

Descriptions of ratings at the performance rating levels for the six institutional goals:
UNC System Institutional Goals 3-Point Rating Scale (pdf)

See the Considerations for providing feedback toggle in the For Managers section below for guidance on manager comments for the annual appraisal.

The guidance and examples below provide a sample position description and individual goals with ratings and manager comments for each of the three performance ratings levels:

• Example of Position Description and Individual Goals with Ratings at Not Meeting Expectations level (pdf)
• Example of Position Description and Individual Goals with Ratings at Meeting Expectations level (pdf)
• Example of Position Description and Individual Goals with Ratings at Exceeding Expectations level (pdf)

Overall Ratings for appraisal scores are determined by the following formulas:

• Institutional Goal Score = Institutional Goal Weight x Rating
• Individual Goal Score = Individual Goal Weight x Rating
• Overall Rating Calculation = (institutional goal score x 50%) + (individual goal score x 50%)

Overall Rating Calculations translate to the three-point rating scale according to the following tabulations:

• 2.7-3.00 = Exceeding Expectations*
• 1.7 – 2.69 = Meeting Expectations
• 1.0 – 1.69 = Not Meeting Expectations

*If an employee received a disciplinary action or any institutional/individual goal receives a rating of Not Meeting Expectations, and the overall score is over 2.7, the overall final rating will be manually updated to Meeting Expectations.

The appraisal task has five steps, which alternate between the manager and employee (and, for one step, their HR Officer) during performance season. All steps are completed in Carolina Talent Performance as part of the My Appraisal task.

See the Performance season timeline toggle in the About section for more information.

Note: Once the final step, the Employee Acknowledgement task, is complete, Carolina Talent makes available the final Annual Appraisal document. Managers and employees can both view the appraisal document in Carolina Talent Performance > Performance Documents.

The HR Checkpoint is the point in the performance season when HR Officers work with their Performance Management Representative (PM Rep) to review appraisals for overall compliance and potential issues that may need further evaluation before moving forward.

From May 1-20, HR will assess the submitted appraisals through a checkpoint process. If there is an issue with an appraisal that needs to be addressed, your department’s HR Representative will contact you. Otherwise, you will receive a notification on May 21 to sign the appraisal and allow it to be released to the employee.

The HR Checkpoint occurs annually May 1–20.

The appraisal document includes:

• Manager’s rating of the employee’s performance in accomplishing the year’s institutional and individual goals.
• Employee’s optional self-assessment of the work done for the year.
• Manager’s comments on the employee’s performance for the year.
• Manager and employee signatures.

You can view your own appraisal document/s in Carolina Talent Performance > My Performance Documents > My Personal Reviews. Appraisal files are titled EHRA-NF or SHRA Annual Appraisal 20XX-20XX.

You can view your employees’ appraisal document/s in Carolina Talent Performance > My Profile/Team -> Snapshot. Appraisal files are titled EHRA-NF or SHRA Annual Appraisal 20XX-20XX.

You will receive automatic system emails to notify you of any assigned tasks. These emails will go to your UNC email account from the sender name noreply@hr.unc.edu.

The notification email includes:

• Task name (ex: Performance Plan 20xx-20xx)
• Name of the in the appraisal process (ex: Employee Acknowledgment)
• Due date
• Link to Carolina Talent Performance

You will also receive system emails:

• Each time you or one of your employees completes a task in Carolina Talent Performance.
• Every Friday during performance season; this weekly Carolina Talent Performance Digest email outlines your active tasks and due dates.

The Employee Competency Assessment (ECA) is required only for SHRA employees. Managers complete an ECA for any SHRA employee working for the University when performance season begins.

Completing the ECA is a core part of managing performance. Through the ECA, managers evaluate how well the employee applies the competencies required for the position to achieve the established goals and objectives for the position. After assessing their employee’s skills against the position competencies, the manager can more clearly identify growth areas and define a development plan in partnership with the employee.

Performance appraisals provide employees and their managers with a comparison of on-the-job performance and established performance-measurement standards.

Managers must provide a written performance appraisal annually for their performance-eligible SHRA and EHRA Non-Faculty employees.

Managers must rate employee performance toward the employee’s goals for previous cycle on the following three-point scale:

• Exceeding Expectations
• Meeting Expectations
• Not Meeting Expectations

On each appraisal, managers must provide written overall comments explaining the ratings given.

The second-level manager of the employee is required to review the Performance Plan and the annual appraisal before they are issued to the employee.

The manager must hold a mid-cycle review in October for employees who received a rating of Not Meeting Expectations on any individual rating on their last annual performance appraisal.

See the Performance season timeline in the About section for details about what to complete and when to complete it.

Providing timely, positive and constructive feedback to employees on their performance and behavior throughout the year is a core manager responsibility and central to team success. In addition, it is an expectation that every manager completes a comprehensive review of employee performance through the annual appraisal in Carolina Talent and meets with their individual team members to discuss their performance and development.

As part of the appraisal conversation, managers should seek to understand the perspective of their employees on their performance for the past year as well as their growth areas and to collaborate with them on defining goals for the next year. In general, feedback shared during the annual appraisal should not be a surprise to employees because managers are having regular conversations with their team members about their performance and development. Prioritizing regular one-on-one meetings (weekly or bi-weekly) with your team members and being fully present in these meetings will enable their success and yours. This will also make the annual appraisal easier, more productive and more enjoyable for everyone involved.

When addressing employee progress toward individual and institutional goals, it is much easier to address what is getting done (the individual goals) versus how things are done (the institutional goals) since the what is oftentimes more tangible and concrete than the how. Talking with an employee about the “how” of performance – how team members collaborate, communicate, treat one another, and hold themselves and others accountable – takes courage and patience but is essential to the growth of individual employees and the functionality of a team.

Explore learning resources for preparing for your performance conversations with employees.