Dear colleagues,

I would like to thank all staff and supervisors who have completed their 2016 performance reviews to date. Well done!

Performance management remains a priority for ILRI and the reviews are essential to facilitate staff developmental processes and increments for 2017. I therefore urge all staff to take ownership in finalizing 2016 performance reviews as you continue to receive support from your respective supervisors.

Phase I: 2016 Performance reviews update

The compliance status is as follows:

Category	Compliance status
Performance reviews that are fully completed by both staff and supervisors	44%
Performance reviews submitted to supervisors and awaiting their approvals	28%
Performance reviews in progress by staff and yet to be submitted to supervisors	18%
Staff who have not started their performance reviews	10%

All staff and supervisors are reminded to undertake the relevant actions in order to complete the performance reviews.

If you are eligible to complete 2016 performance reviews and you have not received a link or if you require any assistance with the system, contact the staff listed at the end of this email.

Deadline for submission: The deadline for submitting 2016 performance reviews is still 28th February 2017 and only staff who will have completed their reviews by this date will be considered for salary increments.

Phase II: Setting of 2017 Performance Agreements

It’s now time to set your 2017 performance agreements and as you embark on this important task I would like to bring the information below to your attention:

· Email notifications with a link to set 2017 performance agreements are only being sent to staff once they have completed 2016 performance reviews and approvals obtained from their supervisors. Those who have already completed their reviews as per the compliance status above will receive the notifications this week.

· When setting the KRAs, staff should link them to ILRI’s Critical Success Factors in order to foster corporate alignment and accountability to meet institutional objectives. The Critical Success Factors are already pre-loaded into the Peformax system. ILRI Managers will be required to take the lead in guiding their staff members to ensure proper alignment of unit/team and individual KRAs with the Critical Success Factors.

· The minimum number of KRAs that a staff can set is three (3) and the maximum is seven (7).

· In addition to the KRAs, staff will identify performance development plans for 2017 that will inform the training needs for the year.

· Once staff have completed setting performance agreements, 1st and 2nd level supervisors will review and approve to complete this process.

New features/ modifications in the system

Based on feedback from the previous year’s assessment of the performance management system and also based on institutional requirements, the following new feature/modifications have been developed on ILRI’s performance management system:

Feature	Description
1. Second level supervisor	In order to develop greater institutional cohesion, the immediate supervisors as well as the second level supervisors will both be involved in the performance management process through the online system. The second level supervisor provides indirect supervision to a staff and significantly contributes to them meeting their performance objectives. The 2nd level supervisor in this process is expected to provide quality control by reviewing of the performance agreements, ensuring that Key Result Areas (KRAs) are assigned appropriately, performance expectations are consistent, and review ratings are also assigned accurately. Steps for the 2nd level supervisor · Receive an email notification from Peformax · Review a staff member’s performance agreement and undertake the following actions: 1. Provide final approval for the performance agreement. 2. If there are issues to be addressed revert either to the 1st level supervisor. Once issues are addressed, then complete the performance agreement process by providing approval. Note: Staff who report to Directors will only have a 1st level supervisor with no 2nd level supervisor.
2. Guidelines on benchmarking scientist performance document	Research staff who are graded at post- doctoral to principal scientist level are expected to refer to the guidelines on benchmarking scientist performance, (launched in December 2016), as they set their 2017 performance agreements. The guidelines document is available on the top right of the peformax system and the P&OD microsite.
3. Performance Development Plan	The performance development plan section has been modified and now consists of 2 drop down lists that provide categories and sub categories of development needs which staff can choose from. In the event a desired category is not in the list, an “Other (please specify)” option is available. Once a category is chosen, staff members are expected to input details of their development need in the text box provided.

Support

For support and guidance please contact People & Organizational Development for clarification as follows:

Nairobi & Regions

Emily Kerandi – e.kerandi

Jeremiah Musili – j.musili

Joseph Njoroge – j.w.njoroge

Addis

Getachew Wudu- g.wudu

Tadios Tekalign- t.tekalign

Belachew Zeyede- b.zeyede

Finally, on behalf of the People & Organizational Development Directorate I wish to thank you all once again for the support and cooperation on this key institutional organizational development initiative.

Best wishes,

Stella Kiwango | Director People and Organizational Development