Performance & Behaviour
The HR Department is committed to managing the
performance and behaviour of all our employees by giving the
necessary support and guidance to encourage and enable them to
perform effectively and to the best of their ability.
The University accepts that it has a
responsibility, through its Departments and Faculties, to make
clear to its staff what is required of them and to provide guidance
and/or training. Below are the relevant Managing Performance &
Behaviour policies and procedures.
Capability procedure
The University is committed to ensuring that employees are given
the necessary support and guidance to encourage and enable them to
perform effectively and to the best of their ability. Through
the University's recruitment procedures every effort is made to
ensure that new staff have the appropriate skills and abilities or
a clear, demonstrated potential to achieve these, for the roles
they are recruited to fulfil.
Code of conduct
This Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Rules provide guidance on
the standards of behaviour that the University expects of its
employees. Breach of the Code and Rules may result in
disciplinary sanction, so it is important that all employees
carefully read this Code and Rules.
Conducting an investigation
The University has a number of formal employee procedures where
undertaking investigations are integral to the process involved.
These include, but are not limited to, the Disciplinary, Grievance
and Dignity at Work procedures.
Consensual relationships
This policy seeks to maintain professional standards of conduct
and safeguard the interests of students and staff in the event of a
consensual relationship developing between a member of staff and a
student.
Disciplinary policy
These disciplinary procedures help to ensure
that the University's standards of conduct are adhered to and that
employees are treated fairly and consistently.
Dignity at work procedure
The University is committed to ensuring a
working and learning environment in which the dignity of
individuals is respected. Any form of harassment is, therefore,
unacceptable. This Procedure supports the University Dignity at
Work Policy Statement and has been developed to provide detailed
procedures for dealing with concerns or complaints of harassment,
bullying or inappropriate behaviour raised by members of staff.
Dignity at work
The University requires that all staff behave towards
colleagues, managers and other members of the community in an
appropriate manner in accordance with the principles of the
statement.
Email etiquette
Guidance notes on email etiquette.
Grievance procedure
The aim of a grievance procedure is to enable
any member of staff to have her/his grievance heard and to seek a
redress as appropriate. The intention is that grievances
should be settled quickly and fairly and should be first dealt with
as close to their source as possible.
Performance Development Review (PDR)
All permanent staff at York St John need to
have a Performance Development Review (PDR). This should happen
once a year, with ongoing review throughout the year to discuss
progress. PDRs for most staff will ideally be carried out between
November and March each year.
Probation
The University currently operates a procedure whereby all new
ancillary staff must satisfactorily complete a six-month
probationary period before their employment is secured. The
probationary period is an essential performance management tool and
shall be used to full affect.
The University currently operates a procedure
whereby all new support staff must satisfactorily complete a
12-month probationary period before their employment is secured.
The probationary period is an essential performance management tool
and shall be used to full affect.
The arrangements for induction, mentoring and probation aim to
welcome academic staff to the University of York St John and ensure
that they are aware of the expectations of them and given
appropriate support and encouragement to realise these to the
full.
Social Media policy
This policy covers the publication of and commentary on social
media by employees which relates to York St John University. Within
this context, social media is any facility for online publication
and commentary, including (but not exclusively) blogs, wikis, and
social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and
YouTube.
Whistleblowing
This procedure encourages staff who believe
that an individual's or group of individuals' behaviour will result
in fraud, crime, a threat to health and safety, including public
safety issues or a miscarriage of justice to disclose the matter to
the University using internal channels.
Useful links