For further support, please submit all inquiries to HRBPTeam@uams.edu.
Important Announcement from OHR
What happened to my evaluation? Why was it cancelled? Will I lose the information I completed?
As part of our continued efforts to improve the employee experience and strengthen alignment with our CARES initiative, Leadership has made the decision to temporarily close the 2025-26 evaluation cycle.
Human Resources will soon redeploy annual evaluations, and additional communication will be shared with updated dates, expectations, and guidance before the new evaluation cycle begins.
If you previously completed a portion or all of the evaluation, OHR can capture that information for you to use once the revised template becomes available.
Please contact your HR Business Partner if you have any questions or require further support.
1. Who needs to complete a performance evaluation?
Annual performance evaluations are required for all non-faculty staff who have been employed for at least 6-months (hired by March 1). Those who have been employed less than 6 months, should have a required 90-day Eval on file in Workday. Contract, temporary, PRN, and extra help positions are excluded from all evaluation processes.
Note: Faculty may perform evaluations outside of Workday. Employees who are both Faculty and Department Chairs will receive an evaluation in Workday for their administration role.
2. When are performance evaluations completed?
Annual Performance Evaluations will automatically launch in Workday on September 1. Employees and supervisors are expected to complete all steps of the performance evaluation process by December 31 prior to any scheduled vacations and within two weeks of returning from an extended leave of absence. Managers are encouraged to establish deadlines based on their teams’ volumes to ensure evaluations are completed timely by December 31. For example, evaluations may be completed in a tiered approach.
- Employee self-evaluations complete on/before October 18.
- Manager evaluations complete on/before December 6.
- Employee acknowledgements must occur on/before December 31.
3. When is the cutoff for an employee to receive an annual performance evaluation?
All performance-eligible employees hired prior to March 1 should be assigned an annual performance evaluation. If for some reason you do not have an evaluation assigned by September 1, please contact your HR Business Partner or create a Service Now ticket by emailing HRBPTeam@uams.edu.
Note: Any outstanding evaluations from previous years must be completed before you can proceed with the current annual evaluation. If the old evaluations are not completed prior to the September 1 launch, then the new evaluation will not be assigned.
4. What is the annual performance evaluation process?
Annual review must include an employee self-evaluation and their manager’s review.
Annual performance evaluations must be completed in Workday through a series of steps:
- Evaluations will route to the employee first to complete their self-evaluation.
- Next, the employee’s direct manager/supervisor/delegate will complete the manager’s portion of the evaluation.
- Afterwards, the manager/supervisor is expected to discuss the evaluation ratings with the employee.
- Lastly, the evaluation will route back to the employee for final review and acknowledgement in Workday. Note: This is a required step.
5. Are resources available to help supervisors through the evaluation process?
Yes, visit the OHR Business Partner’s website for the template overview and resources.
6. What happens if an employee receives an evaluation but is not required to complete one in accordance with Administrative Guide 4.2.09, Performance Evaluations Policy.
OHR may cancel an evaluation if it is determined the task is not required. Please contact HRBPTeam@uams.edu to submit a cancellation request.
Contrarily, if an employee should have an evaluation but did not receive the Workday task on September 1, please contact your HRBP immediately to investigate.
7. How can I view the status of the annual performance evaluations for my direct reports?
All supervisors/managers have a “Team Management” dashboard where they can view the status of their team’s evaluations. The Team Management dashboard can be accessed directly in the Workday menu (top right). Managers may also run Rpt-Performance Reviews Status Details (UAMS) report in Workday. For additional support, please contact your HR Business Partner or HRBPTeam@uams.edu.
8. What if the employee or manager is out for an extended period?
If an employee is on an extended leave of absence, their performance evaluation must be completed within two weeks of their return to work.
If the supervisor is on an extended leave of absence, then the employee’s evaluation may be reassigned to a delegate within their supervisory organizational chain.
If an employee has been on leave for a majority of the reporting period and cannot be fairly evaluated, please contact your HR Business Partner for guidance.
9. Can I delegate someone to perform the evaluations on my behalf?
Yes, OHR prefers that managers complete the evaluations on their direct reports themselves. However, there is a Workday Security Role called “Performance Management Administration Support” (PMAS) available for managers who have an extensive number of direct reports. You may request this security role for your delegate using the following link – Request Workday Security Role. The requester will need each Specific Supervisory Organization that the delegate is responsible for to process the request.
10. What happens if an employee transferred or changed positions during the review period?
Workday automatically routes evaluations to the current manager. If an employee transferred before March 1, then the employee must be evaluated on their previous role and responsibilities. In this instance, OHR may either reassign the eval template to the former manager for completion or utilize the offline evaluation template. Please contact HRBPTeam@uams.edu to submit your request.
11. My department had a change in supervisors. Will Workday automatically reassign the reviews to the new manager?
No, Workday will assign evaluations to the manager reflected in Workday on September 1. If there has been a change in your reporting structure, please contact your HR Business Partner for support to correct the org structure and reassign the task.
12. What happens if a supervisor with direct reports assigned to them transfers or terminates during the annual evaluation process?
If the separation is pre-planned, we encourage current managers to ensure evaluations are successfully completed prior to their departure. If that cannot occur, then the remaining evaluations must be reassigned to a delegate within the supervisory organizational chain. Please contact HRBPTeam@uams.edu for assistance.
13. What is the Offline Evaluation Template and when do I use it?
All non-faculty performance evaluations should be completed electronically in Workday. The Offline Evaluation Template should only be used when the employee has transferred to a different manager or when OHR is unable to reassign the task in Workday. When an offline evaluation is necessary, the current Workday task should be cancelled, and the completed Offline Evaluation Template should be uploaded to the employee’s Workday record. The current manager is responsible for coordinating with the former manager to obtain the completed evaluation and ensure the final document is uploaded into Workday.
14. The org structure in Workday is incorrect and the employee’s evaluation routed to the wrong person. What steps are required to correct this?
Workday does not allow us to assign/reassign an annual performance evaluation to someone who is not in their org structure. If this occurs, please contact your HR Business Partner to correct the org structure within Workday. After the org structure is corrected, the HRBP may reassign the evaluation to the correct manager.
15. Am I able to make changes to the evaluation?
Yes. The evaluation automatically saves in Workday so you can pick up where you left off. Employees and supervisors are able to make changes during this time. After submission, managers have the ability to “manually send back” the evaluation to themselves or the employee for corrections. If this occurs, a comment is required. Note: Workday will not skip any steps in the evaluation business process. For further support, please contact your HR Business Partner.
16. Does the evaluation have to route to the employee first?
The annual performance evaluation template is designed for the employee to complete the self-evaluation first. This is a required component of the evaluation process. If requested, OHR may temporarily bypass the self-evaluation in certain circumstances, then route it back to the employee for completion. Note: Management may not skip or disregard the employee’s self-evaluation or their discussion meeting.
17. What scale is used to evaluate employees?
Employees are evaluated based on two sections of the annual performance evaluation: Organization and Performance. Organization assesses how the employee’s behavior aligns with ASPIRE 2033, while Performance pulls the employee’s duties directly from the Job Responsibilities in Workday. Employees are rated as one of the following:
- Unsatisfactory
- Needs Improvement
- Satisfactory
- Above Average
- Exceeds Standards
18. What are job responsibilities?
Job responsibilities are the typical functions for positions with the same job title across the Organization. This section of the evaluation is pulled directly from the employee’s Job Responsibilities (located on the Position > Position Restrictions > Qualifications) in Workday. Managers are encouraged to review employee job descriptions annually and update their Responsibilities as needed via PMRR. If corrections were made last year, then most likely the manager would not have to make changes again this year. Minor discrepancies with the responsibilities may be noted in the comment section of the evaluation. However, if 50% or more of the job responsibilities differ from what is currently in Workday, then the HRBP should provide further guidance on next steps.
Managers can view job responsibilities for their entire team using the Rpt – Job Responsibilities Report in Workday.
19. How do I check the job responsibilities for my direct reports?
Supervisors/managers can run a report in Workday called “RPT – Job Responsibilities” for their supervisory org.
20. What can I do if the Job Responsibilities are missing in the evaluation?
If the job responsibilities are missing from the evaluation, you must manually enter each responsibility using the “Add” button within the evaluation. To prevent this issue from occurring with future evaluations, the manager must submit an Edit Position Restrictions task in Workday to ensure the correct job responsibilities are associated with the position. Please partner with your HRBP for support.
21. What steps do I take if the Job Responsibilities are incorrect?
If the Job Responsibilities reflect the wrong job (i.e. an access coordinator who has a project manager’s job responsibilities loaded), then OHR can cancel and reload the evaluation with the correct responsibilities, or you may utilize the Offline Evaluation Template.
If the Job Responsibilities are too vague, we suggest you explain the differences in the comments section. The weight of each responsibility may be adjusted as needed but must equal 100%. The manager will need to make the adjustments then send the evaluation back to the employee.
If the majority of the Job Responsibilities are incorrect (50% or more), then please contact your HRBP to provide guidance on next steps.
22. Can I upload supporting documents?
Yes, both the employee and manager can upload any supporting documents during their portion of the evaluation.
23. What is ASPIRE 2033?
ASPIRE 2033 is a UAMS-wide strategic plan that aligns our clinical care, education, research, and service missions around a unified vision to expand access, elevate experience, accelerate innovation, strengthen performance, and prepare the next generation of health professionals. Click to view the ASPIRE 2033 plan.
24. What happens if an employee refuses to complete the annual performance review?
Employees and supervisors who fail to complete performance evaluations on time may result in corrective action. If an employee fails to complete the Acknowledgment step of the evaluation, OHR will manually advance the Acknowledgement step after 15 business days in order to successfully complete the business process in Workday.
Note: Employees should acknowledge their evals no later than December 31st. Managers are encouraged to provide ample time for employees to complete their acknowledgment.
25. What are the expectations for nursing performance reviews? Is there a Magnet requirement or peer review?
RN Peer Review (frontline clinical nurses)
- Completed on a paper form
- CSM is responsible for distributing peer reviews, collecting, and discussing with RN during annual evaluation
- CSM compiles the peer reviews into one attachment and uploads them in the Supporting Documents of the annual evaluation
- CSM will keep the hard copies of the document
360 Leader Review
- Completed electronically via SurveyMonkey
- Nursing Administration (Theresa Brown) configures and sends out the link to collect feedback from staff and peers
- Results are filtered and discussed with leaders during their annual evaluation
- 360 Leader Reviews are attached to annual evals as Supporting Documentation
For questions, please contact Nursing Leadership (Tiambe Kuykendall or Rebekah Thacker) for further direction.
26. How do I address performance evaluations for terminated employees?
If the employee was employed during the review period, it is recommended that an evaluation is completed. However, any outstanding or incomplete evaluations may be cancelled if the individual is no longer employed by UAMS.