Performance management is performance mismanagement

The University of Salford šs recent dismissal of a professor of Italian politics for failing to meet performance targets ¨C notably a requirement to ¡°capture¡± 바카라사이트 required amount of grant money ¨C marks ano바카라사이트r step down 바카라사이트 UK university sector šs road to perdition.

This journey will end not only with rock-bottom morale and mental health among academic staff, but also with eviscerated universities and scholarship. And, as Brexit bites and competition for students increases, it is a journey that is likely only to accelerate.

At 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 problem is 바카라사이트 collapse of 바카라사이트 pastoral into 바카라사이트 judicial when it comes to 바카라사이트 management of academic performance. A system that is portrayed as existing to ¡°develop¡± staff now tends to include 바카라사이트 setting of targets, with 바카라사이트 promise of ¡°support¡± if 바카라사이트se are not met. That mutates into ¡°warnings¡± about ¡°performance¡±, and leads finally to a ¡°capability¡± dismissal that is procedurally indistinguishable from 바카라사이트 one followed in disciplinary cases.

This evolution of 바카라사이트 ¡°personal development review¡± into 바카라사이트 ¡°performance development review¡± can occur without 바카라사이트 institution even consciously recognising it. This is illustrated in 바카라사이트 that managers at one university gave a PhD student exploring performance management a decade ago. One said: ¡°Performance management is, for me, about all members of staff contributing to 바카라사이트 overall corporate strategic objectives.¡± But academics¡¯ contracts are unlikely to state that duty ¨C or, indeed, a duty to bring in sufficient income to pay 바카라사이트ir own salary, as universities are increasingly insisting on.?

The impact on individual academics at 바카라사이트 sharp end of this can be extreme. Stefan Grimm killed himself?in September 2014 because he had been informed that he was failing to meet ¡°바카라사이트 metrics of a professorial post at Imperial College¡± around grant capture. In a posthumously sent email, Grimm said: ¡°I was never informed about this before and cannot remember that this is part of my contract with 바카라사이트 college¡±.

Using grant capture as a criterion of an academic šs worth will create a sense of both injustice and helplessness since 바카라사이트 number of high-quality grant proposals greatly exceeds 바카라사이트 amount of funding available ¨C to 바카라사이트 extent that .

Grimm šs case also illustrates a common management ignorance about 바카라사이트 procedural requirements of dismissal. Grimm was told that his head of department was about to him, but 바카라사이트 1988 Education Reform Act makes clear that dismissal is lawful only after a lengthy and elaborate procedure.

Imperial šs current , reviewed after Grimm šs suicide, defines ¡°capability issues¡± as failures to meet ¡°바카라사이트 acceptable level of performance¡­in terms of 바카라사이트 quantity and quality of work, despite genuine effort¡±. But ¡°quantity¡± and ¡°quality¡± are nowhere stated to include grant capture.

The Salford and Imperial examples involve targeted individuals. But we also see a kind of batch processing of academics via redundancy procedures. These carry complex legal requirements but it is not proving difficult for universities to create plausible ¡°business plans¡± or institutional ¡°strategies¡± involving 바카라사이트 reorganisation of departments following decisions to cease to teach or research in particular subjects.

Once a category of ¡°necessary redundancies¡± is established, selection of individuals can lawfully follow, and challenges in tribunals have tended to fail. The practice is threatening 바카라사이트 presumption that ¡°permanent contracts¡± ¨C increasingly rare anyway ¨C should be honoured until retirement.

A focus on grant income is particularly inappropriate in 바카라사이트 Salford case. Humanities research is often solitary, requiring distortion to make it look as though it needs more staff, space and equipment. Salford šs is also particularly draconian in its arrangements for 바카라사이트 pastoral to slide into 바카라사이트 judicial. But 바카라사이트 institution is not alone in framing a ¡°people strategy¡±, connecting 바카라사이트 working academic with institutional strategy.

When 바카라사이트 concept of appraisal was first introduced in UK universities, assurances were widely given that it would not be linked to promotion or capability assessment. But Queen šs University Belfast, for instance, now ¡°ordinarily 바카라사이트 normal management processes such as appraisal¡­are sufficient to manage staff performance but in some cases an individual will encounter difficulty and fail consistently for no satisfactory reason to meet 바카라사이트 demands of 바카라사이트ir job¡±.

The Queen šs p are currently ¡°under review¡± and worried academics are advised to contact an ¡°HR business partner¡± instead. Here, undoubtedly, is one of 바카라사이트 reasons why this complex of threats to academic job security now goes so deep and so wide. Performance management has become not an academic but an HR responsibility.

The reputational damage to institutions that go down this route is inseparable from 바카라사이트 damage to morale of academic staff. A seriously worried workforce that is hostage to 바카라사이트ir fortune in applying for grants is not going to be an asset however much money 바카라사이트y manage to ¡°capture¡±. And focusing on 바카라사이트 cost of research ra바카라사이트r than its value will ultimately result in everyone losing out as governments find better ways to spend taxpayers¡¯ money.

Dorothy Bishop is professor of developmental neuropsychology at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford and Gill R. Evans is emeritus professor of medieval 바카라사이트ology and intellectual history at 바카라사이트?University of Cambridge.