LEHIGH UNIVERSITY Performance DRAFT BOOK Your bLUeprint for Success v 2.2

MY DRAFT BOOK

Historically, in many organizations, an employee’s performance and career growth were driven by the employee’s supervisor. But this is the 21st century and this is Lehigh University. For 150 years Lehigh has shaped the world. As a staff member, you are a cog in the machine that is Lehigh, supporting students and faculty. We encourage our students to build positive relationships, develop, create, make decisions and take action for growth and professional success. Why should it be any different for staff members?

It’s not. Your Lehigh career is directed by you. The path is yours to create, a blank page full of countless possibilities. You decide what kind of relationships you want, how you will express your values and what success will look like for you. This booklet is yours to record your thoughts, ideas, notes and observations.

This is your opportunity to enhance and grow your Lehigh career. You’ll start with a review of the Principles of Our Equitable Community and Lehigh Values. Next you will find Lehigh’s Core Success Factors. Although they were defined nearly ten years ago, they continue to be the foundation of work at Lehigh. The Draft Book will help you apply the Success Factors to your job, or more specifically, how you go about doing your job. The Draft Book also contains resources. Whether you aspire to another position at Lehigh or to perform your best in your current job, the Draft Book is intended to be used as your bLUeprint, your professional plan, to maximize your Lehigh career.

How to use this book: Think of your Draft Book as your performance journal for a year. When you’ve completed a task, assignment or project, write a note about it in the Draft Book. Were you pleased? Was it a rewarding experience? Were you frustrated by it? Did you receive feedback from your supervisor? Do you want to talk to your supervisor about it? Whatever your response, make a note of it. And don’t worry about on which page you write the note, just write it. It’s a good idea to include the date with the note though.

The next time you meet with your supervisor, whether that’s weekly, biweekly or quarterly – you may want to talk about the notes you’ve written. It’s okay too if you choose to keep some notes private. The notes will serve as reminders for performance discussions. More importantly, your notes will show you the aspects of your job you believe you do well and those you like. This is important stuff from a career management perspective.

The goal is for all of us to think about job performance more than once a year. The more frequently you and your supervisor have performance discussions, the more comfortable each of you will be with the process.

THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR EQUITABLE COMMUNITY

Lehigh University is first and foremost an educational institution, committed to developing the future leaders of our changing global society. Every member of our community has a personal responsibility to acknowledge and practice the following basic principles:

We affirm the inherent dignity in all of us, and we maintain an inclusive and equitable community.

We recognize and celebrate the richness contributed to our lives by our diverse community.

We promote mutual understanding among the members of our community.

We confront and reject discrimination in all its forms, including that based on age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economics, veteran status, or any differences that have been excuses for misunderstanding, dissension, or hatred.

We affirm academic freedom within our community and uphold our commitment to the highest standards of respect, civility, courtesy, and sensitivity toward every individual.

We recognize each person’s right to think and speak as dictated by personal belief and to respectfully disagree with or counter another’s point of view.

We promote open expression of our individuality and our differences within the bounds of University policies.

We acknowledge each person’s obligation to the community of which we have chosen to be a part.

We take pride in building and maintaining a culture that is founded on these principles of

unity and respect.

LEHIGH’S CORE VALUES

Lehigh’s Core Values are essential and enduring tenets – a small set of timeless guiding principles that require no external justification; they have intrinsic value and importance to us inside Lehigh.

Integrity and honesty

Equitable community

Academic freedom

Intellectual curiosity

Collaboration

Commitment to excellence

Leadership

Lehigh’s Core Purpose: our fundamental reason for being

To contribute to society by the creation and dissemination of knowledge through our graduates and the knowledge we create.

As staff, our contribution to Lehigh’s Core Purpose is to expect high quality in everything we do.

Many staff members have no direct involvement in creating or disseminating the knowledge of our graduates, but our jobs have impact on students’ daily lives at Lehigh. It’s easy to lose your focus on high quality work when other stuff in your life is impacting your day - your heat stopped working at home or your check engine light came on in your car. It’s the same for our students. When we give our jobs our best and strive for high quality, we have a positive impact on our students – a comfortable classroom and residence hall, a punctual ride on the bus, enhanced by a smile from the driver.

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY’S CORE SUCCESS FACTORS

Performance at Lehigh is based on setting and achieving goals related to the key accountabilities of your position. Key accountabilities are what employees do every day. Success factors describe how work gets done as staff members strive to achieve high quality outcomes. What you do is very important, but it is equally important how you complete tasks and assignments. Core Success Factors apply to all staff members at Lehigh regardless of position.

Support Lehigh’s Mission and Goals

Successful staff members at Lehigh University understand how important their role is to Lehigh’s goal achievement, strive to handle job responsibilities efficiently, and achieve excellent outcomes.

Embrace and Adapt to Change

Successful staff members at Lehigh University understand how important change is to Lehigh – both in the short term and over the long term. They embrace change and adapt to the opportunities it brings.

Accountability for Work Achievements

Successful staff members at Lehigh take accountability for handling their jobs effectively and for achieving high quality work processes and outcomes.

Take Ownership for Personal Learning and Development

Successful staff members at Lehigh take responsibility for their own personal learning and development and continuously strive to improve themselves.

Communicate Effectively

Successful staff members at Lehigh communicate effectively in a timely and appropriate manner.

Demonstrate Creativity and Innovation

Successful staff members at Lehigh value creative and innovative approaches to accomplishing their job responsibilities and seek appropriate opportunities to do so.

And now, about the HOW. Read on - It’s all about behavior…

BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED WITH CORE SUCCESS FACTORS

Support Lehigh’s Mission and Goals

Understand Lehigh’s mission and goals

See how your job fits into the University and seek ways to contribute positively to Lehigh

Be consistently reliable and trustworthy in getting the job done well and in a timely manner

Pitch in and help others when necessary to get the job done

Handle your own job responsibilities in an efficient and accurate manner

Constantly strive to meet the needs of customers (e.g., students, faculty, parents, alumni, visitors) within the appropriate boundaries.

Embrace and Adapt to Change

Adapt to change by modifying work habits and practices

Show enthusiasm and support for change

Proactively prepare for and adjust to change

Accept new work priorities while continuing to handle existing responsibilities

Re-evaluate decisions, thoughts, and actions to fit new situations and needs

Look for ways to improve processes and practices in own job and work area

Be respectful of Lehigh’s history and traditions, but understand and embrace change as a way to support Lehigh’s future.

Accountability for Work Achievements

Plan work carefully in order to handle job responsibilities and meet goals

Keep focused on achieving job responsibilities and goals even when faced with issues or problems

Follow through on commitments

Effectively prioritize tasks and assignments

Be flexible in adapting to changes in work demands or schedules

Demonstrate proficiency in their role by successfully accomplishing assigned tasks and responsibilities

Take responsibility for mistakes without blaming others and accept the consequences of actions and decisions

Value diverse perspectives and incorporate them in their work.

Take Ownership for Personal Learning and Development

Understand that your personal learning and development is critical to ensuring success in your role

Keep up-to-date in your area of expertise and seek learning opportunities (e.g., training, courses, stretch assignments) to improve your knowledge, skills, and capabilities

Seek and accept feedback from your peers and managers

Incorporate feedback into actions, behaviors, and approaches when appropriate

Understand personal strengths and weaknesses and focus on maintaining strengths and improving weaknesses

Learn from your mistakes.

Communicate Effectively

Readily share information with the appropriate people in a timely manner

Be clear and concise in how they share ideas and information

Speak and write clearly and effectively

Listen carefully to others and ask questions to ensure understanding

Use different communication styles (e.g., oral, written, presentations) depending on the need of the situation and the individuals/groups involved

Make sure others understand their messages and, if not, change the style of communication

Maintain appropriate confidentiality in all communications

Communicate regularly and appropriately with individuals outside your area to share ideas and resources and build relationships.

Demonstrate Creativity and Innovation

Approach your daily work and responsibilities with a fresh, creative outlook, and seek more effective and efficient ways to achieve work

Take calculated risks when appropriate after weighing potential problems and benefits of the action

Look beyond traditional resources and approaches to find alternative and more effective ways to handle job responsibilities

Offer new ideas when old approaches have failed or are no longer effective

Look at problems/situations from different perspectives.

Take a minute to reread and absorb these important job related behaviors. Most of us couldn’t begin to perform our jobs well if we didn’t communicate effectively. High quality performance is not only what you do. HOW you do your job is equally important and is being added to the staff appraisal process at Lehigh.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER: KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES AND SUCCESS FACTORS

On this page you will note the key accountabilities of your position description (PD). Go to pd.lehigh.edu to access your PD information. (If you do not know your position number and unique PD password, contact Human Resources.) You do not need to note the supporting activities associated with each key accountability. That’s optional. On the next page the Core Success Factors are already listed for you.

Key Accountability #1
Key Accountability #2
Key Accountability #3
Key Accountability #4
Key Accountability #5
Key Accountability #6

HOW CAN I DEMONSTRATE MY SUCCESS FACTORS

Support Lehigh’s Mission and Goals
Embrace and Adapt to Change
Accountability for Work Achievements
Take Ownership for Personal Learning and Development
Communicate Effectively
Demonstrate Creativity and Innovation

MY DEPARTMENT’S GOALS

MY GOALS
Use this section to note job activities you need or want to accomplish that are not included in your key accountabilities. If you noted department goals in the previous section, check back to see if your individual goals support those goals.

Notes from 1st Quarter

What I’ve accomplished:
Feedback from my supervisor:
Recommendations for performance enhancement:

Notes from 2nd Quarter

What I’ve accomplished:
Feedback from my supervisor:
Recommendations for performance enhancement:

Notes from 3rd Quarter

What I’ve accomplished:
Feedback from my supervisor:
Recommendations for performance enhancement:

Notes from 4th Quarter

What I’ve accomplished:
Feedback from my supervisor:
Recommendations for performance enhancement: