Skip to main content

FAQs

General Questions

What is Performance Excellence?

Performance Excellence is a year-round experience that supports individual performance and development through meaningful goals, ongoing coaching and feedback and end-of-year performance reviews and conversations.  Learn more about our Northwestern Performance Excellence Philosophy

What is the Performance Excellence timeline?

Central Human Resources  provides guidelines and recommended timelines for University units and departments to follow.  We have mapped our Performance Excellence process along the University's fiscal calendar, which you can see here Integrated Performance Excellence and Compensation Calendar

Based on your unit and department needs, your timeline may differ, so we recommend that you reach out to your HR or PEX administrator in your unit.

How do I get started on developing my goals?

The most powerful planning starts with a question: "What value am I creating in my role, and for whom?" Have a conversation with your supervisor about how your role creates value and helps advance your department and unit goals.

You should also consider how your role is linked to the University's values and behaviors. Role-based examples are currently available to assist you in developing your goals.

How are my goals different from the tasks in my job description?

A job description is essentially a list of responsibilities and tasks to be performed by a staff member. In contrast, goals are measurable outcomes that describe the impact of your work.

What is SIMple goal setting? How does it differ from SMART goal setting?

Just like SMART, SIMple is an acronym, where SIM stands for Specific, Important and Meaningful. You will set a smaller number of performance goals (between 2-4 goals) that describe the impact you will make. 

What if my supervisor does not agree with my goals?

Performance Excellence is designed for you and your supervisor to develop and align on your goals together.

I accidentally submitted my review to my supervisor before I was ready. What should I do?

Your supervisor or HR Administrator can re-open your review.  To do so, they should follow the job aids in myHR Learn under Help.

Will Performance Excellence impact merit increases?

As in the past, performance is an important consideration in compensation decisions.

What if I don't agree with the rating I've been given?

As in the past, staff members are asked to acknowledge they have received a review, and not whether they agree with it. If a staff member believes they are being treated unfairly, they should discuss this with their supervisor, their school/unit HR Administrator, or their Human Resources Business Partner.

I'm a supervisor that needs guidance on the Performance Excellence process. Where can I find help?

Visit Performance Excellence for Supervisors in the For Supervisors and Administrators section of this website. It offers guidance and tools for this process.

Other Commonly Asked Questions About Performance Excellence

I'm a staff member that stewards the Performance Excellence process for my unit/department. How do I find more resources about the what and how for this role?

If you are involved in some way with assisting the performance excellence process, you play the important role of PEX administrator. 

First, we would recommend that you read the PEX administrator's guide to get more knowledgeable on your roles and responsibilities

Second, please get familiar with the technical job aids on myHR Learn at this link .

Lastly, please reach out to our PEX team at pex@northwestern.edu to get myHR learn reports and to be added into the Admin Teams community.

We are in the process of building out a new Administrator's web resource page in 2025.

Where can I learn more?

Look at the resources available throughout this site.