Wolfpack Performance Program

You are receiving this communication because you have supervisory responsibilities for an employee subject to the State Human Resources Act, are a SHRA employee or a Wolfpack Performance Program coordinator.

The 2023-24 SHRA performance cycle will end March 31, so now is the time to start planning for and conducting annual SHRA performance appraisals. For most of NC State, this includes conducting an appraisal and closing out a performance cycle in WPP for the first time.

All employees who are active as of March 31 must receive an annual appraisal, which should include an overall performance rating for the cycle, with limited exceptions. Supervisors should review the table below and complete performance documents and/or evaluations in WPP for their employees based on the hire dates in the table.

*If an employee has been a state employee for at least six months (since Oct. 1, 2023, or earlier), which includes an employee who transferred internally or from another UNC System institution or a North Carolina state agency, that employee should have a performance document and an evaluation completed in WPP. Supervisors should not use the override feature in these instances.

Supervisors should complete performance appraisals in WPP no later than May 15.

• Immediately ensure they have created a performance document for each of their eligible SHRA employees in WPP and entered their correct start date, which is April 1, 2023, (or the date of hire if later), and the correct end of cycle date, which is March 31, 2024.
• Complete the Define Criteria step for each of their SHRA employees.
• Complete the three checkpoint reviews or log into WPP to indicate you are skipping the reviews.
• Complete the Finalize Criteria step. This is the final opportunity to confirm goals, weights and development opportunities. To complete the Finalize Criteria step, click the “share with employee” button. Your employee will receive an email notification and will need to go to WPP to acknowledge the criteria by clicking the “complete” button. Until both the supervisor and employee complete this step, the supervisor won’t be able to move to the next required step in the WPP process, which is the completion of the manager evaluation. As a supervisor, you may need to follow up with your employees to ensure they take action in WPP.
• Complete the manager evaluation. To make sure you complete this step correctly, please refer to Step 9 under Manager SHRA User Guides.
• The manager evaluation includes a final review score override box. See the table below for the ratings supervisors should use when an employee is not eligible for a full evaluation/review.

WPP does not replace the process of holding private meetings with employees or providing or seeking feedback about their performance throughout the cycle.

Employees should:

• Discuss their achievements, accomplishments and professional development goals with their supervisor. Employees also can document those things by completing the optional self-evaluation in WPP.
• Review their goals, add relevant comments and click the “complete” button after they receive an email notification that their supervisor has initiated the Finalize Criteria step. This step allows employees to acknowledge their goals for the performance period and for the next steps in the WPP process to begin.
• Complete the acknowledgment of the manager evaluation in WPP.
• Listen to and seek to understand their supervisor’s feedback.
• Discuss any concerns regarding their ratings or their supervisor’s comments.

Next-level supervisors should review both goals and final ratings in WPP. While they cannot make in-system changes, they have the capability and responsibility to view documents and the progress of evaluations throughout the cycle for any employee whose supervisor they manage. To review goals and ratings in WPP, follow these steps:

1. Go to MyPackPortal, select Manager Self Service and then click on the Team Performance tile.
2. On the left side navigation menu, select View-Only Documents.
3. Your direct reports will show on the right of the navigation menu. For any of your staff who have their own direct reports, you will see a red clickable link with the number of their direct reports. Once you click that link, a list of team members will appear.
4. Click on an individual team member to display their list of plans.
5. Select the plan from the current cycle to review goals, progress and ratings where applicable.

University Human Resources has organized training sessions to help supervisors of SHRA employees prepare to close out the performance cycle. It is extremely important for supervisors to be familiar with WPP’s nuances and functionality. In addition, it is crucial for supervisors to have a thorough understanding of how to complete a performance appraisal in WPP. While the WPP system is fairly easy to navigate, it may not be as intuitive for supervisors if they do not complete a training session.

Please note this training will focus on the role of supervisors in WPP. The training will concentrate on closing out the cycle. To register for a virtual session, click the corresponding register link in the course listings below.

In addition to the instructor-led sessions, UHR has prepared written and video guides to assist you in finalizing performance plans. These guides provide step-by-step guidance on how to use the system. The videos are short visual overviews of the system’s features and functions, and the written guides provide more detailed information. As supervisors prepare to close out the performance cycle, they should go to the WPP website containing the written and video guides and follow steps 5-9 under “Manager SHRA User Guides.”

The 2024-25 SHRA performance cycle will commence April 1. It is also time for employees and supervisors to start engaging in discussions regarding goals, objectives and professional development opportunities for the next cycle.

In WPP, performance documents will be created through a process known as group-build, an automated process that occurs at the start of each cycle. WPP will automatically create performance documents for active employees effective April 1, using the latest 2024-25 plan template. Supervisors should not create a 2024-25 performance document before the group-build process. After April 1, supervisors can access their direct reports performance documents in MyPackPortal under the Team Performance tile.

During the period of April 1-June 1, supervisors of SHRA employees must complete the Define Criteria step in WPP. This includes reviewing institutional goals, documenting individual goals, applying weights to each and adding any professional development opportunities.

For SHRA employees whose hire date is after April 1, supervisors will have 60 days from the date of hire to create a plan in WPP and complete the Define Criteria step.

UHR has created a library of videos and written guides that both employees and supervisors can access to learn how to use WPP.

For questions about WPP or support, please check with your college or division performance coordinator, refer to the WPP website or send an email to wolfpackperformance@ncsu.edu.

Thank you for your participation and cooperation in support of WPP.