Upcoming Staff Performance Evaluation Activities in Workday

Performance evaluations provide an opportunity to recognize accomplishments, discuss goals, and support ongoing professional development. As part of the university’s transition to Workday, the process is evolving.

Performance evaluations follow a semiannual review cycle to better align with academic and fiscal planning while supporting more timely feedback and goal conversations throughout the year.

Performance evaluation cycles include:

Cycle A: Administration and Finance
- April – September (evaluations begin September 1)
- October – March (evaluations begin March 1)
Cycle B: Provost and Chancellor Divisions*
- January – June (evaluations being June 1)
- July – December (evaluations begin December 1)

*For Provost and Chancellor Divisions, performance evaluations will launch in Workday on June 1, 2026. Administration and Finance evaluations will launch later this fall.

Please note that faculty are not included in this performance evaluation process and will continue to use faculty activity reporting as their primary performance evaluation method.

To help supervisors and staff become familiar with the process, below is a high-level overview of the four steps in a Workday performance evaluation cycle.

Step 1: Employee Self-Evaluation

Once evaluations for your division launch, staff will receive a self-evaluation task in Workday. To complete the self-evaluation:

Log in to Workday and open your My Tasks inbox
You may also see the task on your homepage.
Select the self-evaluation task and choose Get Started
Add or review Goals
While staff can add or review goals, for this cycle, they do not need to enter goals in advance of the performance evaluation. Moving forward, goals will carry over into the next cycle.
Rate Competencies using the five-point scale below:
Competencies are auto-populated based on the employee's assigned job profile.
1. Unsatisfactory
2. Needs Improvement
3. Meets Expectations
4. Exceeds Expectations
5. Outstanding Performance
Add Development Items
Development Items are anything you particularly want to learn or areas to grow in.
Review your responses and select Submit

Step 2: Manager Evaluation

After the employee submits the self-evaluation:

The manager will receive a task in their My Tasks inbox
The Manager will review goals, provide comments, and complete competency ratings of the employee using the same five-point scale
Once complete, managers will select Submit to finalize the evaluation

Step 3: Employee Acknowledgment of Final Evaluation

Once both evaluations are complete, the employee will have an opportunity to review the final evaluation summary.

To acknowledge the evaluation:

Open the acknowledgment task from the My Tasks inbox
Review employee and manager ratings displayed side by side
Review any manager comments included in the evaluation
Select Next and choose Acknowledge Review from the Status dropdown
Add additional comments if desired, and submit

Step 4: Manager Acknowledgment

To complete the review cycle:

Managers should open the final acknowledgment task in their My Tasks inbox
Select Acknowledge Review from the Status dropdown
Add comments if needed and submit

💬 About Employee/Manager Discussions

While Workday does not require a formal meeting as part of the evaluation workflow, regular and meaningful performance conversations between employees and supervisors are strongly encouraged.

For the performance evaluation cycle, many departments may choose to hold discussions after both the employee and manager evaluations are complete, but before acknowledgments are submitted (between steps 2 and 3).

Need help?

View Submit Acknowledge Evaluation Demo

View Submit Acknowledge Evaluation Job Aid

Additional information, FAQs, timelines, demo videos, and job aids are available on the Performance webpage.

Questions may be directed to your HR Business Partner.

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If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please reach out to Encompass. We’re here to help you get ready for what’s next.

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University, MS 38677

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