A friend was unexpectedly asked to judge the best cow competition at a highland show.
A city girl with very little in the way of cow judging expertise, she was understandably apprehensive. The organiser reassured her: “It’s really straightforward. Here is the checklist of what to look for”. Sure enough: the length of the back, height and so on were all neatly described. She managed to pick out the most outstanding cow, prizes were awarded and celebrations commenced.
Sadly, she used the same checklist in the best pig competition and all ended in disaster.
On a more serious point, who defines excellence in institutions? How do YOU define it and what criteria do you use? How often do you stop to question the factors that are influencing your decisions? As an institution, words like ‘excellence’ and ‘outstanding’ and ‘world-leading’ crop up all over the place: strategic plans, job adverts, promotion applications. Institutions can seem to demand excellence in everything, all at the same time. This puts people under pressure, but also in the dark about what to focus on and what to prioritise.
Ingredients
Honesty.
Consistency.
Critical perspective.
Open-mindedness.
An awareness of your own bias.
Method
What are you talking about when you talk about excellence? Be specific. On a practical level, how would someone provide evidence of excellence? Are the best indicators being selected, or the ones that are easy to quantify? How will you give weight to things that are important rather than easy to measure? Are the measures you use current and fresh? Jobs change – have your criteria?
Be aware of historical biases in your department. Attitude is crucial, but research shows that we unconsciously recruit in our own image (Bohnet, 2016). If you explore the kind of characteristics that would ‘fit’ best in your department or in a leadership role, or would be worthy of promotion, are there any that are stereotypically associated with particular groups? How do you talk about the attitudes and qualities you value? Whose successes do you tend to notice or be more aware of?
Check with colleagues. How would they define excellence or fit? Does it match your view? Getting different perspectives could help you to pick out any blind spots and focus on what’s most important for the role and for the department and to develop criteria which are fair.
Notice and share examples of ‘excellent performance’ – particularly where it is harder to quantify. Grade profiles, explicit definitions and concrete examples of the level of performance required for certain roles or promotions can give people tangible things to work towards and more confidence in their own abilities.
Be realistic. Staff are being asked to do more and more tasks, often requiring a broader range of skills. Excellence across every domain may not be feasible, especially as roles get broader. The vast majority of our staff are driven, have high standards and aspire to be excellent. This is no bad thing, but if expectations are unrealistic this can leave people feeling under enormous pressure and at risk of burnout. Where is ‘excellence’ important, and where is ‘good enough’ perfectly acceptable? Is the workload manageable in reality?
Be clear about the priorities and the benchmarks. Being brilliant at everything at all times is unattainable. The crucial thing is knowing what to focus on when. This can depend on career stage and experience. Careers are long, requiring different strategies – sometimes building and consolidating expertise, sometimes actively seeking new responsibilities. Support people to plan their career development in a sustainable and manageable way – don’t expect or ask for the moon! Use annual reviews to reflect and re-evaluate, particularly when someone is preparing for promotion.
Give people time and space to develop expertise and confidence. Learn how to give encouraging feedback as well as constructive criticism. Academic careers can be full of knock-backs and rejections. If you notice people are doing things well and making progress, tell them. ‘Excellence’ is often a work in progress: are you giving people a boost or dragging them down?
Actively support a great working environment. A productive and inspiring culture where people feel supported, valued and able to do their best work can reap massive rewards in terms of job satisfaction, well-being and productivity. But this takes time, attention and a surprisingly large amount of tedious Defining excellence and often invisible admin. Is ‘community building’ work split equally? Does everyone pitch in supporting colleagues, running seminar series and events, welcoming new staff? Are you noticing, thanking and acknowledging people who contribute? Don’t underestimate the cumulative effect of small actions: they shape the culture.
Put your money where your mouth is. Are the tasks staff are told to prioritise to develop their careers aligned with reward and selection processes? If not, your workplace may end up with two sets of guidelines: the ‘official’ priorities versus the ‘unofficial’ things you should really focus on to have any hope of getting promoted. This can leave people feeling understandably cynical. Be upfront and transparent about what is required so people know where they stand.
Reflect on your decisions, particularly when you are assessing another person’s performance. If there are several ways to define excellence in an area, are the criteria flexible enough to accommodate this? What are the criteria for being a great judge? Are you reaching it?
Cooks tips
This recipe is particularly useful for new leaders, or when assessing applications for a new role or promotion.
University of Edinburgh grade profiles, and useful resources like the ‘Exemplars of Excellence in Student Education’ and guidance related to excellence in interdisciplinary work can be found here:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/human-resources/pay-reward/promotions-grading/academic-staff/procedures-criteria