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SDR electronic process and FAQs
We are pleased to launch the SDR (staff development and review) process on Liquid Office ready for this year's SDR 'season' which runs from May to August. It is based around the management structure on the Posts database, and will enable preparation, write up, signing and sending of the form to HR to be handled electronically. There is also a mechanism for the form to go back and forth between the staff member and reviewer several times until agreement on the form of words is reached.
FAQs have been produced about the process below. If staff do not have access to PCs, then the form can still be downloaded from the HR website and printed and sent to HR in the usual way, but for the majority of staff, the system will deliver time and paper saving.
I haven’t got time to write my whole preparation form all at once.
No problem. Select save for later in the drop down box at the bottom of the form and click go, and return to it in your Liquid Office inbox when you’re ready to complete it.
Where can I find the form I 'Saved for Later'?
You can locate any LiquidOffice form you 'saved for later' in your LiquidOffice inbox. You may access your LiquidOffice inbox here: https://liquidoffice.bathspa.ac.uk/user/inbox.My staff member has sent me their preparation form but something needs amending before we have the discussion. What should I do?
If you submit the form to send it back to your staff member at this stage, the process will move to the point where the discussion has happened and Liquid Office will prompt your staff member to complete their summary and sign the form. It is preferable that any changes that need to be made before the discussion are made by the line manager and are saved for later. You may need to inform your staff member verbally
of what you have changed.
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I don’t want to take my laptop into the SDR discussion. Can I print a copy of the draft form?
Yes, you can click File – print in the Liquid Office form. Please be aware that if the text has exceeded the size of the box you will be able to see it all on the screen using the scroll bar but it will not all print. In this situation, you may wish to copy and paste that particular text to a Word document. However, the final PDF copy of the completed form will display all the text.
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I don’t agree with something my line manager has written on the form.
Ideally, meet with your line manager to discuss the point and try to reach agreement. Make the amendment to the form and submit back to your manager to sign. If you cannot agree see FAQ
7.
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I don’t agree with an amendment my staff member has made to my write-up of the discussion.
Ideally, meet with the staff member to discuss the point and try to reach agreement. Tick the box to enable you to amend the form and submit it back to your staff member to sign. If you cannot agree see FAQ
7.
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We cannot reach agreement on a particular point
Note the point of disagreement in the summary section and sign the form to enable the process to be completed. You may request a meeting with your reviewer’s immediate line manager and HR Advisor if appropriate.
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I am a new manager and so did not conduct my team’s SDRs last year. How can I get hold of last year’s SDRs to have a look at them?
Email hrcontact@bathspa.ac.uk and if copies were received by HR last year, we will send them over to you.
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One of my staff members does not have access to a PC. How should we complete the process?
Managers of manual staff may choose not to use the Liquid Office process. Download a SDR form from the HR website and print it for your staff member to complete as preparation. You will need to write up the discussion on the downloaded document and print for your employee to sign. Once they have done this, please send the form to HR Admin who will log and file it.
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I’m a manager and have submitted the completed form, having agreed the form of words with my staff member. I’ve just remembered there was something else I wanted to add. Can I ring HR to ask them to ‘undo’ my submission?
No, unfortunately not. Once you have clicked submit at the final stage in the process there is no option to undo. If there is an addition to be made, please send an email to
hrcontact@bathspa.ac.uk, making sure you include the agreement of your staff member in the trail.
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My manager’s name is not in the drop down list of reviewers available to me to select
Select one of the reviewers’ names and save the form for later by selecting that option in the drop down menu at the bottom of the form and clicking go. Contact HR Admin on 6338, who will look into the issue and check you are reporting to the correct manager in the Posts database. If not, this will be corrected so you can select the correct manager when you go back into the form in your Liquid Office inbox.
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I report to two managers who job share. Who should I select as the reviewer in the Liquid Office form?
Discuss with your managers who will conduct the review, and select that person.
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I am a manager who job shares. One of my staff has selected me as her reviewer, but my job share partner is conducting her review. What should I do?
Select transfer in the drop down menu at the bottom of the staff member’s preparation form. Indicate that the form should be transferred to your job share partner. Click go.
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My direct line manager is not the person who supervises my work day to day and knows my work best. It has been agreed that my supervisor will conduct my SDR, but their name is not available for me to select as my reviewer.
Complete a draft of the form and send it to your direct line manager. They will then transfer the form to the person who will conduct your SDR. -
I’m a Head of School and I want to do some spot checking of my School’s SDRs this year.
Let your managers know that you wish them to email you a PDF copy of each SDR once complete, or select some staff members at random after the process is complete and ask the line managers to send you only those SDRS.