Appraisals are an important opportunity to reflect on the previous year and plan for the year ahead in the form of setting performance and development goals. Along with 1-1s, they are an opportunity to have a meaningful conversation with your manager - discussing your individual wellbeing and your career aspirations, setting goals and the support you need to achieve these.
It is important that all staff have an appraisal, which is then written up in the Horizon system in a way that is manageable – capturing the key points from the appraisal discussion including your SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, Timebound) performance and development goals.
Managers should adopt a coaching style, allowing staff members to lead the conversation around their performance, goals and career development. Managers can also outline workload expectations in advance of the next academic year.
Key dates for this year’s appraisals:
- Tuesday 27 May: Appraisal conversations can begin during the month of May, and Horizon system will open on 27 May for recording purposes.
- Wednesday 31 July: The date by which you will have completed your self-evaluation.
- Tuesday 30 September: Appraisal conversations to have been written up on Horizon and goals completed for next year.
Changes to the Horizon System
Navigation changes - You will have noticed over the last year, the user interface on some of the Horizon screens has changed. This will continue to happen where Oracle will introduce the new user interface called Redwood to further screens. The Career and Performance screens for the appraisal cycle this year will change to Redwood so your appraisal will look different, and the navigation will be easier for both appraiser and appraisee.
Changes to the navigation for appraisee include:
- Being able to access development and performance goals from a single performance screen for all appraisees
- The Participant Manager option is more visible
- Appraisal guidance is more prominent
Changes to the navigation for appraiser include:
- Appraisal dashboard is more visible
- Easier access between your own appraisal and your staff appraisals
- All in One Evaluation is more prominent
Functionality changes - have also been included with the introduction of the Redwood user interface with the option of using AI for appraisees to support writing SMART development and performance goals. Appraisees can use the AI assist as a starting point for writing SMART goals and then must check the goals to ensure they are contextualised for your role, team and university priorities and amend accordingly. You must also ensure that the goal focuses on the output and impact of that piece of work.
We will be piloting AI functionality for appraisers where Horizon will provide support as a starting point in giving feedback to appraisees in the People Directorate, Executive Business Centre in Greenwich Business School and Academic Learning Enhancement in Information and Library Services. In the pilot areas, the appraisers must check the feedback for accuracy, relevance and contextualisation. The pilot will be evaluated at the end of the appraisal cycle to assess whether the AI functionality for line managers should be rolled out across the university in 2026.
Training:
Staff are invited to attend training to support this year’s appraisal, focusing on strategic priorities – in particular, there will be a focus on Research and Knowledge Exchange and Athena Swan with support for capturing mentoring and career pathways and the appraisal changes on the Horizon system.
The online sessions are as follows:
Wednesday 4th June from 1.00pm - 2.15pm
Tuesday 10th June from 3.00pm - 4.15pm
Tuesday 17th June from 11.00am - 12.15pm
Wednesday 25th June from 11.30am - 12.45pm
Wednesday 2nd July from 10.00am - 11.15am
Friday 11th July from 10.00am - 11.15am
Please book your place on one of the sessions via Horizon Learning.
If you have any queries on appraisal, please refer to the Horizon Help Desk to search for a relevant knowledge article. If a knowledge article does not answer your query, please raise a service request within the Horizon Help Desk.
