Induction and probation

Induction

The purpose of the workplace induction is to make the transition into a new job as
smooth as possible. This has benefits for the employee as well as the University. The employee will gain more information about the University and how they and their department fit in to that structure. It should give the employee a glimpse of the bigger picture (the People Development team go into more detail on this in the Induction course which employees will attend within the first 8 weeks of employment).

A well-planned and executed induction will make new staff feel more at ease on arrival, provide an introduction to the University and essential background information to help the person with their job The University want to increase staff retention and by providing a good induction plan this will hopefully mean that new employees feel comfortable in their roles and in their teams.

An employee's induction also gives the chance to ask any questions and to go over any aspects of employment that need confirming. Line Managers will go through the induction process step by step with new employees over the first few weeks.

Please visit the New Staff Induction web page for further information.

Probation

All new staff at the University are appointed with probationary period. When a new member of staff is appointed there is an expectation and belief that the individual is capable of performing their duties to a satisfactory standard. This will be reviewed over an appropriate timescale which varies for different staff groups.

Non-academic staff

All newly appointed non-academic staff (including research staff) will, unless otherwise agreed with Human Resources, be subject to a period of probation which is normally 6 months in duration.
The purpose of probation is to ensure that the performance of the new member of staff is monitored regularly, problems are resolved at an early stage, and any inability to meet the requirements of the job is recognised and necessary action taken promptly.

Please use the links below for the Contractual Probation Procedure and Contractual Probation Review Form.

• Contractual Probation Procedure
• Contractual Probation Review Form

Academic staff

Newly appointed Lecturers are appointed with a three-year probationary period. The procedure will enable progress against probationary objectives to be reviewed over the course of the 3 years. The Academic Probationary Procedure outlines how this works in practice but in short, the key points are as follows:

Within the first 6 weeks of employment probationary objectives are set and agreed between the new Lecturer and their line manager. These are submitted to the University Probationary Review Committee for sign off

The line manager will hold 6 monthly review meetings throughout the probationary period with the new Lecturer to check on progress and to offer support and signpost as required

At 18 months there will be a formal review of all new Lecturers by the University Probationary Review Committee.

Before the end of the probationary period the University Probationary Review Committee will consider whether the new Lecturer has satisfactory met the requirements of the academic probationary process and, if so, the individual will have their probation confirmed.

The Academic Probation Framework provides an outline of expectations of new Lecturers in relation to the areas of citizenship and emerging leadership, teaching and learning and research (where applicable) and will be used to inform the setting of probationary objectives.

hr@reading.ac.uk in Human Resources by the submission deadline dates as outlined in the table below. Prior to submission the appropriate authorisations/signatures should be completed.

HR will collate the forms and provide these to the University Probationary Review Committee. The form will be required for the review of the initial probationary objectives, 18 month formal review and the final end of probation review.

Details in relation to the mentoring support new Lecturers can expect to receive are outlined in the Academic Mentoring Guidelines on the People Development webpage.

In the case where an individual who has not yet successfully completed academic probation is promoted via the Personal Titles Procedure, it is expected that the academic probation objectives will also have been completed and that academic probation is therefore completed. To confirm this, the relevant Head of School is asked to provide a short summary report to the Chair of the Academic Probationary Review Sub-Committee to confirm that they have reviewed the probationary objectives of the promoted colleague. If any of the academic probation objectives are not yet completed and will continue to be required, these should be reviewed as part of the Performance Development Review (PDR) process; this should be confirmed in the summary report with a note of the reasons.