Meeting Topic
Career Conversations
Meeting Resources
- Watch the Recording
- Download the presentation
- Career Conversations for Supervisors
- Career Conversations Supervisor Guide
- Career Conversations Staff Guide
- Situational Leadership Application Plan
- LinkedIn Learning: Supervisor Learning Path
- LinkedIn Learning Skills Library
Meeting Summary
DeAnna Randle, Assistant Director, Human Resources, led August's session on turning a Career Conversations rating into an actual conversation. Building on July's situational leadership topic, she introduced the SBI4 feedback model — Invite, Intent, Situation, Behavior, Impact, Inquire — as a structure for translating observed performance into growth-oriented, two-way dialogue, and showed how to pair that model with the four leadership styles (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating) so the same evidence lands differently depending on what each employee needs. Caitlin Baker, Senior Learning Engagement Specialist, then walked through the supervisor side of the Career Conversations checklist in EDGE Learning, from finding the checklist dashboard to entering and posting feedback in each of its four sections.
DeAnna walked through a positive and a constructive example showing SBI4 in practice, then covered how to write feedback that actually holds up: naming the specific contribution, explaining its impact, and clarifying what should continue, change, or grow, rather than vague praise like, "Jordan did a good job." She also covered fairness and calibration (comparing standards rather than ranking people, checking your own rating patterns, and pressure-testing whether an outside reviewer could follow your evidence to your rating), how to keep a difficult conversation grounded in evidence rather than personal, and how to align expectations even when a supervisor and employee don't agree on every example. Two live polls checked supervisors' instincts on distinguishing coaching from corrective action and anticipating what kind of support their teams would need most this cycle.
Career conversations carry a 100% institutional requirement this cycle for staff (faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate assistants, student employees, temporary/seasonal workers, and UAGC excluded by design). Extended leave, long-term medical leave, active military leave, and separating employees are flagged as potential timeline exemptions. To request an exemption, contact your HR Team. The career conversation cycle includes three steps: employee self-reflection (Aug. 3-31), supervisor feedback and ratings (Sept. 1-30), and the career conversations (Oct. 1-30). Two supervisor office hours are scheduled for Sept. 10 and Sept. 15 to help with the checklist before evaluations are due.
Key Takeaways:
- The SBI4 model (Invite, Intent, Situation, Behavior, Impact, Inquire) turns a rating into an evidence-based, two-way conversation instead of a one-way verdict.
- Leadership style should flex (directing, coaching, supporting, or delegating) based on an employee's competence and commitment, without changing the underlying facts of the feedback.
- Meaningful feedback names the specific contribution, explains its impact, and points to what should continue, change, or grow, not just "good job."
- Calibration means checking that comparable performance is evaluated consistently across your team; it's not about forcing a spread of ratings.
- Significant performance concerns should never appear for the first time in the October conversation; they need to already be documented from earlier coaching.
Action Steps:
- Review each direct report's full review period and gather concrete evidence before assigning a rating, not just their self-reflection.
- Draft SBI4-based comments (situation, behavior, impact) ahead of the conversation so you're walking in with specific, ready-to-use language.
- Match your delivery style to each employee's competence and commitment using the directing/coaching/supporting/delegating framework.
- Pressure-test your ratings before finalizing them: could an HR partner or another leader follow your evidence to your rating?
- Complete your portion of each checklist in EDGE Learning during September, using the checklist dashboard to confirm what's ready to evaluate.
Next Meeting: Sept. 17, 2026