With the exception of certain public safety personnel, all classified employees are required to serve the first six months of employment with the Institute on a provisional basis. During this period, the new employee should receive an on-the-job orientation relative to the work environment and job expectations so that he or she can begin fulfilling job duties on a regular basis. The supervisor should monitor the new employee's performance in the job and take appropriate action as necessary to make sure that expectations are being met, such as providing on-going feedback to the new employee regarding his or her performance relative to job expectations.

Immediately following the completion of the probationary period, and if the services of the employee are still needed, then the employee's performance should be formally reviewed and documented. Should performance problems occur during the first six months of employment, the supervisor should contact the Performance and Talent Management unit of the Office of Human Resources.

Public safety employees are subject to the same provisional employment requirements as other classified employees, except that the six month provisional period will not begin until any training mandated by the State of Georgia for certification as a police officer has been completed (if such training occurs after employment with the Institute begins).

The probationary review process involves assessing the employee's work performance during the first six months of employment relative to specific indicators and an overall rating. The following rating categories are employed:

• Meeting Expectations
• Needs Improvement

The University System of Georgia prohibits employees grieving performance reviews (refer to the University System of Georgia's Grievance Policy for more details).

Completing the Performance Review Form
The Performance Review Form should be completed by the employee's immediate supervisor within two weeks following completion of the first six months of employment.

The supervisor should first complete the identifying information required in the heading (name, job title, unit, dates, etc.).

Next, the supervisor should assign a rating for each indicator by checking the appropriate block and entering comments as appropriate in the space provided at the end of the form. For any indicators rated as "Needs Improvement", the supervisor must enter in the Comments section specifically what causes justify the rating. Entries in the Comments section for "Meeting Expectations" are optional.

Following the rating of each indicator, the supervisor should formulate an overall rating reflective of those individual ratings and enter that information on the 3rd page of the form.

The Comments on Ratings section has been provided for noting clarifications or explanations regarding any aspects of the review. This section is intended to provide an opportunity for the supervisor to support the individual and overall ratings with narrative comments related to actual performance during the probationary period. Explanations should include references to actual incidences that support a given rating. Additional pages may be added to the form if needed.

Communicating Results of the Probationary Period Performance Review
Supervisors must inform employees through face-to-face communication as well as documentation of how their performance has been rated.

Prior to this meeting the supervisor should have:

• Completed and signed the Performance Review form.
• Reviewed the results with his or her immediate supervisor and obtained approval.
• Developed a discussion outline to follow during the interview.
• Reserved a location where the interview can be conducted in private without interruption.

The meeting should be structured as a two-way means of communication between the supervisor and employee. The employee should be encouraged throughout the meeting to participate in the discussion.

During the meeting, each performance indicator should be covered by reviewing the indicator and the rating that was assigned. Actual occurrences that influenced the rating should be offered.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the employee should sign the form in the space provided. The employee's signature verifies only that the employee and supervisor have participated in a formal review of performance. It should not be construed as either agreement with or objection to the results of the review. Should the employee refuse to sign, the supervisor should make a note on the Performance Review Form and notify the Performance and Talent Management unit of the Office of Human Resources.

The employee should be provided with a copy of the completed and signed Performance Review Form at the end of the meeting. The supervisor is encouraged to keep a copy of the form for his or her records. The reviewer should sign the form in the space provided and obtain the signatures of the next level supervisor. The completed form should be routed to the Office of Human Resources- 0685 for further processing and filing.

Probationary Period Review Notification

Each month the Performance and Talent Management unit of the Office of Human Resources will compile a list of classified employees by unit who are about to complete their first six months of employment. The list will be sorted on an organizational basis and notifications sent to the appropriate Human Resources Representative. The Human Resources Representative will then be accountable for coordinating the probationary review process within his or her organization including review and return of completed forms to OHR.