Supervisor Toolkit | Develop
Developing your skills as a manager and developing the skills of your team members are both essential to achieving success as a team. UW-Madison offers an array of opportunities for professional development through courses, seminars, programs, conferences, online trainings and events each year. These include opportunities to connect with other employees across the university.
Performance management is also essential for fostering a culture of continuous improvement. The goal is to provide employees with timely, clear, and comprehensive feedback that encourages growth and aligns with departmental goals. Supervisors are encouraged to partner with their HR Business Partner throughout the performance management process.
Key Resources
Resource Title and Link |
Resource Description |
|---|---|
| Knowledge and Skills Hub and Learning Resources | This hub is for employees who want to develop their skills, stay relevant in their career industry, or want to learn something new. These resources are also accessible in the Title and Standard Job Description Library. |
| Setting Career Goals |
Examples of typical career goals, how to set goals, and tips to achieve goals. |
| Thrive@UW-Madison | Offers courses to assist with development and performance conversations. |
| Course recommendation offered through Thrive@UW-Madison | |
| Course recommendation offered through Thrive@UW-Madison |
Development Considerations By Category
Management and Leadership Development
- Manager and Supervisor Training: UW-Madison offers professional development specific to managers and supervisors, including an opportunity to connect with other managers across the university, and more.
- Principles of Supervision and Management (PSM): PSM is a certificate program for managers and supervisors, to learn practical skills to support your team and be a manager/supervisor employees want to work for! Online modules and in-person classes are available.
- Enhance your Supervision and Management (EYSM): This learning equips leaders with the skills, knowledge, and strategies to confidently lead and inspire their teams beyond the Principles of Supervision and Management (PSM) program.
- Coaching at UW Madison: Coaching is more than just a relationship but a transformative approach that can benefit everyone. The following coaching program opportunities are available: Traditional Professional Coaching, Self-Coaching, Peer Coaching/Manager as Coach, and Coaching Circles.
- Leadership in the Lab: This series is a semester-long cohort program specifically designed for early-career STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) faculty who are, or will be, leading a laboratory at UW—Madison.
- Women and Leadership: This series offers programming yearlong with follow-up sessions, including the annual Women and Leadership Symposium.
- Change Preparedness: Designed to provide supervisors and teams with practical skills to navigate change effectively.
- Leadership Coaching through the Office of Strategic Consulting: A highly personalized experience, tailored to your unique needs and goals. It promotes personal discovery and growth through conversations and activities designed to help you work towards established objectives.
- Aspiring Managers: Includes a step-by-step career planning guide that supervisors may suggest to their employee if considering development towards a career in management and supervision. This resource also offers specific professional development courses, certificates, mentorship opportunities and ideas for on-the-job experiences.
- Career Mentoring: Career mentorship provides a partnership that supports personal and professional growth over time. These partnerships can take on multiple forms, including peer mentoring, mentor-mentee dyads, resource groups, and building networks of mentors. You can share opportunities with your employees through our formal mentorship programs.
- Grow as a Leader: A new online campus resource called "Grow as a Leader” highlights resources for any employee at UW–Madison who wishes to develop their leadership potential. Both current and aspiring leaders will find courses and workshops, seminars, conferences, coaching and consultation opportunities, and communities of practice — most of which are offered free of charge to UW employees.
Employee Development
- Develop Your Career Resources: Includes resources to engage in career conversations, goal setting, and professional development planning, and gain awareness of the lifelong impact work has on your cognitive, emotional, and social well-being.
- Career Counseling: The Employee Career Counseling team offers personalized guidance service available to all UW–Madison employees that helps individuals explore, plan, and manage their career paths to achieve professional success and satisfaction.
- UW-Madison Professional Development: UW-Madison employees have access to thousands of courses, seminars, programs, conferences, online training, and events each year.
- Inclusion@UW: UW-Madison offers emotional intelligence resources through interactive workshops, shared discussion, intentional practice, and researched strategies. Each course aims to empower you with knowledge and skills that support—fully and actively—healthy, inclusive, and engaging practices.
- Emotional Intelligence@Work: Choose from either an in-person cohort experience or virtual sessions to build your awareness, understanding, and capacity for emotional intelligence (EQ).
- Plain Language Training: Plain Language skills can help you get your message across quickly and clearly.
- LinkedIn Learning: UW-Madison employees have access to thousands of courses and personalized learning recommendations on LinkedIn Learning available to you on your schedule from any device.
- LinkedIn Learning Content & Career Credentials: Provides regularly updated course recommendations.
- Career Toolkit: Collection of resources for employees and their career development journey.
- Communities of Practice: Provides groups of people who interact regularly to develop their skills.
- Campus Supervisors Network (CSN): Campus Supervisors Network is a UW-Madison Community of Practice, formed out of the desire for more communication and connection among supervisors and aspiring leaders.
- Continuing Education: Offers classes, certificates, and programs to continue education through our lifelong learning community.
- Leadership, Management & Workplace Skills: Develop practical skills to achieve remarkable results and successfully contribute to critical organizational goals. Certificates, classes, customized training, and conferences provide professionals, leaders and supervisors with the tools to succeed.
- UW Health Organizational Development Programs and Resources: If you have access to The Pulse through UW Health, you can review the following resources:
- Career Development Resources
- Employee Development Programs
- Leader Development Programs
- Professional Development Funds: Share with your employee the financial resources for professional development offerings.
- Tuition Reimbursement: Employees may be eligible for tuition reimbursement for coursework and training. Check with your department for eligibility and procedures.
Performance Management
- Performance Reviews Overview: Overview of performance review process in Workday.
- Performance Ratings in Workday: Behaviors and examples of employee performance are provided as a starting point to help select the appropriate rating. There may be unique qualifiers for specific areas across campus - supervisors should reach out to their local HR departments with questions.
- For more information on Performance Management in Workday, please visit the SMPH Performance Management Landing Page.
- Performance Management Toolkit: Several supervisor resources are available here, including information on facilitating conversations around goal and expectation setting.
- Goal Setting: Within this page, see Resources On How to Set Goals section.
- Introduction to SMART Goals: This online lesson describes the fundamental concepts of SMART Goals from a UW-Madison employment perspective.
- Performance Management Goals and Communication Best Practices: SMPH HR resource on creating SMART Goals and Conducting Productive Performance Conversations.
- Performance Management Best Practices for Supervisors and Managers: SMPH HR Lunch & Learn Series offered a session on Best Practices.
- Conversation Starters: To be used to start performance conversations.
- LinkedIn Learning: As a UW-Madison employee, you have access to thousands of courses and personalized learning recommendations on LinkedIn Learning available to you on your schedule from any device. See below for recommendations:
This toolkit has not been designed to encompass the policies, processes, and considerations specific to faculty appointments. Please reach out to your Faculty Recruiter, HR Business Partner, or Faculty Promotions Specialist with any questions.
See Also
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