Boosting Career Conversations: Rolling out a Tailored Personal Development Review Form for Research Staff

Authors:  Alice V. Dubois, Lisa E. J. Douglas

Organisations:  Postdoctoral Development Centre, Queen's University Belfast

The Personal Development Review (PDR) at QUB is an annual initiative focused on staff development. Importantly, its purpose is not to review performance, rather, the process involves staff and line managers reviewing progress, discussing future plans, and setting goals.
A 2022 Research Staff (RS) survey and discussions with postdoc representatives revealed low RS engagement with PDRs and skewed focus of PDR conversations towards research rather than career development. Awareness and uptake of the 10 career development days, part of QUB’s commitment to the Researcher Development Concordat, were also limited. Additionally, RS were using PDR documentation designed for other roles, which failed to facilitate beneficial conversations.
This initiative aimed to create PDR resources tailored for RS, emphasising career development and use of their 10 career development days. Activities included developing and piloting a new form and guidance, refining these resources post-pilot, and rolling them out. Impact was assessed through a pulse feedback survey.
After a successful pilot, refined PDR documentation was rolled out and a survey conducted. The majority of survey respondents found the new form better (67%) or similar (26%), and written feedback suggested it better facilitated self-reflection and structured career development discussions. Awareness of the 10 career development days increased by 23% due to the new PDR resources.
These resources are openly accessible on the PDC website.
This project wouldn’t have been possible without valuable input from research, academic, and professional services staff, notably, from the PDC Representatives’ Network, Postdoctoral Research Oversight Group, and the People & Culture directorate.