Peer Feedback Starts July 15 for Year-End Performance Reviews
By Jean Yeager
Employees are encouraged to give one another candid and constructive input through Peer Feedback, a feature of our new Performance & Development (P&D) platform in Workday.
Peer Feedback for the year-end performance cycle runs from July 15-Aug. 26. Feedback for each employee will be requested from the co-workers best able to provide insights into the employee’s strengths and areas for improvement. Each employee is required to select at least three and up to seven feedback providers.
Merridth Simpson, AVP Human Resources Operations, said a summary of the feedback will be shared with the employee as a job coaching tool. But it won’t affect anyone’s performance evaluation.
“This feedback will not be part of the merit calculation, but rather a developmental input to help employees continue to grow,” Merridth said. “We want to foster a culture of honest and open feedback as an opportunity to improve your performance and growth.”
The process invites co-workers to support one another by giving input on how their colleagues demonstrate the Cook Children’s Promise and values: collaboration, imagination, safety, respect, generosity and kindness.
Training for Peer Feedback is included in virtual training released on demand here. Other aspects of our new P&D processes will be covered during in-person training scheduled for August and September through ULearn. Registration will open toward the end of July.
Key Points You Need to Know
Leading up to the year-end review, the manager requests feedback on an employee from the selected group of 3-7 close co-workers. They respond based on observing:
• The employee’s impact on patients, patient families and staff
• How the employee performs individually and as a team member
• The employee’s top two accomplishments and top two areas to develop
• Additional comments
Peer Feedback uses a 3-point rating scale. Inconsistent means meeting some but not all expectations. Strong means performing as expected. Exceptional means significantly and consistently outperforming all expectations.
Only the manager, feedback providers and Human Resources will be able to see the responses. The manager may ask follow-up questions.
Positive feedback recognizes and reinforces desired behavior. Constructive feedback helps identify targets for potential growth, such as in communication, specialized knowledge or teamwork, for example.
In January 2025, the steps for Peer Feedback will be repeated for mid-year performance reviews. If employees want insights from their co-workers outside of the mid-year and year-end activities, they may request Peer Feedback at any time.
You can access more information in a Job Aid and step-by-step instructions with screenshots (clickviews) on CookNet, or you can email AskHRIS@cookchildrens.org. 
Recap of P&D changes
The new approach to P&D at Cook Children’s aims to create a simpler and consistent process for employee reviews, career planning, goal setting and more. We retired PACE after almost 30 years and are now using Workday to enable the components of P&D.
Most employees will receive a performance review in the fall from now on, instead of tied to the anniversary date of hire. Managers are still responsible for collecting feedback and assessing the contributions and development of their direct reports.
For Fiscal Year 2024, we’re doing only year-end evaluations. FY25 will expand into setting goals, mid-year check-in conversations, tracking career aspirations and other functionality.
These changes in P&D came out of listening sessions with our leaders and employees. They’re designed to help every member of our workforce continually enhance their professional skills and flourish at Cook Children’s.