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Assessment of achievement relative to opportunity

Assessing achievement relative to opportunity provides a framework for acknowledging what staff can or have achieved given the opportunities available. As such, it provides an approach that supports the achievement of staff with a diverse range of career histories, personal circumstances and required working arrangements.  It is not about providing ‘special consideration' or expecting lesser standards of performance. This approach views quantity, rate, consistency and breadth of activities as reflecting the amount of time available. It also focuses on skills and capabilities whilst avoiding inadvertent assessment against a notional standard of full-time, uninterrupted career progression where this does not apply.

  • Include the opportunity for staff to accurately identify the details of their working arrangements, career histories and personal circumstances in any documentation relating to selection, performance development, developmental opportunities (such as sabbatical leave), promotion and rewards.  This could include:

    • Work status
    • Type of position (research only, teaching and research, research and administration)
    • Career breaks had for childbirth, carer responsibilities, ill health, etc
    • Periods of unemployment, employment in other industries
    • Other responsibilities that may reduce opportunities to achieve
  • On the basis of the information provided regarding opportunities to achieve, calculate how many months were available with 100% opportunity. Divide this amount by the total time under consideration to calculate ‘total opportunity'. Adjust (scale up) volume of work x opportunity to calculate the volume of work a staff member would have produced if they had had 100% opportunity across the total time under consideration. 

Example

During a 3 year period (36 months), Person A spent 9 months as full-time Research Only (100% research opportunity). They then had maternity leave for 9 months (0% research opportunity) and then returned to work part-time in a Research Only position for the next 18 months (50% research opportunity).

Therefore, this person had (9 x 1) + (9 x 0) + (18 x .5) = 18 months at 100%. Divide 18 months by 36 months to calculate the total research opportunity for the 36 month period.  In this instance it was 50% research opportunity

Person A produced 3 papers during this time. 3 papers adjusted for opportunity (3/.50) = 6 papers. That is, if Person A had worked full-time for the 36 months, they would have produced 6 publications. Person B who worked full-time in a Research Only position for the 3 years produced 5 publications.  Therefore, Person A's volume productivity, adjusted for opportunity, is greater than Person B's volume productivity.

Other Strategies for Assessing Achievement Relative to Opportunity

  • Audit policies and practices to identify those that limit or exclude the eligibility of other than full-time staff or those who have experienced a career break from opportunities to accrue merit (e.g. do the eligibility criteria for internal grants discriminate against those who are not employed full-time).

  • Identify policies that stipulate eligibility criteria (e.g. eligibility for sabbatical, internal grants and similar development opportunities) in terms of traditional measures of experience/capacity such as ‘years of service' and develop more nuanced mechanisms for developing eligibility criteria.

  • Recognise the impact of factors such as a delayed or interrupted career, other than full-time work and constraints on travel/mobility on opportunities to ‘accrue merit' and demonstrate performance in a range of areas.  For example, women with small children are often unable to travel internationally. Consider ways for them to otherwise develop international contacts during this intense child-rearing period.

  • Other examples and more detailed information about assessing achievement relative to opportunity can be found in the Assessing Achievement Relative to Opportunity Discussion Paper (doc 177kb) and Guidelines for Decision-Makers on Assessing Achievement Relative to Opportunity (doc 154kb)

 

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