Staff Development Dialogue (SDD)
Why do we conduct SDDs at AU?
We conduct SDDs in order to establish a connection between AU’s strategic, long-term objectives and competence needs, and the employee’s own expectations in relation to career and work life.
Good staff development dialogues lead to more satisfied, motivated and skilled employees. This benefits the individual employee, but also Aarhus University.
Download SDD guide
Open pdf: SDDs at Aarhus University
The SDD guide, the annual schedule, checklist for managers, guidelines, dialogue guides and agreement forms are available here.
Use AUHRA for the SDD
AUHRA is AU’s staff administrative system.
The advantages of using AUHRA are:
- It is easy to get a quick overview
- You will be reminded about follow-up on agreements
- The dialogues will be documented in the same way
- Personal data are protected (GDPR)
Only the employee and the manager have access to the agreements in the system.
Guides in AUHRA:
How to give each other constructive feedback
As part of the SDD process, the intention is that the manager and the employee give each other feedback on, for example, work performance and collaboration during the past year.
To ensure that the feedback can be used constructively, it is a good idea to use this simple feedback model:
1. Describe facts
Start with a specific example, for example a situation or a quote which calls for feedback.
Repeat facts without trying to interpret them.
2. Describe how you experienced the situation
Your experience is about you, and sentences such as ‘I feel/become/am...’ - e.g. impressed, confused, insecure, sceptical, happy, relieved, inspired, unhappy, proud or angry - should be used.
Judgemental expressions are not suitable for giving feedback, for example ‘You are so …’, ‘You always get …’
3. Say what it is you want
Say what you want the other person to do.
Say what you wish for and what you want in future rather than what you don’t want.