Supervisor Resources - Flinders University Staff

Training for Supervisors

Staff members in roles with supervisory responsibilities are required to complete the following programs:

Supervising at Flinders - a mandatory FLO online course for all staff in a supervisory role
Work, Health and Safety program for supervisors – accessed via Staff Learning Portal in OKTA
Equal opportunity online, Module 4 - accessed via Staff Learning Portal in OKTA

Another useful tool for supervisors is the supervisor reference manual. Developed by the People and Culture Division, it helps new supervisors understand the scope of their responsibilities, provides a snapshot of key obligations, and offers guidance, resources, and information to support supervisors in carrying out their role.

Supervisor Reference Manual

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New Staff Onboarding

The onboarding process is an important first step in an employee's journey with Flinders University. An effective onboarding process helps to ensure that new staff are given the best opportunity for success in their new role.

The role you play as a supervisor is critical to supporting staff during the onboarding process.

The CMPH has recently implemented an updated and improved staff onboarding process and refreshed resources (including this webpage) to make the experience smoother, provide additional support to supervisors, and ensure new staff feel welcomed and engaged from day one. We are committed to continuous improvement, so please email cmph.operations.edu.au with any feedback or suggestions.

CMPH Onboarding Checklist & Tools

The CMPH Supervisor and New Staff checklist is an essential tool for onboarding new staff. It should be completed together by the supervisor and new staff member to ensure a thorough and compliant onboarding process. The checklist is designed to cover all aspects of a new staff member’s induction to Flinders University and onboarding to the CMPH.

Use the checklist as soon as you are aware of a new staff member commencing to guide pre-arrival preparations, and again once they start, to ensure all onboarding activities are completed. It incorporates all requirements from the University-wide induction checklist, so completing the CMPH checklist will fulfil all induction and onboarding requirements.

Save the CMPH Supervisor and New Staff Checklist in a shared location to allow updates prior to commencement and to complete it collaboratively with the new staff member after they start.

CMPH Supervisor & New Staff Checklist

CMPH RRH Supervisor & New Staff Checklist

You will receive an email from the College Executive support team as a helpful reminder to commence onboarding activities, and to provide additional guidance for your new staff member’s arrival to CMPH to ensure a smooth and positive start.

To make onboarding even easier, we’ve put together these handy tools: a Supervisor Essentials one-pager that highlights your key responsibilities, and a New Starter email template you can customise to provide first-day information like where to meet and any other details relevant for the new staff member.

Supervisor Essentials

New Starter E-mail Template

You can also visit the Flinders University inducting new staff webpage for university-wide guidance on effectively orienting and supporting new staff.

Inducting New Staff Webpage

Manager and Supervisor Resources Page

The Manager and supervisor resource page on the Flinders University website provides managers and supervisors with tools, guidance, and support for all aspects of their role, including:

Manager and Supervisor Resource Page

Additional Supervisor Resources

Probation for Professional Staff

Probation periods are implemented at the start of the employment relationship and provides a supervisor the opportunity to check that their staff are suitable for the position they have been appointed to. This would normally apply to all continuing and fixed term appointments.

The period of probation for professional staff is usually six months and will be considered in line with the nature of the work being performed and the staff member’s relevant experience.

A Managing Probation for Professional Staff document has been created to provide supervisors with a tool to assist with navigating timely ‘check in’ discussions that allow for appropriate feedback, provide relevant support, and identify any required training.

Supervisors will receive a Review probation period action via Workday, 56 days prior to the end of the probation period, for action. At this time if, based on information and actions captured in the Managing Probation for Professional Staff document, it is contemplated that probation cannot be confirmed as complete, People and Culture can be contacted at cmph.pc@flinders.edu.au or rrh.pc@flinders.edu.au for further discussions about the process.

Further information can be found on Flinders University’s probation for professional staff webpage.

Performance Review and Development

Supervisors are responsible for conducting annual performance reviews of their professional and academic staff who are employed on a continuing basis or fixed-term appointment that exceeds 12 months.

The performance review objectives include the following:

Assist staff to develop and provide them with reliable information on the University’s expectation of conduct and performance
Monitor, assess and provide feedback on performance in the reporting period and for work priorities, workload and performance expectations to be set and agreed for the next review period
Assess the value of training undertaken in the reporting period and to identify professional training and development needs over the next review period
Agree on plans for taking of annual leave, long service leave and any other leave
Review a staff member’s position description/statement of duties for currency and relevance
For academic staff, ensure reasonable workload requirements are reflected in the academic annual work plan

The below Performance Review and Development (PRD) tools are available to assist supervisors with assessing and developing a staff member’s performance along with any associated training and development needs. All relevant sections of the document need to be completed by the staff member prior to the review meeting with their supervisor.

Academic staff Performance Review and Development tool

Professional staff Performance Review and Development tool

Once completed, the supervisor is required to upload the PRD document to the Career Section of the staff member’s Workday profile as described in the How to add PRD documents to Workday guide.

Excess Leave

Excess Annual and Long Service Leave

Annual leave
Staff who have accumulated annual leave of more than 294 hours/8 weeks during any 24-month period (pro rata for part time staff), will be required to take up to one quarter of their accrued leave. This requirement also applies to NT staff who have accumulated annual leave of more than what they would normally accrue during any 24-month period (pro rata for part time staff).

Long Service leave
Staff who have long service leave entitlements that exceed 65 days/477.75 hours, will also be required to reduce any excess leave.

Reduction of excess leave
The Annual Leave Reduction Plan and Long Service Leave Reduction Plan templates have been created to assist with the management of excess annual and long service leave. These tools will enable supervisors to, in discussion and agreement with their staff, capture a plan to reduce excess leave and further support work-life balance.

All excess leave, as recorded in the leave reduction plans, need to be recorded and approved via Workday.

For any questions about excess leave, please contact CMPH People and Culture per email at cmph.pc@flinders.edu.au or rrh.pc@flinders.edu.au