Performance management process for Cultural trusts: curators, coordinators and guides across the season
Cultural work is judged by exhibitions opened and classes taught, not by daily output. A review that follows the programme calendar fits better than a yearly form.
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Share your requirementsWhy performance management process matters in cultural trusts
The curator mounts a show, the coordinator runs a festival, the guide leads daily tours. Each has a clear moment of delivery and a long stretch of preparation. A single year-end form misses both. It rewards the person who writes well and overlooks the one who quietly held a difficult week together.
Reviews that follow the programme work better. Set two or three goals before each major programme, check halfway and review after it ends, while memory is fresh. For guides, the review draws on visitor comments and an observed tour. For part-time artists, a short note after each term is enough.
How to set it up
1. Set two or three goals before each programme
Plain statements such as installing the show on time, training four new guides, or completing the catalogue section. Agree them in a short meeting.
2. Check halfway
A fifteen minute conversation on progress and support needed. Note changes to the goal if the programme has shifted.
3. Review soon after the programme closes
Ask the person what went well and what they would change. Add the director's view and visitor feedback where it exists.
4. Review visiting teachers after each term
Student attendance, feedback and a short observation. Use a one-page form for all of them.
5. Link the review to growth and pay
Use the notes when deciding on new duties, training or pay changes. Our performance management and incentive design work can help set this up.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask staff when they last received feedback and whether it was tied to a specific programme.
- Look at how guides are assessed today, if at all.
- Check whether goals exist for the next major programme.
- Read visitor feedback from the last season and see who has seen it.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach performance management process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
A formal form rarely is. A short conversation after each term or project, with a few agreed points, respects their independence and still gives useful feedback.
Around each major programme and once at year end for core staff. For visiting teachers, once a term is enough.
They are a useful input for guides and educators, but read them with care. Look for patterns over many visits, not one strong remark.