Ben Walker underwent a performance review at Sheffield Hallam University. According to his supervisor Amy Lewis, Ben has made progress in his professionalism, communication skills, and ability to work independently. However, Ben still needs improvement in prioritizing tasks, communicating when unsure, and ensuring lab equipment and supplies are well-maintained. Going forward, Ben's supervisor hopes to have Ben take on more responsibility for screening fish lines to further develop his skills.

1. Sheffield Hallam University: Performance
Review
Student: Ben Walker
Supervisor: Amy Lewis/ Phil Elks
First:
Mid: 01/02/2022
Final:
SKILL AREA Student
Examples / Comments
Supervisor
Examples / Comments
A. Professional & Organisational
Awareness
● General presentation
● Equality & diversity
● Professional ethics
● Confidentiality
● Company structure & function
● Departmental structure & function
● Commercial awareness
Making sure to wear the right equipment when
needed
wearing clothes that are suitable for working in a lab
Score
6/10
Ben continues to demonstrate a professional
attitude towards his work and attendance
I have suggested that Ben needs to ensure he makes
use of his annual leave entitlement. I have indicated
that his work can be covered by other lab members
in his absence and that, provided a few days notice
are given, he is welcome to take his leave as he sees
fit.
Score
8/10
B. Communication
● Clear verbal communication & active
listening
● Presentations
● Explanatory ability
● Writing skills
● Communicating with people at different
levels / from different backgrounds
going to meeting such as jornal club and DRIP
writing the lit review
Score
5/10
Ben continues to struggle with communication, in
particular, it seems, when he is unsure whether he is
doing the right thing. He needs to have more faith in
his own abilities and should not see it as a failing if
he needs to seek clarification on certain matters or
ask questions.
Score
6/10
C. Working with Others
● Cooperating
● Contributing to teamwork
● Working under supervision
● Supervising / showing leadership
● Working with different people
● Interdisciplinary working
● Emotional intelligence
making sure the lab and equipment is ready for
people
asking people if they need anything in the lab
Score
6/10
Ben’s awareness of his impact on other lab members
has improved and he seems to have grasped the
importance of certain tasks within the lab. However,
Ben has still needed reminding that more mundane
jobs, such as checking levels of consumables, are as
important to the smooth running of the lab as other
tasks.
Score
6/10

2. D. Self-Improvement
● Enthusiasm, commitment
● Willingness to learn
● Initiative, resourcefulness, autonomy
● Taking responsibility
● Maturity
● Effective time management
● Personal organisation / work planning
making notes of things i did wrong or inefficient and
working on them
taking responsibility if something goes wrong
Score
7/10
Ben has continued to manage his time well, often
splitting his day to come into the lab for time-
sensitive activities such as setting up fish or
attending meetings.
He has recently taken on responsibility for screening
some important fish lines which has required
learning some difficult new techniques including:
Sexing and pair-mating fish
Treating fish with drugs to induce fluorescence
Screening fish using fluorescence microscopy
Whilst it was clear that Ben struggled initially, I think
this was mainly as a result of his reticence to ask
questions, not due to any lack of ability.
Score
8/10
E. Problem Solving & Resilience
● Prioritising tasks
● Defining problems
● Taking action
● Locating information
● Taking a range of approaches
● Persevering
having a check list of jobs to do every day
if something is nearly empty or is empty replacing or
filling it
writing down things as i go along so that i don't
forget how to do it or about doing it.
Score
6/10
Ben continues to prioritise tasks well and has
persevered through several weeks of fish failing to
lay eggs for screening.
Score
7/10
F. Information technology
● Using Word/Excel/PP etc.
● Using specialist software
● Using databases
● Literature searching
● Open to developing and utilising new
technology skills
using pubmed
using word
using google meet
Score
7/10
Ben doesn’t seem to have any issues with using all
the common IT resources available to him and
continues to use virtual meeting platforms where
appropriate.
Score
9/10

3. G. Numeracy
● Calculating / evaluating
● Checking results
● Applying appropriate statistics
● Recording / presenting data
needs improving been using notebooks to help
remember important equation and amounts
Score
5/10
Through repetition and the use of notes, Ben now
demonstrates increased confidence in calculating
dilutions necessary for some protocols
Score
7/10
H. Working Practice
(i) Knowledge
● Experimental/project design
● Function / principles of equipment
● Health & safety procedures
● Knowing reasons for particular working
practices
● Background / theoretical knowledge
learning how to work in a category 2 lab by myself
making sure everything is done right
learning to work with animals in the aquarium
writing up around the work im doing for a lit review
Score
6/10
Ben’s confidence in his own abilities has meant that
he now works independently much of the time. He is
careful to check whether there are any additional
jobs to be done each day and whether there are
deliveries that need collecting.
In addition, he liaises with other technicians
regarding glasswash availability and keeps me
appraised of any issues.
Score
8/10
(ii) Work Skills
● Careful & safe working practice
● Manual dexterity
● Correct use of equipment/methodology
● Follows methods / protocols
● Competent in a range of activities
knowing what the safe working practises in the labs
are depending of what category they are
the uses of the correct equipment
how to safely work with zebrafish
how to make sure not to contaminate mine and
others work
Score
6/10
Ben is now much more able to follow the protocols
relating to his day-to-day tasks within the lab and
this has resulted in him moving towards much more
independent working.
Score
7/10
(iii) Quality of Work
● Accuracy
● Reliability of service
● Attention to details
● Efficiency
● Meets deadlines
● Resilience under pressure
knowing when i can and can't do certain things with
the zebrafish (time of day)
keep up with the bacteria streaking every 10 days
and changing the calendar if I do it before due to
weekends
remembering when meeting are
making sure no fish go over 5 days post fertilisation if
not legally allowed
The systems that we have put in place to monitor
Ben’s daily tasks seem to be working well. There
remain instances where I have to ask Ben to perform
particular tasks but, generally speaking, these tend
to be the less important tasks that could have waited
a few days before becoming urgent. I would hope
that over the coming months, Ben will begin to pre-
empt such things.

4. Making sure that there is enough equipment in the
labs and keeping up on the amount of consumables
such as E3 and tricaine
Score
6/10
Score
7/10
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE SUPERVISOR
Comments / Proposals
Potential action to assist with training, extend
experience or address problems as follow-up to
Performance Review
Ben has made a great deal of progress during the past 4 months and is working independently much of the
time.
Ben has been screening some of our fish lines over the past few months. This has entailed him learning some
new techniques and using new pieces of equipment. Ben has successfully identified homozygous adult fish
which will remove the need for individual lab users to screen fish each time they use them. It is my hope that
we may be able to rely on Ben undertaking some more work of this kind in the coming months.
Date discussed: 01/02/2022 Supervisor: Student: