Sheffield Hallam University: Performance
Review
Student: Ben Walker
Supervisor: Amy Lewis
First:17/11/21
Mid:
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
learning when to wear different lab coats and where
not to wear them such as the category 2 lab
getting access to the different rooms i need to get in
to
Score
5/10
Ben has demonstrated a professional attitude
towards his attendance.
Ben coped well with the initial completion of forms
required to gain access to required rooms and
reading of the safety information and appeared to
understand, and comply with, the requirement for
strict rules concerning health and safety and animal
work.
Score
7/10
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
taking an agenda check for access into the aquarium
Score
5/10
Initially Ben didn’t seem to take on board many of
the instructions given to him regarding the tasks
required. It was unclear whether this was due to a
lack of understanding or appreciation of the
importance of the procedures and protocols. What
was immediately apparent was that Ben was very
reticent to enter into communication when he was
unsure of things.
Ben was often unable to explain to me how or why
certain tasks had been done incorrectly or been
missed completely.
Score
3/10
C. Working with Others
● Cooperating
● Contributing to teamwork
● Working under supervision
● Supervising / showing leadership
making sure the lab and equipment is ready for
people
asking people if they need anything in the lab
Ben’s role is predominantly an independent one
which generally doesn’t require him to be present at
a particular time of day nor to work closely with
colleagues. However, many of his responsibilities are
vital to ensure that the lab runs smoothly and other

● Working with different people
● Interdisciplinary working
● Emotional intelligence
getting taught how to do different things within the
lab and how to set up fish
Score
5/10
researchers have access to the necessary
consumables, cultures and clean working
environments. Ben seemed able to work around the
physical requirements of others but didn’t appear to
have the same level of appreciation of the impact of
him not doing a task on which others’ research was
dependent.
Score
4/10
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
5/10
Ben manages his time well and laterly has seemed
more willing to take responsibility when things were
done incorrectly. He has accepted criticism and
made efforts to improve his working practices to
ensure tasks are carried out as required.
Score
6/10
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
asking different people the different way they do
something just incases its different to another
person's way of doing the task
Score
4/10
Ben seems able to prioritise tasks to ensure that fish
work is undertaken in a timely manner in line with
the requirements of the aquarium and other lab
workers.
Ben needs to be more willing to ask for guidance if
he is unclear about practices or protocols.
Score
6/10
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 has demonstrated a sound ability in the use of
common IT technology and virtual meeting platforms
Score
8/10

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
4/10
Ben has struggled here but seems aware of the issues
and has taken steps to minimise the impact on his
work.
Score
5/10
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
learning to work with animals in the aquarium
writing up around the work im doing for a lit review
Score
5/10
It’s clear that many of the aspects of Ben’s role are
new to him and that he has struggled at times to
understand or appreciate the importance of some of
the tasks required of him.
Ben has, however, quickly grasped most of the
aspects of zebrafish handling and the health and
safety considerations which relate to working in a
containment level 2 laboratory.
Score
6/10
(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 of lab I am in
the uses of the correct equipment
how to safely work with zebrafish
how to make sure not to contaminate mine and
others work
Score
5/10
Ben seems to have picked up the technical parts of
his role well and understands how to safely operate
the equipment he needs to use. He appreciates that
there are specific health and safety requirements
surrounding work in a containment level 2 laboratory
and employs these competently.
Ben does, however, seem to have difficulties
following protocols and we have had a number of
instances where important steps have been missed
or incorrectly carried out.
Score
5/10
(iii) Quality of Work
● Accuracy
● Reliability of service
● Attention to details
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
During the first 4 months of his placement, Ben has
struggled to maintain a consistent approach to the
completion of the tasks required of him. Often
important tasks have been done incorrectly or
missed completely. I believe Ben now fully

● Efficiency
● Meets deadlines
● Resilience under pressure
remembering when meeting are
making sure no fish go over 5 days post fertilisation if
not legally allowed
Score
5/10
understands the importance of the things that he
does in the lab and hope that, moving forward, he
continues to improve and require less direct
monitoring.
Score
5/10
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
During all stages of Ben’s placement, we have discussed issues that have arisen and I have taken the time to
explain the importance of the tasks he has been asked to undertake. Initially, I suggested to Ben that he should
write down instructions rather than relying on memory and that he should annotate existing protocols to help
him remember important points. However, Ben often forgot his notebook and made mistakes as a result.
Ben seemed very reluctant to ask for clarification when things were unclear despite me checking with him that
he had grasped new techniques or protocols. This sometimes resulted in him doing things incorrectly or not
completing the tasks required of him. Furthermore, this often did not become apparent until days later when
some important aspect of people’s work could not be undertaken, for example, when bacterial cultures had not
been maintained correctly.
In an attempt to overcome these issues, I prepared a list of tasks which Ben needed to complete on particular
days as well as a list of more general tasks to be undertaken as required. When asked how he thought this
should be monitored, Ben suggested he make a list at the beginning of each day in a notebook and tick off jobs
once they were completed. However, we still encountered situations where vital tasks were missed so I set up
a google sheet for Ben to complete daily to indicate which tasks he had completed. This allowed me to more
closely monitor what Ben was doing and to ensure that he kept on top of his responsibilities.
This way of working has been seemingly successful with many fewer instances of tasks being missed or done
incorrectly.
Date discussed: 17/11/21 Supervisor: Student: