Management of People
Effectively managing people is essential for fostering a positive and productive academic environment. This collection of resources is designed to help SMPH faculty enhance their leadership and interpersonal skills, covering key areas such as conducting stay interviews, mitigating bias, and fostering inclusion. Whether you are seeking quick strategies or in-depth guidance, you’ll find practical resources to support team engagement, cultivate an inclusive workplace, and improve communication. The resources provided range from actionable insights for immediate implementation to comprehensive guides for those looking to deepen their understanding of people management in academic health care settings.
Just in Time
These Just in Time resources are ideal if you only have a couple of minutes to start finding out about Management of People
How to Overcome Unconscious Bias When Interviewing and Hiring
Guidelines designed to overcome systemic barriers for equitable career advancement in academic medicine.
Additional Resources:
- Bias: How Leaders Can Prevent It (Link)
Strategies to help your team disrupt bias in the workplace - Effective Performance Management (Link)
A performance management approach emphasizing goal-setting, coaching, and feedback to sustain global academic excellence - How Can Leaders in Academic Medicine Make Career Advancement More Equitable? (Link)
Guidelines designed to overcome systemic barriers for equitable career advancement in academic medicine - What Does It Take To Be a Good People Manager? (Link)
Learn how employee empowerment impacts leadership and drives success
Deeper Dive
If you have more time to invest, these Deeper Dive resources are longer and/or more in depth so you can gain a deeper understanding of Management of People.
UW–Madison Resources
Giving and Receiving Constructive Feedback
[Please note that access may require NetID login]
Learn how to provide quality and effective feedback.
Mitigating Bias in Recruiting Guidelines
Seven things to remember when developing recruiting guidelines, including avoiding bias.
UW–Madison – School of Education
[Please note that access may require NetID login]
Preparing for Performance and Development Conversations: Prepare, Plan, Engage
This module is intended to support employees in preparing for formal and informal performance conversations.
Preparing for Employee Performance and Development Conversations: Supervisor Basics
Provides managers and employees the structure to have frequent, meaningful conversations about expectations, goals and growth opportunities.
Performance Management and Development Program
Learn about PMDP, a digital system for documenting faculty performance evaluations, goals, and professional development.
Performance Management for Managers and Supervisors
UW–Madison policy detailing performance management expectations for managers and supervisors
Performance Management Toolkit
Tools and templates for effective faculty and administrator performance evaluations
UW–Madison HR – Conversation Starters (PDF)
This guide offers structured conversation starters for expectations, ongoing feedback, and development as a manager.
Using Plain Language for Inclusive Workplace Community
Duration: Approx. 1 hr
This video presentation explores how plain language strategies reduce communication barriers and improve employee engagement in diverse workplaces. Presented at the UW–Madison Diversity Forum 2024.
C Pilarski, G Beth. UW–Madison Diversity. November 2024.
SMPH HR Stay Interview Toolkit
Toolkit for conducting 30-minute stay interviews to improve employee retention and satisfaction.
Your Brain is Good at Inclusion…Except When It’s Not
Duration: Approx. 1.5 hrs
Insights on the science of how the human brain responds to inclusion and exclusion Presented at the UW–Madison Diversity Forum 2024
Dr. S Robbins. UW–Madison Diversity. November 2024.
External Resources
5 Ways to Overcome Leadership Bias
Learn five practical strategies to counteract implicit biases
C Daly. December 2021.
9 Tips for New Managers to Succeed
Nine “top tips for first-time managers” to avoid common pitfalls many managers face.
S Joubert. November 2020.
Administrative Skills for the Future in Academic Medicine
Marieann Thornburg examines evolving administrative requirements in academic medicine,
M Thornburg. March 2018.
Exploring Leadership Competencies in Academic Medicine
Duration: Approx. 30 minutes
Features Johns Hopkins Medicine’s leadership competency framework, covering 12 key competencies for academic medical leadership
K Skarupski, PhD, MPH. September 2023.
Grand Rounds – “Understanding Unconscious Bias in Academic Medicine”
Duration: Approx. 1 hr
Demonstrates how implicit bias affects medical decision-making despite declining explicit prejudice.
A Wasserstein, MD. University of Pennsylvania. February 2016.
How Do We Mitigate the Impact of Systemic Bias on Faculty from Underrepresented Groups?
Explores strategies to address systemic bias in academia’s promotion and tenure processes for underrepresented faculty groups.
M Jeffries-EL, PhD. December 2022.
How to Be a Good Academic Leader
Identifies six key themes for successful leadership in academic medical settings
AS Detsky. How to be a good academic leader. J Gen Intern Med. 2011 Jan;26(1):88-90. doi: 10.1007/s11606-010-1486-7. Epub 2010 Aug 31. PMID: 20809156; PMCID: PMC3024119.
Recognizing and Mitigating Unconscious Bias in the Workplace
Explore how brain function helps leaders recognize and mitigate unconscious bias
The Fine Line Between Management and Leadership in Academic Medicine
Explores the unique challenge academic medicine leaders are facing in balancing traditional management with the complex demands of education, research, and patient care
Kairos Insights. November 2023.
The Secret to People Management? Less Managing, More Peopling
10 powerful strategies to shift your focus from tasks to relationships.
P Shahi. October 2021.
University of Michigan – Stay Interviews – Keys to a Successful Stay Interview Process (PDF)
University of Michigan. January 2024.
University of Minnesota – Bias in Performance Management
Strategies for supervisors to mitigate bias throughout the performance management cycle
University of Minnesota – Office of Human Resources. May 2023.