UB will launch a new online system next week that will allow employees to better manage and track their professional development and performance activities.

UB EDGE (Employees Develop, Grow and Engage), set to go live on May 16, will enable faculty and staff to search and register for training on a variety of topics, view the history of their learning activities at UB and create a personalized professional development plan for the future.

Supervisors also can use the system to view the learning activities of the members of their teams and recommend training opportunities.

Kelli Hennessy, director of organizational development and training for Human Resources, calls UB EDGE an important tool for employees and their managers “in setting goals, documenting learning experiences, and accessing training and other learning resources.”

“We know that as individuals grow and refine their talents, managers see them as increasingly confident and capable, which results in a more engaged and talented workforce,” Hennessy says.

Human Resources is providing UB EDGE in partnership with Saba, a leading provider of learning management systems that has worked with other universities, most recently Harvard.

The next phase of the project will involve partnering with another third-party vendor to add more online classes to the training catalog. Next year, HR would like to roll out another component of UB EDGE — Performance@Work — which will allow employees and managers to easily incorporate learning activities into performance programs, and complete programs and evaluations online using UB EDGE.