Creating Performance Review Profiles

After you, as an Admin have enabled the Performance Reviews for your Academy, it's time to create the Performance Review profiles for your academy. In order to create a Performance Review Profile, you have to take into account several items such as the Approval Process, the Reviewee Sign Off Settings, etc.

Creating a Profile

In the left navigation, make sure you are in the Academy Workspace.

When in the Academy Workspace, select Development Admin for all Development Administration options. 

Select Performance Reviews and then select Profiles.

 Select the Create New Review Profile button.

A performance profile is a review template that you can set up with all the sections (Skills, Goals, Performance Areas) on which employees should be reviewed on. This template can be used once or periodically for multiple review cycles and can apply to all or some employees based on job and org structure.

Let's start creating our Profile. The page is divided into seven different blocks:

1. Basic Information

• Add the Title of your profile and select the Type of your review. If your review will be an informal one, the only thing that will be affected will be the sign-off process that is mentioned on the following blocks. There is no Sign-off process for the informal reviews. 
• Select if you want to have a Top-Down or Bottom-up Review. Depending on your selection Managers will have to review either their supervisors or the employees under their org structure.
• Do you want to use the Calendar year for your review or do you want to set a specific starting month for your fiscal year? It's up to you!
• Select if the Reviewees should be able to see their review once finalized. Please note that if the toggle option is set to "No", the Reviewees of the Profile won't be able to access the Review info, even though the Review will be visible under the "My Reviews" tab.
• Select if the Reviewees should be able to rate and comment on manager's feedback.
• Select if the Manager should be able to see the Self-review of the employees or not.
• Select if the Managers of Reviewers can view the completed reviews.

2. Approval Process & Reviewee Sign Off 

• Do you want to add an approval process for your reviews?
• Do you want your reviewees to be asked to sign off their performance reviews? If yes, should they click on a sign-off button or sign off with a digital signature? - Please note that the Reviewee Sign Off Settings" block won't be available if you selected that Reviewees shouldn't be able to see their reviews once finalized.

Please note that depending on your selections, the review process will be set up accordingly.

As an example, if you decide that your reviews have to be approved by the Reviewer's Supervisor before they become visible to employees, an extra step will be added in the process, the one related to the approval, and then you can select if you want the profile to be released after the approval or if you want it to remain on a pending status till the reviewer releases it.

If an HR Manager needs to be involved, make sure to check the appropriate options.

Note

• The HR Manager must also be an Admin, as well.

• The HR Manager and Admin Roles need to be assigned to the user before the reviewer or the reviewer’s supervisor complete their reviews
• Since the HR Manager will be an Admin as well, they don’t need to have Performance Reviews Permissions

3. Review's cycle

It's time to define the Review Cycle that you want to take into account for your reviews. Please note that this is not the period that the Reviews will be completed, this is the period for which the employees will be assessed.

The type of your cycle can have the following values:

• Monthly
• Every 2 Months
• Quarter
• Every 4 Months
• Semi-annually
• Annually

Select the Repeat every year checkbox if you want to repeat the process annually and don't forget to set the starting period for your reviews. You have the option to omit the due dates for the past review cycles if you want to.

If you want to create a periodic review based on the employees' hiring date you can enable the Periodic Reviews based on Hiring Date toggle button. For more information, please read Creating an Anniversary Performance Review Profile.

Last but not least, if you want to allow your reviewers to invite co-planners to help them to complete their reviews and/ or if you want your employees to make their self-review for this profile, please check off the relevant settings, shown in the above screenshot.

4. Calibration Settings

(Note: This option is not available if the Bottom-Up option has been selected or if “Periodic Reviews based on Hiring Date” has been selected)

 

The goal of calibration is to help managers create realistic expectations and overcome unconscious bias. You can use this option in an effort to close the perception gap between self and manager reviews and with an eye on the overall distribution of scores.

During calibration, admins and managers will review the overall scores of their directs/indirects and/or organizational units. 

If you want to enable this option, turn the toggle to yes and select if you want the calibration phase to start either after the Manager's review or after the Self-review. 

If you select the "After Manager's Review" option, for example, and once the Reviewer releases the review, that review goes to calibration state. Review stays on the calibration state until the Admin/HR will release the profile from the calibration phase.

Please note that:

• when the beginning of the calibration period is reached, then all reviews that are part of the profile are moved to Calibration phase by the HR Admin
• the reviewing process pauses during calibration and no changes can be made by any participant (Manager, employee, Co-planner).
• when the HR Admin determines that calibration is completed, then they can release the reviews to the next step.

5. Review Due Dates & Time Limits 

Set up your desired time limits and due dates upon which reviews have to be completed. If your template includes multiple review groups (e.g. employees providing self-evaluations, managers providing feedback, etc.) you can configure also your desired sequence of evaluations (e.g. managers to provide feedback after employees completed their self-evaluations).

 

6. Review Sections & Rating Scales

Select which sections you’d like to include in your review template. You can include separate sections for Skills, Goals, and general Performance Areas that you can configure in your Administration Panel. Those sections can have different weighting factors if you like for every section to have a different contribution in the average score.

Global Review is an overview of everything, Skills, Goals and Sections. In simple words, it’s a text box for a comment which won’t affect the overall performance (like an Area with 0% weight) and it’s optional even if it is set to “yes”.

Once you have set up your Review Sections, set up your desired rating levels and decide if both rating and a review are required or if just one of those is needed.

Please note that the Rating Levels will be available only in case that you have selected Custom Rating Scales under your Advanced Academy Settings. The default rating scales you'll see here will be the rating levels defined in your Academy Settings. You have always the option to adjust them so that they'll fit better to the specific profile & Area.

A section where the results should be ignored can also be added. Simply set its percentage to 0% and select Review Only.

 

7. Hierarchy Levels & Reviewers selection

Do you want your reviewers to review only their direct reports or do you want them to review all managers under their org structure? It's up to you!

Once you have made your selection on the hierarchy levels, it's time to select which managers should use this review template to evaluate their employees.

Please also note that for the Top-down reviews, you have the option to use a different assignment option! Rather than selecting a reviewer first, performance reviews may be assigned by first selecting specific reviewee criteria!

Just click on the Select Reviewers/Reviewees button and start making your selections!

Option #1: Select Reviewers first!

You can select reviewers either individually or based on their job and location. Once you have completed your selection, you can limit the reviewees by name and job if you want to. Otherwise, all users under the reviewers' org structure and based on the hierarchy levels you have defined, will be reviewed by the selected reviewers.

Please note that under the "Advanced" page you will have the option to limit your selection based on the custom fields you have defined for your users (if any).

Complete your selection and don't forget to click on Save once finished.

Option #2: Select Reviewees first! - available only for Top-down Reviews

Performance reviews can be assigned by reviewee criteria rather than reviewer criteria.!

Just click on the Reviewees tab and select your reviewees using either individually or based on their job and location. 

Once you have completed the selection of your reviewees, click on the Select Reviewers button.

Please note that you can also use an excel file template to add reviewers/ reviewees! Just click on the Import Reviewers/ Import Reviewees button that is highlighted in the above screenshots and follow the instructions included in the template that you will download! The Import button will be clickable only once the profile is saved as a draft. The Import template will support both Reviewers and Reviewees, however, when used to import Reviewees, for example, the Reviewer data will be ignored.

Important Note! If you define your reviewees based on their job and location and if your review is not a monthly one, you will be able to configure the time conditions for transfer in and out periods that reviewees need to match for upcoming review cycles! Just enable the relevant toggle and choose:

• until when a reviewee can join the org node to be included in this template
• until when a reviewee can leave the org node and still be included in this template

The system keeps two sub-sets of Reviewees and their Reviewers that match the assignment criteria of the profile. The one sub-set is calculated on the “in” date and one on the “out” date.

• • If “in” date <“out” date,="date," the="The" final="final" set="set" of="of" reviewees="Reviewees" and="and" their="their" reviewers="Reviewers" is="is" intersection="intersection" two="two" sub-sets.="sub-sets." will="will" be="be" finalized="finalized" “out”="“out”" date.="date."></“out”>

  • If “out” date <“in” date,="date," the="The" final="final" set="set" of="of" reviewees="Reviewees" and="and" their="their" reviewers="Reviewers" is="is" union="union" two="two" sub-sets.="sub-sets." will="will" be="be" finalized="finalized" first="first" in="in" date="date" then="then" out="out" date.="date."></“in”>

Let's take the above screenshot as an example and let's say that we created an annual review on 01/01/2021. 

Based on the screenshot:

• "In" date: 03/01/2021
• "Out" date: 10/01/2021
• The first sub-set will be calculated on 03/01 and the second one will be calculated on 10/01.
• "In" date is <"out" 10="10" date,="date," so="so" the="the" final="final" set="set" will="will" be="be" intersection="intersection" of="of" two="two" sub-sets;="sub-sets;" users="users" who="who" were="were" matching="matching" criteria="criteria" both="both" 03="03" 01="01" and="and" 01.="01."></"out">

Once you have completed the selection of your reviewees, it's time for your reviewers!

You have two available options:

• Reviewer will be the Supervisor at the time of the review cycle: it will assign a reviewer based on the academy’s organizational structure as defined within the platform.
• Select specific reviewer: a specific reviewer may be assigned regardless of the academy’s organizational structure. The list of users will contain all users who have the Performance Review permission enabled.

8. Review Section data options

In general, the feedback and ratings for a review period must be associated with the progress (goals, skills) the reviewees had in that same period. With this set of settings, you can select which review data your employees will be reviewed for. 

Please note that these options will not be displayed if ONLY the “Global Review” section is enabled, as a global review is meant to be overarching and more general, so therefore is not impacted by when specific data is captured, such as in goals and skills.

Review Section data is captured

By default, a snapshot of the progress associated with the review period is created at the very end of the Review Cycle.

However, with this setting, you can select if you want this snapshot to be taken at the very beginning of the review process. You have two options about when you want the Review Data to be captured: 

• on the last day of the Review Cycle
• when the review is started

Please note that this option is not available if “Periodic Reviews based on Hiring Date” is selected.

Review Section data can be refreshed by the Reviewer

By enabling this option, you will allow your Reviewers to refresh the Review data to the current state. This means that the progress (goals, skills) shown under the review, will be the ones the reviewees have up until the moment the data was refreshed. 

The reviewers will only be able to refresh the data before they have started the review process. 

Please note that this is by default set to "No" if the Reviewee Self-Review is required.

Complete your selection and don't forget to click on Save once finished.

Your profile has been created and you will be able to find it, edit its title or delete it in the Profiles list.

Tips!

You have the option to save as a draft version the Review Profile you are creating, allowing you to configure the profile over time before launching it. Simply, select the Save as Draft option on the bottom.

The Profile Review will be saved as a draft and the Status toggle button will be inactive until you publish the final version of the profile.

Practical notes:

What happens if you have set up a performance review, but there are some changes in the organizational structure?

Case A: Reviewer gets deactivated
- The review is transferred to the next next-level-up manager, not to another manager on the same (Above) Unit.
- The new manager should also have performance review permissions.
- Any progress or notes entered by the terminated manager will remain available for the next-level-up manager.
- The transition occurs immediately.
- If there is no next-level-up manager (supervisor) found, then the review becomes orphaned and is not assigned to anyone.

Case B: Reviewer loses their organizational structure (unit/job) related to the Review
- If the reviewer is still active in the academy and changed their org structure, but is keeping their performance review permission, then the reviewee will get reviewed by their old manager only for the current period circle.
- The next circles (if any) will be reviewed by the new manager.

Case C: Merged users
The review will remain only for the “Keep user”.

 

Read also: Locating My Performance Reviews