Understanding Performance (Reimagined)

This article provides a comprehensive guide to navigating the Performance Management System.

This article covers the following topics:

• Introduction
• Accessing your Appraisal
• My Performance
• My Teams Performance
• Appraisal Statuses
• Appraisal Workflow
• Appraisal Phases
• Appraisal Sections
• Goals
• Development Objectives
• Competencies
• Checkpoints
• Questions
• Notes & Attachments
• Completing your Appraisal
   

Introduction

The Performance Management System allows you to track your progress against defined goals, competencies, and development objectives, and provides you with an opportunity to receive feedback on your performance. The system can cater for several different appraisal templates, such as yearly performance appraisals, continuous one-on-one conversations, 360 feedback, and probation reviews, so you might have more than one appraisal in progress at the same time.

Accessing your Appraisal

1. As an employee, you have two ways to access your Performance appraisal

   a. If your organization has a To-do list widget or Performance widget configured, you can select the appraisal directly from it

   b. Choose Performance in the navigation menu, and then click on the specific appraisal

2. All assigned appraisals will appear in the My Performance tab, with the option to view all appraisals, active appraisals, or completed appraisals
3. Click to open the appraisal

Training Video: Accessing an Appraisal as an Employee

My Performance

You can view several details in the My Performance tab:

Appraisal: The title of the appraisal

Phase: These are the phases that appear in the appraisal workflow.

Status: These are the statuses that appear when navigating to your Performance Appraisal (Planning, In Progress, Finalise, Complete)

Manager: The manager assigned to your appraisal. This can be different to your day-to-day functional manager

Start Date: Date the appraisal begins

End Date: Date the appraisal ends

Download: Button that allows you to download the appraisal 

My Teams Performance

Managers will have the ability to view their teams appraisal details in the My Teams Performance tab:

Appraisal: The title of the appraisal

Phase: These are the phases that appear in the appraisal workflow.

Status: These are the statuses that appear when navigating to your Performance Appraisal (Planning, In Progress, Finalise, Complete)

Manager: The manager. This can be different to your day-to-day functional manager

Start Date: Date the appraisal begins

End Date: Date the appraisal ends

Delete: Button that allows you to delete the appraisal 

Appraisal Statuses

Your appraisal template will go through four different statuses as you work through the appraisal phases. The status it is currently in will appear on the My performance tab overview and in brackets in the Workflow section once you have opened the appraisal. 

Planning: Planning is the first status your appraisal will be in when it is assigned. During this time, you and your manager are agreeing to Goals and Development Objectives. 

In Progress: Your appraisal will change to In Progress once your planning has been approved. It will stay in this status for the duration of the appraisal until it is time for the appraisal to be finalised. This occurs after you have submitted your self-evaluation (if applicable).

Finalisation: When your appraisal is in the Finalisation status your manager will need to approve your self-evaluation/self-scoring and provide their own feedback and ratings. If the appraisal has an approval phase this will also need to be completed before the appraisal progresses to the next status.

Complete: Once all scoring and approvals are completed your appraisal will move into Complete status. At this point no further action is required by yourself, your manager, or any approvers.

Appraisal Workflow

When you open a performance appraisal, you will see the Appraisal Workflow on the top right hand side. This provides a visual representation of the phases your appraisal will go through and the status it is currently in.

The phases vary depending on the appraisal’s configuration; however, it is common to have a Planning Phase, Action Phase, one or more Scoring Phases, and in some instances an Approval phase. A more in-depth explanation of the phases can be found below.

In addition to the appraisal phases, the workflow will also highlight any checkpoint meetings that will happen between you and your appraisal manager. 

Appraisal Phases

Planning

The planning phase is an opportunity to review any goals or objectives that have been pre-defined for you, and to add your own. This includes any goals and development objectives that you want to achieve during the performance period. Once you have completed your planning, you will submit it to your manager for review. 

For assistance in how to add, edit, and remove goals, development objectives, and competencies, please refer to Appraisal Sections.

1. Once you are satisfied with your planning click Proceed to Next Phase

    

2. You will be prompted to confirm your submission
3. Once confirmed, your planning will go to your manager for approval
4. Your manager will approve your planning and move the appraisal to the next phase, or will reject the appraisal so you can make amendments

If you are unsure why your appraisal planning was rejected, the best person to speak with is your appraisal manager. 

Action Phase 

The action phase is the period of time when you work on achieving your goals, development objectives, and competencies. 

During this time, it is important to update the status of any goals/objectives, add any relevant notes or attachments, and visit any question sections.

The Action Phase can either end automatically at the assigned end date, in which case it is important that you have updated the progress for all your goals and development objectives before then. If you see the Proceed to Next Phase button it means that you need to manually submit your appraisal once you have updated your progress.

Self-Scoring 

The Self Scoring phase is used for you to reflect and rate yourself on your performance as defined in your appraisal template. Score the rateable items on your appraisal.

1. You will not be able to submit your self-evaluation until all items are rated

2. Once you are satisfied with your ratings, click Proceed to the next Phase

Training Video: Proceeding to the next phase

Manager Scoring

The Manager Scoring phase is used to evaluate and rate the employee's performance against the criteria defined in the appraisal template. Assess and score all rateable items in the appraisal.

The Manager Scoring phase is used for your appraisal manager to provide ratings on your performance. There is no action required from the employee during this time.  

1. You will not be able to submit your manager-evaluation until all items are rated

2. Once you are satisfied with your ratings, click Proceed to the next Phase

Approval

The approval phase (if applicable) is used to approve the Manager Scoring phase. This could be done by your second-level manager, HR, or another nominated contact, depending on the configuration. There is no action required from you during this time. 

Completion

The completion phase occurs automatically once all previous phases have been finalised. You will be notified when your appraisal is completed, or you can check the status in your list of appraisals under My Performance. 

Appraisal Sections

Every appraisal consists of a series of sections designed to guide you through the performance process. 

Expand each section by clicking on the coloured banner, and you will see any actions that are available to you.

Questions: Open-ended questions for you to answer throughout the appraisal process. These can be updated at any stage in your appraisal before your final submission. 

Goals: Statements outlining a desired outcome or accomplishment and may include single or multiple measurements, which are specific, measurable, and realistic. 

Competencies: Professional skills required to perform your job, or organisational behaviours previously defined by the organisation. 

Development Objectives:  Activities focusing on your professional development.

Checkpoints: Defined period(s) of time where you will meet with your appraisal manager to discuss your performance and any questions that might be attached to that specific checkpoint.

 Summary: Once the appraisal is finalised, this section will display the overall score and final comments from each performance phase.

Goals

Adding Goals

1. Expand the Goal section of the appraisal
2. Click +Add to add an ad hoc goal

3. Enter in the Goal details.

   a. Goal Title: Name of the goal

   b. Goal Description: Brief description of the goal

   c. Weighing: this is how you are going to achieve the goal, should be quantifiable/measurable

   d. Label: Assigned label (category) of the goal

4. Click Save 

Example Goal

Example Measure

Training Video: Add, Edit, and Delete Goals from the appraisal

Development Objectives

Adding Development Items

1. Expand the Development Objectives section of the appraisal

2. Click +Add to add an ad hoc Development Objective

3. Enter the Development Objectives details.

        a. Development Objective Name: Name of the development objective

        b. Description: Brief description of the development objective

4. Development Actions can be added by clicking +Add (this is the training or task that needs to be performed to achieve the development objective).

5. Click Save

Example Development Objective

Example Development Action

Training Video: Add, Edit, and Delete Development Objectives from the Appraisal

Competencies

Adding competencies

1. Expand the Competencies section of the appraisal
2. Competencies can only be added from the Competency Library. Click +Add then Add Competency From Library
3. Select the Competency you want to add. These can be filtered by using the Label drop-down menu
4. Select the Level (self/team/function/organisation)
5. Select Weighting
6. Click Save

Example Competency

Training Video: Add, Edit, and Delete Competencies

Editing & Deleting Goals, Development Objectives, and Competencies

Access to edit or delete goals, development objectives, and competencies depends on the template’s configuration.

Some content, such as compulsory goals that everyone in the company, or your department/position/location, needs to complete, may have been added to your appraisal. Removing these pre-defined goals, development objectives, and competencies is typically restricted.

During the planning stage you may be able to add your content, such as goals. If you want to edit or remove content, look for the Pencil or the Bin icon, as these are indicative that you have access to make changes.

	Edit Button
	Delete Button

Removal of content may be locked down once the planning stage is approved; however your manager may be able to assist in updating this for you if they agree to the changes.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact your manager or System Administrator. 

Checkpoints

Checkpoints are scheduled catch-ups between you and your manager to discuss your performance.

Your HR team will have built in questions to guide this discussion; however, this is also your opportunity to ask questions, provide updates to your manager on any roadblocks, and get feedback on your progress so far. 

You can access the Checkpoint section before or after meeting with your manager and fill in the checkpoint questions.

1. Access your Performance Appraisal
2. Click on the Checkpoint tab
3. Click on the Checkpoint you would like to add responses to
4. Enter your responses to the Checkpoint questions
5. Checkpoints are now automatically saved. 
6. Click Submit

7. Your Checkpoint will be sent to your manager for sign-off

8. Once your manager has approved your Checkpoint, they will enter their responses which you can view in your appraisal

Training Video: Complete, Approve, Reopen, and Skip a Checkpoint

Questions

Questions are open-ended items that are available for update during the entire appraisal period. Questions can be pre-defined on your appraisal, added by yourself or your appraisal manager during planning, or be a combination of both. 

It is a good idea throughout the appraisal process to revisit this section and update your responses where required. 

1. Expand the Question section of the appraisal
2. Click +Add to add a question

3. Enter the Question details

   a. Question

   b. Description: Brief description of the question

   c. Question type: How question will be answered (Text, Checkbox, Combo box, Radio)

4. Questions are now automatically saved. 

Example Question

Training Video: Add, Edit, and Delete Questions from the Appraisal

Notes & Attachments

Notes & Attachments facilitate adding additional supporting or supplementary information to your appraisal. They can be added to any Goals, Development Objectives, Competencies, or Questions.

This can include notes on your progress, and attachments containing supporting documentation such as positive feedback you have received from customers or colleagues. 

When adding Notes & Attachments, you will be prompted to select who has access to view this information:

• Public: Any person who has access to your appraisal can view the note. This includes yourself, your manager, any approvers, and 360 reviewers (if applicable)
• Private: You are the only person who can see this note or attachment
• Manager Only: You and your manager are the only ones who can see this note or attachment

Adding Notes

1. Expand the Notes section
2. Enter in the details/text for your note
3. Select the Visibility (public/private/manager only)

4. Click Add Note

    

Training Video: Add, Edit, and Delete Notes to Competencies, Goals, Development Objectives and or Questions

Adding Attachments

1. Expand the Attachment section
2. Click +Add Attachment
3. Choose File
4. A pop-up window will appear. Locate the file you want to attach by browsing to the location on your computer
5. Click the file you want to attach and then click Open
6. Enter a File Name (this is the display name for your file)
7. Select the Visibility (public/private/manager only)
8. Click Save

Training Video: Add, Edit and Delete Attachments to Competencies, Goals and or Development Objectives

Editing & Deleting Notes & Attachments

1. Click Delete at the bottom of your Note or Attachment and click “Yes, delete”  to delete it. This cannot be undone
2. Click Edit at the bottom of your note to edit the note
3. Once all changes are made click Update Note
4. The date and time of the Note/Attachment will update to the date you edited it

Completing your Appraisal

Once you have completed the final phase requiring your involvement (typically the self-scoring phase) it will go to your manager and any other approvers for final scoring and finalisation. Once your appraisal is finalised, the status of your appraisal will change to Complete.