Within this article, company or performance admins can understand how to auto-populate appraisal items based on an employee's position, department, or location.
Enable the Auto-populate Function
Before enabling the auto-populate function, the relevant goals/competencies/development objectives will need to be linked to the relevant position, location, or department library.
Please see the below articles on how to update items and link them to each library:
Auto-populate does not update existing appraisals when you enable it after assignment. Section items are pulled in only at the moment an appraisal is first assigned to an employee.
When you assign the appraisal (manually or via an assignment rule) and the section has Enable auto populate items from the position, department or location library turned on, the system looks at the employee’s current Position/Department/Location and copies the linked goals, competencies, or development objectives into that section.
If you later edit the employee’s position, department, location, or the linked libraries, those changes do not re-run auto-populate for appraisals that are already assigned.
What Position/Department/Location links are used for in Performance
Linking goals, competencies, and development objectives to Positions, Departments, or Locations is used only by the auto-populate function in Performance:
If auto-populate is enabled in the relevant appraisal section, the system uses those links to decide which items to copy in for each employee when the appraisal is assigned.
If auto-populate is not enabled, linking items to Positions/Departments/Locations does not by itself change any appraisal content.
You can use auto-populate to maintain a single appraisal template while varying the section items for different groups. For example:
Create one Goal section in your appraisal template and enable auto populate items from the position, department or location library.
In the Location library:
Link the goal “Complete Melbourne safety induction” to the Melbourne location.
Link the goal “Complete Sydney safety induction” to the Sydney location.
Set the section’s auto-populate source to Location.
When you assign this appraisal template:
Employees in the Melbourne location will see the “Complete Melbourne safety induction” goal auto-populated.
Employees in the Sydney location will see the “Complete Sydney safety induction” goal auto-populated.
You can extend the same pattern using Position or Department instead of, or in addition to, Location.
Once items are linked to the library, you can enable the auto-populate function before assigning the appraisal to employees:
1. Navigate to Administration > Performance > Appraisal Setup
2. Click Appraisal Settings
3. Select the Appraisal Sections tab
4. Click on the Edit icon for the relevant section (Goal, Development Objective, or Competeny section only)
5. Click Appraisal Section Settings
6. Under Section General Settings > Tick "Enable auto populate items from the position, department or location library"
7. Select the relevant library option: Position, Location, or Department
8. Click Save
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The section items (goals, competencies, development objectives) were updated for a position however it was not updated in the employee's appraisal. How do I address this?
Section items are auto-populated when the employee is initially assigned the appraisal. Once an appraisal is assigned, section items cannot be auto-populated again automatically.
To update section items that have changed after the appraisal is assigned, request the employee or manager to manually update the sections in the assigned appraisal.
Alternatively, delete and reassign the appraisal to the employee to have the section items auto-populate again. If the appraisal is assigned via an assignment rule, please see this article for more information - Appraisals Assigned via an Assignment Rule.
Does adding new goals, competencies, or development objectives impact current appraisal assignments?
Adding new section items such as adding or deleting goals in a position will not affect the auto-populated goals already present in an employee's appraisal template. Changes to linked items, such as removing old goals or adding new ones, will only apply to future appraisals assigned with auto-populate enabled after the administrator updates the position goals.
If you wish for updated items to be immediately reflected in an already assigned employee's appraisal, you will need to delete the appraisal template and reassign it to that user.
How changes in libraries affect existing appraisals
Auto-populated items behave differently depending on where you make the change:
Position / Department / Location libraries
Adding or removing goals, competencies, or development objectives from a Position, Department, or Location affects only future appraisals assigned after the change. Previously assigned appraisals keep the version that existed when they were first assigned.
Deleting a goal from a Position, Department, or Location does not delete it from any already-assigned appraisals.
Goal / Competency / Development Objective libraries
Editing the text of a goal (or competency/development objective) in the library updates that item everywhere it is used, including appraisals that are already assigned.