Welcome to our FAQ section! Here, you’ll find quick answers to the most common questions about checkpoints such as mid-year/end-year review sections. If you don’t see your question listed, feel free to contact us directly.
📝 | To set up checkpoints in appraisals, see our article on Add and Configure Checkpoints. |
Visibility of Checkpoint Responses
Can manager checkpoint responses be hidden from the employee?
No, the checkpoint response will be immediately visible to the employee after the appraisal manager approves the checkpoint.
If you want to keep manager responses hidden from the employee, you will need to create a new checkpoint that is not visible to the employee.
📝 | Note that checkpoint notifications will still be sent to all recipients even if the checkpoint is not visible to them. |
Can checkpoint responses be hidden until the appraisal is completed?
No, the checkpoint visibility timings are unable to be modified and responses will be visible after the checkpoint is approved.
How can I ensure that checkpoint responses are visible and marked as completed in the appraisal process?
To ensure visibility and completion of checkpoint responses:
The appraisal manager must approve all checkpoints for them to be visible and marked as completed.
If an appraisal is marked as complete without checkpoint approval, even if responses are submitted, the checkpoint answers won't be visible to employees or company admins.
If an appraisal is already completed, admins need to roll back the appraisal for the manager to approve the checkpoints.
How can I make sure that checkpoints are approved and responses are visible to all employees and admins?
Here's how to handle checkpoint approval and visibility:
Checkpoints can be approved anytime by the appraisal manager while the appraisal is open, with an "Approve" button displayed below the checkpoint.
Once approved, checkpoint responses will be immediately visible to company admins and employees.
To prevent completion without checkpoint approval, mark the checkpoint as mandatory by editing the appraisal and selecting 'Checkpoint is mandatory'. Make sure to sync the appraisal template for these settings to apply to all assigned appraisals.
Can mandatory checkpoints stop an appraisal moving to the next phase?
No. Checkpoints are independent of appraisal phases. Even if a checkpoint is marked as mandatory, appraisals can still move between phases such as Planning, Manager Scoring, and Approval while the checkpoint remains incomplete or unapproved.
The Checkpoint is mandatory setting only prevents the appraisal from being marked as Complete until the appraisal manager has approved that checkpoint (and any other mandatory checkpoints in the template). It does not:
Force employees to answer every checkpoint question before they submit, or
Block users from progressing between phases (for example, from Manager Scoring to Approval).
How are checkpoint responses displayed to different users in the appraisal process?
The visibility of checkpoint responses differs for various user roles:
Performance Admins/Company Admins: They can view checkpoint responses only after approval by the appraisal manager.
Employees: They can see their own responses after submission, while manager responses are visible post-checkpoint approval.
Appraisal Manager: They can review responses before approving, with the option to request resubmission from employees if needed.
⚠️ | The appraisal manager must click 'Approve checkpoint' to finalise checkpoints. Once the checkpoint is approved, all responses will be visible to employees and admins. If responses are not required for the section, managers can click Skip (provided that the 'Skip' option is enabled in the checkpoint settings). |
📝 | After approval, the checkpoint will show as 'closed' and the manager can 'Reopen' the checkpoint. If the checkpoint is showing as 'skipped' the manager can also click 'Reopen' to reopen the checkpoint. |
Checkpoint Management
Understanding Checkpoints and Phases
It’s important to note the distinction between checkpoints and phases:
Checkpoints (e.g., Mid-Year Check-In, End-of-Year Review) are found under the "Appraisal Sections" tab and operate independently of phases.
Phases (e.g., Scoring, Approval) are managed under the "Appraisal Phases" tab.
Key points about checkpoints:
Checkpoints can be completed at any time after their respective start dates, regardless of whether the previous checkpoint has been completed or the current phase of the appraisal.
There is no restriction enforcing the completion of checkpoints in a specific order or alignment with phases.
Checkpoints will remain open for approval throughout the appraisal process until the appraisal is marked as complete.
Can the checkpoint dates be changed by the appraisal manager?
No, appraisal managers cannot change checkpoint dates within an appraisal. To change checkpoint dates, a company will need to make changes within the appraisal template by editing the checkpoint dates and syncing the changes.
Can checkpoints be edited after the appraisal has been assigned to employees?
Checkpoints can be edited however it is not recommended to update questions for checkpoints that are currently in use. Changes to checkpoints will automatically update all appraisals using the checkpoint. This action has the potential to lead to data discrepancies in reports for users who have already provided answers to those questions. It is highly recommended to create new questions only when creating new Checkpoints.
Please ensure your checkpoint questions are updated before assigning the appraisal to employees.
Will saving the checkpoint end dates update on assigned appraisals?
Yes, changes to checkpoint dates including end dates will update once you sync the template to assigned appraisals. See our article here on how to sync appraisals - Synchronise an Appraisal Template to Assigned Appraisals.
Checkpoint Submission Issues
How can the employee or manager resubmit/recomplete their checkpoint?
The Request to resubmit button only appears after the employee has submitted the checkpoint at least once. If no response has ever been submitted, the employee can still edit their answers directly and the manager will not see the Request to resubmit option. If the appraisal is in a Completed status, managers cannot request resubmission or reopen checkpoints until a company admin uses the: roll back the appraisal feature to an earlier phase. After rollback, the appraisal manager can either:
Click Reopen on an already-approved or skipped checkpoint, or
Click Request to resubmit on a submitted checkpoint so the employee can amend their responses and resubmit.
The checkpoint is open however the employee does not have any options to enter their responses. How can they complete the checkpoint?
This can indicate that the checkpoint has already been submitted by the employee. The manager will need to view the checkpoint and click 'Request to resubmit' to request the employee to resubmit the checkpoint.
Why is there an error/pop-up displayed when trying to complete the appraisal?
If you encounter the error message below, this occurs because the appraisal contains mandatory checkpoints that have not been approved by the appraisal manager.
"Cannot complete the appraisal
This appraisal cannot be completed as it contains incomplete mandatory checkpoints. Please answer questions and ratings under the following checkpoints:"
To resolve this error:
Ensure all required questions and ratings under the listed checkpoints are submitted by employees and/or managers
Ensure all checkpoints are approved by the appraisal manager.
Refer to the above instructions in this article for guidance on how employees and managers can complete checkpoints.
Updating Checkpoint Questions
Why are the checkpoint questions not updated in the appraisal?
Make sure the company admin has synced the appraisal template after making changes to the checkpoint questions. When checkpoint questions are changed in templates that are already in use, updates do not always flow through to existing appraisals. Check the following:
Have you synced the appraisal template?
After editing checkpoint questions, a company admin must sync the appraisal template for changes to apply to assigned appraisals where sync is allowed.
What type of change was made?
Edits to existing checkpoint questions (for example, minor wording changes) can appear in existing appraisals, subject to sync limitations.
Adding or removing questions, or swapping to a different checkpoint, only applies to newly assigned appraisals. Existing appraisals may continue to show the original question set even after you sync.
Why is the checkpoint description not showing up?
In the Checkpoint Section Settings, there is an option called "Show Items Description". This option allows you to display the Checkpoint description for the manager or employee. Make sure this option is enabled to show the question description. Please also ensure you sync the appraisal template to apply the changes to current appraisals.
How to have different employee and manager questions in checkpoints?
You can have employee and manager-specific questions by editing the checkpoint from your Checkpoint Library. For more details, refer to the article on Add and Configure Checkpoints.
📝 | Managers will be able to view all employee questions and must approve them for the checkpoint to be completed. |
If you want to include employee questions without manager access, create a Question section instead of a checkpoint for the employee.
Notifications
Why am I receiving multiple notifications for checkpoints, even if no action is required from the employee or manager?
Checkpoint notifications will still be sent to all recipients, even if the checkpoint is not visible to them. Additionally, if a checkpoint has not yet been approved, it will continue to show as open or overdue, which may trigger multiple notifications for the same checkpoint.
Ensure that all submitted checkpoints have been approved by the appraisal manager. If any checkpoints are still pending approval, they may continue to appear with the "Approve" button for the manager.
Do checkpoint notifications apply to specific checkpoints or all checkpoints in an appraisal?
Checkpoint notifications are configured at the appraisal template level. A single checkpoint notification (for example Checkpoint Started or Checkpoint Due Date) applies to all checkpoints in that template – you cannot target a specific individual checkpoint with its own separate checkpoint notification.
Why didn’t my checkpoint notifications send?
If checkpoint notifications did not send as expected, check the following:
The relevant checkpoint notifications (for example Checkpoint Started, Checkpoint Due Date, Checkpoint Approved – Employee/Manager) were enabled before the appraisal was assigned to employees.
The notifications were not added or activated after assignments had already been created; newly added or re-enabled notifications generally only apply reliably to newly assigned appraisals and may not backfill to existing ones.
The checkpoint start/due dates and the notification schedule are correct (for example, no past-dated checkpoints that would have triggered before the notification existed).
Why did new starters receive an overdue checkpoint email as soon as their appraisal was assigned?
For fixed-date checkpoints, the system compares the employee’s checkpoint dates with “today”. If a checkpoint’s end date has already passed when an appraisal is assigned to a new starter, the first time their appraisal is assigned, the system can immediately trigger the checkpoint due/overdue notification for that checkpoint.