This article provides Company Admins and Performance Administrators with instructions on how to add a development section.
How do I add the Development Section?
1. Go to Administration > Performance and click Appraisal Setup.
2. Along the template title, click the dropdown beside the Appraisal Settings button and select Appraisal Sections.
3. Click the Add New Section button.
This opens up a new drop-down allowing you to fill in the following information:
1. Module: The type of section you want to add (in this example, it is a Development Objective).
2. Title: This is the title displayed to all users.
3. Weight: If 'Rating is Active' is enabled, the percentage is allocated to the development section. This also allows administrators to set the section item's weight. This is only available because Enable Section Item Weighting was selected in the Appraisal Settings tab.
📝 | Weights can only be applied to the sections on goal, competency, and development objectives. The total of all weighted sections must add up to 100%. |
4. Description: This should be a description of the development section that the employee sees. Placeholders can be used in this field.
5. Section Visibility: An administrator can determine if the section is visible to the employees and managers.
6. Section Activity: This allows an administrator to determine if the employees and managers can add, edit, or delete a Development Objectives on this section. Enabling Section Activity in the Development section is only one part of the setup. The current appraisal phase settings must also allow those actions.
7. Section General Settings:
Labelling is active: Employees / managers are required to select a label when adding development objectives.
Rating is active: This allows employees and their manager to rate the items within this section.
Section overall score is visible - This calculates and displays the overall score of the development objectives that have been rated.
Allow adding notes: Employees and their managers can add notes.
Allow adding attachments: Employees and their managers can add attachments.
Enable development actions: This allows employees and their managers based on the 'Section Activity' to add Development Actions. The selection is either a 'Text' or a 'Course'. Users can enroll in a course from the course catalog (if the course availability is set to all users or you are part of the select user group).
Enable development library: This allows employees and their managers to select Development Objectives from the Library.
Enable auto-populate: Use the Enable auto‑populate setting to automatically prefill appraisal Development Objectives based on an employee’s Position, Location, or Department. Auto-populate adds Development Objectives only when the appraisal is first assigned. If you later update the linked Position, Department, or Location items, or if the employee changes position after assignment, those changes will not update the existing appraisal automatically.
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8. Rating System: Administrators can choose from the rating system.
⚠️ | Only one rating system can be used for all of the Development Sections. |
9. Once everything has been filled in, click on the Save button. The new development section will have been created, allowing you to:
Add Development From Library: The user can browse and select from the development objective library.
Add Development: The feature allows the administrator, manager, or employee to create a customized development objective as needed.
⚠️ | When using the Add Development, objectives that are created within the appraisal will not be saved to the library. |
Managing Development Objectives in the Development Objective Library?
How do you add a Development Objective to the Development Objective Library?
1. Go to Administration > Performance and click Development Objectives.
2. Click the Add Development Objective button.
This opens up a new drop-down allowing you to fill in the following information:
1. Development Objective Title: This is the title or the development objective name that is displayed to all users.
2. Scope: This is the visibility of the development objective to the users.
Available to all users means this development objective can be added by the Employee, Manager, and Administrators.
Available to all managers means this will only be visible for managers to add to an appraisal.
None means not visible to add to an appraisal for managers and employees but available for admins to add to a template.
Disabled means not available to any user but does not remove it from an employee's in-progress appraisal or template.
3. Label: An administrator can use this to identify which label this development objective should be assigned to.
4. Description: This should describe the question that the user sees.
5. Development Actions: The selection is either a 'Text' or a 'Course'. Users can enroll in this course if the course availability is set to all users. Once this course development action has been assigned, users can enroll in the appraisal.
6. Click the Save button when done.
Alternatively, you can also add the development objectives in bulk. Click the Import from CSV button.
This will open up the Import Development Objectives screen.
⚠️ | In the import template, when a new developmentObjectiveID is included, it will add the corresponding development objective. If the developmentObjectiveID already exists, the system will update the existing development objective with the new information. |
How to Edit a Development Objective in the Development Objective Library?
1. Go to Administration > Performance and click Development Objective.
2. Click Edit and make the relevant changes to the Development Objective
3. Click Save to confirm the changes.
How to Delete a Development Objective in the Development Objective Library?
1. Go to Administration > Performance and click Development Objective.
2. Click Delete and a pop-up will appear confirming you want to proceed
3. Click Ok to proceed. If the Development Objective is being used in an appraisal or template, then it cannot be deleted. Please remove this it from all active templates/performances and try again.
How does the Development Objectives section appear to the employee and manager?
1. Employee clicks on Performance > My Performance and then selects the relevant appraisal.
2. A Manager will click on Performance > Team Performance and then select the relevant appraisal.
3. Once the appraisal is open, the Employee / Manager selects the Development Objectives section.
+Add: This allows users to add a new development (ad-hoc) or choose from the Development Objectives Library.
⚠️ | Any development objectives that are created within the appraisal will not be saved to the library. |
4. Development Actions can be added by clicking the Add Development Action button.
When adding a new development action, you will need to select between two options from the drop-down menu for Type.
Description: Provide a short description of the Development Action and enter a Start Date and End Date. This is where you configure the dates you expect the development action to start and finish.
Course: When this is selected, a Course drop-down menu will appear, allowing the employee to select from the list of courses available and category.
When the development action types are added, each will display the Start and End Dates, a tick box to mark actions as completed. To complete the Text Development Action, the user should select the checkmark box. For the Courses, the user may click on the icon to enroll in this course.
For the Courses, the user may click on the hyperlinked Course name which will take them to preview the course via the Course preview page and allows enrolment.
Creating Development Objectives via a Goal or Competency
Open the assigned appraisal.
Confirm the appraisal is currently in the Planning phase.
Expand the Goals section.
Click Add to create a new goal, or edit an existing goal if you want to convert it.
Enter or update the goal details.
Select Create as development objective.
Click Save.
Open the Development Objectives section to review the new development objective created from that goal.
When Create as development objective is selected, the related goal or competency is also added into the Development Objectives section of the appraisal.
If you still can’t see it, some potential reasons to why are:
the appraisal is not in Planning Phase
the template does not include a Development section
If you are testing as an administrator, the appraisal may not display exactly the same options as the assigned employee or manager.
the feature is disabled system-wide on the site. Should you want this enabled, please reach out to our Support team.
⚠️ | Should you want to remove the "Create as Development Objective" option, please raise a Support Ticket to request it be switched off. |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
A course is missing or a course action will not mark complete
If a course does not appear in the Course drop-down, check the course’s availability settings and whether the user is included in an allowed audience. Course-type Development Actions are usually marked complete automatically when the linked course is completed. If one copy remains incomplete, check whether the same course was added more than once as separate Development Actions.
Why can’t I delete a course that was used as a Development Action?
If a Development Action uses a Course, removing or deleting that course in Learning does not automatically remove it from existing appraisals or Development Objectives. Linked course actions may prevent the course from being deleted until those Development Actions are removed or updated in the relevant appraisal or library item.
I've deleted the development section from my appraisal, why is this not reflecting the appraisal?
This is because you need to ensure that the appraisal is synced, please refer to the following article: How to Sync an Appraisal Template to Assigned Appraisals