Within this article, Performance administrators can understand how to effectively use checkpoints, including setting up checkpoints and adding them into an appraisal template. Admins should also understand how checkpoints are displayed in an appraisal and what is required by appraisal managers for checkpoints to be visible and completed.
📝 | For more information on checkpoints, see FAQ: Checkpoints in Performance Appraisals. |
Understanding Checkpoint Items
Checkpoints are date-driven sections in an appraisal. They are not reliant on phases and are dependent on the start date within the checkpoint itself. Specific timeframes within checkpoints allow for catching up, Q&A sessions, rating completion, and 1:1 conversation records for employees and managers. Checkpoints are available to commence only after the checkpoint start date. Additionally, they can be completed anytime as long as the appraisal is still open.
Checkpoint responses save automatically in the background as the user types. A save indicator on screen shows "idle" or "saving" so users can confirm their response has been captured.
The appraisal manager must approve the checkpoint. Entering and saving responses does not complete a checkpoint. The manager must scroll to the bottom of the checkpoint section and click Approve. Until that happens:
The checkpoint status does not move to closed, and may continue to display as overdue on the appraisal, respective widgets and reporting.
The employee's responses are not visible to the manager, and checkpoint responses are not visible to employees or Company Administrators.
Checkpoint notifications are not triggered.
If an employee has submitted a checkpoint and needs to amend their responses, the appraisal manager must click Request to resubmit to return it to them.
If an employee has submitted a checkpoint and needs to amend their responses, the appraisal manager must click Request to resubmit to return it to them. If an appraisal has already been marked as complete without checkpoint approval, an administrator must roll back the appraisal so the manager can approve the outstanding checkpoints.
Once the manager approves a checkpoint, the responses become immediately visible to the employee and to Company Administrators. There is no setting that defers checkpoint response visibility until the appraisal is finalised. If manager commentary must stay hidden until completion, either use a separate checkpoint that is not visible to the employee, or capture that commentary in the Summary section, where display timing can be controlled.
Managing Checkpoints in the Checkpoints Library?
How to set up Checkpoints in the Checkpoint Library
Before adding a checkpoint to your appraisal setup, admins will need to create the checkpoint in the checkpoint library:
Navigate to Administration > Performance > Checkpoints
Click Add New Checkpoint
Enter the checkpoint details, including:
Title: The checkpoint title
Description: Optional
Click Add Question
Enter the question details, including:
Title: The question title that is being displayed.
Role: Select one from the options available (All Roles, Manager, Employee, Contributor).
Description: Optional
Answer Type: Select one from the options available (Free text, Combobox).
Free text: Allows users to input responses in open text format.
Combobox: Users can choose from pre-defined options.
Enter options under the 'Options' field, adding each option on a new line.
Click Submit
An example of a Probation checkpoint:
⚠️ | Questions currently cannot be re-ordered and will be displayed in the order of creation. |
❗ | 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. |
How to edit a Checkpoint in the Checkpoint Library?
1. Go to Administration > Performance and click Checkpoint.
2. Click Edit and make the relevant changes to the Checkpoint.
3. Click Save to confirm the changes.
How to delete a Checkpoint in the Checkpoint Library?
1. Go to Administration > Performance and click Checkpoint.
2. Click Delete and a pop-up will appear confirming you want to proceed
3. Click Ok to proceed. If the Checkpoint is being used in an appraisal or template, then it cannot be deleted. A message confirmation will appear stating: Please remove this checkpoint from all templates and delete the performance appraisals that contain this checkpoint and try again. It will also provide the relevant Appraisal templates it's being used.
Adding Checkpoints to an Appraisal Template
Once the checkpoint has been created, admins can add the checkpoint to an appraisal template:
Navigate to Administration > Performance > Appraisal Setup
Click Appraisal Settings
Select the Appraisal Sections tab > Click Add New Section
Select module Checkpoint > Enter Title > Select the Checkpoint (created from the Checkpoint Library)
When entering the checkpoint start/end date or period, the options available will vary based on the 'Duration Type' set under the Appraisal Settings tab.
Duration type:Relative: Set Start and End period.
Select an option under Period Type (Day, Week, Month)
Fixed: Set Start date and End date.
Click Appraisal Section Setting > Configure the settings:
Section Visibility: Controls which users can see this section in the appraisal (Manager, Employee, Reviewer (if 360 Review Phase is added).
Section General Setting:
Rating is active: Tick to allow a rating for the section. The Checkpoint Status report only returns checkpoint ratings where Rating is active is ticked and a rating system is selected. A rating built as an ordinary checkpoint question is not a rating — it will not appear in the Checkpoint Status report, and must be reported on using the Checkpoint Questions report instead.
Section overall score is visible: Tick to display the overall rating score.
Checkpoint Skip button is visible: displays a Skip button on the checkpoint for the appraisal manager. Skip is useful where an employee genuinely cannot complete a checkpoint, for example they are on extended leave or started mid-cycle and would otherwise distort completion reporting.
Skip is available to the appraisal manager only. There is no equivalent option for administrators. An administrator who needs to skip a checkpoint must impersonate the appraisal manager.
A skipped checkpoint moves to a closed state, and responses entered before it was skipped may no longer be visible or recoverable.
Show Items Description: Tick to show the question descriptions.
Checkpoint is mandatory: the appraisal cannot be marked as complete until the appraisal manager has approved this checkpoint. If a checkpoint is not mandatory, the appraisal can be completed even where checkpoint questions were never answered.
Mandatory controls manager approval, not question completion. It requires the manager to approve each mandatory checkpoint individually — so an appraisal with three mandatory checkpoints requires three separate approvals. It does not force employees to answer every question before submitting, and there is no setting that requires all questions to be answered before a single approval.
Sync the appraisal template after changing this setting so it applies to assigned appraisals.
If 'Rating is active' is ticked, select a Rating System:
Click Save
⚠️ A checkpoint's overdue status is driven by its end date, not by whether the employee has completed it or the manager has approved it. Check the year on every checkpoint date carefully — a date accidentally set in the past will immediately trigger "checkpoint has started" or overdue notifications.
⚠️ When rolling a template into a new cycle, confirm the checkpoint dates rolled over correctly. Checkpoint dates do not always advance with the new cycle and may need to be updated manually before assignment.