How appraisals work

The Appraisals module (also called Performance Appraisal) is how your organization evaluates employee performance: configuring rating scales and weights, defining appraisal windows and sessions, assigning objectives and competencies, and reviewing results.

The Appraisals menu

The module has three areas:

Area	What it covers	Where to go
Appraisal Year	The working view for one year: statistics, assessments, pre-assessments, and assigned objectives and competencies	Run appraisal cycles
Manage	Windows, categories and competencies, weight and rating configurations, the approval matrix, and window sessions	Configure appraisals
Appraisal Reports	The report library: window, employee performance, department performance, and goal setting	Appraisal reports

Appraisal Year opens the current year, and a year switcher on the page moves you between years.

Key concepts

• Appraisal window: a period from a start month to an end month, which defines an appraisal cycle.
• Window session: a window opened for a specific year. Employees can submit appraisals only while the session is open.
• Categories and competencies: objectives are organized into objective categories, and competencies (behavioral and domain skills) into competency categories.
• Objectives and competencies: the two parts of an appraisal that are scored.
• Assessor weight: how much the employee and the manager each contribute to the overall score.
• Assessment weight: how much objectives and competencies each contribute to the overall score.
• Approval matrix: the per-employee manager and final approver assignment.

The appraisal workflow

A typical cycle:

1. Configure: define windows, categories and competencies, weightings and rating scales, and the approval matrix. See Configure appraisals.
2. Open a session: create a window session for a year and window so employees can take part.
3. Assign: objectives and competencies are assigned to employees, individually or shared to many at once. See Run appraisal cycles.
4. Complete: employees submit their objectives and competencies, and the employee and manager score the assessments, which are then submitted and approved.
5. Report: analyze the results. See Appraisal reports.

Note

Much of the appraisal work, such as scoring objectives and competencies and submitting assessments, happens in the employee Self Service portal. In the Admin dashboard you configure, assign, track, and review.

Access and permissions

Note

The Appraisals menu appears when your role includes appraisal permissions. Appraisal Year and Manage require the Configure Appraisal permission, and Appraisal Reports requires the View Appraisal Reports permission. As elsewhere, what you can see is also shaped by your data scope.