95% The Performance Management Dashboard - Functionalities and Layout

In previous pages we discussed some of the functionalities available to employees and managers but we focused specifically on creating a new performance contract.

On this page we will highlight a few additional functionalities and the general layout of the dashboard screen. In our discussion we will refer to the screen and pointers below.

#1. Performance Years

At the top of the Performance Management Dashboard you will find a dropdown with the existing and previous performance years. The default value is the current performance year. Page back to historical contracts by choosing the applicable performance year.

#2. My Contract / My Team's Contracts

The toggle button is used to easily switch between your own performance contract, and those of your team - should you be managing a group of people.

#3. The periods and phases in my contract

A contract is made up of contract items of which at least one is a review period (containing your performance objectives), and an optional component e.g. a Value Survey.

Each review period comprises two phases: during the Objective Setting phase your agreement objectives are determined, and during the Rating phase the objectives are evaluated and scored or rated.

Optionally you may have access to a Check-in phase which allows employee and manager to do ad-hoc check-ins (informal evaluations) of the employee's progress in reaching the employee's objectives.

Furthermore, each review period and its phases are time-bound, as indicated by the timeline. Some may be available for access, some may still be locked, as indicated by their grey colour.

If an employee's contract contains more than one review period, the same phases will repeat for each review period.

The optional contract item, called Value Survey above, has only one phase.

#4. My progress in the review periods

Together, the review periods in your performance contract form your performance agreement i.e. the agreement or consensus between you and your manager about your objectives for the year ahead.

Each review period goes through two formal stages (objective setting, and rating) with an optional check-in functionality or phase supporting them. A review period's status or progress must be read with the official timelines in mind. Hover on a review period's progress and date range bar to get the specific dates for a phase.

On the images above, note the following.

The instruction about your next step in a phase. Here are a few instructions from the perspective of an employee.

Start objective setting

Complete the setting of objectives and submit to your manager

User moved to Ratings/Check-Ins

Make frequent use of check-ins until you submit your self-rating

Rate yourself and submit the self-ratings to your manager

Complete your self-rating and submit to your manager

Arrange a meeting with your manager to discuss the final rating

The countdown to a deadline. As you can see from the Timelines, each phase has a date range. Usually a review period's phase is only open for changes while you are within the phase date range. Before and after the date range a phase might be locked.

The action(s) that corresponds with the suggested next step. Here are some of the action buttons you can expect to see.

BUTTON	YOUR ACTION
	Click to create your performance contract.
	Click to open your agreement's review period and then either add or amend your objectives, and/or submit the objectives to your manager.
	Click to open the check-in functionality where you and your manager can evaluate your progress against your set objectives. A check-in is a more informal evaluation of objectives with the aim of giving guidance before the formal review is done.
	Click to open your review period and do a self-rating of your performance against each objective. Your self-ratings will become visible to your manager only once you submit the agreement.
View	The review period was finalised and closed out. Click to view your manager's personal ratings as well as the final agreement ratings.

#5. Further actions available on a review period

Besides the usual activities on a review period, you also have access to all documents uploaded against KPIs and other objectives in the review period, and to print a copy of your review period.

Hover over, or click the MORE icon to reveal any further options you may have.

Your performance contract's number of review periods is fixed. Therefore, clicking the DELETE button below does not delete the review period, it clears out all objectives you may have loaded into any section on your agreement.

Once clicked, follow the screen instructions to delete the objectives.
Note that a review period can only be deleted if it has not yet been approved.

#6. Some things might be locked - for now

If you find a lock symbol or icon in a review period, it could mean either of the following.

EXITED THE WRONG WAY

This could mean the last person to have exited the contract, did not do so using the BACK TO DASHBOARD button, and in essence left the contract still locked to his/her account. You can wait an hour or so until the system automatically unlocks the contract, or you can call your manager asking him/her to again open the contract and exit using the BACK TO DASHBOARD button.

PERIOD OR PHASE IS NOT OPEN YET

If a whole period or stage of a contract is locked, it might indicate that a period or stage is not yet officially open. Perhaps because you have not yet completed the previous stage, or because a company decision stipulated to only open it at a certain future date.

#7. In summary

When a contract has been finalised, it implies the following has been done. This is shown in the Overall Summary part of the performance dashboard.

All the review periods have been populated with objectives - and approved by the manager.
All the review periods have been rated - and approved by the manager. (There is a score for each period)
If applicable, the scores from any additional components (e.g. a Value Survey) have been read into the system and incorporated into the employee's contract.
A final overall score was calculated and is available.

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