| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Rating Scale | Set of categories designed to quantify performance. |
| Route Map | Establish the workflow and steps that employees follow during the performance review process. |
| Role | Defines who will have the ability to take action, and depends on relationships defined in the User Data File (for example, X employee is direct report to Y manager). |
| Route Map Steps | Specifies the role that can perform an action in one unit. Multiple steps can be added to a stage to accommodate all roles needed. |
| Route Map Stages | Combines multiple route map steps or units into a larger grouping. Stages are predefined. |
| Form Template | A shell that contains the structure of the performance review or a 360 review form including the layout and sections for each form. |
Configuring Rating Scales
Objective
After completing this lesson, you will be able to create rating scales.
Terminology
Rating Scales – Creation and Duplication
What are Rating Scales?
A rating scale is a tool used to quantify a reviewer’s perspective on performance during the evaluation process. One rating scale must be attached to a 360 review form as the default, but additional scales may also be attached to different sections. Additional rating scales are only supported in the Goal/Objective or Competency sections. Attaching a scale to a 360 review form will be discussed in a later unit.
Create a Rating Scale
You may create a rating scale at any time and create as many rating scales as you need. Once the scale has been created, it will be Active by default. You may always deactivate or delete the scale. Remember to check if you have any forms currently circulating the system using a scale before deactivating or deleting.
To create a new scale, navigate to Rating Scales from the Action Search or the Admin Center.
Choose Create New Rating Scale.
You may find a default 5-point scale with already populated scores, labels, and descriptions. Select one of the bubbles on the left-hand side of the screen to pre-populate the score, or select Build your own to define custom scores.
Score: The number that will display to an end user.
Label: The text that will display to an end user.
Description: A definition of the scale anchors that have been defined. Descriptions are not visible to an end user.
A best practice when creating rating scales is to hit a middle ground of having enough points to accurately separate the high, average, and low performers, but not too many points where scale anchors (the verbiage defining each numerical point) become synonyms or difficult to differentiate.
If you are looking to make sure ratings do not center around the midpoint of the scale, choose a 4- or 6-point scale that forces a rater to choose between higher or lower performance. A 5-point scale tends to be an ideal middle ground of having enough points to differentiate performance, but not so many that the anchors are synonymous with one another.
Another best practice prior to a new performance or 360 review cycle is to hold rater training with managers and employees. When performance is clearly identified with specific behavioral examples and matched up to each scale point anchor (for example, 5=Substantially Exceeds Expectations; 5=Outstanding in the scales below), raters are more able to identify performance clearly.
Rating Scale Copying
Scales can be easily duplicated to edit scores and labels without affecting the original. To copy a scale, open up the scale you wish to duplicate and choose Save As with a new name. Once copied, you can modify it as needed for the new cycle or process.
Create a Rating Scale
Business Example
In this exercise, you create a new rating scale and modify the rating labels.
Steps
Navigate to Rating Scales from the Action Search or the Admin Center.
Choose Create New Rating Scale.
To name the rating scale, enter Training [Your Initials].
In the description, enter 5-point rating scale for training.
Select the 5-point rating scale radio button.
Change the label for the 1 score to Extremely Unacceptable.
Change the label for the 5 score to Exceptional.
Choose Save.
Summary
- A rating scale is a tool used to quantify a reviewer’s perspective on performance during the evaluation process. One rating scale must be attached to a 360 Reviews form template as the default, but additional scales may also be attached to different sections.
- You may create as many rating scales as needed. To create a new scale, navigate to Rating Scales from the Action Search or Admin Center.
- A best practice when creating rating scales is to hit a middle ground of having enough points to accurately separate the high, average, and low performers, but not too many points where scale anchors (the verbiage defining each numerical point) become synonyms or difficult to differentiate.