Introducing the Administration Course

Exploring Performance Management

Setting Up Rating Scales and Route Maps

Managing Performance Form Templates

Configuring Form Templates

Managing Performance Cycle

Exploring SAP SuccessFactors Continuous Performance Management (CPM)

Planning Next Steps

Identifying Performance Management Key Features and Permissions

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to identify Performance Management key features and permissions.

Performance and Goal Management Feature Settings

In SAP’s long-term goal of implementing or configuring SAP SuccessFactors HCM to make it easier and faster, and empowering customers, some Provisioning (Back end) settings have been added to the instance (Front end). Since administrators do not have Provisioning access, they can turn features on and off without needing to request them through an SAP SuccessFactors consultant.

This screenshot shows the current options in the Performance Management Feature Settings.

Performance Management Feature Settings	Description
Enable Continuous Performance Management	This feature enables users to get quick feedback on work through requests and structured conversations with their manager. It helps managers to track their team members’ progress effortlessly and offers a simple way to provide simple coaching advice.
Team Rater for Performance Management – Enable display of all forms but self	Enable display of all forms but self: Controls whether Stack Ranker (also known as Team Rater) can be used by raters other than the Direct Manager. When enabled, other raters (e.g., Matrix Managers, EMM, etc.) can rate a user using Team Rater.
Enable Performance Management Access Permission	This feature provides the ability within RBP to determine which roles have access to the Performance menu.
Enable Team Overview Access Permission	By default, the Team Overview is available to all users regardless of whether they have direct reports. For users without direct reports, the Team Overview tab contains no information. Customers can turn on this access permission and then permission the Team Overview tab to be accessible only to certain groups or roles (like managers). Then, permissions need to be added for the necessary roles in the role-based permission system under the User Permissions→Performance.
Team Rater for Performance Management	Enables the Stack Ranker (also known as Team Rater) feature. Stack Ranker allows raters to quickly review the rating for those they are evaluating and visualize how subjects compare with or stack up against one another.
Enable PM Form Search Competencies	By enabling this feature, when the user is in the competency section, they are provided with the ability to search for any competency beyond those associated with their job role.
Rich text editor for PM and 360	Enables a Rich Text Editor (RTE) for both Performance Management and 360 Reviews. An online rich-text editor allows users to edit rich text and presents a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editing area. The aim is to reduce the effort for users trying to express their formatting directly as valid HTML markup.
The rich-text editor cleans up text pasted from Microsoft Word (currently, this only affects pages that use common Performance Management code)	Provides an option to users to override the universal functionality of automating the text cleanup from MS-Word. (NOTE: with IE 11 – when copying from MS Word to IE – the cleanup is handled automatically by the browser and the confirmation is not rendered).
Hide Delete Icon inside a form	Enabling this flag removes the delete button from inside the form (assuming the delete button is enabled in Form Template Settings). It would still be visible from the Inbox view.
Disable the internal scrollbar next to forms (Only available for PMv11)	Checking this flag disables the internal scrollbar but enables the browser scroll bar. Conversely, unchecking this flag enables the internal scroll bar, but disable the browser scroll bar. This option is obsolete and not applicable to PMv12A.
Enable the Goal Management-Performance Management Sync up	This feature enables the Performance Management table to fetch the goals from the Goal Management table even when the performance form is not opened. This is useful when we make a report based on the Performance Management domain that should include goals, even when the forms are not opened.
Enable Capability Picker (Prerequisites: Job Profile Builder is enabled and data migration to Job Profile Builder is successful)	This option allows users to select capabilities (competencies) by capability libraries or job roles in a hierarchy structure and to search for the capabilities using keywords.
Automatically Fix Document Transfer and Change Engine Issues	When this option is enabled, the document transfer and change engine issues that are caused by the RBP refresh failure are automatically fixed every day.
Enable user experience enhancements to Performance Management forms	When Enable the latest experience of Performance Management forms is not selected, you can use this setting to enable enhancements to the legacy form experience, including the maximum form width is reduced, the Achievements tab, EZ rater view and rating gap analysis are redesigned; the buttons Show More, Show Less and the fields weight, status are repositioned, and the Ratings from Others view is rearranged.
Allow users to view details of forms that have never been in their Inbox	Applies to the forms listed in Performance History on the latest People Profile. Users need to be granted the permission under User Permissions→Performance→View Overall Ratings from Forms. Additionally, the permission View Goal Ratings from Forms allows the display of calculated average goal ratings when viewing forms.
Enable the latest experience of Performance Management forms	The latest Performance Management form features a streamlined, flexible layout, including a vertical table of contents, table-view sections, dynamic side panels, and a configurable General Information group. Additionally, various enhancements have been incorporated to further improve the review experience.
Use RBP to control visibility of filters on the latest My Forms page	When this setting is enabled, you can control the filter's visibility for end users in a new permission found under User Permissions→Performance→Form Filters.
Enable the latest version of Stack Ranker for Performance Management	This option enables a new look and feel as well as a different experience to edit ratings and comments for the Stack Ranker feature, applicable to Performance Management.
Enable business rules in Performance Management	This option enables the rule scenarios in Performance Management to Change Field Visibility, Editability and Required Status on Forms, as well as the Add Review Steps Upon Form Routing business rule.
Remove HTML tags from form review input in Table and Story reports.	When enabled, content provided on the Performance Management or 360 Reviews form using rich text editors, such as comments, is displayed as plain text in Table and Story reports.
Enable the latest experience of Team Overview	The latest Team Overview provides a cleaner, more accessible user interface with a template-based view and enhanced navigation, while retaining the functionalities of the legacy experience.

The Latest Experience of Performance Management Forms

Currently, there are two UI versions of Performance Management forms: Legacy Performance Management and Latest Experience of Performance Management forms.

It is still possible to use either Legacy or Latest Experience of Performance Management forms in SAP SuccessFactors until 1H 2027 when the Legacy Experience will be deleted. More information can be found on the following resource: Replacement of Legacy Performance Management Form Experience with Latest Experience.

The Latest Experience of Performance Management forms, released in 1H 2025, enabled by administrators in Performance Management Feature Settings features a complete redesign of the experience, and includes the capabilities described below. This course is entirely based on the Latest Experience of Performance Management forms.

Note

The Latest Experience of Performance Management forms has been enabled by default in 1H 2026 for all customers who have been upgraded to the latest Goal Management and Job Profile Builder or Talent Intelligence Hub, with the option to disable the experience in the Admin Center if they are not ready. In 1H 2027, all customers will be upgraded with no exceptions. See more information here: Universal Push of Latest Performance Management Experience Planned for 1H 2027.

This is planned, but subject to change. Make sure to check the latest updates on the SAP Community post.

Screenshot shows an example of a performance form on the latest experience.

A new General Information group, where the route map information/steps, some basic standard and custom sections can be moved with the purpose of hiding some sections from the main view, to highlight other sections that matter most, like Goals, Skills, or the Overall Summary. Users can focus on the most relevant tasks while having access to the general information group to review other details, like the Introduction, Employee Information, or Review Dates of the form.
- The sections that can be placed into this general information group will have a Move this section under General Information checkbox, available from Manage Templates.
- The standard sections supported are: Introduction, Employee Information, and Review Information.
- Any custom sections are supported.
- The main view will show the Current Step and Next Step. Additionally, selecting General Information from the table view will open a side panel where all the route map and the details about each section within this group can be reviewed.
Side panels: The side panels have a decorative < (right arrow) icon at the right end, indicating they have more to display. When selecting a section on the main view, a side panel expands to view all the details and actionable items.
The form's navigation bar is displayed vertically so that users can browse the content more efficiently.
In rating sections, the skills, competencies, or goals are listed in tables. This makes it easier to give and compare ratings. Other capabilities related to rating sections include:
- Display gaps between official ratings and employee self-ratings within the section, in addition to the header. In the legacy experience, this is only supported when the section mode is EZ-Rater. In the latest experience, this is generally available.
- New rating style to give ratings using a slider. This option can be turned on for the latest experience in Form Template Settings→Use slider style for ratings.
- The Achievements tab to show only achievements from Continuous Performance Management in the legacy version is now a Linked Activities section, which allows you to see any activities linked to goals and create ad-hoc activities from the form. All the other tabs that might be visible in rating sections will display in the side panel (e.g., Goal Details, Other Details, Last Rating, Goal Comments, etc.).
- Goal Alignment information is available with the same layout and functionality as seen on the goal details page. With goal alignment on performance forms, reviewers can easily understand how individual goals contribute to higher-level objectives and evaluate them more effectively. Adding the parent goal name provides greater transparency and easier access to its details.
  Note
  Only forms in the Modify stage display goal alignment data.
  - Only goals that have at least one parent or child goal will display goal alignment.
  - To view the parent goal name in the Goal Alignment section, users must have read permission for the goal's name field in the goal plan template.
  - To view the parent goal name or goal details, the user must have the User→Goals→Goal Plan Permissions permission for the goal owner.
  - To access the Goal Alignment Chart from the Goal Alignment section, users must have the User→Goals→Goal Alignment Chart permission.
- The item ratings in the Summary section are displayed in a popover rather than displaying all the information at once, to focus on the overall information.
Support for specific generative AI capabilities, such as gaining insights into an employee performance with the AI-Assisted Performance Insights, use some AI-Assisted Writing specific capabilities for Generate Comments and Improve My Feedback for goals, skills, competencies and behaviors, in addition to the other features already available in the legacy experience (AI-Assisted Writing general capabilities and AI-Assisted goal creation from the performance form).

The following are prerequisites to using the Latest Experience of Performance forms:

The latest Goal Management is enabled.
Users' browsers are updated to one of the latest two stable releases.

Performance Management Permissions

In the following tables, you will learn about the main Administrator permissions related to Performance Management and those intended mainly for end users.

Note

The following is not a comprehensive list of all permissions, but the most relevant for Performance Management administration and end user tools, as well as some platform tools that are mentioned in exercises or steps in this course. These permissions are found in Admin Center→Manage Permission Roles.

User Permissions		Give access to	Comments
Performance	Performance Management Access	Home→Performance	If the user receives a form, they can access it anyway, regardless of this permission.
	Restrict Data Access of Inactive User’s Forms	Restrict access to inactive user’s forms that were not removed and are still visible in the inbox.
	Team Overview Access	Access to Team Overview to overlook direct report’s progress in the performance review.	Granted to managers
General User Permission	Permission to Create Forms	Create forms individually for self, direct reports, or others in Home→Performance.	This permission also determines which form templates are available in Launch Forms.
	Hide ‘All active/inactive employees’ option in Launch Forms wizard	Hides the option to launch forms for all active/inactive employees in Launch Forms.	Only relevant for administrators with Mass Create Form Instances (Launch forms now) permission.

Administrator Permissions		Give access to	Comments
Manage Documents	Approve Document	Approve Form - Move a form one step forward (modify stage).
	Change Document Date	Change Form Dates (for in-progress forms).
	Admin Access to Forms Data ODATA API Include Deleted Forms in ODATA API	Query forms of employees in their target population using Form ODATA API. Include deleted forms by user or admin in Forms ODATA API.
	Delete Documents	Delete Forms.
	Manage Document Visibility	Remove visibility to forms for certain users.
	Mass Route Document Forward	Send forms to next step from Home→Performance.
	Mass Route Document Backward	Send forms to previous step from Home→Performance.
	Modify Form Route Map	Modify route map options for in-progress forms.
	Restore Deleted Documents	Restore forms that were deleted.
	Route Completed Documents	Route completed forms back to the evaluation or signature stage.
	Route Document	Route forms, including complete documents and move forms to a new step. Template-level permissions can be set here, as well as for all templates.
	Route Document: Include Completed Documents (only works when "Route Document" is selected)	Route Completed forms using the Route Form tool.
	Route Document: Allow Adding of a Step (only works when "Route Document" is selected)	Route forms to a new step using the Route Form tool.
	Route Signature Stage Document	Route a form from the Signature stage back to the Modify stage.
	Sign Document	Sign forms which are already in the signature stage.
Manage Templates	Form Templates	Access Manage Templates.
	Comprehensive template configuration for PMv12	Allows to create and edit the Advanced Options section in Manage Templates, which includes form template permissions (sections, fields, actions, etc).
	Mass Create Form Instances (Launch forms now)	Launch Forms tool access.
	Schedule Mass Form Creation (Launch forms later)	Launch Forms tool access defining a schedule (based on hire date or anniversary, or at a later date).
	Rating Scales	Rating Scales access
	Routing Maps	Manage Route Maps access
	Export Performance Management Form Data	Export data from a Performance Management Form.
	Upload and Update XML Templates in Admin Center	Upload and update XML form templates using Manage Templates.
Manage System Properties	Email Notification Templates Settings	Enable/disable and edit email notification templates.
	Performance Management Feature Settings	Enable/disable Performance Management general features.
Manage User	Manage Users	Manage employees (to make quick changes to employees instead of Export/Import UDF).	This option is not available in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central-enabled instances.
	Documents Transfer	Transfer forms are manually submitted to the new manager by an administrator.	Forms can be transferred automatically
	Employee Export	Export User Data File (UDF)

Summary

One implementation decision for Performance Management that you will want to consider is which UI version should be used in your organization.
The latest experience of Performance Management forms, enabled by administrators in Performance Management Feature Settings features a complete redesign of the experience. Some of the key features include:
- A new General Information group, where the route map information/steps, some basic standard and custom sections can be hidden from the main view, to highlight other sections that matter most (e.g., Goals, Skills, etc.)
- The form's navigation bar is displayed vertically so that users can browse the content more efficiently.
- When selecting a section on the main view, a side panel expands to view all the details and actionable items.
- Support for specific AI capabilities, such as AI-Assisted Performance Insights and Generate Comments for Goals, Competencies, and Skills.
- Support for business rule scenarios to set up conditional fields or add route map steps dynamically.

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