Configuring the Rater Section

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to configure the rater section in a 360 Reviews form template

The Rater Section

The rater (or participant) section includes all the participants that will be evaluating the subject during the 360 Evaluation stage. This section will appear only during the Modify stage, where the list of raters is defined and approved before the forms are sent to the evaluation.

The 360 Multi-rater form for Grace Griffin section is displayed and important areas are highlighted.
  1. The Rater List section appears only during the modification stage.
  2. All Raters (Participants) who will evaluate the subject are listed in this section
  3. The raters can be configured to populate in this section based on the relationship of their role to the employee being evaluated. This relationship is determined by the User Data File (UDF) and is captured in the Category column.
  4. Raters may or may not be removable. This can be configured on a category level.

Watch this video to learn more about the Rater Section and how it is configured in Manage Templates.

Note

To avoid performance issues, it is recommended to add no more than 500 participants. A warning message will be displayed to inform users when they try to add more than 500 participants to a 360 Reviews form.

Configuration of the Rater Section

Configuration of the Rater Section in Manage Templates

Most configurations in a 360 Reviews form template are identical to those in a performance form template. The configurations that differ are mostly included in <rater- config>, which has several different elements that can be added. 

The Rater List section of the 360 Reviews page is displayed and important areas ate highlighted.
  1. Each Rater Category Name label can be defined as needed.
  2. Categories that can pull raters based on the hierarchical relationship with the subject being evaluated in the 360 Reviews, can be auto-populated. This relationship is determined by the User Data File (UDF). An Auto include in the form checkbox is available to select those categories that can be included automatically into the Rater List.
  3. The Role area includes the different roles that would belong to each of the categories. Multiple roles can be combined into one category, like including 1st and 2nd level reports into the Direct Report category.
  4. Raters may or may not be removable. This can be configured on a category level.
  5. This option allows to add new categories of raters.

Configuration of the Rater Section in XML 

Rater Section Configuration XML

Code Snippet
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<rater-config>
    <date-column-format>MM/dd/yyyy</date-column-format>
    <rater-column key="DIVISION"></rater-column>
    <rater-column key="JOBCODE"></rater-column>
    <min-rater-count>3</min-rater-count>
    <min-warning-msg><![CDATA[WARNING: Number of Feedback Givers is [[ACTUAL_COUNT]] and does not meet the minimum number of [EXPECTED_COUNT]]. You may select more participants to continue]]></min-warning-msg>
    <max-rater-count>6</max-rater-count>
    <max-error-msg><![CDATA[ERROR: Number of Feedback Givers is [[ACTUAL_COUNT]] which exceeds the maximum allowed of [[EXPECTED_COUNT]]. Please select fewer participants to continue.]]></max-error-msg>
    <min-rater-complete-count>0</min-rater-complete-count>
    <rater-cat-min-warn-msg><![CDATA[WARNING: Number of Feedback Givers selected for the category "[[CATEGORY]]" is [[ACTUAL_COUNT]] and does not meet the minimum number of [[EXPECTED_COUNT]]. You may select more participants to continue]]></rater-cat-min-warn-msg>
    <rater-cat-max-err-msg><![CDATA[ERROR: Number of Feedback Givers selected for the category "[[CATEGORY]]" is [[ACTUAL_COUNT]] which exceeds the maximum allowed of [[EXPECTED_COUNT]]. You must select fewer participants to continue]]></rater-cat-max-err-msg>
    <default-rater category="Direct Report"><![CDATA[ED]]></default-rater>
    <default-rater category="Peer"><![CDATA[EMD]]></default-rater>
    <default-rater removable="false" category="Manager"><![CDATA[EM]]></default-rater>
    <default-rater removable="false" category="Self"><![CDATA[E]]></default-rater>
    <default-rater category="First Matrix Manager"><![CDATA[EX]]></default-rater>
    <default-rater category="All Matrix Managers"><![CDATA[EP]]></default-rater>
  </rater-config>

This example of <rater-config> code includes some interesting configurations :

Note

You will be able to practice some of these examples on following exercises.
  • The <rater-column> allows to determine which field values from the standard-elements in the Succession Data Model will display in the rater list column. On the example above, DIVISION and JOBCODE are displayed as columns in the Rater Section.

Caution

Employee, Category and Action are hardcoded and cannot be removed.

The following code examples determines that only DIVISION and JOBCODE should appear as columns.

Code Snippet
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<rater-column key="DIVISION"></rater-column> 
             <rater-column key="JOBCODE"></rater-column> 
The Division and Job Code columns are highlighted in the Raters section.

The following code indicates the total minimum and maximum number of participants that should be in the Rater Section:

Code Snippet
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<min-rater-count>3</min-rater-count>
             <max-rater-count>6</max-rater-count>

Warnings and Errors in 360 Reviews

Error and warning messages are specified in the <rater-config>section. If users select a number of raters that falls outside of the minimum or maximum parameters for the entire form, they receive either a warning or an error message.

Note

A warning message does not prevent the user from progressing to the next step. However, an error message does not permit the user to progress until the minimum and maximum parameters are met.

Warning Message Minimum Number Raters

If the minimum number of raters is not met, the user sees a warning message. This message can be configured as follows:

Code Snippet
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<min-rater-count>3</min-rater-count>
 <min-warning-msg><![CDATA[WARNING: Number of Feedback Givers selected - [[ACTUAL_COUNT]] - does not meet the minimum number of [[EXPECTED_COUNT]]. You must select more Feeback Givers before moving to the 360 Evaluation stage.]]></min-warning-msg>

If the customer wants an error message to appear instead, so that the user is not able to move to the next step until the error is corrected, replace the word "warning" in the <min- warning-msg> and </min-warning-msg> tags with the word error. 

Messages regarding the maximum number of raters are formatted in the same way. Simply replace the word min in the <min-warning-msg> and </min-warning-msg>tags with the word max.

Error message Maximum Number of Raters

If the maximum number of raters is exceeded, the user will display an error message and the 360 Reviews form cannot be moved to the next step. This message can be configured as follows:

Code Snippet
1234
<max-rater-count>6</max-rater-count>
<max-error-msg><![CDATA[ERROR: Number of Feedback Givers is 
[[ACTUAL_COUNT]] which exceeds the maximum allowed of [[EXPECTED_COUNT]]. 
Please select fewer participants to continue.]]></ max-error-msg> 

Minimums and Maximum Raters per Category

The minimum and maximum count values specify the minimum and maximum number of raters per category who can be asked to provide ratings. In the XML code that follows, the form has three categories of raters. Each category has a minimum rater count of between 0 and 2, and no category can have more than 50 raters. 

Code Snippet
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<meta-cat hidden-threshold="2" min-count="2" max-count="50" ><![CDATA[Direct Report]]></meta-cat>
 <meta-cat hidden-threshold="2" min-count="2" max-count="50" ><![CDATA[Peer]]></meta-cat>
 <meta-cat hidden-threshold="1" min-count="0" max-count="50" ><![CDATA[External]]></meta-cat>

The minimum and maximum number of raters per category can also be indicated with warning messages or enforced with error messages. To warn the user that the minimum number of raters for a category has not been met, use the code captured in the XML below, titled Warning Message for Minimum Number of Raters per Category.

Warning Message for Minimum Number of Raters Per Category

Code Snippet
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<rater-cat-min-warn-msg><![CDATA[WARNING: Number of Feedback Givers selected for Category "[[CATEGORY]]" is [[ACTUAL_COUNT]] and does not meet the minimum number of [[EXPECTED_COUNT]]. You may select more participants to continue]]></rater-cat-min-warn-msg>

The example below would enforce the minimum number of raters per each category in the Rater List.

Error Message for Minimum Number of Raters Per Category

Code Snippet
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<rater-cat-min-err-msg><![CDATA[ERROR: Number of Feedback Givers selected for Category "[[CATEGORY]]" is [[ACTUAL_COUNT]] and does not meet the minimum number of [[EXPECTED_COUNT]]. Please select fewer participants to continue]]></rater-cat-min-err-msg>

Hidden Thresholds

Anonymity in 360 reports can be compromised if there are not enough raters in a category.

Hidden threshold values specify the minimum number of raters that are required to evaluate the subject of the 360 Reviews before the average for that category can be displayed in the 360 Detailed Reports.

Watch this video to learn more about Hidden Thresholds.

Rating Rollup Types

The Rating rollup type is only selected when the Unmet threshold action is set to rollup. If the hidden threshold is not met, then the aggregate for that category is not reported. The template can specify that the aggregate roll up to another category, using either the circular or uturn options.

Rating Rollup Types: Circular

With the circular rating rollup type, the data rolls to the next category group that is listed in the meta-360-rollup-category-name. This is the recommended setting.

In Provisioning, from the Rating rollup type drop-down menu, select circular. In XML, set rating-rollup-type="circular".

Screenshot of Rating Rollup Type Circular in XML code format is highlighted.

Rating Rollup Types: Uturn

With the uturn rating rollup type, the data rolls to the next category group that is listed in the meta-360-rollup-category-name and if that threshold is not met it rolls back up the list.

This rating rollup type is not common nor recommended, and you should use instead the circular type.

In Provisioning, from the Rating rollup type drop-down menu, select uturn. In XML, set rating-rollup-type="uturn".

Note

If Category Thresholds are set, but no rollup is specified in the XML, the data for each of the categories is dropped and cannot be viewed in the Detailed 360 Report.

Rollup Thresholds

The series of elements in the meta section defines the order of rollup when the minimum threshold is not met. These categories are read from the bottom up. For example, a customer has the following five categories of raters on the 360 Review: Direct Reports, Peers, First Matrix Manager, Managers, and Self, with minimums, maximums, and thresholds set for each category. The manager and employee are required to complete the form. The customer has requested that unmet thresholds roll up in the order shown in the figure that appears below.

Rollup Order

Code Snippet
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<meta-360-rollup-category-name><![CDATA[Direct Report]]></meta-360-rollup-category-name> 
<meta-360-rollup-category-name><![CDATA[Peer]]></meta-360-rollup-category-name>
<meta-360-rollup-category-name><![CDATA[First Matrix Manager]]></meta-360-rollup-category-name>
The Uturn and Circular Tables are displayed in the image.

Note

Since the manager and employee ratings are required, they always appear on the Detailed 360 Report. If thresholds for the other categories are not met, the Detailed 360 Report shows all Direct Report, Peer, and First Matrix Manager ratings in one combined category.

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