Establishing Workflow and Recording Evaluations with the Performance Form

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to identify stages and steps within a route map and how to record evaluations with rating scales in the performance form

Route Maps

Route maps establish the workflow and steps that users follow during the performance review process. They specify the order in which a form moves from one user to another, and what actions users can take at each step in the process.

Some aspects of form permissions are built at the template level. Several form templates can be associated with one route map.

When completing a performance review, the end user can view the route map for the form. The end user can see who the next recipient of the form is, and can forward the form to the next step when they have completed their part of the review.

You can develop route maps with unique sets of steps so that they follow the customer’s processes.

Elements and Stages of Route Maps

The route map includes two main elements: stages and steps. These elements are established during set up. 

  • Stages: A stage specifies the type of action employees can perform. Forms go through three main stages: Modify, Signature, and Completion.

  • Steps: Using steps within each stage, you specify which employees receive the form and what the employee is expected to accomplish.

Note

Keep in mind that in addition to SAP SuccessFactors Performance Management, route maps are used in other SAP SuccessFactors modules including Compensation, 360 Reviews, and Recruiting, as well as others.

Stages of a Route Map

In the Instance, in Manage Route Maps, route maps are created and configured. Once the route map is created and the steps are defined, configurations must be done in each step of the route map.

There are three stages in a Performance Management route map, and each stage can include numerous steps.

Stages of a route map are displayed.
  1. Modify Stage: During this stage, users edit various aspects of the form including ratings, goal status, and comments.
  2. Signature Stage: During this stage, the main sections of the form, for example, goals and competencies, are locked for editing and are read-only. You can configure a comment field within the Signature section to be editable. Signature steps should always take place before the completion stage.
  3. Completion Stage: This stage is achieved once the form is signed by all parties. All sections in the form are read-only and are no longer editable.

Steps of a Route Map

Stages contain steps, and each step has specific components that can be modified. In the Modify Stage, you can edit the step name, step description, step type, reviewer roles, and dates.

The step name is the name that displays on the route map in a form. The step description is the description that the user sees in their "To Do" list on the Home page. This gives more context about the action users are being asked to take. If this field is left blank, the Step Name will be used for the "To Do" list.

Steps Types

The step type describes the way the form is routed.

Step TypeTo Whom the Form is AssignedStep Type Use
Single RoleAssigns the form to a single role or user.This step type is used if you want only one user to have an assigned action in this part of the process.
IterativeAssigns the form to a group of people.This step type allows multiple users to send the form back and forth to each other before moving on to the next step. Users have a clear definition of who has the form in their inbox for editing and review, and who it will be routed to next.
CollaborativeAssigns the form to two or more users at the same time.With this step type, the form is in the inbox of all the collaborative step participants at the same time. However, only one user can make edits at a time. If the form is being edited by one of the collaborative step participant or if it has not been closed using the Save and Close button and another participant tries to open the form, a lock out message will be presented to the user. The lockout period is 60 minutes.

Reviewer Roles and Dates for Steps

Reviewer roles are associated with users when you add them to SAP SuccessFactors. The route map uses these roles to determine which users to send the form to. There are two Reviewer Roles, as follows:

  • Entry User: Specifies who receives the form first in an iterative step.

  • Exit User: Specifies who is assigned the form next in an iterative step or collaborative step.

Note

Route Maps support Multiple Users, meaning we can select multiple Entry and Exit Users in Iterative Steps, and multiple Exit Users for Collaborative Steps (since C-Steps do not have Entry Users, everyone will receive the form in the inbox at the same time).

Date fields can be defined in the route map to configure and control when the form moves from one step to the next:

  • Start Date: The date when the specific step starts.

  • Exit Date: The date before which the step cannot be completed.

  • Due Date: The date the step is due to be completed.

In addition, two date related options also exist in the same area where Start Dates, Exit Dates, and Due Dates are configured:

  • Enforce start date: This will lock the form in read-only mode until the enforced start date is reached. This way, users won't be able to work on the step until the specified start date.

  • Automatic send on due date: This will automatically forward the form to the next step on the due date. Additionally, if you want to only send forms that pass the form validation check, select Only send forms that pass validation. Forms that don’t pass validation aren’t automatically moved to the next step. To send all forms regardless of whether they pass validation, select Always send regardless of validation.

Steps of a Route Map in the Signature Stage

In the Signature Stage you can edit the step name, step description, step type, and dates.

The step type is different in the Signature Stage than in the Modify Stage. Because the form can only be with one user at a time for signature, the step type in the Signature Stage contains the role of the person who is to sign during this step.

Steps of a Route Map in the Completion Stage

In the Completion Stage you can edit the step name, and select carbon copy roles which determine the user(s) who receive a read-only copy of the form when it is completed.

Step ID

The Step ID is the unique identifier of the step in the route map. This is used by consultants in configuring permissions on a form template through XML The final step in the route map, usually called the Completion step, does not have a step ID. So permissions in a form template can only include this step if the particular permission is applied to all route map steps.

Step Advanced Options are displayed.

Route Map Advanced Options

Select the arrows to learn more about the capabilities provided in the advanced options of the route map steps.

Start of Review

The Start of Review option identifies the beginning of the performance review process. This is generally set to the first step of the route map. The main function of this feature is to identify when a form is added to the Team Overview page. This ensures Team Overview is made available to the direct managers and/or to the matrix or HR managers if they are involved in the workflow.

The Start of Review checkbox is selected and highlighted.

If you want managers to use Team Overview, you have to ensure that you have selected the Start of Review feature on a step in the route map (preferably the first step in the route map) of a form. Team Overview can be permissioned for the manager’s role in RBP if the corresponding option in Provisioning is enabled.

Out of Turn Access

The Out of Turn Access (OOTA) in Advanced Options allows roles to access a copy of the form via Team Overview before the form officially reaches them.

To use this option, Start of Review has to be activated either for the same step or for one of the steps before.

The Out of Turn Access checkbox is selected and highlighted.

Out of Turn Access can also be used without losing draft data in cases of:

  • Collaborative (C) Route Map steps. This does not mean that we can enable the OOTA on a collaborative step but it means that the form can be accessed with OOTA when the current step is a collaborative step.

  • Manager and Matrix Manager changes made via Manage Users,Employee Import, and the old and new document transfer tool.

  • Routing a form using the Route Form tool in Admin Center.

  • Sending a form backwards using the Send Back button on the form.

  • When using Calibration where all forms are moved directly to the Calibration session, skipping in between steps.

Watch this video to learn more about the Team Overview Advanced Options: Out of Turn Access.

One-to-One Meeting

The 1:1 Meeting, as the name implies, is used when you have a 1:1 Meeting step created on the route map.

Only the last modifying step can be set as 1:1 meeting step. EM is the recommended role for 1:1 meeting.

The 1:1 Meeting checkbox is selected and highlighted.

A Confirm 1:1 Meeting button will appear on Team Overview for forms created after enabling this option in Manage Route Maps. From Team Overview, managers can select this button to route the form directly to the signature stage if it exists or to the completion stage, without having to open the form.

The Confirm 1:1 Meeting button appears in the Performance Review Form.

Set Up a User-Defined Step in a Single Step Route map

All performance review forms can be centralized in one account, by setting up a dummy user or technical user account. Several users from the Performance Management team can then proxy into this account. A User-Defined step in a Single-Step Route Map is frequently used for this purpose.

Steps

  1. Add a single-role step to the route map.

  2. Choose User from the dropdown menu of roles.

    Result

    A box appears, into which you can type the name of any user in the system to whom you want to grant access for this route step.

  3. Type the name of the user you want to assign to the step.

    Note

    This option is only available for a single-role step type. In addition if the user assigned to the step leaves the company, you will need to edit the route map. It is therefore preferable to assign roles to route map steps rather than individual users.

Rating Scales

To create a form template, you technically need a rating scale. A rating scale is a tool used during the evaluation process to quantify a reviewer’s perspective on the employee’s performance.

Some customers may not want to use ratings but still use performance forms. The rating scale will need to be defined in the template, but the checkbox include the ability to rate should be unselected in the ratable sections of the form template.

You can use an existing rating scale, or create a new one. The default rating scale contains 5 points, with 1 being the lowest rating, and 5 is the highest.

You can also reverse scales in the XML, where 1 is the highest rating and 5 is the lowest. Additionally, there is a Provisioning switch that enables a reverse rating scale order for Dashboards and Reports only, but it is recommended to enable it only if the customer decides to do this at the beginning of implementation, since changing it at a later time may have undesired impacts on some of the historical data in the system. But this is generally not recommended.

Rating Scale Options

Most of the time, rating scales will contain 3, 4, 5, or 7 points but we can configure the rating scales with as many points as the customer needs. Typically, the most common option is to use 5-point rating scales.

You can generate scores that increase incrementally by entering the minimum number in Low, maximal number in High, and the increment in Increment.

To generate scores, enter the minimum and the maximum numbers and the increment.

Note

A maximum of 40 rating scale values can be generated using this option. But it would be possible to add additional values manually.

Scale Type Advantages and Disadvantages

Scale TypeAdvantages and Drawbacks
7–Point ScaleThis type of scale offers the highest level of differentiation, and may be helpful when extreme accuracy is preferred over convenience.
5–Point ScaleDefault rating scale type. This type is recommended because it contains a midpoint and allows for a balanced level of differentiation.
4–Point ScaleThis type of scale lacks a neutral midpoint, and so evaluations tend to be artificially skewed towards one end of the scale or the other.
3–Point ScaleThis type of scale is applicable if you would like the result to be divided into two polar points or the neutral one.

Rater Training

Effective rater training can reduce the need for formal calibration. It is, therefore, best practice to encourage customers to host training sessions for all raters before the review cycle starts, to ensure everyone is rating employees on the same scale.

The rating scale should include behaviorally-specific examples of performance at each performance level. Raters should first rate the performance examples individually. Then, all raters rate the same examples collectively, so each rater gets an idea of whether they are being too lenient or strict in their rating of employee performance. After calibrating their ratings with the group using specific examples of performance, easy raters can tighten up their scores, and hard raters can loosen theirs.

Create a Rating Scale and Route Map

Business Example

You are required to create a rating scale and a route map and then connect these to the performance form.

Learn how to create a rating scale and a route map to use in Performance Management.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Steps

  1. Create a rating scale based on a 5-point scale. Name the scale [Your Initials] Rating Scale.

    1. Log into the Instance and navigate to Rating Scales from the Action Search bar.

    2. Select Create New Rating Scale.

    3. Make sure that the ratio button selects the 1–5 pre-built rating scale.

    4. Name the rating scale [Your Initials] Rating Scale.

    5. In the Description field, enter 5-point rating scale for training.

    6. Verify that the label for the 1 score is Unsatisfactory.

    7. Change the label for the 5 score to Outstanding.

    8. Fill in your own labels for scores 2 , 3 , and 4.

    9. Choose Save.

      Result

      You have successfully created a rating scale.

  2. Create a route map from the Library (SuccessStore). Select PM-Self Evaluation and name the route map [Your Initials] Route Map. Add a Single step in the Modify Stage, and include the Manager as the role for this step.

    1. Log into the Instance and navigate to Manage Route Maps from the Action Search bar.

    2. Select View your route map list .

    3. Select Add New Route Map → Choose from Library.

    4. Select PM - Self Evaluation, and choose Add to Instance.

    5. In the pop-up dialog window, rename the route map to [Your Initials] Route Map.

    6. Choose Save.

    7. In the Modify Stage, to add a new step, choose the green plus sign.

    8. Title the new step 1:1 Review Meeting.

    9. Choose OK.

    10. From the Roles dropdown, select Manager.

    11. Choose Show advanced options...

    12. In Step Id, enter 1to1meeting.

    13. Select the 1:1 Meeting checkbox.

    14. Save changes but do not exit Manage Route Maps yet.

      Result

      You have successfully created a route map to direct the workflow of a performance form.

  3. Make some additional configuration changes in the route map added from SuccessStore. To enable Start of Review in the first step, add a Step Exit Reminder for employees, and change some of the existing text.

    1. In the Route Map, select the Employee Self Evaluation step.

    2. Select Show advanced options...

    3. Select Step Exit Reminder and add this text (customize it as needed): Have you asked your colleagues for feedback? Consider doing this before sending the form to your manager.

    4. Enable Start of Review checkbox.

    5. Choose Save.

    6. Select the Manager Evaluation step.

    7. Choose Show advanced options...

    8. Change Exit Button Text into Send to 1:1 Meeting.

    9. Change Step Exit Text into Send to Manager for 1:1 Meeting review.

    10. Choose Save and exit Manage Route Maps.

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