Preparing and Managing the Performance Management Review Cycle

Configurations must be thoroughly tested before the company’s review cycle starts. In this lesson, we will learn how to test the performance form in order to prepare for the start of the review process as well as how to manage the process once it starts. You will learn about the tools available for handling form and data changes, and monitoring the process.

Every form template must have a title. This title should be descriptive of the form and easy for users to understand. The title is visible in the Performance Inbox and on the open form.

In the figure titled Form Title and Sections, the form title includes both the name of the template and the name of the subject of the form. The name of the template is Performance Form and the name of the subject of the form is Edward Employee.

Below, the sections included in the form are listed and can be selected to navigate to the beginning of each.

Users access the Performance Management menu from Home → Performance, which is referred as My Forms page. The following actions can be completed from this page:

• Access their in-progress forms from their Inbox, whenever an action is required from their end at the Current Step of the form.
• View their in-progress forms in the En Route folder, those that may be in a different step of the route map, and the action was already taken in a previous step.
• Access their Completed folder, to see those all those forms already completed.
• Create folders to organize their completed forms.
• Use the Search options to locate their forms easier.
• Mass Route forms to Next Step or Previous Step. These actions require the permissions Mass Route Document Forward and Mass Route Document Backward, granted in Role-Based Permission, and located in the Manage Documents category.
• Create New Forms individually. This option requires the Permission to Create Forms granted in Role-Based Permission and located in the General User Permission category.. The options available to create a form might depend on:
  • Which templates are selected under the Permission to Create Forms RBP permission.
  • The Default Targets set in Form Template Settings for each template. As an example, a manager might be able to create a new form for their direct reports and themselves, but another form template might be restricted to create a form only for themselves.
  • The option Allow form creator to select anyone as a subject in Form Template Settings, will allow to search beyond the reports and select anyone in the organization as the form subject. This permission is dependable on the target population granted for the User Search permission in RBP.

Currently, there are two different versions of My Forms Page. The following screenshot shows the display of My Forms page when the latest version is disabled:

This screenshot below shows the latest version, available when Enable the latest version of the My Forms page is enabled in Performance Management Feature Settings . The main advantages of this newer version are:

• Search for forms in every form folder.
• Search for forms despite not having the permissions to mass route forms.
• Search by more reporting relationships, if applicable.
• Select which search filters to display.
• New menu to create a form, mass route forms, or create a folder for complete forms in a more efficient way. You can see an example on the screenshot Create New Form

Testing is a process to validate that system behavior is what is expected. It is crucial that you test your template before launching forms to individual users.

When creating the form, there are many places where small errors can occur. By running a test launch, you may be able to catch and correct any errors.

Testing involves taking the form through the entire process to ensure that all steps and sections work as expected. If any errors are found during the testing process, stop, delete the current form, and fix the error. When the error is fixed, start the test with a new form.

Watch this video to learn more about how to test your form.

Deleting a form removes it from the front end of the system. However, the form can be restored later, if necessary.

Some situations when a form might be deleted are as follows:

• An employee is no longer active and the employee’s form needs to be removed from the Inbox or manager reports.

• A form has been incorrectly created.

A previously deleted form can be restored at any time. The form is restored to the system at the routing step it was in when it was deleted.

Examples of when to restore a form include the following:

• An employee leaves the company, but then comes back.

• The form was accidentally deleted.

Watch this video to learn more about how to restore a deleted form.

Changes that occur at the organizational level may affect forms. These changes include the following:

• Manager changes

• Job code changes

• Employee name changes

• Matrix Manager changes

• HR Manager changes

In order for these changes to impact forms that are in progress, one of the following functions can be used:

• Employee Import function

• Change Engine function

Note

Scenarios such as obtaining a new manager or assigning a new job code determine if Change Engine or Employee Import are used.

If an event occurs that causes a change, the Employee Import function is used to import new user data.

When using Employee Import, each form can have its own definition as to what happens after a change.

Once a change is made and the User Data File (UDF) is imported, the form template settings determine if the information is moved to each form on a case-by-case basis.

If there is a manager change, the manager information is changed in the import file.

• The file is then imported either manually or automatically.
• During import, there are automatic manager transfer options to be selected, which apply to all forms when form template settings permit.

At the template level, each form has its own settings that enable a form to be moved (or not) based on manager changes.

The system will attempt to apply the settings set up in import and then look at the form template setting on each form template.

Note

After importing users through Employee Import, you now receive a separate email notification about document transfer results, including lists of users whose forms have been transferred or failed to transfer.

If you are using an Instance with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, you will not find the option Employee Import. Navigate instead to Import Employee Data, and select the Basic Import entity.

When using the Change Engine function, each form is treated the same based upon what has been set in the import file.

Change Engine might be used, for example, if a manager changes, but the forms are always to be kept with the old manager.

Change Engine also allows you to manage forms for other data changes such as job code changes or location changes.

The Change Engine also supports HR Representative changes. It can be enabled in Cross Talent Feature Settings and then we can make the necessary modifications when we select HR Rep. Change in the Employee Change Engine.

Note

Once Change Engine has been turned on for a form, it cannot be turned off.

This feature allows the administrator to use administrative controls to force documents to the next stage in the route map. For example, you might require this feature if an employee or manager is on a sudden extended leave and the form must be moved along the route to be completed.

You can access this feature via Route Signature Stage Form or Route Completed Document using Action Search.

Dashboards display portlets. Portlets are charts and graphs showing high-level summary information about a single topic, such as performance forms. The graphs and charts can be drilled into providing the data behind them. 

The Standard Performance Dashboard contains information about the status and progress of forms, such as the type of form, the number of completed forms, and workflow status as well as performance and potential rating distribution.

Standard dashboards can be added from the Manage Dashboards option. Once it is added into the instance, the Dashboard becomes available from the Report Center. Custom dashboards can be created and they can contain both standard and custom tiles. 

Select the Start button to access the graphs on the custom dashboard.

Form Status Workflow

Once it is determined where the users and forms are in the performance review process, this information can be used to determine the best steps to take to complete the performance review process.

Possible actions to complete the review process may include one of the following:

• Complete a form on behalf of someone else

• Forward the form to a different step

• Email the users involved to remind them to complete the form

• Send a message to a user

• Email the entire organization to remind them of the performance review process