Getting more from Performances Reviews, Competencies and the ESS

Introduction

The functionality and features of the People Inc. system can be combined when handling complex tasks. This article briefly considers five different sets of functionalities (performance reviews, ESS customisations, competency management, indicators and news items) that is provided to HR teams and how they can be combined to help implement a combined approach to delivering performance reviews, assessing global competency targets and informing the workforce, utilising the flexibility of the ESS module.

Complete Performance Reviews

As a flexible system People Inc. provides fixed functionality appraisals, configurable questionnaire style appraisals and the possibility to create bespoke solutions based on specific requirements. An organisation will arrange annual or quarterly reviews for staff members. Using the ESS it is possible to delegate the completion and specific arrangements of these review to line managers and employees. An HR administrator is then able to review or approve the submissions. Performance reviews can be used to identify training needs and other goals which are recorded in the system.

Performance Reviews or Appraisals

More information regarding performance reviews can be found in this article.

Using Competencies within People inc.

More information regarding competency management can be found in this article.

Complete Competency Assessments

A competency assessment form can be completed alongside a performance review for an employee. In this usage a limited set of competencies would normally be assessed (although there is no limitation on how the functionality can be put to use), focussing on areas that may require global monitoring such as diversity awareness or other key behavioural competency sets.

By combining this type of assessment alongside performance reviews means that there is a minimum impact on line managers making adoption easier to manager. This is aided by considering only a very limited number of competencies for assessment, making the form quick and easy to complete.

Show and hide sections in the ESS

The content Employee Self Service home page is entirely configurable and managers and employees can be assigned different content to suite their purpose. In this example the performance review and competency assessment items are given their own section on the homepage. This is only made available on the home page at the relevant time of year. By managing the content of the homepage in this way it is possible to guide different user groups towards the most important activities, over time these users will also learn that some items are time limited which may help to inspire a sense of urgency in the forms or activities. This is a message that can be reinforced through news items. Another example of when adding and removing items from the home page can be utilised is in managing the period when Holiday Buy & Sell should be available or if Toil requests are possible.

The competency Target screen within People Inc. allows for a set of competencies to be defined which can be used as targets to judge performance against. When used in the above scenario to define a set of strategically important set of competencies these targets can be used within reporting to illustrate achievement against a current target or against multiple targets, past, present and future. This enables users of the system to promote, monitor and succeed in helping an organisation meet its goals.

Publishing the Data Captured

As standard the Employee Self Service module provides a range of indicators which can be used to provide visualisations of data. These can be used to provide basic information to an employee such as how many days leave; they have remaining or it possible to define any number of more complex queries for the data.

During annual performance reviews an indicator could be added to the homepage to show line managers the number of reviews they have completed or still have to complete. After the review period has been completed it can then possible to feed back some information back to workforce using other indicators. Again, these can appear in a section of the homepage that is temporary.

In a similar way information captured through the assessment of global competencies can be fed back through the ESS. This can help individuals feel more confident about the values of those around them and in doing so help build community and the identify of the organisation.

Using the News section of the Employee Self Service provides another option of delivering this feedback or additional information and explanation of the indicators that have been added. The HR team is able to express their gratitude to the organisation for their hard work in collecting the information which will can be used to guide and inform decisions for the following period.

Conclusion

This article has provided an overview of how the functionality provided by the People Inc. system can be used together to communicate, implement a process, assess abilities, engage with staff and monitor performance. Working together with clients we are able to help advise on, design, build and implement work flows from beginning to end typically utilising the existing range of features and addon functionality that is available. This can provide a cost-effective way to deliver complex workflows that can otherwise be difficult and costly to administer or report on.

More information about the areas of the system considered in this article can be found below: