Performance for employees
What Performance asks of you, what it records about you, and where your rating comes from.
Where: Performance You need: nothing — everyone can see their own
What you are asked to do
Three things, and only two of them have deadlines:
| What you do | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Assessments | Answer questions about your own work | When a cycle opens |
| Goals | Agree targets, then record progress | Through the period |
| Feedback | Respond when a colleague is asked about you | When asked |
Skills are the fourth part, and they are continuous — nothing is due.
Where your rating actually comes from
Your overall rating is not one person's opinion. It is a weighted blend of four things:
- Your own assessment answers
- Your reviewer's assessment answers
- The ratings on your goals
- Feedback given about you
Your company sets how much each counts. Asking what those weights are is a reasonable question, and the answer tells you where your effort is best spent — see Score cards.
Two things worth knowing
Your self-assessment is read before your reviewer writes theirs. It is the one place you can point at work they may not have seen. Filling it in properly is the highest-leverage twenty minutes in the whole cycle.
Goal progress you do not record did not visibly happen. A goal sitting at zero reads as a goal that stalled, even when the work was done. Update it as you go rather than at the end.
Priorities tell you where to put effort
Your goals carry a priority, and priority is a weight:
| Priority | Counts |
|---|---|
| Critical | Four times a Minor goal |
| Major | Twice a Minor goal |
| Minor | The baseline |
If you are choosing what to push on with limited time, that is the guide.
Whose turn is it
Every cycle shows one of three states:
| State | Means |
|---|---|
| Pending on employee | Waiting on you |
| Pending on reviewer | Waiting on your manager |
| Completed | Done |
If something has been quiet, this tells you whether to act or to chase.
Feedback about you
Colleagues may be asked to give feedback about you. Whether you can see it depends on the confidentiality level chosen when it was requested — most feedback is visible to you, but feedback marked confidential is not. See Giving and receiving feedback.
Skills and endorsements
You can record skills and ask specific colleagues to endorse them. Asking is normal and worth doing — people rarely endorse spontaneously, and a colleague who has seen your work will usually say yes.
Endorsements are colleagues vouching for you. They are not a qualification and there is no proficiency level — see Skills and endorsements.
Tips
- Answer your self-assessment as though your reviewer will read it first, because they will.
- Update goal progress monthly. It takes a minute and it changes the review conversation.
- Raise an impossible goal early, while it can still be changed. At the review it is too late for anyone to help.
- Ask what the rating scale means in your company. A 3 and a 4 usually sit in different bands, and knowing that is fair context.
- Ask for endorsements. Quietly competent people end up with empty profiles otherwise.
Troubleshooting / FAQ
Q: I cannot see an assessment I was told about. Check the cycle has opened, then ask whether you were included.
Q: Why can I not see feedback given about me? It was marked confidential, which means the admin and the person who gave it can see it and you cannot.
Q: My goal progress looks wrong. Progress is measured against the goal's target value. If that number is wrong, raise it with your manager.
Q: Can I set my own goals? Yes, if your company allows personal goals in the cycle.
Q: I disagree with my rating. Raise it with your manager. Both your answers and theirs are on the record.