What’s New in the 1H 2021 SAP SuccessFactors Performance Management Release

As of April 9, 2021, SAP has released their documentation for the H1 2021 release.

Preview release will be April 16 and production will be released May 21^st. You can view the full set of documentation in the W hat’s New Vie wer here. For full details on the release cycle, check out the SAP SuccessFactors official product updates blog here.

For tips on how to manage a release, check out our blog here.

For your convenience, we’ve summarized the highlights of what’s new for 2021 Performance Management below.

The updates for Performance Management are primarily targeted for 360 Reviews so we will start with those. The PM form updates will be discussed after these features have been reviewed. Calibration updates can be found in our separate blog here.

What’s New for 360 Forms – Fiori Version

Here are the 10 universal updates made for the Fiori version of 360 forms to provide the same features that are available 360 Reviews v11.

Add Approvers in 360 Reviews

Approvers may now be added in the Modify stage.

Development Goal Section Available in 360 Reviews

A development goal section may be added to a 360 Review form template. These enables employees the opportunity to add and edit development goals.

Display a Data Table for a Chart

Within a 360 Executive Review and Detailed 360 Report, a user may select the table icon on a chart to see a data table. This provides text equivalents for non-text content.

Display External Users in Search Results When Adding Participants

It is now possible to add external users as participants without having to disable the system setting Hide External Users from search results.

EZ Rater Available in 360 Reviews

When enabled, the EZ Rater option provides a more condensed list view for rating goal and competencies.

Form History Available in 360 Reviews

Prior performance and 360 forms are now available within a 360 Review. The History button will display options to view either form type if available.

More Form Actions Available in 360 Reviews

Additional action options are now available for 360 forms. Information about the form may be viewed and the form may be deleted.

Print Preview Available in 360 Reviews

When the user clicks the Print button, a popup displays a preview of the form. This provides the user the opportunity to select the entire form or selected sections to print.

Stack Ranker Available in 360 Reviews

Stack Ranker can be enabled which allows side by side ranking of employee competencies. Ratings may be modified and comments added.

Section Descriptions Fully Displayed by Default

Now section descriptions are fully displayed by default and can be collapsed. Clicking Show Less to hide content. Previously sections were collapsed and the user had to click Show More to see the content.

What’s New for PM Forms

There are 5 universal updates for PM forms.

Customized Weighted Rating Supported in Import Overall Scores

Previously it was only possible to import overall scores into the Objective Competency Summary, and Performance Potential Summary, and Summary sections. The new release enables you to update overall scores for the Customized Weighted Rating section.

On the import file, use <PERFORMANCE> rating in the CSV file. The rating field is also used to update the Summary and Performance Potential section overall rating. If there is more than one PERFORMANCE rating, there is a priority for updating. The section order for uploading from high to low is:

Customized Weighted Rating
Performance Potential Summary
Summary

Deep Link to Performance Management Forms

There is now a deeplink available to access a performance form: /sf/openFormByDocId

New OData V2 API Entity FormCustomizedWeightedRatingSection

There is a new OData V2 API Entity: FormCustomizedWeightedRatingSection. It can be used to get the Customized Weighted Rating section details of a performance form in order to update the manual ratings section of the performance form.

Target Population in Role-Based Permissions for Import Overall Scores

This update pertains to the Customized Weighting Rating import that we just covered. Role based permissions may now be used to restrict users to importing scores for only their target population.

Select a role in Manage Permission Roles. Go to Permission>Administrator Permissions>Manage Document and select “Import Overall Scores Only for Target Population” and “Include All Employees” which allows granted users to update manual overall scores for all employees.

Live Profile Section Deleted

A Live Profile section can no longer be added to PM forms. Information in the existing section is no longer available. A link to People Profile can be used on the form instead.

What’s New in Continuous Performance Management (CPM)

There are some new early adapter features for the latest version of Continuous Performance Management (CPM). They are admin opt-in or opt-out features. We won’t cover these here since the latest version is not widely enabled. When the latest version of CPM is enabled, these email reminder notifications will become obsolete: Conduct 1:1 Meeting, Update Status, along with Activity and Achievement reminder notifications.

The latest version will handle notifications differently since multiple roles can be used and meeting channels can be created. Requests and meeting notifications can be created for anyone in the user’s meeting channel.

We have now covered the highlights of the PM related updates for H1 2021. See our blog for Calibration release features.

Do you need help managing your SuccessFactors Release cycles? Download our support services brochure or email info@worklogix.com to see how we can help!

What’s New in the 1H 2021 SAP SuccessFactors Calibration Release

What’s New in Calibration?

As of April 9, 2021, SAP has released their documentation for the H1 2021 release. You can view the full set of documentation in the W hat’s New Vie wer here. As a reminder, preview release will be April 16 and production will be released May 21^st. For full details on the release cycle, check out the SAP SuccessFactors official product updates blog here. For tips on how to manage a release, check out our blog here.

For your convenience, we’ve summarized the highlights of the 7 new universal features for 2021 Calibration along with the an admin opt-in. Let’s start with the universal features.

Universal

Distribution Range and Group of Ratings in Guidelines

When defining your Calibration template and Performance was selected as the data source on the Data tab, previously an individual percentage could be set for each rating with one rating in a guideline.

It is now possible to create a distribution range for ratings including a group of ratings in a guideline.

In addition to an individual rating, a group of ratings can be used when creating a guideline. As an added bonus, more operators besides “=” can be used:

<
<=
>
>=
is between

This allows you to set a distribution range for ratings and also include a group of ratings in a guideline with different operators.

Group Ratings and Distribution Ranges in Bin View

Here is a feature that works with the new distribution ranges and groups of ratings in guidelines. When a guideline includes an individual rating with a distribution range, in Bin View, you can see the number of subjects in a range that can be added or removed from the bin to meet the guidelines. A warning message will display above the bins if a guideline includes a group of ratings.

You may modify the total number of subjects for groups of ratings to meet the guidelines. You may also adjust the number of subjects displayed as a range within a bin.

Dashboard and Executive Review Bar Charts

Working in tandem with the new distribution range and groups of ratings that can be configured in guidelines, there is a new UI for bar charts for the Dashboard view and the Executive Review view. The bar charts identify actual distribution for each rating from the rating scale. Blue and orange bars are used to identify the distribution that matches or does not match the guideline.

Hover over the chart to see target vs. actual distribution if any of these conditions are met:

A rating appears more than once in multiple guidelines.
Not all ratings are configured in all guidelines.
There is more than one rating in a guideline.
There is more than “equal” configured in a guideline.

When none of these conditions are met, the bar charts will still display the actual distribution and the guideline.

Filters in Manage Calibration Settings

Within Manage Calibration Settings, the “Search Results Fields” tab has been relabeled as “Search and Filter Fields”.

On this tab, the existing columns has been relabeled:

“Include Field” is now “Include Search Results Fields”
“Make Default” is now “Default Search Results Fields”

There is a new column, “Filter Fields”, applies to all views of a calibration session and allows you to identify the default filters.

There are also new filter fields: Name, First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Title, Username, Email, Gender, Level, and Status.

Manager Created Calibration Sessions

It is now easier for a manager to create his team calibration session. Previously a manager could identify the template, session name and number of reporting levels when creating the session. Now the manager has more options. Session co-facilitators may be chosen, the default co-facilitators changed and the direct reports may also be participants rather than just subjects. The default co-facilitators option will only appear if the admin opt-in on Manage Calibration Settings is used. It will be explained in the admin opt-in section at the end of this blog.

Deep Links to Performance Management

Within a calibration session view, it is now possible to use a deep link to view a performance form:

/sf/viewPMFormFromCAL

Also to use a deep link to edit a performance form:

/sf/editPMFormFromCAL

Appending the deep link to the application server address will go to a Performance Management form in calibration views as well.

My Jobs Downloads

Previously Calibration reports could be downloaded from the Scheduled Reports page in Classic View. Reports may now be downloaded from My Jobs page within Report Center. This eliminates the need to switch to Classic View prior to downloading.

A report with multiple files can be downloaded in a compressed .zip file or downloaded individually.

Admin Opt-In

There is one admin opt-in for Calibration which we touched upon when looking at manager created calibration sessions.

Specify Default Facilitators for Manager-Initiated Calibration Sessions

A manager initiated calibration session can now have default facilitators. To set this up, a user who has access to Manage Calibration Settings would go to the Global tab and use the setting: Choose one or more users as default facilitators for a new manager calibration session to identify active users to default as facilitators.

This can be useful to specify an HR manager to act as a co-facilitator in order to access a manager initiated session.

When creating a session, the New Session dialog window will display the default facilitators but can be edited by the manager.

We have now reviewed what is coming soon for Calibration.

Do you need help managing your SuccessFactors Release cycles? Download our support services brochure or email info@worklogix.com to see how we can help!

Performance Reviews: Can’t Live with ’em, Can’t Operate a Productive Workspace Without ’em

Companies large and small are recently being asked to forgo employee evaluations. When industry giants like Adobe, Cigna, Microsoft, and GE give up on performance reviews, it’s easy to assume that it’s all for the good of the organization, but the evidence is mixed. Why, suddenly, are organizations passing up performance reviews and what good is it really doing?

Why ditch the performance review process?

According to the Harvard Business Review, by 2015 thirty large companies had either altered and reduced their performance reviews or had thrown them out altogether for their combined 1.5 million employees. These companies claimed that performance reviews were failing. Failing how, though? The four major reasons employers say they have replaced or removed their performance review process are:

Numbers lie: Reviewers are increasingly finding it difficult to quantify work done by employees, especially when an emphasis is put on team projects – where does one person’s effort end and where does another person’s effort begin?
Cohesion and collaboration: Performance reviews aren’t like grading a test, only a certain amount of As, Bs, and Cs can be given out. This hurts team cohesion when employees feel they did more work but received a poorer rating than a coworker.
Limiting engagement: Annual performance reviews mean that, often, managers only meet with employees and discuss their progress and performance once a year. Removing performance reviews, apparently, encourages employers to speak to employees more often.
Honesty and Openness: Both reviewers and reviewees report that they can have a more open and honest dialogue about tasks and workload when they don’t have to justify a rating come performance review time.

So, how do ratingless performance reviews work?

If performance reviews don’t work, then what does?

Consulting firm ETS tracked the performance review changes from 6 major corporations; Accenture, Adobe, Amazon, Deloitte, Google, and Netflix. Each of these organizations has a specific replacement for traditional performance reviews. In 2015, Accenture CEO Pierre Nanterme traded performance reviews with a process of “selecting [and] hiring the best people” and “[to] get people to their very best.”

At Adobe, they’ve replaced performance reviews with “check-ins,” where managers are given a budget, salary range and where each employee’s compensation sits within that range. Based on this information, managers make recommendations in a “pay-for-performance” philosophy.

Deloitte utilizes a performance snapshot which asks four yes or no questions about an employee’s performance at the completion of every project (around 4 times every year). According to the firm, this process saves over two million hours that would have been spent on rating performance. Where Deloitte’s goal is efficiency, Amazon focuses on data-driven results. Amazon has faced criticism for both its Anytime Feedback Tool and its Organization Level Reviews which created an environment of negativity and where one poor performance review could lead to firing.

Google and Netflix have championed the 360 peer review process. Google asks its employees to evaluate their coworkers semi-annually. These reviews ask employees to tell their coworkers “…one thing the reviewee should do more of and one thing that they could do in a different way.” These reports go anonymously to the reviewee and their manager.

Netflix however, has no guidelines as to how to review the employee, nor has anonymity to the reviews. Netflix utilizes a “keeper test” wherein they ask their management, if a member of their team were leaving, would the manager try hard to keep the employee? If the answer is no, the employee is cut.

What is the global perspective of performance reviews?

While American companies have thrown the metaphorical baby out with the bathwater in ditching performance reviews, abroad, companies have yet to adopt these radical changes. While each organization has their own evaluation system, most European-based companies are sticking to the traditional approach. One exception, SAP, comes at the cross-hairs of European and American influence. Since 2014, the German-based HR giant has been under the guidance of American CEO Bill McDermott. In 2016, McDermott announced that SAP would be scrapping their annual performance reviews. SAP’s shift is not just internal, however. Senior Vice President of Human Resources for SAP Wolfgang Fassnacht announced in February of 2016 that SAP would continue to market their traditional performance assessment software as well as a new “continuous performance management” software for those companies seeking to modernize their performance review process.

Are performance reviews here to stay?

Overhauling the performance appraisal process may aid in improving efficiency, team cohesion or even employee satisfaction, but these replacements have their own issues, including, in many cases, how to award compensation. Other cases, like the Netflix and the Accenture models, are unsustainable in their philosophies: just hire the right people or just remove employees who in any way underperform.

It’s easy to forget, too, that as much employers and managers rely on performance reviews, employees also benefit from these processes. In a case study of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, HR.com host Edie Goldberg found that employees who received high marks on their performance assessment felt, on average 70% more engaged with the company over the next year than employees who received low marks on their performance assessment. And in a survey conducted by CEB, now Gartner, found that:

“…employee performance drops by around 10% when ratings are removed, and less than 5% of managers can effectively manage employees without them.”

Performance review ratings will always be tricky, no matter how they are approached, but managers, employees, and companies rely on the ability to track performance and progress. Determining how to best go about designing an approach to performance assessment requires introspection, not only on what information is expected to come from evaluating the individuals, but also from evaluating the organization, as a whole. In the end it all comes down to the simple fact that employees are incapable of meeting, or exceeding, expectations, if management does not themselves know what those goals are.

Worklogix partners with clients to plan, configure, develop and integrate HR products and custom applications. We have assembled a global team with years of experience implementing HCM solutions. Our team is dedicated to understanding your business challenges, helping you leverage your technology and implement solutions that deliver results.

Sources:

Adobe. (n.d.) Adobe Check-In. Accessed August 16 2018. http://www.adobe.com/check-in.html. [Accessed 15 Aug 2018]

“Culture At Netflix | Netflix Jobs”. 2018. Jobs.Netflix.Com. Accessed August 16 2018. jobs.netflix.com/culture.

Cunningham, L. (2015). Accenture CEO explains why he’s overhauling performance reviews. Accenture.com. Available at: http://www.accenture.com/us-en/company-accenture-ceo-performance-review [Accessed 15 Aug. 2018].

de Mello, F. (2016). Case Study: How Google does Performance Reviews. Squarespace.com. Available at: https://worklogixblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/b3318-google.pdf [Accessed 16 Aug. 2018].

ETS. (n.d.). Replacing performance ratings… How Amazon, Deloitte and Google do it. Available at: http://www.etsplc.com/replacing-performance-ratings-how-amazon-deloitte-and-google-do-it/ [Accessed 15 Aug. 2018].

“Employee Performance Reviews In 23 Countries”. 2016. Slideshare.Net. Accessed August 17 2018. http://www.slideshare.net/ForeignStaffing/employee-performance-reviews-in-23-countries.

Fortune. (2016). SAP, Maker of Performance Review Software, Ditches Performance Reviews. Available at: http://fortune.com/2016/08/12/sap-ends-performance-reviews/ [Accessed 16 Aug. 2018].

Goldberg, E. (n.d.). Continuous Employee Performance Management. HR.com. Available at: http://www.hr.com/en?t=/network/event/attachment.supply&fileID=1464633654696 [Accessed 17 Aug. 2018].

Rock, D. and Jones, B. (2015). Why More and More Companies Are Ditching Performance Ratings. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2015/09/why-more-and-more-companies-are-ditching-performance-ratings [Accessed 15 Aug. 2018].

Sloan, N. (n.d.). Performance management: Does your process serve your strategy?. Deloitte United States. Available at: http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/finance/articles/cfo-insights-performance-management-process-strategy.html [Accessed 16 Aug. 2018]

Soper, Taylor. 2016. Amazon To ‘Radically’ Simplify Employee Reviews, Changing Controversial Program Amid Huge Growth. Geekwire. Accessed August 16 2018. http://www.geekwire.com/2016/amazon-radically-simplify-employee-reviews-changing-controversial-program-amid-huge-growth/.

Stone, M. (2015). Amazon employees reportedly slam each other through this internal review tool. Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-reportedly-slam-each-other-through-this-internal-review-tool-2015-8 [Accessed 15 Aug. 2018].

Wiles, Jackie. 2018. “The Real Impact On Employees Of Removing Performance Ratings”. Gartner.Com. Accessed August 17 2018. http://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/corporate-hr-removing-performance-ratings-is-unlikely-to-improve-performance/.