Applicable Product:

• TM Succession, TM Performance

Applicable Release:

• V21+

Summary:

A process of plotting employees on a two-dimensional grid for:

• Succession Planning 
• Development Planning
• Performance Ranking
• Correlation Analysis (seeing patterns in a data set that may otherwise go unnoticed when looking at only one employee at a time)

9-Box Grids

One example of a calibration session commonly used in succession planning processes is referred to as a "9-box" grid where employees are plotted against two factors each with 3 values thus forming 9 boxes. 

Calibration Templates vs. Calibration Sessions

• A calibration template is a basic framework which gives users a starting point when creating a calibration session. In calibration sessions, managers and stakeholders view and arrange employees on plot diagrams for succession planning or other organizational purposes. When a user starts a calibration session, they first select a calibration template. Administrators create these templates on the Calibration Templates page.

• Calibration Sessions are instances of a calibration template for a chosen population. Users having access to calibration sessions will be able to choose from the list of calibration templates created by the administrator. The idea here is that HR wants to take control on defining the calibration templates, so that the consumers across the organization use the same format for a specific calibration exercise.

Create a Calibration Template

Define the Basics:
Enter a display name and description, select the X and Y axes and sort order, set the interactivity and key attributes for this template.

Enabling Interactivity

• A calibration grid is said to be “interactive” when the end-users can drag and drop employees’ names from one box to another to calibrate or strengthen the rating by comparing one employee relative to others in the population.
• If a calibration grid is not “interactive”, it’s simply a read-only correlation of two values plotted against one another.

Role-Based Calibration Templates

Admins can configure which roles can access each calibration template.
The template will be available for all roles if the admin does not select any roles.

Defining Key Attributes

Key Attributes are additional columns end-users will be able to see about each employee when they hover over their name in the diagram.

Defining Display Options

• Highlight important employee characteristics (drop down/pick list items) for comparison during calibration sessions by selecting from the list of categories below. End-users will see these selections in a Display Options panel in their calibration sessions and be able to further refine their  preferences.

Configuring the Calibration Matrix

Calibration Matrix Checkbox Selections

Across the top of the plot diagram, four check boxes allow you to select attributes to include in the calibration template:

• Not Specified — Select this check box to include a column and row that displays employees that do not have the plotted columns specified in the system.
• Summary Percentages & Counts — Select this check box to display current percentage (of the total population) and total employees. The current percentage appears in the header cell for each row and column, while each box displays the total employees in the box as well as the percentage of employees in that box.
• Recommended Percentages —Select this check box to display recommended percentages in the header cell for each row and column. The recommended percentages default to evenly distributed; you can adjust these in the header row and columns. Percentages must add up to 100%.
• Key Attributes — Select this check box to display key attributes when a manager hovers over the employee's name in the plot diagram. You select which columns are displayed on the Basics page.

All of these check boxes can be selected or cleared by the manager during a calibration session; this configuration just allows you to set the initial state.

Configuring the Box Labels & Descriptions

• Click the Configure Label and Description icon in each box to edit the box label and description. These will appear at the top of each box. You can also change the default color (the background color of the employee name box) and the font color (of the employee's name). You can use these settings to color-code the calibration matrix for ease of use.
• If displaying Summary Percentages & Counts and Recommended Percentages, you can edit these labels by clicking their Change Text icons.

Setting the Recommended Percentages

• Clients may want to set Recommended Percentages for each box on the grid to provide guidance to their managers.
• Recommendations usually take the shape of a “bell curve”.
• This helps managers distribute their employees for adequate differentiation.
• It also encourages “easy graders” or “tough graders” to rethink employee evaluations relative to one another.

Publishing the Template

• Before the admin publishes the template, no one will be able to see it in the list of templates from which to create a calibration session, so admins don’t have to worry about people seeing work-in-progress.
• Once the admin publishes the template, the x- and y-axis, display options, and interactivity settings are locked, but the rest of the attributes can still be adjusted if needed.

Keywords: Calibration, Calibration Configuration, Calibrate


Created: Erik Zilli