Terminology can vary across many organizations and industries. Below are some terms that will help you when locating what you need in the application as well as assist our Support Team in quickly answering your questions.
Keep in mind, the application allows for some labeling to be customized. For example: Core Values may be title 1 of 5 options for your account. These are most commonly referred to as Core Values or Workplace Behaviors.
Company/Organization
Core Values (also called Workplace Behaviors) - these are generally set at the leadership level and represent expectations on behavior / attitudes to support the desired culture of the organization. These are included on the performance review. Employees are measured on their success with each core value. Core Values drive the score for the X Axis of the matrix.
Documents - these are generally organizational-wide policies or procedures to be reviewed and signed by all employees. We label the first option as Employee Handbook.
Mission - the Mission explains why the organization exists.
Vision - the Vision explains where the organization is going or how the organization will look in the near future (usually 3 to 5 years).
Purpose - a place for a company to list the “why” behind their operations and what their goals are as a whole
People
Behavioral Profile - the option to include a profile or assessment is included on the People tab. This is typically a workplace motivator or non-confidential assessment used to identify team dynamics and foster better communication (i.e. DISC, StrengthFinder, Myers-Briggs, etc.). We offer DISC however the application is vendor neutral.
Employees - a list of all active and inactive employees that are registered to the company’s account. Edits can be made by admin users to an employee’s profile, this page can also be hidden to employee users in the account settings.
Job Descriptions - a place in which specific duties and descriptions of the different positions within the company can be posted for the users to learn their responsibilities or what to work on for a potential promotion.
Departments - a listing of the different departments around the company/organization.
Positions - a list of the job titles currently held by the company/organization’s employees.
Locations - a brief listing of the different branch locations of the company/organization if there are multiple.
People > Employees
Primary Manager - the manager who oversees the day to day activities and responsibilities of the employee. In most cases, this is the person Checking-In with, evaluating, and coaching the employee. Only one can be assigned per employee.
Secondary Manager - a manager who may temporarily oversee day to day activities or project-based tasks of the employee. This manager may Check-In with and coach the employee but, on a limited basis.
Cascading Manager - a primary manager with the oversight of the primary manager’s manager and so on. Can conduct performance reviews and Check-Ins.
OKRs
OKRs (Also called **Goals**) - these are generally metric or project based goals set at the Company, Department, and Individual level. OKRs can be aligned to a parent goal to create cascading goals or not aligned to a parent for agile goals (i.e projects to be completed). OKRs are NOT directly connected to the performance review but can be accessed easily during the review conversation.
Agile - these are goals that are not aligned to a specific parent goal. This goal can be set at the department or individual level. They may loosely support an organizational goal in some way or they may be a “one-off” project based goal.
Cascading - these are goals that are aligned and support the parent goal in some way. Individual goals align to Department goals, which align to a Company goal.
Category - this is a tag to group and organize your Company goals. The Category (if enabled) is ONLY selected when creating or editing a Company goal. There is an option to customize the tag label.
Company - these are goals set at the leadership level that creates clarity and focus. Company Goals are usually assigned to an Executive or member of the Leadership team. Company goals may state the outcome while the cascading department and individual goals state the “how” in achieving the outcome.
Contributor - this is one or many employees assigned as a Contributor on a goal. Contributors are generally someone that is “doing” some of the work and/or their work impacts the results of the goal.
Department - these are goals set at the Department level and typically support the Company (parent) goal. These are usually assigned to a department head or manager to monitor and drive the results.
Individual - these are goals set at the Individual level and typically support the Department (parent) goal. These are usually assigned to an employee but can also be assigned to anyone in the organization.
Person Responsible - this is the one employee assigned to monitor and drive the results of a specific goal. This is required for all goals.
Team Goals - this is where you navigate to review goals that you or another user has assigned to your direct reports as being the Person Responsible.
Engage > Check-Ins
Check-In - this is the form used by both the employee and the manager to engage in frequent coaching conversations. The Check-In form includes questions set by the manager to spark communication and may include the assigned Performance Objectives and Core Values from the current review to communicate progress. The employee may also update their assigned OKRs during their Check-In.
Sidebar - a tool in the Check-In forms that holds the spot for manager’s to leave feedback on their direct report’s Check-Ins.
Engage > Performance Reviews
Alignment Meeting - this is a recommended meeting where the manager and employee review expectations and what success looks like for each component. This creates clarity and provides opportunity for coaching. It is recommended that this meeting take place at the beginning of the review cycle.
Self Assessment - this is the form used by the employee to score themselves and provide comments for each assigned objective and core value. If included, the employee also completes custom questions, a section about personal goals, and Workplace Satisfaction.
Performance Objectives (also called Objectives) - these are generally metric or job based objectives included on the performance review. Employees are measured on their success with each performance. Performance objectives drive the score for the Y Axis of the matrix.
Performance Review - this is the assessment form created to communicate expectations on objectives, core values, etc. and is used by the manager to score the employee’s performance. We offer multiple review cycles and include (by default) a Workplace Satisfaction section.
Overall Score - this is one score based on where the review results end up on the matrix. This is an option enabled by Help Desk users but where the client sets the score equivalent.
Review Conversation (also called Coaching Conversation) - this is when the manager and employee meet to review the results of the employee’s self assessment and the manager’s evaluation. During this conversation, the next cycle’s expectations are discussed and it is recommended a new review be created for the employee using the copy option.
Sidebar - a menu that allows the user to switch between the employee’s different response forms (i.e. Check-Ins, 360 Feedback, etc.); and edit the details of the review itself.
Engage > 360 Feedback
360 Feedback - this feature is typically used to gain insight on an employee’s performance or behaviors from their peers (Internal Feedback) or others outside the organization (External Feedback). 360 Feedback is not shared with the employee unless the manager selects to include a specific 360 record as part of their review. Feedback can be “signed” by the provider or provided anonymously.
360 Report View - this is a consolidated report of all submitted 360 Internal feedback per employee. This gives insight on the average rating for assigned objectives and core values as well as comments for each section. If applicable, this report includes a Self 360 completed by the employee.
Engage > Recognition
Recognition - this feature allows for employees and/or managers to recognize one another, or provide feedback on a particular project, in a more public setting than 360 Feedback. The person recognizing their co-worker can also choose a specific core value to highlight that they feel the person exemplified in their work.
Engage > Learn
Learn - this feature provides included application and coach training videos. Organizations can also create their own learn topics to be assigned to employees as needed.
Category - this is a tag to group and organize your Learn Library topics.
Learn Library - this feature is a collection of all Learn topics the company has put together, as well as, some pre-loaded topics that can help the user’s understanding of the application.
Engage > Agenda
Agenda - this is a place where meetings and strategies can be planned out in a way any user can see and edit. It allows teams to lay out action plans and have a firm knowledge of their tasks at hand.
Pulse > Workplace Satisfaction
Reports - this report includes how employees rated their Workplace Satisfaction as part of their review process presented in pie charts based on the Performance - Values Matrix. Responses are included for signed reviews (Past) only.
Response - this report includes how employees rated their Workplace Satisfaction and answered the additional Workplace Satisfaction questions as part of their review process. Responses are included for signed reviews (Past) only.
Pulse > Survey
Engagement Survey - this survey includes 12 statements with a Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree scale. This can be sent in conjunction with your review cycle or sent out as a one-off survey to get a pulse on the team’s engagement.