Online appraisal with orbitPLUS
orbitPLUS online appraisal helps individuals and managers conduct professional and constructive appraisals to cover e.g. key results, objectives, skills, personal development plans and overall assessments. It does this through:
- offering simple and consistent online appraisal frameworks, easily configured to each client’s needs
- helping users to schedule and complete their review meetings regularly and on time with appropriate email alerts and reminders
- ensuring all the relevant forms, information and guidance are at hand when they are needed
At the heart of the design of the online appraisal module of
orbitPLUS is the fact that performance management systems are composed of some or all of these components, known by a range of titles in different organizations:
- Role profile
- Performance plan
- Skills profile
- Personal development plan
- Other discussion
- Overall assessment
Role profile - containing the key accountabilities or responsibilities of the role or job. These tend to stay relatively constant over several years and are often generic for given roles. They often form the basis of grading or job evaluation systems and answer the question: what is this job there for? They may often indicate the relative significance of different parts of the job or the likely time commitment for each.
Performance plan - this is often couched in terms of SMART objectives or targets, which give specific and current focus to what the individual is aiming to achieve in the role in the current period. It answers the questions "what will success look like for me in this job?"
Skills profile - often described in terms of the organization’s competency model, this allows for the individual to self assess or be assessed according to the competencies.
Personal development plan - focuses the individual on their development needs, planned development actions and progress on the plan. This may include web links to external Learning Resources web sites.
Other discussion - is often a record of other items that go to make up a successful performance review conversation: what the individual or their manager might want to change in terms of the job, the way it is undertaken and the style of management that is being applied. It might include upward feedback for the manager. It might also include a conversation about the individual’s broader aspirations and interests.
Overall assessment - allows for overall performance ratings and summaries, especially in support of bonus recommendations.
orbitPLUS provides for these sections to be designed and customised for each client (or even customised for different groups within the organization). Each may include ratings, percentage scales, comments fields or links to other parts of the system (e.g. linking a given objective to a business plan). The sections can be ordered in different sequences and will be headed by whatever introductory text is relevant in each case. The system is designed to make a shift from paper to online simple and quick, while adding all the benefits of an online system.
The key attribute of orbitPLUS is its
flexibility - its ease of modification for each client organization, usually involving a 2 hour process rather than a 6 month project.
Company handbook
In addition to all the relevant information about an individual,
orbitPLUS provides access to the key reference material for appraisals to be undertaken consistently and according to the relevant guidance. Examples include:
- competency models, with relevant development tips and resources
- business plans
- generic role profiles
- process help e.g. how to conduct performance review meetings
- system help
Alignment
One of the key differences between standard appraisals and performance management is the alignment of individual performance plans with company business goals. Appraisals often take place in isolation; performance management is an integrating process designed to engage individuals with the wider context – helping them to see the significance of their contribution to the bigger picture.
orbitPLUS links and aligns key items in online appraisals to other strategic items. For example:
- personal business goals linked to a business plan
- development activities or needs related to competencies
Without an online appraisal tool such as
orbitPLUS it is rarely possible for this alignment to be transparent and maintained.
Reporting
orbitPLUS provides easy reporting for HR specialists and senior managers via standard views within the system and via ad hoc reports and search capabilities:
- standard reporting of e.g. Development needs grouped by Competency, or Objectives grouped by Business Plan
- text searching tool e.g. to find development needs specifying "engagement" or "customers"
- export data to external systems.
Who is orbitPLUS for?
orbitPLUS online appraisal is designed for business people who want easy-to-use and powerful tools to manage performance, with or without sophisticated and well-resourced HR functions. They may want to adopt a standard TPMG style or they may want to use their own, via a simple, do-it-yourself configuration of the system. Either way
orbitPLUS is the easy to implement, easy to use and cost effective solution. They will want the system up and running in days rather than months and they will want the assurance that they can modify the designs without capital outlay.
Overview
- access via the internet
- key process stages supported by workflow, email messages: invitation for feedback, reminders, access to new results
- user specific home page gives instant access to personal details, outstanding actions, current and historical appraisals for self and team
- high level of security. All users log on to the system via a unique user name / password combination.
- facility for user to change password
- easy printing directly or via PDFs
System management
- confidentiality of appraisals protected
- personal data can be imported from a corporate HR system
- real-time monitoring of appraisal progress
- configurable email prompts and reminders
- up to three levels of administrative access: super user, group administrator and line manager