HR Manage Release - Version 4.0.0.4

Released on 15 July 2011

This version includes the New Performance Management System which has all the same features and flexibility as the previous module and more.  The new module integrates fully with the existing job profiling module and only new review templates will need to be set up in order to start using the new module immediately.

New Performance Management System

This module has been developed from the ground up. The previous module was based on a certain set of rules when originally developed, but based on various client requests, those rules needed to be rewritten.

One such rule for example was that in order to review a person, a review process needed to be started and that process required a reviewer and an employee. In this case the rule has changed that it is now possible to have multiple reviewers in a single review, the review can be standalone or as part of a process, the reviewer can change halfway through the process and an employee is not required anymore for the review to work, but either an employee or an entity (e.g. Branch, Department, etc.)

Since this is a brand new module, it can be run independently / in parallel with the existing version 3.6 version of the performance review module.

New Features

The new module is much more flexible and powerful than its predecessor.  Most limitations from version 3.6 have been removed and more features can be accessed from the web interface.  For the new user interface, we used a "clean / simple" approach which looks more basic, but is also much less resource intensive which means faster response times and smaller chances of timeouts over slow connections.  We've also implemented a "popup" system which allows certain tasks to be done very quickly and without actually leaving the screen.  The popups are internal popups and won't be blocked by any browser.

Here is a list of other new features that is included:

Weighting Systems

The new module supports two weighting systems.  The standard style from version 3.6 which is basically a number with which the rating for a component is multiplied with.  The percentage style allows the user to specify what percentage each component will make up of the overall review.

Profile Types & Rating Sets

The Profile Types (previously known as Review Types) have been simplified and are now only used to define the layout / structure of a profile. All other options have been moved to a separate tab for maintaining backward compatibility with the previous version of the performance management system. In addition, the profile types now also define which weighting type should be used for profiles and reviews of that type. Weighting type can either be a Multiplier or Percentage.

Rating sets have also been extended and are now divided into two types known as "Select from list" (standard) or "Enter Directly" (custom). The custom rating set only specifies the minimum and maximum ratings that can be entered directly during a review instead of selecting from a list. This is useful when allowing reviewers to give a percentage rating.

In reviews, the full rating set isn't displayed in the dropdowns anymore, but only once at the top with full definitions.  Only the score codes are displayed in the dropdowns.

Multiple Reviewers

HR Manage now allows for full 360 reviews with multiple types of reviewers.  Each reviewer can capture ratings, comments and sign off on the review.  There are multiple kinds of reviewers available:

• Main Reviewer
  • This is the reviewer that manages the overall review and usually has the authority to specify the final rating
• Secondary Reviewer
  • This reviewer serves as a backup reviewer to the main reviewer.  This reviewer is not actually a normal reviewer, but only comes into play when the main reviewer is unavailable.  Any ratings and comments captured or sign offs done, will be on behalf of the main reviewer.
  • Someone from HR can for instance be added automatically to all reviews as a secondary reviewer which will allow HR to complete reviews for on behalf of reviewers / employees without computers.
  • For security purposes, any work done by this secondary reviewer on behalf of the main reviewer / employee, will be reflected that the main reviewer / employee didn't capture the work themselves.
• Additional Reviewer
  • This kind of reviewer can be added to require an additional person to either sign-off or capture ratings on the review.  This can be any person in the company and it is possible that this person can remain anonymous to the employee if chosen to do so.
  • The the review template is set up to do this (Final Rating = Average of Formal Reviewers), this type of reviewer's ratings can contribute to the final rating of the review.
• Informal Reviewer
  • This is the same as the additional reviewer, including the option to be anonymous, but can have no effect on the final rating.

Setting up Profiles

In version 3.6, setting up profiles in the review process, involved a special activity called "Agree on Outputs" that only allows adding, editing and removing profile components to be reviewed.  The new version has removed that activity type and there are now only two types of reviews.  "Capture Comments" and "Capture Results & Comments".  The ability to set up a review profile online has become an option which can be applied on any of the two types of reviews with advanced features like who can set up the profile.

The new module also handles the actual adding / removing of components differently.  Rather than having one big form with a lot of textboxes, there are now two buttons (Edit & Delete) on every profile component that can be modified.  Clicking it will show a popup where the component will be customised quickly and easily.  On the previous version, there was one big page with all the textboxes being customisable, but if someone captured the whole page and the internet got disconnected and the user submitted without noticing, the contents of the page would have been lost.  This new approach overcomes that problem.

Standard Features

Capturing overall comments and Signing Off reviews are available as before, but will also be done in popups.  Signing off a review has an additional step built into it as well as completing a review has been made a separate step which can only be done when the review is in "Signed Off" status.  This was done because so many users (new users) simply completed a review without thinking in the previous versions and then was unable to go back and change anything due to security.

The system now also allows for the main reviewer to capture comments and signing off the review on behalf of the employee being reviewed.  This is to accommodate employees who does not have access to a computer.  Further, the system also allows the reviewer to sign off a review AS the employee.  This can be done if the reviewer and employee is sitting in front of the same computer.  Rather than logging the reviewer out and then signing in again as the employee, the employee can simply click Sign Off and enter his username and password.

Attachments can also be added to the review by both reviewer and employee.  Any type and any number of files can be attached to a review by simply clicking the "Load New Attachment" link.  Clicking on any of the existing attachments will automaticaly download it.

Workflow Integration

Reviews can be scheduled as standalone or as part of a workflow process.  The workflow will determine when the review can begin, who will be the reviewer(s) for that review and by when must the review be completed before it gets locked.

Forms & Workflow Module

New functions

Activities can now have additional options like Start Date, Finish Date and Lock Date. Each date can be either a specific Day and Month or it can be a number of days after the Start date.

Form Activities can now be specified as Inline or not.  Inline forms will be displayed and filled out in the process view where-as the the other mode will open a new page with only the form to complete on it.

Additional activity type has also been created to allow for including performance reviews into the workflow process.

Bug Fixes

• Adding / Editing Recipient Groups in activities didn't refresh the cache which meant that users needed to close HR Manage and go back in to see the refreshed lookup.
• When creating a new Workflow Process, in some cases, the sequence of activities got mixed up.

Other Modules

Bug Fixes

• Leave Administration Web - Fixed the issue where terminated employees were still appearing on the leave calendar
• Leave Administration - Clicking on the Delete button in the Leave Manager didn't do anything
• Employee Management - Selecting multiple employees and clicking the Merge button resulted in an error
• Service Provider Library - Status of a service provider didn't save in the editor