Configuring KPIs

Before you dive in Spark.work's KPIs, take a few minutes to establish a solid foundation. This article focuses on configuring key settings that will simplify your KPI management process. Connecting your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to relevant data sources is essential for accurate calculations and meaningful insights, and ultimately, evaluating the success of the organization. We'll cover the following areas within the Settings section of the KPIs:

Sources

Connect your KPIs to relevant data sources for accurate calculations and insights.

To incorporate a new data source for your KPIs, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Perform module, then select KPIs and Settings.
2. Click on the Sources tab.
3. Click the +Add button.
4. Enter a descriptive name for your new data source.
5. Click Save to finalize the addition.

The Notification templates tab allows you to customize email and system/push notification templates to keep users informed about KPI performance and upcoming reviews.

View and edit template details, including names and variable content, by clicking on the specific template.

Approval Flows

When creating KPIs, you have the option to bypass the approval process by simply assigning an owner. However, for KPIs requiring multiple sign-offs, you'll need to establish an approval workflow. This ensures proper authorization before the KPI becomes active.

To create approval processes for your KPIs, follow these steps:

1.  Go to Perform -→ KPIs → Settings → Approval Flows
2.  Click the + Add button to start a new approval workflow.
3.  Configure Approval Details:
   • Approval Name: Assign a unique name to identify the workflow.
   • Sequential Approval: Determine if approvals should be sequential or can be completed simultaneously.
   • Days to Approve: Set the timeframe for approvals.

   • Calculate approval in - Choose the working or calendar days for the response deadline.

   • Publish KPI Automatically: Toggle this switch to automatically make the KPI active and visible for tracking once its approval flow is completed.

4. Define Approvers: Select the roles involved in the approval process (Owner, Contributor, Approver, or Employee Group). Use the Add button for multiple approvers.
5. Days to Approve: Specify the number of days approvers have to respond when the Sequential option is enabled.
6. Click Save to finalize the workflow or Cancel to discard changes.
7. Assigned KPIs: This section displays KPIs that have been linked to this approval flow during their creation process. 
   

Tip: 

• When selecting Owner or Contributor, specific names will not be pre-filled. They will be added during the KPI creation process.
• Reports to is automatically assigned based on the selected approver's role.
  
• Owner: The primary individual responsible for a KPI. The owner oversees its management, and tracking, ensuring it aligns with organizational goals.
• Contributor: A team member who assists the KPI owner in data collection, analysis, and reporting. Contributors play a supporting role in maintaining KPI accuracy and relevance.

Create categories for your KPIs to group related KPIs together, making them easier to organize, find, and analyze. Use the Show switch for each category to control its visibility in the Library section.

To create a category, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Perform module, then select KPIs and Settings.
2. Click on the Categories tab.
3. Click the +Add button.
4. Enter a descriptive name for your new category.
5. Click Save to finalize the addition.

The Thresholds tab allows you to set specific percentage ranges for different performance levels of your KPIs. Predefined values are used as defaults for new KPIs when creating them.

To define the percentage ranges, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Perform module, then select KPIs and Settings.
2. Click on the Thresholds tab.
3. Click the +Edit button.
4. Specify the percentage values for each option (e.g., Fail: 1-50%, Average: 51-70%, Success: 71-99%, Outstanding: 100%).
5. Click Save to save the ranges.

To customize these default settings:

1. Navigate to the Perform module, then select KPIs and Settings.
2. Click on the Approval Configurations tab and click the Edit button to open a sidebar window.

• KPI Approvals:

  • Approval Required: Toggle this switch to define whether new KPIs generally require approval before they are published and become active.
  • Approval Flow: If approval is required, select an existing approval flow template from the dropdown.  You also have the option to create a new approval flow by clicking the "here" link.

• Check-in Approvals:

  • Approval Required: Toggle this switch to determine if updates to KPI progress (check-ins) require approval from an owner or designated approver before they are finalized.
  • Approval Flow: If check-in approval is required, select the appropriate approval flow template from the dropdown, or create a new one via the "here" link.

• Reminders:

• Reminders on Check In: Toggle this switch to enable automated notifications for KPI-related personnel, prompting them to complete their required check-ins.
• Frequency: Select how often these reminders should be sent (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly).
• Reminder before Frequency End: Specify how many days before the end of the KPI's check-in frequency period the reminder should be triggered.

In the Multiplier Configurations section, you can define how employee performance affects their compensation. This is done by setting up multipliers based on position categories and performance score ranges. When an employee's performance score falls within a specified percentage range, their salary will be multiplied by the corresponding multiplier value.

To configure these default settings:

1. Navigate to the Perform module, then select KPIs and Settings.
2. Click on the Multiplier Configurations tab.

• Position Category: Select one or more employee position categories (e.g., "Customer Service," "Human Resources") to which the subsequent multiplier rules will apply. 
• Ranges: For each selected Position Category, you define one or more performance percentage ranges (e.g., "1 % - 20 %," "21 % - 100 %"). 
• These ranges correspond to different levels of employee performance.
• Multiplier: Adjacent to each defined percentage range, you specify a numerical multiplier value. 
• Add New Range: This button adds additional percentage ranges and their corresponding multiplier values within the same Position Category block.
• Add New Parameter: The button creates a new, entirely separate configuration block, allowing you to define multiplier rules for a different Position Category or group of categories.

Note: Click the Delete icon 🗑 to remove specific ranges or an entire category's multiplier configuration.

 You can use the following buttons to manage the configuration:

• Delete: This button deletes the entire selected configuration if the checkbox next to the position category is selected.
• Reset: Discard any unsaved changes you've made and revert the configurations to their last saved state.
• Save: Apply and store all the modifications you've made in the Multiplier Configurations, making them active within the system.

You've laid the groundwork! Now it's time to bring your KPIs to life. Let's start creating and managing your performance indicators.