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. 

To effectively manage and tailor your KPI settings, navigate to Perform → KPIs → Settings. From here, you can configure the following key sections:

• Sources

• Notification Templates

• Approval Workflows

• Categories

• Thresholds

• Approval Configurations

• Bonus Policy Configuration

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. Click on the Sources tab.
2. Click the +Add button.
3. Enter a descriptive name for your new data source.
4. 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. Select Approval Flows tab
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 publish the final KPI scores and make them visible to the employee once the 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. Click on the Categories tab and then the +Add button.
2. Enter a descriptive name for your new category.
3. 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. Click on the Thresholds tab.
2. Click the +Edit button.
3. Specify the percentage values for each option (e.g., Fail: 0-40%, Average: 40.1-60%, Success: 60.01-100%, Outstanding: 100.01%).
4. Click Save to save the ranges.

To customize these default settings:

1. 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 Bonus Policy Configuration section, you can define how employee performance affects their compensation. This is achieved by setting up comprehensive bonus rules based on specific position categories and performance score ranges. You can configure bonuses using multipliers, fixed amounts, or linear scaling. 

To add a new set of bonus policy parameters, follow these steps:

1. Select the Bonus Policy Configuration tab.
2. Click the Add New Parameter button.
3. Define the Performance Ranges:




• Min Range (%): Enter the lower
  boundary of the performance percentage. 
• Max Range (%): Enter the upper boundary of the performance percentage.
4. Formula: Choose one of the three bonus calculation methods from the Formula dropdown for this specific range. (Percent, Fixed, Linear).
5. Enter Bonus Values: Depending on the chosen formula, fill in the Min Bonus, Multiplier/Fixed, and Max Bonus (Cap) fields.

• Add New Range: This button adds additional percentage ranges within the same parameter group. The Min Range for the new row will automatically default to the Previous Max Range + 0.01, ensuring no gaps.
• This allows for a highly granular and flexible bonus policy that accurately reflects varying levels of performance for a given group of employees.
• Add New Parameter: The button creates a new, entirely separate configuration block.

Note: Click the Delete icon 🗑 to remove specific ranges.

The Formula type is crucial as it determines how the bonus is calculated for each defined performance range.

1. Percent

• When Percent is selected, the value you enter in the Multiplier/Fixed field acts as a percentage multiplier. This multiplier determines what percentage of a predefined base salary will be awarded as a bonus.
• How it works: Your performance score falls within the range, and the system takes the value from Multiplier/Fixed (e.g., 1.2 for 120%) and applies it to a base.
• Example: If your target bonus is $1,000 and your performance falls into a range where the Formula is "Percent" and Multiplier/Fixed is 1.2, your bonus will be $1,000 * 1.2 = $1,200.

        2. Fixed

• When Fixed is selected, the value you enter in the Multiplier/Fixed field represents a specific, absolute bonus amount. If an employee's performance falls within this range, they receive this exact bonus sum, regardless of their base salary or exact performance within the range.
• How it works: Your performance score falls within the range, and the system awards the exact amount specified in the Multiplier/Fixed field.
• Example: If your performance falls into a range where the Formula is Fixed and Multiplier/Fixed is $500, your bonus will be exactly $500. The Min Bonus and Max Bonus (Cap) fields are not applicable for this formula, as the amount is already fixed.

        3. Linear

• When Linear is selected, the bonus amount is calculated proportionally based on where the employee's performance falls within the Min Range and Max Range. The bonus smoothly scales from the Min Bonus value (at the lower end of the range) to the Max Bonus (Cap) value (at the upper end of the range).
• How it works: You define a starting bonus for the Min Range and an ending bonus for the Max Range. The system then calculates a bonus that gradually increases as performance moves from the minimum to the maximum of the defined range.
• Example: If Min Range is 80%, Max Range is 100%, Min Bonus is $100, and Multiplier/Fixed is $200:
• A performance of 80% yields a $100 bonus.
• A performance of 90% (halfway between 80% and 100%) yields a $150 bonus (halfway between $100 and $200).
• A performance of 100% yields a $200 bonus.

 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 modifications made to the Bonus Policy Configuration, 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.