This article explains how to visualize results and calibrate answers on Deel.
What is Data Visualization?
Data visualisation is the graphical representation of information and data using visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps. It helps to make complex data more understandable and accessible.
What is Calibration?
Calibration in the context of performance reviews refers to a process where managers and leaders come together to discuss and ensure consistency and fairness in the evaluation of employee performance across the organization. The goal is to align performance ratings and evaluations to ensure that similar standards are applied to all employees, reducing biases and discrepancies that may arise from subjective assessments.
Why are Data Visualization and Calibration Important in Performance Review Cycles?
1. Ensure Fairness and Consistency: Calibration helps ensure that performance ratings and evaluations are consistent across the organization, reducing biases and discrepancies. Data visualisation aids this process by providing clear, visual comparisons of performance metrics.
2. Enhances Understanding: Data visualization makes complex performance data easier to understand, allowing managers to quickly identify patterns, trends, and outliers. This supports informed decision-making during the calibration process.
3. Facilitates Effective Communication: Both data visualization and calibration contribute to clearer communication of performance insights. Visual tools help present data in an accessible way, while calibration discussions ensure that evaluations are uniformly understood and applied across the organization.
Before you begin
- Must be a Deel Engage admin.
- Must have Deel Engage enabled on organization.
- Must have Performance turned on under Deel Engage
- Must have created and launched a performance review cycle, if this isn't done yet, check out our article on how to do that How To Launch a Performance Review Cycle on Deel.
How to Visualize Results on Deel
Within Deel Engage, data is currently visualized with two powerful tools:
1. Heat maps
A heat map in performance data visualization is a graphical representation of data where individual values contained in a matrix are represented as colors. This type of visualization is particularly useful for displaying the performance levels of various metrics across different dimensions, allowing patterns and outliers to be easily identified.
Key Features of Heat Maps
1. Color Coding:
Colours represent different values or performance levels. Typically, a gradient of colours (e.g., from red to green) indicates the range from low to high performance.
The intensity of the color represents the magnitude of the value. For example, darker shades indicate higher values, while lighter shades indicate lower values.
2. Data Matrix:
The data is arranged in a matrix format with rows and columns, where each cell represents a data point.
The rows and columns can represent different dimensions such as employees, departments, time periods, or performance metrics.
Admin can select any column header and sort by ascending, descending. Column 1 will also auto adjust based on the new sorting.
2. N-Box Plot
An N-box data visualization, often referred to as a matrix or grid, is a tool used in performance management to categorize employees or other entities based on multiple dimensions, typically performance and potential. The most common form is the 9-box grid, but the "N" can represent any number of boxes or categories used to classify and visualize data.
9-Box Grid: One of the most popular forms, used to assess employees based on their current performance and potential for future growth. The grid is divided into 9 boxes, with performance on one axis (e.g., low, medium, high) and potential on the other axis (e.g., low, medium, high).
Grid Structure
1. Axes:
Horizontal Axis (X-axis): Performance (low, medium, high)
Vertical Axis (Y-axis): Potential (low, medium, high)
2. Boxes:
Each box represents a combination of performance and potential, creating nine categories.
Categories of N-Box Plots
1. Top Right (High Potential, High Performance):
Stars: High achievers with strong potential for leadership roles.
2. Top Middle (Medium Performance, High Potential):
High Potentials: Perform well but have room to grow; often targeted for development programs.
3. Top Left (Low Performance, High Potential):
Rough Diamonds: High potential but currently underperforming; may need targeted development or support.
4. Middle Right (High Performance, Medium Potential):
Consistent Stars: Reliable high performers with stable potential.
5. Center (Medium Performance, Medium Potential):
Core Performers: Steady performers with moderate potential; form the backbone of the organization.
6. Middle Left (Low Performance, Medium Potential):
Inconsistent Performers: Fluctuating performance, moderate potential; may need closer management.
7. Bottom Right (High Performance, Low Potential):
Solid Performers: High performers unlikely to advance much further; valuable in their current roles.
8. Bottom Middle (Medium Performance, Low Potential):
Under utilized: Consistent but limited potential; may be suited for specialized or stable roles.
9. Bottom Left (Low Performance, Low Potential):
Low Performers: Under performers with limited potential; may require performance improvement plans or reevaluation of fit.
Admin experience - Analytics
At each point in time, admins can check the overall status of all performance cycles they have. They can check the progress, number of participants, and reviewers, start date and status. Statuses can be: Draft, Active, Scheduled and Ended. If they want to deep dive into one specific cycle, they can choose from the list and on the click, an expanded view to manage the cycle will appear. They can also see the list of all participants, number of tasks left and completed.
To build the analytics view, the admin needs to:
✅ Step 1 - Go to the Analytics section of the Performance tab and select the view.
✅ Step 2 - If N-Box is chosen, what is going to be on the x-axis and y-axis should also be chosen.
✅ Step 3 - To build the N-box, choose - the feedback cycle to be analyzed, feedback type and how each question rates.
✅ Step 4 - Additionally filter by location, group, manager, department, etc. to analyze results into more details.
✅ Step 5 - Finally, export the results as a CSV or PDF.
In the case the admin wants to build a heat map, they have to choose the segment, group and type of feedback. As performance feedback can be linked to competencies, in the heat map this can be easily checked how everyone performs against those set competencies.
To make the analysis even more focused, we offer different filters for users:
Assignee experience
Once the performance cycle gets assigned, employees will see the cycle assigned to them in their main Performance dashboard.
Clicking on the cycle will guide them to the review with all the steps that need to be completed.
In case peers are to be assigned for feedback, it's up to the employee to add whoever they need. This part can be automatically approved, or a message will be shown saying that a manager will need to review and approve it.
Once peers are nominated, self review can be conducted.
Note: The steps here are defined by the settings and type of review the admin selects. In this case, the employee can have a task to review a peer, or their manager if that was selected. Each card on the left side shows an action to perform.
Employees need to fill in all the mandatory fields, and only then can they continue with the flow. Based on admin's settings, employees will see information on who can see their feedback, when and how.
When ready to submit their review, employees click on the continue button and submit their review. They can track their progress in the progress bar on the top.
In the review section, employees can see how many reviewers are assigned to them, the average of the goals and results achieved (if it is a ranking question) and the summary of the reviews.
Manager experience
If admin chooses that managers need to approve their direct reports peer nominations, it should be done as step one. If the deadline is missed, the nominations will automatically get approved.
Based on the review settings, managers may be asked to review their direct reports. They can also be chosen as a peer to review other peers, provide feedback to their manager or provide a self review. The difference between managers and other employees is that managers have another option unlocked, which is the calibration.
Whenever a manager writes the feedback to their direct reports, an additional step will be unlocked, to share feedback with them.
Frequently Asked Questions
[ACCORDION] Why does the editing the comments or calibrate button not work sometimes?
Feedback for this employee might not be submitted yet or it could already be shared with the reviewee. And shared feedback cannot be calibrated
[ACCORDION] How can calibrated feedback be shared?
Once calibrated, it is the same process as not calibrated feedback. Go to the sharing task once it is active (once the writing deadline ends) and click on the share button.
[ACCORDION] Who can see the overview table?
Only the admin and calibrator of the feedback folder.
[ACCORDION] Why does the calibration option not toggle on?
Calibration can only be activated if the "reviewee sees feedback once manager shares it" option is on. Reviewee sees results once manager submits it does not work for calibration.
[ACCORDION] Does the reviewee see the scores that was given before calibration?
No, the reviewee sees only the calibrated result.
[ACCORDION] How can calibration be allowed?
If the reviewee can see the feedback once the manager shares it or if they cannot see the feedback, then admin can allow manager to calibrate the result. To activate, reviewee immediately once submitted should be switched to "once the manager shares it" or "reviewee cannot see the feedback".