How to run a calibration session in 15Five

Calibration sessions help HR leaders and managers make fair, consistent, and transparent assessments of employee performance. Once the Manager reviews due by milestone has passed, you can begin holding calibration sessions.

In a calibration session, Contributors review manager ratings, discuss discrepancies, and make adjustments as needed to ensure participants receive unbiased evaluations.

In this article, you will learn...

• Prerequisites to holding a Calibration Session
• Access a Calibration Session
• Calibration Session Page Layout
• Talent Matrix
• Calibration Table
• Activity Feed
• Review and make changes to review answers
• View and provide context on changes
• Next steps
• FAQs

Prerequisites to holding a Calibration Session

Before you begin, make sure these steps are complete:

• Custom attributes (optional): Add employee attributes (e.g., job level, last promotion date) if you want them visible during calibrations.

• Create calibration sessions: Create a calibration session before you can hold one.

• Schedule a meeting: Invite all contributors and appoint a moderator to keep discussions on track.

• Check manager review status: Use the Review milestones section or the Review writers progress tracker report to see which reviews are complete. You can also download the "Review writers progress tracker" report to see which individuals have/haven't submitted reviews they're responsible for. Nudge managers if needed.
  

Access a Calibration Session

After the manager review deadline has passed, you can begin holding calibration sessions. Until then, calibrations will be greyed out and inaccessible so managers have time to submit their reviews.

1. Click on Best-Self Review® in 15Five's main, left-hand navigation.
   
2. Click on the name of the review cycle you want to access.
   
3. You're now on the review cycle's overview page. From here, open the Calibrations tab using the navigation at the top of the screen.
   
4. Click on the name of the calibration session you want to work on.
   

Calibration session page layout

A calibration session has four key tools:

Filters

• People & Groups: Filter by hierarchy, group, or individual.

• Review section: Choose which section (e.g., PMA, competencies, objectives) to view.
  

  ✏️

  Note

  You can only view answers given to questions in one review section at a time using the Talent Matrix and Calibration Table.

Talent Matrix

The Talent Matrix is a 9-box grid that lets you visualize manager ratings across two questions.

With the Talent Matrix, you can:

• See which participants fall into possible answer options for any two questions
  
• Drag and drop participants from one box to another to change their received answer
  
• See the text responses provided for any answer for a participant by clicking on the participant's avatar. A drawer will open containing the text responses their manager(s) provided.
  
• View additional details about a participant, including custom attributes. Click a participant’s name to open their details drawer, which includes custom attributes, past review results, and a link to their full review.”
• Filter the Calibration Table below to only display information about participants in select boxes
  

Calibration Table

The Calibration Table provides a detailed, row-by-row view of ratings.

With the Calibration Table, you can:

• Apply filters to the Calibration Table using the "People & Groups" and "Review section" filters at the top of the page.
  
  
  
  ✏️

  Note

  You also have the option to filter the Calibration Table to only show information about participants in specific Talent Matrix boxes. To do so, click on the square in the upper, left-hand corner of any Talent Matrix box. Multiple boxes can be selected at a time.

• Change review answers by hovering over the answer cell in the Calibration Table, clicking ..., and selecting the new answer.
  

• Flag participants for discussion by checking the boxes to the left of their names, clicking the Actions button at the top of the Calibration Table, and selecting "Flag" or "Remove Flag" from the dropdown menu.

  
  Once a change is made, the cell will become yellow and note the original answer (crossed out) and the calibrated answer. Changes will be reflected in the Activity Feed at the bottom of the page, as well as in the downloadable calibration session report.
  

• Remove participants from the session by checking the boxes to the left of their names, clicking the Actions button at the top of the Calibration Table, and selecting "Remove from session" from the dropdown menu.

  

• View written responses and participant details by clicking on the answer cell. A drawer will open containing the text responses the participant's manager(s) provided.

  

Activity Feed

All changes made during calibration sessions are logged here. Contributors can:

• Comment to provide context

• @mention admins, collaborators, or contributors for discussion

• Track why changes were made

Review and make changes to review answers

💾 Autosave:Changes in calibration sessions save automatically in real time. If someone leaves the session and returns later, all edits will still be there.

• Use the Talent Matrix for a visual overview and broad trends.

• Use the Calibration Table for detailed edits and discussions.

• Any changes update in real time and appear in both tools.

• If a participant appears in multiple calibration sessions, updates sync across all sessions.

View and provide context on changes

As changes are made in a calibration session, they're logged in the Activity Feed at the bottom of the page. Session contributors, Review admins, and Cycle collaborators can use this feed to provide additional context around what changes were made and why, as well as hold async discussions as needed. This information is extremely important, as it can be referenced for context as needed following a calibration session.

1. Scroll to the Activity Feed at the bottom of the calibration session.
2. Begin an async conversation using the "Add a comment" field.
3. Start a comment thread on a change or comment by clicking the dialogue bubble icon under a change in the activity feed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)