Use these steps to create a calibration session inside an active review cycle. When complete, the session appears in the Calibrations tab and begins populating with manager review answers as they are submitted.
Before You Begin
- The review cycle must be active and must have manager reviews and calibrations enabled. See Configure a review cycle to include calibrations.
- The manager review question template must include the sections you plan to use in the session (Private Manager Assessment, Company Values, Competencies, and/or Objectives). See Understand performance review question templates.
- You must be a Review Admin or Cycle Collaborator.
Steps
- Go to Reviews in the left-hand navigation.
- Click the name of the active review cycle.
- Click the Calibrations tab.
- Click Create calibration session.
> To reuse settings from an existing session, clone it instead. See Clone, edit, or delete a calibration session.
- Enter a name for the calibration session.
> Use a name specific enough that Contributors can identify which employees are included.
- Select the manager review sections to include in the session:
- Company Values — managers rate direct reports on how they live out company values - Competencies — managers rate direct reports on job competency behaviors - Objectives — managers reflect on direct reports' objectives performance - Private Manager Assessment (PMA) — managers answer structured questions about what they would do with each team member > Note: To include Objectives, your review cycle template must use one question referencing all objectives and key results. The "Ask a question for each objective" option is not compatible with calibration sessions. See Enable Objectives in a performance review cycle.
- Under Appoint contributors, select the Contributors for this session.
> Contributors can view and change all review answers included in the session, except their own manager's answers about them.
- Under Include participants, select the employees whose results will be reviewed.
> Use View participants to open a searchable list of included employees and verify the session audience.
- Under Exclude individuals, add any employees who meet the inclusion criteria but should be excluded.
- Under Which additional people attributes do you want available during this session?, select the custom user attributes to display in the calibration drawer.
> Attributes synced from your HRIS are available here. Select specific attributes or include all.
- Click Create session or Create session and add another.
What Success Looks Like
The new session appears in the Calibrations tab with the name you entered. As managers submit their reviews, the session populates with answers for the sections you selected. The session becomes active after the Manager reviews due by date passes.
If Something Goes Wrong
| Issue | Check | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Calibrations tab is not visible | Confirm the review cycle was created with calibrations enabled | See Configure a review cycle to include calibrations to verify cycle settings |
| No participants appear in the selection list | Confirm the review cycle includes manager reviews and that the cycle is active | Recheck review cycle setup; manager reviews must be enabled for participants to appear |
| Objectives section is not available to select | Confirm the question template uses one question referencing all objectives, not "Ask a question for each objective" | Update the template to use a single objectives question. See Enable Objectives in a performance review cycle |
| Create session button is not visible | Confirm your role is Review Admin or Cycle Collaborator | Contact your Review Admin to verify your cycle permissions |
Not Covered Here
This article does not cover holding or locking a calibration session after it is created, or managing session roles and permissions. See Calibrations in performance reviews — overview and .
Related Articles
- Calibrations in performance reviews — overview
- Configure a review cycle to include calibrations
- Clone, edit, or delete a calibration session
- Download calibration session data
- Enable Objectives in a performance review cycle
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