Calibration

Calibration is where HR checks that grades are fair across teams before they become final. You compare how grades fall in each department or worksite, and adjust a person’s score where it is out of line, always with a reason. The computed score is kept beside the calibrated one, so anyone can see what changed.

Calibration happens in two places: in a performance cycle, on KPI scorecards, and in a review cycle, on review results.

Who can calibrate scores: Owner, HR admin.

Managers see their team’s review results and the 9-box from calibration onwards. See Reviews and calibration.

The calibration grid

The grid shows, for each team, how many people hold each grade. Each cell reads computed → final: how many people the grade was computed for, and how many hold it after calibration. The last columns show the number of People and the Average final score, and the bottom row totals every team.

In a performance cycle, choose whether Teams are departments or worksites. In a review cycle, the grid can be grouped by department or worksite in the same way.

Performance cycle: open Performance → Scorecards and choose the Calibration grid tab.
Review cycle: open the cycle and choose the Calibration tab.

The calibration grid: grades by department, each cell showing computed and final counts, with people and average final score

Calibrate a performance scorecard

HR calibrates while the performance cycle is in Calibration. See Performance cycles.

Open Performance and choose the Scorecards tab.
Click Details (the eye) on the person’s scorecard.
Under Calibrate, enter the Calibrated score and the Reason. A reason is required.
Click Calibrate.

The grade follows the calibrated score on the organisation’s grade scale. The reason is kept with the scorecard, which is flagged Calibrated. To undo it, click Clear calibration: the computed score and grade become the final ones again.

Scoring the cycle again keeps every calibration.

Calibrate a review result

HR calibrates while the review cycle is in Calibration. See Review cycles.

Open the review cycle and choose the Results tab.
Click Open on the reviewee’s row.
Click Calibrate score, enter the Calibrated score and a Reason, and click Calibrate.
To move the reviewee on the 9-box’s potential axis, click Calibrate potential, choose the level, give a Reason, and click Calibrate.

The computed score is kept beside the calibrated one, and the grade is worked out again from the calibrated score. When you calibrate potential, the manager’s rating is kept beside yours. Clear calibration returns the computed score and grade.

Nobody calibrates their own review. The reviewee never sees a calibration reason or their potential rating.

The 9-box

The 9-box places each reviewee by two things:

Performance, from their final review score: low, medium or high.
Potential, from their manager’s rating (or HR’s calibrated rating): low, medium or high.

Open the review cycle and choose the 9-box tab. Potential runs from high at the top to low at the bottom; performance from low on the left to high on the right. People with no final score or no potential rating yet are listed under Not placed.

	Low performance	Medium performance	High performance
High potential	Rough diamond	Future star	Star
Medium potential	Inconsistent performer	Core player	High performer
Low potential	Talent risk	Effective contributor	Trusted professional

Set the 9-box thresholds

The thresholds decide where low, medium and high performance begin. By default a final score below 55 is low, and from 85 it is high.

Open Reviews and choose the Set-up tab.
Under 9-box thresholds, set Low below and High from.
Click Save thresholds.

Why Cadre works this way

A calibration changes the grade someone is held to, and in a performance cycle the grade decides whether they get recognition, a coaching plan or an improvement plan. Cadre asks for a reason every time and keeps the computed score beside it, so a decision can always be explained later.