Anna Gertsik, SAP SuccessFactors consultant at ACBaltica
Clear, well-defined objectives help employees stay focused and grow, while consistent team oversight keeps them motivated and on track. SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals module supports both by enabling seamless goal setting, offering continuous feedback, and structured performance evaluations.
In this post, we’ll explore how these features work together to support employee development and organizational success.
If you prefer the video format, please visit our YouTube channel, where my colleagues talked about this topic and also showed a demo. Here is the link.
Introducing SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals
SAP SuccessFactors is a comprehensive cloud-based platform that helps businesses to manage and optimize HR processes. In previous posts, we've covered Employee central and Recruiting modules. Apart from them, SuccessFactors offers several other key modules, including:
- Onboarding,
- Performance and Goals,
- Compensation and Variable Pay,
- Career Development Planning and Mentoring,
- Succession and Development,
- Learning Management System,
- People Analytics.
Continuing our look into SAP SuccessFactors, we’re turning to the Performance and Goals module to see how it supports performance reviews and goal alignment.
Benefits of SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals
- Align goals with business strategy
Performance and Goals module ensures that every employee's goals and KPIs are directly linked with the company's strategic goals.
- Monitor performance in real time
With real-time tracking of employee performance, managers can easily identify any blockers preventing employees from achieving their goals. This transparency allows for quick action to resolve issues and keep productivity on track.
- Identify top and low performers
Performance reports and analytics allow managers to identify effective and ineffective employees. The data helps make decisions on talent development, promotions, and areas where additional training or resources may be needed.
- Manage daily activities
Continuous Performance Management tools let managers stay connected with their teams, monitor daily activities, and provide regular feedback.
- Ensure fair and objective feedback
Structured review forms and calibration tools promote unbiased evaluations based on data rather than perception.
Key tools in the Performance and Goals module
Goals management
Goal management is the first step of the performance lifecycle in the Performance and Goals module. It helps to ensure that every employee is focused on the right task and works efficiently. And Goals tool plays an essential role in this process.
Creating goals
Creating goals is one of its main features. The process is simple: click the “Create Goal” button and fill in details like the goal name, category, visibility, description, deadlines, progress, and status.
Once saved, the goal can be tracked, edited, and updated with progress details at any time.
Cascading goals
Cascading allows goals to be aligned from the top of the organization down to individual employees.
For example, a manager can create a high-level goal and pass it down to a team or departments.This can be easily done directly from the Goals tool’s main screen by selecting the goal, choosing the employees, and assigning the goals with any necessary adjustments. Team members then link their personal or team goals to the larger goal, ensuring alignment and transparency across the organization.
Managing team goals
Manage team goals feature helps managers effectively track and manage their team's goals in one place. Each team goal is displayed in a separate box, and clicking on it displays detailed information such as progress, team members, descriptions, and performance metrics. This feature allows managers to create, update, and assign goals for their team members without including them in their own Goal Plan.
Continuous Performance Management (CPM)
Continuous Performance Management (CPM) helps employees and managers stay connected through regular check-ins and shared visibility into daily work. The main tools screen displays employee activities, organized in two views, by goals or statuses, which are customizable.
Managers can use these views to spot delays, recognize achievements, or offer timely support.
CPM also supports short-term planning by allowing teams to quickly adjust goals and priorities based on real-time progress.
Viewing achievements
Employees can mark completed tasks as achievements, which are then visible to managers. This feature helps both employees and managers gain a clearer understanding of individual contributions and progress within the company.
Conducting meetings
At any point, a manager can conduct a meeting with an employee directly from the main screen of the Continuous Performance tool. The meeting form includes helpful features like adding discussion topics, writing notes, and viewing the employee’s goals and activities.
After the meeting, all the information is saved in the archive, so nothing is lost and it’s easy to look back at past discussions when needed.
Continuous feedback
Continuous Feedback feature makes giving and receiving feedback a seamless, ongoing process. Employees can request feedback from colleagues, direct reports, or managers, and can also provide feedback to others.
The main screen of the Continuous Feedback tool is organized into three clear tabs — Feedback Received, Feedback Given, and Feedback Requests Sent — making it easy for users to track all feedback interactions in one place.
Performance Management
Performance assessment
Performance tool in SAP SuccessFactors helps both managers and other roles take part in performance reviews. It uses detailed review forms that allow rating of goal achievement, competencies and skills.
Each form includes helpful sections like a step-by-step route map, user and review details, a summary, and the option to attach documents. Forms can also be customized to fit your company’s needs.
360-degree feedback
360 Multi-Rater Forms enable businesses to combine self-feedback with anonymous input from colleagues to have the most comprehensive view of the performance. Employees suggest people to review them—like peers, managers, or direct reports—and managers can approve or adjust the list.
Reviewers get notifications, also via integrations like Microsoft Teams, which makes the process more efficient. The results are displayed in a detailed report with visual graphs showing them from different perspectives. For example, you can see how you've been rated on a particular goal, or by a particular group of people, e.g., your peers.
Team overview
Team Overview feature gives managers a centralized view of their team’s performance review progress. It displays performance review forms in a clear table format, allowing managers to use Ask for Feedback feature, monitor assessment statuses, and quickly identify areas needing attention.
Calibration
Calibration feature in SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals enables managers and HR leaders to ensure fairness and consistency in performance ratings. Once all employees have been evaluated, a calibration session can be launched to review and adjust ratings across teams. Using interactive views built on performance data—and optionally enriched with data from other modules like Succession (e.g., “risk of loss” parameter) —managers can analyze performance from multiple perspectives. This allows them to identify rating inconsistencies and make reasonable adjustments where necessary, resulting in a more accurate and objective assessment process.
AI-powered enhancements in SAP Performance and Goals
- SAP SuccessFactors is making its Performance and Goals module smarter by adding AI-powered writing tools. These tools help make feedback more accurate, useful, and fair.
- AI enhances comment quality across 360 Reviews and Performance Management by generating meaningful feedback on skills, goals, and competencies.
- It also assists in formulating effective feedback requests in Team Reviews.
- In Сontinuous Performance Management, AI helps users respond constructively to feedback, making it more impactful.
- In Goal Management, AI enhances the clarity and relevance of goal descriptions and related textual data.
- In addition, built-in translation features help provide multilingual support, increasing the inclusiveness of the global workforce.
Performance management can often be challenging, especially when there’s a disconnect between managers and employees. Misaligned job expectations and lack of clear, timely feedback can leave employees uncertain about their roles—and managers unsure how to fairly evaluate performance. SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals offers a solution that provides regular feedback, encourages employee input, and delivers valuable data to support important decisions like promotions and salary increases.
To explore how SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals can transform your approach, reach out to our consultants today
FAQ
Can Performance and Goals be the first SAP SuccessFactors module you get?
Yes, Performance and Goals can be your first SF module, provided that you plan to keep HR core in another system. If your company wants to install Employee Central, we recommend starting with it.
How long does it take to implement SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals module?
Implementation timelines can vary depending on several factors, including the size of your organization, the number of employees, and the specific tools you want to use. For example, a basic package, without customization, can be implemented within 6-8 weeks. For a more precise estimate, please contact our consultant.
Can employees set their own goals in SAP SuccessFactors?
Yes, employees can set their own goals within the system. Managers can review and adjust these goals to ensure they align with business objectives and performance expectations.
What is the difference between traditional performance reviews and continuous performance management?
Traditional performance reviews typically happen annually, whereas continuous performance management provides ongoing feedback, regular check-ins, and real-time goal tracking. This approach leads to more timely feedback, better employee development, and improved alignment with business goals.
What kind of performance reports can be generated in SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals?
The system allows managers and HR to generate various performance reports, including goal progress, employee ratings, 360-degree feedback summaries, 360-degree detailed report, and development plans.
Is the Performance and Goals module available on mobile devices?
Yes, the SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals module is mobile-friendly, allowing managers and employees to access performance data, set goals, and provide feedback on the go.
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