Competency review items in performance activities enable competencies to be reviewed, rated or formally assessed within Totara Perform. These items can be configured to gather informal feedback or to update a subject’s competency profile directly. Performance activities must be named as achievement paths for competencies to be available for selection.
Competency review items can support two main use cases:
Informal competency feedback – used to collect peer or manager input without affecting official ratings.
Formal competency assessment – used to record final ratings that update the subject’s competency profile.
Informal competency feedback
Informal competency feedback gathers commentary and indicative ratings on selected competencies without affecting the subject’s competency profile. This configuration suits 180° and 360° feedback activities, coaching conversations or check-ins where participants provide developmental feedback or qualitative evidence.
Configuration:
Setting | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Enable performance activity rating | Off | When this is off, the final rating element that updates the competency profile is not shown, so only sub-elements (rating scales, text, etc.) apply. |
Selecting participant | Usually the subject | The selecting participant determines which competencies appear in the review. In peer feedback or 360° setups, the subject commonly selects their competencies for feedback. |
Responding participants | Peers, manager, subject (for comparison) | These roles can respond to the competency sub-elements once selected. Multiple participant types can be added to provide comparative feedback. |
Viewing participants | Subject, manager | These are the typical viewing roles in feedback activities, ensuring the subject and manager can access results while peers can be restricted if needed. |
Sub-elements | Rating scale (Competency), Rating scale (custom), Text field, Aggregation of rating (average) | Each behaves as described: the Competency scale uses the official scale; custom uses an arbitrary scale; text field supports commentary; aggregation can show averages. |
Required behaviour
If the competency review item is marked as required, participants cannot submit the section without selecting at least one competency. If sub-elements are required, they must be completed once a competency has been added. Required sub-elements are not enforced if no competency is selected.
Behaviour in use
When the activity instance is generated, the selecting participant (typically the subject) can choose one or more competencies for feedback. Only competencies meeting the criteria defined in the activity setup are available for selection.
Responding participants—such as peers or a manager—can then provide unofficial ratings and commentary using the sub-elements provided. Depending on the visibility settings, the subject may see this feedback immediately or after all participants have submitted their responses.
The feedback gathered through this configuration is informational only and does not update the subject’s competency profile. However, it can provide supporting evidence or input for later formal competency assessments.
Formal competency assessment
Formal competency assessments use performance activities to capture ratings that directly update the subject’s competency profile. These assessments are suitable for structured reviews, such as onboarding, annual appraisals or exit assessments.
Note: It is not currently possible to predefine which competencies must be reviewed within an activity. Competencies must be selected during the activity by the designated participant.
Configuration:
Setting | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Enable performance activity rating | On | This toggle must be enabled for the final rating dropdown to appear, allowing updates to the competency profile. |
Rating participant | Manager or appraiser (most common) | Only participants in roles configured as rating participants can submit the final rating that writes to the competency record. |
Selecting participant | Subject or manager | Either the subject (self-assessment) or manager (structured review) can select the competencies for assessment. This matches current functionality. |
Responding participants | Peers, manager, subject (for comparison) | These participants can respond to sub-elements but cannot affect the competency profile unless marked as rating participants. |
Viewing participants | Subject, manager | These are the usual roles with permission to view ratings and commentary. Can vary depending on visibility settings, but this default is accurate. |
Sub-elements | Rating scale (Competency), Rating scale (custom), Text field, Aggregation of rating (average) | All sub-elements are available and functional when Enable performance activity rating is on. The Competency scale aligns with the competency framework’s rating scale, while others add commentary and quantitative support. |
Required behaviour
If the competency review item is required, participants must select at least one competency before submitting the section. If a sub-element is required, it must be completed once a competency is added. Required sub-elements are not enforced when no competency has been selected.
Note: The final rating that updates the competency profile is not subject to required-field settings. This rating is processed independently from other fields and may be applied after the next scheduled cron run.
Behaviour in use
When the activity instance is generated, the selecting participant (usually the subject or manager) can choose one or more competencies for assessment. Only competencies meeting the setup criteria are available for selection.
The rating participant (for example, the manager or appraiser) is the only person who can view and complete the final rating field. This field alone updates the competency profile when the final rating is submitted. The final rating cannot be changed once submitted, even if the section is still open.
The final rating workflow operates independently from the other sub-elements within the performance activity. This means that profile updates, and updates to the rating shown on the competency review element, may appear after a delay depending on system processing schedules.
If multiple users hold the same relationship—for example, more than one manager or appraiser—only the first submitted rating is recorded.
Other participants can still provide informal ratings or commentary through sub-elements. When multiple formal confirmations are required (for example, manager and appraiser sign-off), duplicate the competency review item and assign each to a different responding and rating participant. Each instance will require the competency to be selected separately.
Related pages
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