You've Got Questions...We've Got Answers!
Selecting the right performance management software for your company is important. There is no question too small. That’s why we have put together a list of the most frequently asked questions that we get and answered them here for you. Looking for a library of questions to ask when evaluating performance management software? Download our FREE Performance Management Software Checklist.
What are the main benefits of emPerform?
emPerform was designed to help maximize the ROI of your software investment. We work with you to rollout your ideal performance management strategy over time so you can experience the many benefits of emPerform.
- Automate and simplify employee reviews, self-assessments, project-based reviews and more
- Reduce the amount of paper generated for evaluations
- Link employee goals to organizational objectives
- Evaluate employees on competencies and goals specific to their role
- Increase the quantity and quality of performance discussions and employee feedback
- Collect and use 360° feedback to increase the accuracy of performance ratings
- Achieve consistent ratings and appraisals across the organization
- Identify and develop key talent
- Improve career planning
- Report on status and key performance metrics
- Document performance milestones to support ratings, competencies, and pay adjustments
- Engage users in ongoing feedback & coaching
- Support managers with comment and rating assistant tools
- Complete appraisals on-time
- Tie performance to salary decisions
What features are included in emPerform?
One product, one price. Get a complete suite of performance management functionality for less than most vendors charge for just one. emPerform is the only solution available that is not modularized, which means customers can choose to activate any or all of the following features at no extra cost:
- Performance Reviews
- 360° reviews
- Online surveys
- tag for ongoing feedback & journaling
- Nine-box talent matrix
- Compensation management
- Reporting & Dashboards
Other features:
- Single-sign on enabled
- Hosted or on-premise deployment
- Email and calendar alerts/reminders
- Integration with existing HR systems
- Multi-lingual and multi-currency capabilities
- Role-based access and security
Do we pay more for each module?
No! All modules and features are included in emPerform at no extra costs to clients. You choose which modules to use and when.
How does emPerform help increase the on-time completion rates of performance tasks?
emPerform contains many built-in tools to encourage on-time completion of reviews and performance tasks. Typically, our clients go from a 46% on-time completion rate to 100% with emPerform.
- Progress tracking and automated email reminders
- Status reports for Administrators and status dashboards for end-users
- Automatic generation of emails, tasks and calendar invites for managers and employees
- Automatic routing of appraisal forms to different reviewers
- Completion status notifications
- Progress timeline in appraisals
Can emPerform help employees and managers keep records of performance?
Yes! There are several ways to do this: emPerform allows users to attach notes and files year-round. Also, emPerform displays historical reviews and reports. Finally, emPerform’s tag feature allows social performance feedback and journaling to be documented year round and accessed from right within employee appraisal forms and used to support ratings or competencies.
Does emPerform include review and appraisal templates?
Yes. emPerform has a library of review and appraisal templates available to help get you started or give you ideas. You can ultimately configure all reviews and forms to suit your exact needs with the section’s rating scales, content, and workflow you need.
Can I choose my rating scales or no ratings at all?
Yes. emPerform allows you to specify if, where, and how to use ratings throughout your review forms. You can choose text-based ratings, numeric ratings, and weight different sections of reviews so your total performance scores accurately reflect employee contributions. For companies looking to limit or eliminate ratings, emPerform allows you to have no ratings, ghost ratings, or whatever combination you need.
How does emPerform enable ongoing feedback?
Included in emPerform is ‘tag‘ for feedback & journaling. tag settings are defined by the organization and can allow users to do some or all of the following:
- Create and archive individual performance logs and journals
- Create and archive performance logs related to another employee
- Send real-time organization-wide feedback
- Access feedback and logs from within performance appraisals and insert records to support ratings
Are notifications and alerts sent out automatically?
Yes. With emPerform, you can customize all processes and workflows to suit your needs and automatically trigger notifications or tasks based on dates or actions. This means your users will always know what performance management tasks need to be completed and by when.
Can I weigh goals and competencies?
Yes. You can allow managers or employees to weigh different evaluation criteria like goals or competencies.
Can emPerform manage anniversary and annual (focal) reviews?
Yes. emPerform can accommodate any different appraisal model or form review structure you need (annual, 30-60-90, anniversary etc.).
Can I configure emPerform's nine-box?
Yes, emPerform’s nine-box can be configured to compare data from reviews or surveys so you can compare your company’s talent potential and opportunities for development.
Can I set my compensation budgets, groups and recommended ranges?
Yes. emPerform’s robust Compensation Manager allows you to automate your compensation planning process for merit or bonus planning. You set the budgets, groups, and ranges you want and even the approval workflow. If you would like a demo of emPerform’s Compensation Manager, please contact us.
Is emPerform reporting flexible?
Yes. emPerform contains one of the most flexible and powerful reporting tools available on the talent management market. emPerform comes standard with almost 100 out-of-the-box reports but also allows for ad-hoc reporting so that you are able to see the data that matters for your organization. Most reports contain drill-down and charts and all reports can be exported to any format for further analysis. emPerform also includes helpful dashboards for end-users to help them track their team’s performance year-round.
Who is emPerform?
In simple terms, emPerform helps companies transform employee performance management with expert support and world-class software!
emPerform is an easy-to-use, web-based employee performance management software suite that automates and streamlines vital talent management processes; including performance reviews, goal management, succession planning, pay-for-performance, journaling & feedback, 360° reviews, surveys and reporting. emPerform gives managers and HR the tools needed to Align, Develop, Reward, and Retain a competitive workforce and to transform reviews from an administrative task into a strategic and ongoing business process. Learn more about us here.
We are based in Ottawa, ON with partner locations in the UK, South Africa, and India.
How long has emPerform been around?
emPerform was established in 2004 by Corporate Renaissance Group, a Quisitive Company and Microsoft® partner and management consulting firm that has been around since 1989 and specializes in business solutions. For almost 20 years, emPerform has been helping companies around the world to automate & re-tool employee performance management.
What companies use emPerform?
Because emPerform is highly configurable, it is built to suit every industry regardless of company structure. emPerform is ideal for small to medium sized organizations (150-3,000 employees) looking for a flexible and powerful performance management solution. emPerform’s web-based platform and multi-lingual capabilities makes it an attractive solution for companies that are experiencing rapid growth or have a workforce of geographically dispersed workers. emPerform serves every industry including Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, Banking, Technology, and Government, and because of its great value, is a great choice for non-profit organizations and educational institutions.
What makes emPerform different?
We are proud to list the ways that emPerform stands out from other performance management systems.
No Up-Sells:
Unlike many other vendors, emPerform is not modularized. All of the tools are included with the initial purchase and ready to be implemented by the customer if and when they choose – the customer is never up-sold on additional modules which saves a lot of money.
Get Exactly What You Want:
emPerform is highly configurable. Customers choose the layouts, rating scales, vocabulary, workflows, language, and processes that suits their needs.
World-Class Support & Service:
emPerform implementation and support is not contracted out to third party vendors. This has resulted in personalized and consistent customer service that has helped to distinguish us in the market space and has resulted in an incredible amount of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Choice of Deployment:
emPerform offers customers the choice of deploying emPerform on-site on their own servers or allowing emPerform to host the solution for them (SaaS). emPerform also allows customers to switch between the two options at any point in time as their organization shifts and expands.
Price!
emPerform is hands down the best value for your talent management dollar – and we back that by our Best-Value Guarantee. We believe that success comes from delivering value to clients. Our expertise in software development has allowed us to streamline the process and pass the savings down to customers.
Download Your Free Performance Management Software Buyer’s Checklist
How do users access emPerform?
emPerform can be accessed online using any web browser, making it incredibly accessible to your workforce.
Can I use my company's logos and colors?
Yes. Customers can upload their own logo and can select the main colors of the application to adhere to branding guidelines.
Can users edit their profiles in emPerform?
Yes. Users in emPerform are able to add/edit their profile picture, adjust notifications, select their language and edit any profile fields that have been set by the System Administrator.
Is emPerform available on mobile or tablet devices?
Yes. emPerform was built on responsive technology and so it is optimized for use on tablet or mobile browsers. All screens will resize to fit the user’s screen.
Do you have to be highly technical to use emPerform?
No. emPerform is extremely easy-to-use and navigate for administrators and end-users. Training for administrator is required; however, a technical background is absolutely not necessary. emPerform’s appraisal templates make it quick and easy to get started and our online help guides are there as a resource along the way.
Can emPerform accomodate multiple languages?
Yes. emPerform can be deployed in up to 10 languages.
What tools exist to help users conduct reviews?
Many! emPerform includes several features to help users give better ratings, useful comments, and keep the performance management process going year-round.
Can users launch their own forms in emPerform?
Yes. One of emPerform’s newest features is ‘on-demand’ forms for ad-hoc reviews, project-based assessments, PIPs, and more.
Are permissions set based on role?
Yes. emPerform only shows users what they need to see…and when they need to see it, making emPerform incredibly intuitive. You control the access and permissions for the different levels and roles in your organization.
How do we get data into emPerform?
There are three ways to load data into emPerform:
- Database Integration – emPerform can integrate with the business system that contains the employee data. This might include HRIS, ERP or payroll solutions.
- Electronic File Import – employee data from Excel spreadsheets can be imported into emPerform.
- Direct – employee data can be manually entered via the emPerform data entry screens.
Does emPerform integrate with existing HR systems?
Yes, emPerform can integrate data from your existing HRIS, ERP, WFM, and/or Payroll systems, simplifying the management of employees and their evaluations and compensation decisions. This integration is setup as a flow of data so you aren’t managing multiple systems. Contact us if you would like to learn more about our integration options.
Does emPerform allow for single-sign on?
Yes. emPerform can allow single sign on via active directory or any other user authentication your company uses. This ensures users can access emPerform even easier.
Can data in emPerform be exported?
Yes. All data and reports in emPerform can be exported to Word, Excel, PDF, .tif. or .csv format.
How long does it take to implement emPerform?
Depending on the organization’s exact needs, a typical implementation of emPerform requires 3-7 days from the customer. This includes planning, gathering data and content, and set-up/training of the system. Additional time might be necessary if training on other modules is needed or if the customer has multiple review forms. Your dedicated Implementation Consultant would be able to determine this during the kick-off meeting. All customers are provided with a detailed project plan and guidance at every step. We are committed to meeting your deadlines and tailoring your implementation plan to suit your needs. If you require a rapid-remote implementation to get up and running quickly, we can accommodate that! Contact us to discuss your requirements, and we will be able to provide you with an implementation plan.
Who is needed from my company to implement emPerform?
We have designed emPerform to be incredibly easy to implement and manage. We recommend at least 2 team members be available for Administrator training and ongoing management of emPerform in your organization. If you are deploying emPerform as a hosted (SaaS) solution, then I.T. is not required. If you are deploying emPerform on-premise, then I.T. will be needed to install emPerform on your servers.
How are system administrators trained?
We design a training and implementation schedule to suit your needs and your team. Most often, after some remote planning sessions, our Implementation Consultants will go on-site to your office to setup and train you on emPerform. Other times, remote training sessions are the best to accommodate a geographically dispersed team – it is completely up to you and we will recommend the best training approach so your team can get up and running with emPerform in no time.
What end-user training is available?
Because no 2 companies are the same, we take a very customized approach to helping you train your end users. We work with you to create custom end-user training material which can include guides, videos or live training sessions.
Will we have to call support every time we need to make a change to our system?
Our train-the-trainer approach ensures that you are fully able to manage your system. Our dedicated support representatives are available at any time to help, but we find that most emPerform administrators are very comfortable with their own systems.
When is live support available?
We take a very personal approach here at emPerform. Live emPerform support is available from 9am-5pm Eastern Time except Canadian statutory holidays and you will be working with a team of emPerform experts who treat every support call with the upmost priority. Customers also have 24/7 access to the customer portal for access to self-service user guides, video tutorials, and support request forms.
Is support included?
Yes. All emPerform technical and business support is included with your annual subscription or enhancement fee. We are here to help at any time and encourage clients to call in whenever they have a question or need assistance. Clients can email support directly or call 1.877.711.0367 option #2.
What other services are available?
Above and beyond support, clients can request custom reports, consulting services, additional training sessions or videos, or custom integration services. We offer service hours in very attractive packages to help clients succeed.
How can we learn more about emPerform?
There are a few options for getting started.
- Contact us! 1.877.711.0367 click here to email. We are happy to discuss your needs and help plan the best way to evaluate emPerform.
- Complete our requirements discovery form and an emPerform expert will be in touch ASAP.
- Book a live demo of emPerform for you and your team to review the features live with an emPerform expert.
- Watch our tour video to explore the many features available.
Where do we send RFI's or RFPs?
You can send any RFI’s or RFP’s directly to [email protected]
Can we arrange a mock-up or proof of concept?
Definitely! Contact our sales team directly and they will get your set up! [email protected]