Set up the performance year and calibration framework

Quick answer

• In D365, create one Performance year record per year with its start date, end date and rating model.
• Open the calibration framework for that year and enter the expected percentage of employees in each rating band.
• Those percentages become the expected curve that HR calibrates against at the end of the year.

The performance year ties the whole cycle together — every review period and every generated review belongs to one. It also includes the calibration framework, the expected distribution of ratings HR compares actual results against during calibration.

This is a once-a-year task. Set it up when the school year starts, and it needs no further attention until the next year.

1. Open the performance year form

   In D365, go to the Performance year setup under Human Resources ▸ Performance ▸ Setup ▸ Performance year.

   

2. Create the year

   Create a single record for the year and set:

   Field	What it holds
   Start date	The first day of the performance year
   End date	The last day of the performance year
   Rating model	The rating model used across the year — the standard model unless your organisation has its own

   You can choose the start and end dates, so the performance year can follow the school year rather than the calendar year.

3. Open the Gaussian curve framework

   With the year selected, click Gaussian framework from the Action Pane.

4. Enter the expected distribution

   Enter the percentage of employees expected to fall into each rating band. This is the curve calibration works against — during calibration, HR sees expected against actual side by side, so a band set to 20% showing 30% of employees is immediately visible as a gap.

   

   Set up the framework before the end-of-year reviews are submitted. Calibration has nothing to compare against until these percentages are in place.

Next, divide the year into the stages you will run — see Set up performance periods.