Some organisations have paper-based processes for writing position descriptions, recording performance reviews and tracking capabilities/competencies.

This information is often filed in separate places, particularly in individual employees' files, so it is often difficult to aggregate and obtain an overall snapshot of performance within an organization. In addition, people lose paper or forget where it is filed, and an organisation cannot keep track of which manager has and has not "done their bit". Where an organisation is using a Word or Excel template (or equivalent), similar problems exist with storage, location, access and aggregation - as well as simply not saving a file or having a corrupted file. In addition it is difficult to control one person editing another's version. Common access to personal information is also a problem with electronic templates.

The OnTrack Performance System is a comprehensive, easy-to-use, web-based software application that overcomes these issues. OnTrack tracks all aspects of employee performance, including competencies, key result areas (KRAs), development plans and assessments. Optionally, it can include position descriptions, talent and succession planning, as well as feedback from other employees or managers. It is designed as an online integrated system for managers and their employees. It is workflow-based, creating automatic notifications. Managers can view the actions they need to take in a single place. Nothing gets lost! Employees and managers can enter and exit the system at any time, and their previous work is waiting for them to build on.

And, for the first time, HR knows who has done what, when at the click of a mouse.

Each employee and their immediate manager can easily enter their own information. A summary activity screen informs each manager at a glance what they have to do and what their employees have done. Employees have the opportunity to put forward their plans and progress, and these are automatically presented to their manager for comment and/or sign-off. The system accommodates multiple levels of sign-off and can also have different roles signing off on different components. For example, managers may only need to sign development plans, while managers-once-removed may only sign off on evaluations (appraisals or reviews or whatever you want to call them).

All access and changes are made under network password validation. Network security and access profiles are replicated in OnTrack. This means that only employees can change their own data, even though their managers can see it, and only a manager can add comments or make assessments of their direct reports. Managers can only see the data of their own direct and indirect reports, and employees can only see their own data. Administration can be de-centralised, ie, local areas can administer there own employees, or it can be under central control.

Employee data can be downloaded from a central payroll (where OnTrack is the slave to a master system) or employees can be manually entered, edited or deleted as the come on board, move or depart. OnTrack data can be amalgamated with payroll and opinion data to create human capital metrics and tracking for engagement and retention management. OnTrack is a cost effective solution and can plug into existing ERP or payroll/HMIS applications. It can also be part of or the basis of an employee kiosk (self-serve) portal.

OnTrack uses standard Internet navigation and comes with full on-line help and screen specific guidelines. It is quick to customize - you can specify different fields, use your own rating scales, change field names, and modify reports as well as workflow logic.

OnTrack replaces your paper process. It will not improve the quality of performance management discussions, but it will make process administration and generating whole-of-organization information a breeze.