Who can use this feature?
Available on:
All Culture Amp subscriptions that include Performance.
No matter how you label or structure your performance rating question scale, HR and People leaders are fundamentally trying to answer three core questions: Who needs support, who is on track, and who is exceeding expectations? However, when rating scales vary across teams or cycles, getting a clear and consistent view of this data can be a challenge.
Performance group mapping solves this without forcing you to change your process. You keep your unique rating labels exactly as they are, but tell Culture Amp how they translate to standard performance tiers. This unlocks a consistent, big-picture view of your talent, giving you brand-new Performance Group filters and export columns in Manager Reviews and Calibrations.
The Four Performance Groups
Each of your core performance rating choices can be mapped to one of four standard groups:
High performing
Performing
Low performing
Not rated (for choices that aren't performance indicators, such as "On probation," "On leave," or "On sabbatical")
These groups are fixed and standardized. You can't rename, remove, or add your own, and that's intentional. The groups mean the same thing across every account and every cycle. Your own rating labels and scale stay exactly as you've set them up; you're only choosing which group each label belongs to.
Before You Start
To set up performance group mapping, all of the following must be true:
You have Performance Full Permissions: Only users with these permissions can create or edit the mapping on a performance cycle. HRBPs and managers do not have access.
The performance cycle has a manager review: Mapping applies to the manager review portion of a cycle.
The performance cycle has a Performance Rating question: The mapping applies to the choices on your Performance Rating question. If the cycle has no Performance Rating question, there's nothing to map.
Note: You'll set up the mapping while creating a performance review cycle. You can also edit it later once the cycle is scheduled or live. See Edit Your Mapping After the Cycle Launch below.
Set Up the Performance Group Mapping
When you create a cycle that meets the conditions above, a new Reporting step appears in the cycle setup alongside Questions, Translations, Sharing, and so on.
Head to Performance > Performance Cycles (Admin) > Create Cycle
In the cycle setup, go to the Reporting step.
You'll see a Performance group table listing each choice from your Performance Rating question, with columns for Low performing, Performing, and High performing.
For each rating choice, select the group it belongs to.
For any choice that isn't a performance indicator (such as a leave or probation status), move it into the "Do not group" section by selecting it from the Do not group " drop-down. These choices are treated as Not rated.
Click the Performance rating column to sort your ratings as Normal or Inverse. This will confirm your ratings run in the right direction (see How the Scale Works below).
Select Next (or Save if the cycle is live) to continue.
Note: Mapping is optional. You don't need to map your ratings to launch a cycle. However, if you map any rating choice, you must map all of them. If your cycle doesn't use performance-based ratings at all, you can simply click Do not group ratings. This is a valid setup, and your reports will show your individual rating data directly without grouping.
How the Scale Works
As you assign groups, Culture Amp builds a position order for your rated choices. The lowest-rated choice becomes position 1, the next becomes position 2, and so on. The Scale column shows this order. Choices in the "Do not group" section don't receive a position.
Your rating scale can run in either direction: from lowest to highest (normal) or from highest to lowest (inverse), as long as the direction stays consistent throughout. Use the Normal or Inverse option to match how your scale is ordered, which will appear when you click on the Performance rating column.
Scale Mapping Examples
Scale Mapping Examples
Here are some valid mappings using example rating labels. Your own labels will differ.
Standard low-to-high scale
Your rating choice | Performance group |
1 - Needs development | Low performing |
2 - Consistently meets expectations | Performing |
3 - Often exceeds expectations | Performing |
4 - Sets a new standard | High performing |
On probation | Not rated |
On leave | Not rated |
Notice that two choices can map to the same group. Both "Often exceeds expectations" and "Consistently meets expectations" map to Performing. Non-performance choices like "On probation" and "On leave" go into Not rated.
Reversed (high-to-low) scale
Your rating choice | Performance group |
1 - Sets a new standard | High performing |
2 - Often exceeds expectations | Performing |
3 - Consistently meets expectations | Performing |
4 - Needs development | Low performing |
This is valid because the ratings still move consistently in one direction, just from high to low. Use the Inverse option, so the scale is interpreted correctly for 1 being the highest and 4 being the lowest.
Minimal two-choice scale
Your rating choice | Performance group |
1 - Needs development | Low performing |
2 - Exceeds expectations | High performing |
A short scale is perfectly valid. You can also skip a group (here, nothing maps to Performing) as long as your ratings still move consistently from lower to higher.
All choices set to Not rated
Your rating choice | Performance group |
On probation | Not rated |
On leave | Not rated |
On sabbatical | Not rated |
If none of your choices are performance indicators, or you don't wish to use the grouping feature, you can select Do not group ratings.
Edit Your Mapping After the Cycle Launch
If needed, you can update the ratings mapping after a cycle has moved past draft (Scheduled, Live, or even Closed):
Navigate to Performance > Performance Cycles (Admin) and click on the relevant cycle.
Click Edit Cycle > Edit Reporting.
Make any required changes to your mapping, and Save.
If the cycle is live, you will receive a warning that the changes you have made will apply to all ratings that may have already been submitted on the cycle. Click Update grouping if you want to proceed.
Performance Groups in Reporting
After you've mapped your ratings, the groups show up as an additional filter on your calibrations, as well as a data column in your Manager Review and Calibration exports.
Performance group filter in Calibrations
Calibrations gains a Performance group filter with the four group options: Low performing, Performing, High performing, and Not rated. Use it to focus a calibration view on a specific group.
The filter appears in the following admin Calibration views only:
Calibration Overview
Ratings preview
Ratings matrix
Performance Group cannot currently be added as an additional column in the calibration view; it can only be used as an admin filter in the views mentioned above, and will not be available for general users in a shared calibration view.
Note: This is not the same as the "Performance rating" filter. The Performance rating filter works on your raw rating values. The Performance group filter in Calibrations works on the standardized groups you've mapped to.
Exports
The performance group is included as a column in:
Note: In the Calibrations export, if a rating was adjusted during calibration, the exported group reflects the adjusted rating rather than the original.
Troubleshooting Your Mapping
If your mapping won't save, it's usually due one of the following rules. Every valid mapping must satisfy all of them:
Map every choice, or none of them: If you assign a group to any rating choice, you must assign a group to all of them, including moving non-performance choices into "Do not group". A partial mapping won't save, and you will receive a warning to let you know
Keep the direction consistent: Your ratings must move steadily in one direction: either lower-to-higher or higher-to-lower. You can't have the order jump around (for example, low, then high, then low again).
No gaps in the scale: The positions Culture Amp assigns run 1, 2, 3 etc. with no gaps. This happens automatically as long as your ratings are ordered consistently.
"Not rated" choices sit outside the scale. Anything in "Do not group" is treated as Not rated and doesn't take a scale position.
Tip: If a mapping is rejected, check the ordering of your rating choices first. Most errors come from ratings that don't move consistently in one direction.
FAQs
Can I view the performance group data in our Performance Insights report?
Can I view the performance group data in our Performance Insights report?
No. While this is planned for a future update, currently the mapped performance group data is not available in Performance Insights, and is only available in admin calibration views and exports, as well as the Manager Review export on the cycle.
Why can't I see the performance group filter on the manager review page?
Why can't I see the performance group filter on the manager review page?
The performance group data is not currently available as a filter on any page within your performance cycle view, it is only available as a filter in calibration views for admin, as well as the manager review export on the cycle.
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