🔐 Who can use this feature?

Roles: Account Administrators, Performance full permissions, Performance Limited Permissions
Subscriptions: Any package with Performance cycles

Calibration Views help ensure that performance ratings across your organization are consistent, accurate, and fair. By bringing together performance reviews, feedback, goals, and self-reflections, Calibration Views support alignment of ratings, reduce bias, and improve the quality of feedback. Whether you're working with a single performance cycle or multiple, this guide walks you through how to create, configure, and publish Calibration Views.

What is a calibration view?

A Calibration View is a tool that allows HR and managers to review and adjust performance data across a group of employees before finalizing ratings. It includes:

Performance Reviews
Self-Reflections
Goals
Peer and Upward Feedback

This process helps ensure ratings are fair and consistent across teams and departments.

Calibration view configuration options

When setting up a Calibration View, or editing it before publishing, you have two optional configuration features: Compare with Past Cycles and Ratings Preview.

Compare with past cycles (optional)

Compare with Past Cycles lets you display up to three past performance cycles as reference data, making it easier to view an employee's history while calibrating.

You can add comparison cycles when creating or editing a Calibration View, before publishing. Once published, you can't add or remove comparison cycles.
The same cycle can't be used for both calibration and comparison.
Employees who were part of a comparison cycle show a chevron icon. Expanding it reveals the performance rating and the performance cycle name for that cycle. This data is read-only. Demographic fields or review questions from past cycles aren't included. For more context, open the employee profile or include the cycle in the calibration itself.

You can still include multiple cycles in a calibration without using Compare with Past Cycles. In this case, employees who are part of multiple cycles appear in the table once for each cycle they're included in. With comparison enabled, you can also view and compare their ratings across cycles. Either way, employees who appear in multiple cycles are flagged with a visual cue so you can be mindful of any changes.

2. Ratings preview (optional)

Ratings Preview lets calibrators review and provide input on manager-assigned ratings before the live calibration session, helping identify differences early and streamline the final conversation.

Enable Ratings Preview by checking Include ratings preview when setting up your Calibration View, then set a due date and time for submission.
After creating the view, select the calibrators you'd like to invite.

ℹ️ Note: You can enable Ratings preview any time before publishing. Responses become read-only once submitted and aren't visible to managers. Calibrators only see the manager's written review, not the full employee profile. Access to the Ratings Preview tab and the Calibration Overview tab must be granted separately. Learn more in our Facilitator Guide: How to Use Ratings Preview.

How to create a calibration view

Step 1. Navigate to the calibration tool

From the Performance drop-down, under Admin, click Calibrations.

Step 2. Create a new calibration view

Click Create calibration view and then Get started.

Step 3. Name your calibration view

Choose a clear name (e.g., Q3 2023 Calibration).

Step 4. Select the performance cycle

Choose one or more performance review cycles to include in the calibration.

Selecting multiple cycles can help in matrix organizations where employees participate in more than one cycle during the review season.
Employees who are in more than one cycle appear once for each cycle they're part of. If comparison is enabled, you can also view and compare their ratings across cycles.
Multi-cycle views must use the same performance rating question, and can't be exported as a single file.

ℹ️ Note: You can't create a Calibration View for a cycle that's in draft mode. However, you can create a view for a live cycle even if not all manager reviews are completed.

Step 5. Configure options (optional)

At this stage, you can compare with past cycles (up to three) or enable Ratings Preview for calibrators.

7. Use filters to select employees

Use the search field or Add Filters to refine your employee list by demographics (for example, department, job title, manager, employee status). Check the boxes next to employees you want to include, or select all.

Available filters: Business Unit, Country, Department, Division, Employment Type, Gender, Job Title, Levels, Location, Manager. You can't currently add or customize filters beyond these options.
Additional filters: Group (Direct Reports or Indirect Reports, based on your hierarchy setup) and Employee Status (Active or Deactivated, based on the employee status in your user list).

Scoped Admins can only select employees matching their assigned demographic scope. If you filter for a group that falls entirely outside your scope, no results are returned. Demographic values display only if they're assigned in your employee data and mapped at the account level.

ℹ️ Note: Missing Employees? You can only add employees to a calibration if they had a manager review completed about them in the linked performance review cycle. This is the most common reason you would be unable to add a particular employee to the view.

How filters work

When you create a new Calibration View using filters, only the individuals you've selected through those filters become part of the new view. After creating the view, you can still refine the list using filters on the view page to further investigate or analyze the group. To modify the Calibration View, whether by adding or removing employees or updating filtering options, use Edit calibration view, which lets you make changes even after creation.

7. Click create

This generates your Calibration View, and the calibration dashboard displays the distribution of ratings for your selected employees. If you enabled Ratings Preview, you'll see two tabs: Calibration Overview (the standard calibration view) and Ratings Preview (where you can track calibrator responses and manage the process).

ℹ️ Note: You can’t include your own review. The creator is automatically excluded from results

💡 Tip: We recommend that your cycles have the same performance rating question for consistency. This ensures that you can calibrate across multiple cycles

Editing a calibration view

If you need to make changes after creating the view:

Edit the name: Click Edit calibration name in the view header.
Change performance cycles or employees: Click Edit calibration view and update your selections.
Enable or disable Ratings Preview: You can toggle Ratings Preview on or off anytime before publishing. If you disable it, calibrator responses are removed.
Compare to past cycles: Add or remove previous cycles to view and compare performance ratings.
Update filters: Adjust filters via Edit calibration view to recalibrate a different group.

After making the necessary changes, click Save to update the view.

Customizing the calibration view with columns

After creating a Calibration View, you can customize the displayed information using the Edit Columns dropdown. The available column options include:

Flag: Mark employees to revisit or discuss during the calibration session.
Calibration Notes: Record relevant details on rating changes.
Average Rating: Displays the average of all ratings for each performance review.
Performance Rating: Shows the rating given for the performance rating question set up for the cycle. If your view includes comparison cycles, the filter dropdown groups options by cycle with previous cycles listed first; select the rating under the current cycle's name to filter by current ratings.
Performance Review Cycle: Lists the name of the included review cycle(s).
Review Status: Indicates whether the manager review is complete or incomplete.
Employee Demographics: Displays mapped demographics such as Business Unit, Country, and Department.
Performance Review Cycle Questions: Shows the questions asked in the review cycle.

You can edit columns only after the Calibration View has been created, and after it has been published.

ℹ️ Note: Anyone with shared access starts out seeing the facilitator's current filters, columns, and sort order. Personalizing any one of these fixes all three as your own, so they stop updating when the facilitator changes theirs. Use Reset view, next to the page heading, to return to the facilitator's current setup anytime.

Share a calibration view

Once your Calibration View is ready, you can share it with relevant stakeholders:

Click Share settings: Navigate to the Calibration View and click the Share settings button.
Enter employee names: Type the names or email addresses of the individuals you want to share the view with. You can remove those with access at any time.
Click Share: Once you've added the employees, click Share to send them an invite.
Export a copy: To export a copy of the view, select Export CSV.

💡 Tip: Shared users have read-only access. They can view the Calibration View and use filters, but can't modify any data.

Running a calibration session

Now that you've set up your Calibration View and shared it, you can start the calibration session.

Review the data: Use the Edit Columns option to add the manager review questions for each employee. This gives you more context for calibrating ratings.
View employee profiles: For additional context, click the ellipsis icon (three dots) next to an employee's name to view their full profile. This gives you access to their manager reviews, feedback, and other performance data. Visibility is automatically restricted based on your role: Managers and Admins see "All Available Content," while Peers and external Calibrators see "Limited Content."
Adjust ratings: If needed, update an employee's rating by selecting a new performance rating from the drop-down menu. The rating updates automatically, but the original rating remains visible for tracking purposes. If your calibration discussions happen outside of Culture Amp, you can quickly import calibrated ratings for multiple employees using a CSV file. For a complete guide on this bulk update process, see Import Calibration Ratings.
View activity: Click View Activity at the top of the calibration view, on the Calibration Overview tab. The activity log shows any rating changes made via the table view, ratings matrix view, or bulk import, including who the change was for, who made it, and the date it occurred.

ℹ️ Note: The calibration activity log will not show any rating changes that occurred prior to November 2025.

Capture any reasoning behind rating changes in Calibration Notes. This ensures accountability, especially if a direct manager isn't present during the session. After writing your notes, click Save to confirm the changes.
Calibration notes don't carry across to different calibration views. If an employee appears in multiple calibration views, notes must be added to each one individually.

🔍 Understanding calibrator visibility and scope

Visibility within a Calibration View is governed by your existing relationship with the employee. You don't gain "all-access" bypass permissions simply by being a calibrator.

Full access: Performance Full Permissions and Performance (Limited) admins (within their assigned scope), along with direct managers and skip-level managers of the employee, can view the full employee profile, including historical manager reviews, upward feedback, and private self-reflections.
Limited access: Non-managers (including Peers, Collaborators, or Calibrators outside the reporting line) only see "Limited Content." This is restricted to the same view they'd have via the Employee Directory. The breakdown below shows exactly what each level can see:
Feedback: Limited Content (Peers/Non-Managers) see only feedback authored by the viewer. All Available Content (Admins/Managers) see the full feedback history (Peer, Upward, etc.).
Goals: Limited Content (Peers/Non-Managers) see public goals or goals shared with the viewer. All Available Content (Admins/Managers) see all goals (Public, Private, and Group).
Manager Reviews: Limited Content (Peers/Non-Managers) see none, except the specific current cycle. All Available Content (Admins/Managers) see the full history of past and current reviews.
1-on-1s: Limited Content (Peers/Non-Managers) see only shared bookmarks from their own 1-on-1s. All Available Content (Admins/Managers) see all 1-on-1 bookmarks and history.
Self-reflections: Limited Content (Peers/Non-Managers) see none. All Available Content (Admins/Managers) see all past and current self-reflections.
Personal Notes: Both Limited Content (Peers/Non-Managers) and All Available Content (Admins/Managers) only see notes the viewer has written.
Role Competencies: Both Limited Content (Peers/Non-Managers) and All Available Content (Admins/Managers) see assigned role competencies.

Calibration ratings matrix

The Ratings Matrix is a visual tool that simplifies the calibration process. It lets you spot rating discrepancies instantly and make live adjustments to ensure consistency and fairness across your organization.

Who has access? To view the Matrix, you must have Admin access to the calibration.

Performance Full Permissions: Full access to all calibrations.
Performance (Limited), scoped by demographics: You can access the Matrix only if the calibration view consists exclusively of employees within your demographic scope. If the view contains any out-of-scope employees, the Matrix tab is disabled to protect data privacy.
Shared views: The Ratings Matrix isn't available in read-only shared views.

ℹ️ Note: The Ratings Matrix view is only available on calibrations using a single cycle.

Using the ratings matrix

Access the Matrix, configure your view using the vertical and horizontal axis dropdowns, identify inconsistencies, update a rating, and track changes.

ℹ️ Note: Percentages may differ slightly from the Performance Insights report, because that report tracks "unrated" employees, whereas the Ratings Matrix doesn't.

Publish calibration results

Once the calibration session is complete, publish the changes to finalize the ratings:

Click Publish: After reviewing and finalizing the ratings, click Publish to update the manager reviews with the final calibrated ratings.
Confirmation screen: Check the box labeled Notify managers of changes to performance ratings or notes if you'd like managers to be notified.

ℹ️ Note:Indirect managers aren't notified, but they can still view the calibration notes once the calibration has been published.

What happens after publishing:

The updated performance ratings appear in the manager's review.
Calibration notes are shared with the respective managers.
Employees can no longer be added to or removed from the Calibration View.
Filters, ratings, and the calibration name are no longer editable.
Column visibility can still be edited.
Calibrators can no longer click into the employee profile or performance review tabs within the calibration view.

ℹ️ Note: Changes to the overall performance rating only appear in the official manager review once the calibration is published. The audit log records only the final change made to an individual question, alongside the name of the user who published the calibration view. The Performance Rating and Calibrated Rating columns in the calibration view export both show the final, calibrated rating.

Notifications and manager experience

When a calibration session is published and the option to notify managers is enabled, direct managers receive notifications about any changes to their employees' performance reviews.

Managers are notified when:

An employee's performance rating has changed.
A note has been added during the calibration session.

💡 Tip: If you're running multi-cycle sessions, consider withholding notifications to avoid premature performance conversations.

Manager's view: Managers can view both the original performance rating and the updated rating after calibration, from the notification they receive, or by navigating to Performance > Reviews, selecting the cycle, and searching for the employee.

Performance review activity log

To view the performance review activity log as an admin:

Navigate to the Performance tab.
Select Reviews under Admin.
Access the performance review cycle.
Go to the manager review section.
Search or filter for the employee.
View the activity log.

Average of all ratings

When creating a calibration view, you can choose to include a column showing the average of all ratings for each performance review. This helps provide a clearer picture of overall performance across multiple rating questions.

How the average rating is calculated

When creating a calibration view, you can choose to include a column showing the average of all ratings for each performance review.

The average rating is based on all the responses from the rating questions in the performance cycle, excluding the overall performance rating. The calculation formula is adjusted to a 5-point scale: score x (5 / rating scale). Once you've summed the scores from all the rating questions, divide the total score by the number of rating questions in the cycle to calculate the average of all ratings.

ℹ️ Note: The overall performance rating is not included in the average rating calculation.

FAQ

Can I edit a published Calibration View?

You cannot edit the Calibration View once it's published, and at this time, it is not possible to delete a calibration. Instead, if the cycle is still live, you can change the manager's review directly within the cycle from your Performance > Reviews tab (under Admin) or create a new Calibration View.

Can Scoped Admins see calibrations created by others?

It depends on the participants:

In-scope views: Scoped Admins automatically have Admin access (including editing ratings and the Matrix) for any calibration where all participants match their assigned demographic rules.
Cross-scope views: If a calibration including "out-of-scope" employees is shared with you, you'll have read-only access. You can see names and ratings to facilitate discussion, but you can't edit data or view private employee profiles.

Will a Scoped Admin see participants outside their scope in a shared calibration view?

Yes. If an administrator specifically shares a calibration view with you, you'll see all included participants, even those outside your assigned demographic scope, to ensure you have the necessary context for the discussion. However, you won't have access to admin features like the Ratings Matrix or the ability to edit ratings for those "out-of-scope" individuals. If the calibration view consists exclusively of participants who match your assigned demographics (for example, your specific region or division), you'll see the view by default without it needing to be shared. In this case, you'll have full administrative access, including the Ratings Matrix and the ability to update ratings.

What happens if an employee moves departments?

The Calibration View won't update automatically. If the view is still unpublished, you can edit the employee's department manually. To do so, click into the calibration view and select Edit calibration view, then adjust the department.

Why can't I add my questions as columns?

In a multi-cycle calibration view, questions can’t be added as columns.

How can I search for a specific employee in a Calibration View?

In Calibration Views and Reports, you can't filter by individual employee identifiers like Email or Employee ID. Filtering is only available for a predefined set of demographic fields, such as Department, Job Title, or Manager. However, you can use the Search field to find specific employees by entering their name. If you're still unable to find a particular employee to add to the calibration view, keep in mind that they may not have been invited to the performance cycle you've linked. Only employees who were invited to have a manager review completed about them in the linked performance cycle will be found on the participant lists.

Can I sort columns alphabetically in the Calibration view?

Yes, but only for certain columns. You can click on the header of default columns like Employee, Manager, or Performance Rating to sort the data alphabetically (A-Z or Z-A). However, this sorting option isn't available for columns you've added to the view manually, such as Average Rating or responses to additional questions.

Can performance ratings be changed after the calibration is published?

Yes. Even after the calibration is published, managers will still have the option to edit the performance ratings of their direct reports, up until the review has been shared or the cycle has been formally closed.

Can I enable Ratings Preview after creating the view?

Yes, you can turn it on anytime before publishing via Edit calibration view.

Can I remove Ratings Preview after enabling it?

Yes, but all submitted responses will be deleted. You'll need to re-add calibrators if it's re-enabled.

How can I remove calibrator responses from the Ratings Preview?

Once a calibrator has submitted a response for the Ratings Preview within a Calibration, it isn't possible for them to delete this submission. Instead, an administrator needs to visit the Ratings Preview page and click Remove next to the appropriate calibrator. This removes their access entirely and removes their responses from the admin view of the Ratings Preview page. If the calibrator is re-added, their previous responses are restored in their own view (so they can edit and resubmit them if needed), but their initial responses won't be re-added to the admin view. This can be a handy workaround to remove submitted responses from the Ratings Preview, particularly if they were made in error. Removing one calibrator won't impact submissions made by other users.

Can I create a Calibration View for a cycle in draft mode?

No. Calibration Views can't be created for cycles that are in draft mode. You can create a calibration for cycles that are active but where not all manager reviews have been completed.

Why is the calibration view not able to be edited or published?

If a calibration view isn't allowing any edits and the publish button is locked, it likely means there's a rating import in progress. The import needs to be completed before the calibration can be published or edited any further. Alternatively, the administrator or Performance (Limited) role who began the import can cancel it by clicking Import ratings, then Cancel.

What's up next?

Check out our Performance Insights article to explore how to visualize your performance rating scale data.
For more details on managing a performance cycle, check out our Admin Guide to Tracking and Managing a Performance Review Cycle.

💬 Need help? Open a support conversation to speak with our Product Support team.