Turn on Include competency assessment in the Features step of a performance review so that self, manager and peer reviewers score each reviewee on the competencies linked to the reviewee's job. Each person gets their own set of competency questions, based on their job and its expected levels.

Before you start

• Link competencies (and expected levels) to jobs first. See Assign competencies to jobs.
• Check that every reviewee has a job (role and level) from the job catalog in their current contract.
• Choose the scoring scale. Competency questions use the same scale as the review's performance score, set in the company Scoring settings for Performance (for example 1 to 5).
• You can turn competency assessment on or off only while the review is a Draft.

Steps

When you create a review

1. Go to Performance > Reviews and start a New review (from scratch or from a template).
2. Complete the steps until Features ("Decide which features will be enabled for this process.").
3. Turn on Include competency assessment.
4. Continue with Timeline and Visibility, and launch or schedule the review.

On a review that is still a draft

1. Go to Performance > Reviews and open the draft review.
2. Click Edit and open the Features tab ("Enable or disable features for this process.").
3. Turn on Include competency assessment.
4. Save your changes.

In a custom review template

1. Open the custom template in Performance > Reviews templates.
2. In its Features settings, turn on Include competency assessment.
3. Reviews created from the template start with the toggle on.

Rules and behavior

• If Include competency assessment is on, then a section called Competencies assessment is added to the self, manager and peer questionnaires, after your own questions.
• If Include competency assessment is on, then direct-report (upward) reviews don't get competency questions.
• If the review doesn't include a reviewer type (for example no self-review), then that reviewer type doesn't get competency questions.
• Each reviewee is assessed on the competencies linked to the job in their current contract, including competencies inherited from higher up in the job catalog.
• If a reviewee's job has no competencies, or their contract has no job, then their reviewers get no competency questions, without any warning.
• In a draft, the questionnaire shows a placeholder section, Competencies assessment, with the note "Competency details, including names, descriptions, and levels, are not displayed because assigned competencies may vary by participant or role."
• Competency questions are fixed when the review is launched. If you edit, link, unassign or delete competencies or levels, or change someone's job after launch, then questionnaires already created don't change.
• If you add participants or peers, or replace a reviewer, after launch, then the new questionnaires use the competencies linked to the job at that moment.
• If you turn Include competency assessment off in a draft, then any custom weights in the review's scoring configuration are cleared.
• The predefined templates Performance Review - 180º and Performance Review - 360º have Include competency assessment on; Probation period has it off.
• If you duplicate a review or create one from a template, then the Include competency assessment setting is copied.

How questions are built for one reviewee (example)

Laura is "Account Executive Senior". Her job has Communication (expected level Proficient, group Soft skills), Negotiation (Advanced, group Sales skills) and Product knowledge (no group, no level). Her review has self, manager and two peers, with Include competency assessment on.

• Laura, her manager and both peers each answer 3 competency questions: "Product knowledge", "Sales skills - Negotiation" and "Soft skills - Communication".
• Questions are grouped by competency group in alphabetical order; competencies without a group come first.
• Communication and Negotiation show an Expected level description; Product knowledge doesn't.

Limitations

• You can't change Include competency assessment after the review leaves Draft (scheduled or launched reviews).
• You can't choose which competencies appear in a review; they always come from each reviewee's job.
• You can't add competency questions to direct-report (upward) reviews.
• You can't enable competency assessment for some reviewer types only (for example manager only).
• You can't use a separate rating scale for competencies; they use the review's scoring scale.
• Launched questionnaires don't refresh when competencies change.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: "The Include competency assessment toggle is greyed out." → Cause: The review is no longer a draft. → Fix: The setting can't be changed after scheduling or launch. Create a new review (or duplicate this one) with the toggle on.
• Symptom: "My draft review shows 'Rate all your competencies' instead of real competencies." → Cause: In drafts, competencies are a placeholder because they differ per reviewee. → Fix: Nothing to fix; real questions are created at launch.
• Symptom: "One employee's reviewers got no competency questions." → Cause: The employee's contract has no job from the job catalog, or the job has no competencies linked. → Fix: Add the job to the contract or link competencies to the job. Already-created questionnaires won't update; add new evaluations if needed.
• Symptom: "Peers didn't get competency questions." → Cause: The review has no peer reviewers, or Include competency assessment was off at launch. → Fix: Check the peer assignments and the Features settings.
• Symptom: "I updated a competency's levels but the running review still shows the old ones." → Cause: Questions are fixed at launch. → Fix: The change applies to the next review.
• Symptom: "A participant has no final score in a review with custom weights." → Cause: The competencies section has a weight, but the participant's job has no competencies, so that section has no answers. → Fix: Contact Factorial support.

FAQ

1. Can peers evaluate competencies?

Yes. When Include competency assessment is on, peer reviewers get the same competency questions as the self and manager reviewers.

2. Will my running review include a competency I just created?

Only for questionnaires created after you link it to the job (for example, newly added participants or peers).

3. Where do I change the rating scale for competencies?

In the company Scoring settings for Performance. Changes apply to new reviews only; past and active reviews keep their scale.

4. Can I weight competencies differently from other questions?

Yes, on the Enterprise plan, if your review uses custom weights by section. See Scores, score scales and potential.