Merit matrix

A merit matrix defines how ratings from employee appraisals are transformed into merit guidelines on the compensation worksheet.

Matrices are built using the merit rating from an appraisal and either quartile (also known as position in range) or compa ratio. The result is a merit guideline that appears on the employee’s compensation worksheet, which the manager uses when determining a merit increase.

An example of a merit matrix using quartiles is shown below.

In this example, the values on the left refer to the merit rating list used for an employee appraisal. The quartiles are listed across the top of the table. The rest of the table contains ranges of merit increases based on the rating list and quartile, which is shown to managers as the merit guideline.

Merit matrices are built from the Guideline Configuration page under the Admin area.

Along with a merit matrix, other performance metrics are used when determining an employee's merit recommendation.

Employee appraisals use merit rating lists to gauge employee performance over the evaluation period. symplr Performance supports the use of many merit rating lists for various positions across an organization. However, only one merit rating list can be used for a single position.

Rating lists can contain either numerical or text values.

Appraisals have the option to include a merit rating question as the final manager input. Based on the manager’s rating of the employee on the appraisal, the system makes a merit increase recommendation. The manager then has the opportunity to select a different merit increase than what the system has recommended.

If merit rating questions are not used on appraisals, then a default merit rating list will be used. Otherwise, the merit rating list for the merit rating question on that appraisal will be used, as will the corresponding merit matrix.

A performance score is the merit rating value that corresponds to that performance score. If the merit rating question is used, this is the same value as on the appraisal. If the merit rating question is not used on the appraisal, they can still have a merit rating list so that score can be translated into performance ratings on the worksheet.

A performance score is populated with the total weighted average (TWA) from the appraisal.