Kompass · Performance areas

The five areas on which Kompass assesses

Instead of free adjectives or hidden codes, Kompass uses five clearly defined assessment dimensions with a controlled verbal scale. More robust, fairer, more verifiable.

Assessment dimensions

The five performance areas

Professional contribution

What did the person contribute in terms of substance? Which initiatives did they lead, which professional standards did they establish? Evidence: concrete results, not adjectives.

Execution & reliability

Were milestones achieved on time and within budget? How did the person act under load and time pressure? Evidence: schedule and budget compliance over multiple periods.

Collaboration & impact

How was the person perceived in the team and across interfaces? How were conflicts addressed? Evidence: concrete stakeholder interactions, observable behaviour.

Learning & adaptation

How has the person developed professionally or methodologically? Which new topics did they take on independently? Evidence: concrete learning transfers into operational work.

Leadership & development of others

Did the person have leadership responsibility? How did they develop employees? Evidence: number of people led, documented development steps. For purely specialist roles: "Not applicable".

Four levels, no free text

The controlled status verbal scale

For each performance area you select exactly one of four status values. No free wording, no school grades, no stars. This discipline is the core of the Kompass Standard.

Requirements met

Solid, complete, without anomalies. The standard case for most employees.

Requirements often exceeded

Repeatedly beyond what was expected, but not consistently. Typical of grade 4 in the classic scale.

Requirements clearly exceeded

Consistently and clearly above expectations across multiple periods. Typical of grade 5 — should be backed by concrete evidence.

Not applicable

The area is not relevant to the role (e.g. leadership for a purely specialist role). Not silence, but an active marking — preventing code-style readings.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Why exactly these five areas?

They cover the HR observation dimensions that count as permissible assessment areas in Swiss case law: subject matter, delivery reliability, social, learning, leadership. Other providers operate with 8–12 areas — we have reduced this to 5, because more areas lead to dilution.

Why a controlled verbal scale instead of school grades?

School grades (1–6) lead directly to code readings ("fullest satisfaction" = grade 1). The verbal scale describes observations rather than judgements — more robust against correction lawsuits, fairer towards employees.

What about the "Not applicable" status?

If an area does not apply to the role (e.g. leadership for a purely specialist role), it is explicitly marked as "Not applicable" — not omitted. In the classic code tradition, omission is read as a hidden hint; explicit marking circumvents this risk.

Can I customise the areas?

In the standard Kompass, no — the five areas are the defining property of the standard. In the Enterprise plan we can add industry-specific extension areas (e.g. "Safety awareness" in regulated industries).

How concrete must the evidence sentence be?

One sentence, observable, related to the role. For example, instead of "was very reliable" → "Delivered the quarterly closing on time and within budget in three consecutive years". The more concrete, the better for correction-proofness.

See it in practice

The sample reference shows all five areas with concrete status values and evidence sentences.

Open sample reference Register now