HR & performance glossary
What is a calibration session?
Calibration session: A meeting in which managers review and adjust the performance ratings they have proposed so the same standard applies across teams before ratings are final.
A calibration session is a meeting in which managers, usually facilitated by HR, review the performance ratings they have proposed for their teams and adjust them so the same standard applies across the organisation. Without it, a rating depends as much on who the manager is as on how the employee performed: some managers rate generously, others rarely give a top score, and the difference flows straight into pay and promotion decisions.
A good session works from evidence rather than advocacy. Each rating is discussed against goal results, competency assessments and feedback, attention goes to the outliers and borderline cases rather than every name, and changes are recorded with a reason. Distribution guidelines can prompt a discussion, but they work best as a check, not a quota.
In CLEAR Talent's performance review software, calibration is a stage in the review cycle, after manager review and before the final rating. Live heatmaps and outlier flags surface inconsistent ratings across managers, forced-distribution simulations are available as an optional guardrail, and every change is written to the audit trail. Because the composite rating keeps goal scores, competency ratings and 360° input visible as separate parts, a session can question one without disturbing the others.