Appraisal Madness
Totara and Cortexa Can Help You Transform Your Performance Management Process
In the first post we acknowledged why the manual appraisal blitz is deeply flawed. In the second we laid out the capabilities you should aim for in a modern system. Now let’s bring it all together: how can Totara and Cortexa help you transform performance, goals, feedback, and development in practice, and what benefits can you expect?
Why Totara Perform Is a Strong Foundation
Totara provides:
- Flexible performance frameworks that support both traditional reviews and continuous performance management.
- Goal management and alignment tools that bring company, team, and individual goals together.
- Adaptive appraisals and 360-degree feedback that can be customised for different roles and levels.
- Competency-based development using profiles that track skills and behaviours.
- Coaching and check-ins that embed regular feedback and a coaching culture.
- Reporting and analytics that deliver insights into performance trends, development gaps, and completion rates.
- Integration with HR, talent, and learning systems to automate data flows and reduce duplication.
With this feature set, Totara is not just a performance tool. It is a platform capable of scaling and adapting to your organisation’s needs.
How Cortexa Helps You Execute the Transformation
A platform on its own will not guarantee success. The way it is implemented, adopted, and governed makes the difference. Cortexa supports you by:
1. Discovery and Strategy
We start with a diagnostic of your current process, mapping pain points, stakeholder needs, data flows, and your desired future state.
2. Configuration and Customisation
Based on your chosen model, we configure Totara Perform with appraisal templates, goal hierarchies, competency models, workflows, notifications, and user roles.
3. Data Migration and Integration
We help you cleanse, map, and migrate existing appraisal and goal data. Integration with HR and talent platforms ensures seamless data flow.
4. User Experience and Change Management
We design the user journey to maximise engagement, create training and manager toolkits, and support pilots before full rollout. We also guide you in embedding governance and accountability.
5. Support and Continuous Optimisation
After go-live, we monitor adoption, gather feedback, fine-tune processes, and help embed habits so the platform becomes part of your culture.
Expected Benefits and ROI
By modernising your performance process with Totara and Cortexa you can expect:
- A reduction in administrative time that frees managers and HR for more strategic work
- Higher completion and engagement rates with more consistent reviews
- Better visibility for leadership through real-time insight into performance trends
- Stronger alignment with everyone working toward shared goals
- Improved development planning built on competencies rather than generic checklists
- A cultural shift toward coaching with more frequent feedback
- Sustainable scaling that adapts as you grow
4. User Experience and Change Management
We design the user journey to maximise engagement, create training and manager toolkits, and support pilots before full rollout. We also guide you in embedding governance and accountability.
5. Support and Continuous Optimisation
After go-live, we monitor adoption, gather feedback, fine-tune processes, and help embed habits so the platform becomes part of your culture.
Real-world examples back this up. Circle Health Group raised performance appraisal compliance from 5 percent to 95 percent using Totara. Katoen Natie cut training administration by 20 percent after integrating Totara Learn and Perform.
Your First Steps
- Assess your current process and identify bottlenecks.
- Define your target state, whether continuous, hybrid, or annual with check-ins.
- Pilot with one team and refine based on feedback.
- Roll out in phases by business unit or department.
- Measure, iterate, and embed improvements as you go.
- Establish governance and sustain leadership support.
Conclusion and Call to Action
You do not have to resign yourself to another chaotic year-end juggling act. With Totara Perform as your foundation and Cortexa’s implementation expertise, you can transform performance management from a dreaded scramble into a strategic and value-adding process.
If you’d like to explore how we can help tailor a Totara-based performance solution for your organisation, we’d be delighted to talk. Contact us to set up a workshop or demo and begin your transformation.
