Development Framework

The Development Framework is the central configuration entity for the flair Goals system. It defines the objective mode, weight rules, result update permissions, and phase settings. Each Objective Time Period links to a Development Framework.

Paid feature

The Development Framework is a paid add-on that sits on top of your existing flair subscription. It is not included in the standard package. To enable it for your organisation, please reach out to your flair Customer Success Manager or the flair Sales team — they will guide you through pricing, contracting, and activation.

This guide covers how to set up and configure a Development Framework in Salesforce, including categories, achievement scales, phases, and weight assignments.

Quick Setup Checklist

1. Create a Development Framework — choose between MBO or OKR mode
2. Create an Objective Time Period and link it to the framework
3. (Optional) Create Objective Categories within the framework
4. (Optional) Set up Achievement Scales and link them to categories
5. (Optional) Configure Predefined Result Options on categories
6. (Optional) Set the Current Phase on the Objective Time Period
7. (Optional) Configure Phases (action permissions per phase)
8. (Optional) Set up Category Assignments (position-level and/or employee-level weights)

Objective Modes

The objective mode is configured on the Development Framework and determines how goals are managed across the organization. There are two modes:

• MBO (Management by Objectives): A top-down approach where managers and HR define specific, measurable objectives for employees. Goals are assessed qualitatively using predefined result options and achievement scales, with weighted scoring across categories. Best suited for organizations that want structured performance evaluation with clear scoring criteria.
• OKR (Objectives and Key Results): A collaborative approach where employees set ambitious objectives with measurable key results. Progress is tracked automatically as key results are updated. Best suited for organizations that want transparency, alignment, and continuous progress tracking.

MBO vs OKR Comparison

	MBO	OKR
Focus	Qualitative assessment and structured scoring	Measurable outcomes and continuous progress
How progress is tracked	HR or managers assess results at the end of a period using predefined options or numeric scores	Employees update key results throughout the period; progress is calculated automatically
Goal weighting	Goals and categories can be weighted to reflect relative importance in overall performance	Goals can be weighted, but emphasis is on alignment rather than scoring
Key Results	Not used	Each goal has measurable key results (numeric, percentage, or yes/no)
Scoring	Achievement scales translate results into scores; weighted scores roll up per employee	No scoring — progress is a percentage based on key result completion
Lifecycle	Managed through phases on the time period (Setup, Execution, Review)	Managed through status transitions on individual goals (Draft, On Track, Done)
Best for	Annual or semi-annual performance reviews with formal evaluation	Quarterly goal-setting with ongoing progress transparency

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Choose MBO when you want structured qualitative assessments with scoring and weighting. Choose OKR when you want measurable key results with automatic progress tracking.

Creating a Development Framework

1. In the flair HR app in Salesforce, navigate to Development Frameworks
2. Click New to create a new framework
3. Configure the key fields described below

Key Fields

Field	Values	Description
Objective Mode	MBO / OKR	Determines whether goals use key results (OKR) or qualitative assessment (MBO). See Objective Modes
Objective Weight Mode	None / Per Employee / Per Category	Controls how goal weights are validated. See Category Assignments & Weights
Objective Result Update Mode	HR / HR and Manager / HR and Employee / HR, Manager and Employee	Controls who can update goal results
Objective Phases Settings	JSON	Defines phase permissions for goal actions. See Phases

Objective Categories

Objective Categories group goals by type within a Development Framework — for example, "Business Performance", "Professional Development", or "Team Collaboration". Categories are used for organizing goals, assigning weights, and configuring result options and achievement scales.

Creating Categories

1. Open your Development Framework record in Salesforce
2. In the Objective Categories related list, click New
3. Set the category Name and Order (controls display sorting)
4. Check Available to All if the category should be available to all employees without requiring explicit assignment to their position

info

If Available to All is unchecked, you must set up Category Assignments to make the category available to specific positions or employees.

Achievement Scales & Scoring (MBO Only)

Achievement scales translate a goal's result value into an achievement score. They are defined on the Development Framework and linked to categories via junction records. When an employee creates a goal, they select one of the available scales for that category.

info

Achievement Scales are only available in MBO mode and are optional. If no scale is configured, the achievement score equals the result value directly.

Scale Types

Type	Behavior
Thresholds	Range-based scoring defined via JSON. Each range maps a result interval to a fixed score or uses linear interpolation
Linear	Achievement score equals the result value (passthrough)

Setting Up Achievement Scales

1. Open your Development Framework record in Salesforce
2. In the Achievement Scales related list, click New
3. Set the scale Name and Type
4. For Thresholds type, configure the Thresholds Json field (see format below)
5. Link the scale to one or more categories by creating Category Achievement Scale junction records

Thresholds JSON Format

The Thresholds JSON is an array of range definitions. Each range defines a half-open interval [from, to):

[
  { "from": 0, "to": 60, "score": 0 },
  { "from": 60, "to": 80, "score": 75 },
  { "from": 80, "to": 100, "score": 100 },
  {
    "from": 100,
    "to": 102.5,
    "score": "linear",
    "scoreFrom": 100,
    "scoreTo": 110
  },
  { "from": 102.5, "score": 150 }
]

• from (inclusive) and to (exclusive) define the range
• Omit to for an open-ended upper bound; omit from for an open-ended lower bound
• score = number for a fixed score, or "linear" for interpolation within the range
• scoreFrom / scoreTo are optional anchors for linear interpolation
• Results not matching any range default to a score of 0

Scoring Fields on Employee Objectives

Field	Description
Achievement Score	Calculated from the result value using the selected achievement scale
Weight	The goal's own weight (percentage)
Objective Category Weight	The effective category weight for this goal (from category assignment)
Final Weight	Objective Category Weight x Weight / 100
Weighted Achievement Score	Achievement Score x Final Weight / 100

Predefined Result Options (MBO Only)

Predefined Result Options define a fixed set of qualitative result choices for goals within a category — for example, "Exceeds Expectations" or "Meets Expectations". Each option has a name, a numeric result value, and a display order.

Creating Predefined Result Options

1. Open an Objective Category record in Salesforce
2. In the Predefined Result Options related list, click New
3. Set the Name (display label), Result Value (numeric), and Order (display sorting)

warning

Predefined result options and free numeric input are mutually exclusive. If a category has predefined options, employees select from a dropdown. If no options are defined, employees enter a numeric value manually.

When combined with achievement scales, the numeric result value from the selected option feeds into the scale to produce an achievement score.

Objective Time Periods

Objective Time Periods define the timeframe for goals — for example, a quarter, a half-year, or a full year. Each time period links to a Development Framework, which provides the mode, categories, phases, and weight configuration for all goals within that period.

Creating a Time Period

1. In the flair HR app in Salesforce, navigate to Objective Time Periods
2. Click New to create a new time period
3. Set the Name, Start Date, End Date, and mark the period as Active
4. Link the time period to a Development Framework
5. Set the Current Phase to the appropriate phase (e.g., "Setup")

warning

The Current Phase field determines which phase rules are active for this period. You must update this field manually as the period progresses through its lifecycle (e.g., from Setup to Execution to Review). Goals will not behave correctly if the current phase is not set.

Cloning Time Periods

When you clone an Objective Time Period, all category assignments — both position-level and employee-level — are automatically copied to the new period. This saves time when setting up recurring periods (e.g., creating Q3 from Q2).

Phases

Phases control what employees can do with goals during different stages of an Objective Time Period. Each phase defines permissions for five action types.

Action Types

Action	What It Controls
Create Goals	Whether employees can create new goals
Update Goals	Whether employees can edit existing goals
Delete Goals	Whether employees can delete goals
Update Weight	Whether employees can change goal weights
Update Progress	Whether employees can update progress (key result values in OKR, results in MBO)

Permission Levels

Each action can be set to one of three permission levels:

Level	Behavior
Allow	Changes are applied directly
Deny	Action is blocked; the UI proactively disables the corresponding buttons and fields
Require Approval	Changes go through an approval workflow before being applied. See Approvals

Default Phases

Phase	Create Goals	Update Goals	Delete Goals	Update Weight	Update Progress
Setup	Allow	Allow	Allow	Allow	Deny
Execution	Deny	Deny	Deny	Require Approval	Allow
Review	Deny	Deny	Deny	Deny	Require Approval

Configuring Phases

Phases can be configured in two ways:

• From the UI: Open the Objective Phases tab in the flair HR app to configure phases visually
• Via JSON: Edit the flair__Objective_Phases_Settings__c field directly on the Development Framework record

Each phase entry defines the phase name and the permission level for each of the five action types. The active phase for a given period is determined by the Current Phase field on the Objective Time Period.

Approvals

When a phase action is set to Require Approval, employee-initiated changes go through an approval workflow instead of being applied directly. Manager and HR actions bypass the approval process entirely.

How Approvals Work

Action	Behavior
Create	The goal is created immediately with a Pending approval status. On approval, it is confirmed. On rejection, it is removed
Update	The goal is not modified. Proposed changes are stored in a data change request. On approval, changes are applied to the goal. On rejection, nothing changes
Delete	The goal is soft-deleted (marked for deletion) with a Pending status. On approval, it is permanently deleted. On rejection, it is restored

info

When a mutation touches multiple action types (e.g., updating both weight and description), the most restrictive permission wins: Deny > Require Approval > Allow.

Approval Status in the Hub

• Goal cards show an approval status badge (Pending / Rejected) and a marked-for-deletion indicator
• Goal sidebar displays pending changes inline with per-field indicators, showing proposed values alongside current values
• Manager view includes a "Pending Approval" filter to surface goals awaiting approval
• When a goal is rejected, the employee can re-edit and re-submit, which creates a new approval request

Limitations

Approvals do not currently support the following — these actions are automatically denied when the phase uses Require Approval:

• Tags
• Shares
• Alignments
• Key Results
• Key Result value updates

Category Assignments & Weights

Weight mode is configured on the Development Framework via the Objective Weight Mode field. It controls how goal weights are validated across employees.

Weight Modes

Mode	Description
None	Only subgoal weights are validated (children of the same parent must sum to 100%)
Per Employee	Root goals per employee must sum to 100%
Per Category	Category assignments per employee must sum to 100%, and goals within each category must also sum to 100%

Weight Validation Rules

Rule	None	Per Employee	Per Category
Subgoals of a parent = 100%	Yes	Yes	Yes
Root goals per employee = 100%	No	Yes	Yes
Category assignments per employee = 100%	No	No	Yes
Goals within category per employee = 100%	No	No	Yes

Position-Level Assignments

Position-level assignments define default category weights for all employees in a given position. For example, "Sales Manager" might have 60% Business Performance and 40% Professional Development.

Employee-Level Assignments

Employee-level assignments override position-level defaults for a specific employee within a given period. For example, a particular Sales Manager might have 70% Business Performance and 30% Professional Development instead of the position default.

Bulk Assignment

You can bulk-assign categories to positions from the Objective Time Period record page, then adjust individual weights from each Position record page.

Performance Review Integration

Goals can be integrated with performance reviews by linking an Employee Feedback Cycle to an Objective Time Period. The display mode is configured on the Development Framework.

Display Modes

Mode	Behavior
None	Goals are not shown in performance reviews
Sidebar	Goals appear in a standalone section within the review, with a management sidebar for result entry
Inline as Questions	Goals from the linked time period render as question items within the review questions flow

Result Update Permissions in Reviews

Who can update goal results during a review is controlled by the Objective Result Update Mode on the Development Framework.

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Backward compatibility: If a feedback cycle has no linked Development Framework, the system falls back to the Manage Goals checkbox on the feedback cycle — true behaves as Sidebar mode, false behaves as None.

Goals in the Employee Hub

This section provides a brief overview of how goals appear to employees and managers in the Employee Hub after configuration.

Goal List

Employees and managers access goals from the Goals page in the Employee Hub. The goal list displays all goals for the selected time period.

• OKR mode: Goals show status pills (Draft, Behind, On Track, Done, Canceled) and can be grouped by status. Key result progress is visible on each goal card.

• MBO mode: Goals show achievement scores (when an Achievement Scale is set) and are grouped by category. Status pills are hidden.

Goal Sidebar

Clicking on a goal opens a sidebar where employees can view and edit goal details. The fields visible in the sidebar depend on the objective mode — see the MBO vs OKR Comparison table for details.

Goal Hierarchy

Goals exist at three levels:

• Company goals — organization-wide strategic goals (created by HR in Salesforce)
• Team goals — team-level goals (created by managers and HR)
• Employee goals — individual goals (created by employees, managers, and HR)

Employee goals can have sub-goals (nested goals within the same employee). Goals can also be aligned to company or team goals, showing how individual work contributes to organizational strategy.

Visibility

Option	Who Can See
All the company	All employees
Management and HR	Only managers and HR
Protected	Only explicitly shared users (OKR mode only)

Key Results (OKR Only)

In OKR mode, each goal can have measurable key results with three metric types:

Type	Description
Numeric	Track progress from an initial value to a target value
Percentage	Track as percentage progress
Boolean	Yes/no completion

Goal progress is auto-calculated from the average of its key results.

Scoring Overview (MBO Only)

In MBO mode, managers can access the Period Goals Overview — a team view that shows each employee's goals with their category, final weight, achievement scale, result, score, and weighted score. Each employee card displays a progress indicator (e.g., "2 of 2 goals have result assigned") and a Final Score that rolls up all weighted scores.