Supervisors are reminded of the requirement to conduct a quarterly conversation to discuss performance with employees and record completion in the electronic Performance Management system (ePM) which is accessible via ConnectHR. 

What you need to do

Supervisory officials need to:

• Ensure that employees have been placed on their FY23 performance plans by their current Supervisor of Record in Paycheck8.
• Enter completion of Quarter 2 progress conversations in ePM by March 31.
  • Select Quarterly Conversations
  • Select Employee
  • Select Begin  
• Refer to Departmental Regulation 4040-430 for any additional guidance.

Employees need to:

• Acknowledge completion of Quarter 2 progress conversations in ePM.
  • Go to “My Worklist”
  • Select “View Conversation”
  • Review conversation and under Action Options, select “I confirm the Quarterly Conversation occurred.”

New ePM SharePoint page

The ePM and Performance Management Training Resources was created as a supplemental means to assist an Employee, Rating Official, and the Reviewing Official with expedient tools and resources to help navigate the ePM system.

ePM workshop trainings  

To help navigate in ePM more effectively, the Employee and Labor Relations Policy & Compliance Team will be hosting monthly ePM Workshops on “Drafting Effective and Meaningful Performance Plans”. These voluntary workshops are designed to be informative so that both supervisors and employees can work proactively in communicating about performance through ePM. Closed captioning and ASL will be provided for these workshops which will occur on the following session dates using the same virtual conference room. 

Help is available:

Open an HR Help case:

• Call: 1-877-372-7248, Press 2.
• Email: hrm_contact_center@usda.gov.
• Self-Service: ConnectHR, then select HR Help. For detailed instructions, visit the HR Help How-to Add a Case Guide.