A Calibration Supervisor plays a key role in ensuring fair, consistent, and accurate performance reviews across your organization. They help align manager ratings, provide guidance during review cycles, and make sure feedback reflects organizational standards.
In this article, we’ll explain the main responsibilities of a Calibration Supervisor and how they contribute to a transparent and effective performance review process. By understanding this role, you can ensure calibration is carried out smoothly and fairly across your teams.
Understanding the Role of a Calibration Supervisor
What is a Calibration Supervisor?
A calibration supervisor is a third party added to a review flow to ensure fairness and consistency in performance reviews. This role is activated when the review template has Calibration Flow enabled, as shown below:
Calibration supervisors are responsible for reviewing and, if necessary, adjusting the review responses or ratings submitted by a reviewer, ensuring evaluations remain objective and aligned across the organization.
Who can be a Calibration Supervisor?
By default, calibration supervisors are:
Global Admins
Scoped Admins (for users within their scope)
However, non-admins can also be assigned as calibration supervisors. Depending on your specific scenario, these can include:
A next-line manager
Department heads
Non-admin HR team members oversee calibration
➡️ To assign a custom calibration supervisor, please refer to our guide here on assigning non-default calibration roles.
Responsibilities of a Calibration Supervisor
Calibration supervisors are primarily responsible for ensuring the review is:
Objective
Free from bias (too generous or too harsh ratings)
Consistent with company-wide evaluation standards
During the calibration stage, the employee cannot see the review, and they do not know that the calibration is a part of their review flow.
The calibration supervisor can:
✅ Edit reviewer's responses (ratings, comments, multiple-choice answers)
✅ Adjust the final review rating (review results)
✅ Add comments to the ''Overall Comments'' section
✅ Finalize the review directly, which releases the review for the employee to view
✅ Or, depending on the template settings, send it back to the reviewer for final adjustments, giving the reviewer time to digest the outcome, make final adjustments, prepare to share the review thoughtfully, and finalize it then.
This process is especially helpful when:
The review contains sensitive or poorly framed feedback
The reviewer may benefit from refining their message before sharing it with the employee
There’s a need for calibration across teams for consistency
Where to Access Reviews for Calibration
Calibration supervisors can view reviews assigned to them in different locations depending on their admin status:
Admins (Global or Scoped Admins):
Access calibration reviews in the All Reviews tab in the Reviews module.
Non-admin Calibration Supervisors:
Access assigned reviews in the Additional Reviews tab.
This separation ensures that calibration supervisors without admin permissions can still complete their responsibilities seamlessly.
How the Calibration Flow Works
Employee submits their self-review.
The reviewer completes their section and submits it for calibration.
Optionally, the reviewer can pre-fill their answers before the employee submits.
The calibration supervisor reviews and edits if necessary.
The employee still does not see anything at this stage, and does not know it is in the calibration stage.
Finalization:
The calibration supervisor either finalizes the review directly
Or sends it back to the reviewer for final touches, depending on the template settings
Use Cases
Standardizing performance ratings across departments before reviews are finalized
Supporting new or inexperienced managers who may need help framing constructive feedback
Avoiding bias in high-stakes reviews such as promotions, terminations, or performance improvement plans
Ensuring alignment with company values by having senior leaders or HR validate reviews in value-critical roles