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SES Performance Planning and Accomplishment Reporting Application User's
Guide

**US Fish and Wildlife Service**

September 2008

Contents

Page

[Chapter 1: SES Performance Plans and Accomplishment Reporting
1](#__RefHeading___Toc208641857)

[1.1 Accessing the SES Performance Plan and Accomplishment Reporting
Application (SES PPARA) 1](#__RefHeading___Toc208641858)

[1.2 Setting and Reporting on Performance Commitments
2](#__RefHeading___Toc208641859)

[1.2.1 Entering/Editing Performance Commitments
2](#__RefHeading___Toc208641860)

[1.2.2 Reporting Performance Accomplishments and Narratives
4](#__RefHeading___Toc208641861)

1.  []{#__RefHeading___Toc208641857 .anchor}SES Performance Plans and
    Accomplishment Reporting

In FY2008, the Department of the Interior (DOI) submitted and had
approved a new application for reporting SES accomplishments. This
10-page form has been identically reproduced as a Cognos, web-based
application. SES members will now be able to access their plans from
past years as well as the current year by visiting a single folder
within the SES accomplishment reporting application. Service guidelines
have been set up around the 10-page form to enable SES members to more
easily understand the rules in setting up the form. This piece of the
training will outline these rules as well as the functionality of the
web-based application. In order to access this new application, users
must have a Cognos report license. For questions regarding licenses,
please contact the Division of Cost and Performance Management (DCPM)
Help Desk at 703.358.2589 (<fws_cpm@fws.gov>). For questions relating to
commitments or DOI guidelines, please call Laurie Gillespie in HQ HC at
703.358.2114 (<laurie_gillespie@fws.gov>).

1.  []{#__RefHeading___Toc208641858 .anchor}Accessing the SES
    Performance Plan and Accomplishment Reporting Application (SES
    PPARA)

Navigate to the Service's SES PPARA website at
<http://www.fws.gov/Planning/Planning/Guidance.aspx>.

1.  Select the 'FY2008 FWS-DOI Performance Planning and Accomplishment
    Reporting Application' link.

2.  This will link you directly into the SES PPARA application. If you
    have trouble accessing the application, please call the DCPM Help
    Desk at 703.358.2589.

3.  Next, select the SES member you are working with in the dropdown
    from the upper left of the screen. In future years, you will be able
    to come back to the system and choose a Time Period to look back
    over for review.

![](media/image3.png){width="1.6604166666666667in"
height="0.7861111111111111in"}

Figure 1 - Select the SES member you are working with from the dropdown
menu.

1.  []{#__RefHeading___Toc208641859 .anchor}Setting and Reporting on
    Performance Commitments

Each year, SES members are required to develop performance commitments
in accordance with their supervisor. These commitments will now be
captured in the SES PPARA. This section will demonstrate how to enter
the commitments into the web-based application.

There are seven\* elements that each SES member has available for
commitments in a Fiscal Year. They are:

1.  Element 1 (mandatory): Standard DOI-wide commitments.

2.  Element 2 (mandatory): GPRA/PART responsibilities. For Regional
    Directors, the backup to these will be the measure-by-measure GPRA
    and PART applications. For all other SES members, the commitment
    will be oversight responsibilities in setting and achieving these
    targets which will be boilerplate text provided by HQ HC.

3.  Element 3 (mandatory): RD/AD Commitments using the context of
    Strategic Habitat Conservation.

4.  Element 4 (mandatory): Director's Critical Commitments.

5.  Element 5: Other

6.  Element 6: Other

7.  Element 7: To be used only where absolutely necessary.

\*These may be changed with your supervisor's approval.

1.  []{#__RefHeading___Toc208641860 .anchor}Entering/Editing Performance
    Commitments

Beginning with Element 1, SES members must have commitments for each
Element up through and including Element 4. Elements 1 and 2 are already
described for each SES member. Beginning with Element 3, the SES member
navigate to Element 3 of the SES PPARA by doing the following:

1.  Click the 'Elements 2-4' link under the 'Commitments' heading in the
    Navigation Pane to the left of the SES PPARA. The first time you
    click this link, it may take a minute to load. However, performance
    will speed up afterwards.

![](media/image4.png){width="1.3409722222222222in"
height="2.0006944444444446in"}

Figure 2 - Choose the Performance Commitment from the Table of Contents

2.  Next, click on the link for 'Click to View Details' next to the
    words Element 3 in the main form to the right of the navigation
    pane.

![](media/image5.png){width="2.748611111111111in"
height="0.8256944444444444in"}

Figure 3 - Entering a new Performance Commitment.

3.  To add a new commitment, select the
    ![](media/image6.png){width="0.16666666666666666in"
    height="0.17708333333333334in"} icon as shown in Figure 4.

![](media/image7.png){width="5.377083333333333in"
height="1.4243055555555555in"}

Figure 4 -- Inserting a new performance commitment.

4.  Figure 5 shows the box that will appear after you perform Step 3.
    The text box that appears is limited to [250]{.mark} characters.
    However, you may add multiple commitment boxes. Remember, the total
    amount of text that you put in **must** fit inside the allotted
    space per DOI rules. **You can test this** by running the PDF
    version at any time (refer to Step 7).

![](media/image8.png){width="5.373611111111111in"
height="1.0958333333333334in"}

Figure 5 -- Type in the Performance Commitment. You can also copy text
into this box from another application by right-clicking and doing
paste.

5.  **Before you move on, Save! Click on the**
    ![](media/image9.png){width="0.1875in" height="0.1875in"} **icon
    that is shown in Figure 4. Click this button often because if you
    navigate to another page without Saving, you will lose your
    information.\\**

6.  **Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have entered all of your
    performance commitments for the element you are working on.**

7.  Run the PDF after you have finished all of the commitments for a
    particular Element to ensure the text fits inside the space that DOI
    has allotted in the form. In the upper right-hand side of the
    screen, select the PDF option as shown in the diagram below.

![](media/image10.png){width="1.8333333333333333in"
height="1.1666666666666667in"}

Figure 6 -- Run application as a PDF.

8.  At the top of the screen, click on the
    ![](media/image11.png){width="0.22916666666666666in"
    height="0.22916666666666666in"} icon as indicated in Figure 7.

![](media/image12.png){width="3.9993055555555554in" height="1.46875in"}

Figure 7 - This figure shows you how to return the main part of the
Application.

1.  []{#__RefHeading___Toc208641861 .anchor}Reporting Performance
    Accomplishments and Narratives

At the end of each Fiscal Year, SES members must report on their
accomplishments. SES members will use the SES PPARA to meet this
requirement. The process is similar to entering a new metric, except
that there are three parts.

1.  The first part is checking off the commitments you have achieved
    during FY 2008. Your self-rating will be determined according the
    following scale of the percent of commitments achieved under each
    element. For example, if you have 5 commitments for Element 3 and
    you check the box for four of them as completed, the self-rating
    will be ![](media/image13.wmf). Your supervisor is responsible for
    the final rating for each element.

    a.  Exceptional 90-100%

    b.  Superior 80-89%

    c.  Fully Successful 70-79%

    d.  Minimally Successful 60-69%

    e.  Unsatisfactory 50-59%

2.  The second part is a Summary of Accomplishments. This is your chance
    to write a short narrative for each element describing your
    accomplishments. This part of the form will only be seen by your
    supervisor and will not be forwarded to DOI as it is not part of the
    official form. This is to ensure you have adequate room to address
    your Accomplishments outside of the DOI form.

3.  The third piece is an Executive Summary of Accomplishments. This is
    a DOI-mandated field that is extremely short. Your answer must fit
    into the pre-defined space as required by DOI.

4.  The fourth part is to write an initial Supervisor's Justification
    for Rating. Your supervisor will use this paragraph to help them
    write the Justification for Rating. Again, this box is very small
    per DOI rules.

> To begin the accomplishment reporting process, do the following:

1.  Click on the Element you wish to work on under the 'Accomplishments'
    heading of the left-side navigation panel.

2.  Next, click on the link for 'Click to View Details' next to the
    words Element 3.

![](media/image14.png){width="2.826388888888889in"
height="1.4701388888888889in"}

Figure 8 - Entering a new Performance Commitment.

3.  Figure 9 shows the box where you will type your Summary of
    Accomplishments. **Click the Save icon in the upper left-hand
    portion of your screen while you work.** You may return to this
    screen at any time to update your text until the closing date. The
    character limitation is 3000. This should give you about ¾ of a page
    to write. This portion of the summary will be only visible to your
    supervisor, not DOI. Remember you can work in another software such
    as Microsoft Word and paste into this box. [This box does not
    expand]{.underline}, but the character count will let you know when
    you run out of room.

![](media/image15.png){width="3.779166666666667in"
height="2.229861111111111in"}

Figure 9 - Type in your Summary of Accomplishments for Element 3.

4.  Next, type in the Executive Summary of your Accomplishments. You'll
    notice that this space is limited to 1500 characters in order to fit
    DOI's pre-existing form. Again, this is the only space allotted for
    the Executive Summary. Use the PDF function to ensure your write-up
    fits inside the box.

5.  Last, type in a draft of the Supervisor's Justification for Rating.
    You'll notice that this space is limited to 1500 characters in order
    to fit DOI's pre-existing form. Again, this is the only space
    allotted for the Supervisor's Justification. This space is actually
    a bit smaller than the Executive Summary on DOI's form. Use the PDF
    function to ensure your write-up fits inside the box.

6.  Click on the 'back' button in the SES PPARA toolbar to navigate back
    to the main form. Repeat Steps 1-5 until you have finished all
    Elements for which you have Committments.
    ![](media/image16.png){width="1.5625in"
    height="0.3020833333333333in"}