‘Setting’ PaCE for Success – the CAF’s new performance appraisal system

February 1^st, 2022 - Defence Stories

With the new year well underway, it’s important to remember the Performance and Competency Evaluation (PaCE) and the upcoming timelines for 2022.

We have been following a “Ready, Set, Go!” approach for PaCE throughout the past year. Now, in the final quarter of performance year 2021/2022, we have deliberately moved the emphasis from “Ready” to “Set” as we prepare for the final stage of “Go!” on April 1, 2022.

As we got ourselves “Ready” this past summer and fall, we reminded you about the five online PaCE courses available through the Defence Learning Network (DLN), and which ones you should be completing based on the professional roles you fulfil. We highlighted the importance of confirming with your chains of command the expected timelines within your respective Level 1s (L1s) with regard to both training completion as well as ensuring the appropriate setup of your PaCE profiles in Monitor MASS, and those of your subordinates. This initial preparation on your part included starting to get the ball rolling on the creation and upkeep of Job Descriptions, Member Aspiration Profiles, and Feedback Notes.

Now in the “Set” phase, it is time to remind all CAF members, and all supervisors of CAF members including Foreign Service Officers and civilian employees, that April is about two months away and what that means – not only to be “Ready,” but “Set” to begin the new fiscal year.

The one-year PaCE Trial has successfully reached completion, including the trialling of national selection boards. Concurrently, we are conducting a second year of confirmation known as the “Pilot.” We continue to move forward with the PaCE, which will follow you from position to position along your individual career path.

Although initial familiarization with PaCE may seem overwhelming, the system is improving the way we do business with respect to performance appraisal. See in testimonials below to see what real users are saying.

Along with these PaCE updates, we kindly remind you to remember the words of Benjamin Franklin: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Be “Ready” and be “Set” by positioning yourself to operate at a comfortable pace within PaCE, in order to “Go!”

TESTIMONIALS:

“For me, the PaCE upgrade is not just about where we are now, but where we were two years ago. As a relatively new sergeant, it hit me very quickly how desperately we needed an upgrade for Canadian Forces Personnel Appraisal System (CFPAS).

Thankfully PaCE has taken member appraisal in the CAF a massive step forward.

There are so many areas of PaCE that will facilitate the life of supervisors up and down the chain of command. … The most useful improvement/change in my opinion is the use of “Feedback Notes” instead of Personnel Development Review (PDRs) to record important events in a member’s career. These notes standardize the way a member can record their accomplishments, facilitate transmission to other members in the chain of command, and eliminate the dreaded ‘brag sheet’ that was always such a pain to standardize.”
-Sergeant Justin Harris, 3 AMS, CFB Bagotville

“Within our section in Naval Staff Headquarters, we have been using the Member Aspiration Profile (MAP) and Feedback Notes features within PaCE for a few months now. As a supervisor, the MAP has been an incredibly valuable tool to understand what my subordinates’ career aspirations are, both in the short and long term. As a supervisor, it helped me understand what motivated my subordinates so that I could better support their needs and craft a more fulsome plan for their progression.

I have particularly enjoyed the Feedback Notes feature of PaCE. It is fast and easy to create electronic notes within Monitor MASS on a member’s performance and I especially loved the ability to debrief these notes virtually. ... Using these tools now has made me really excited about the future of our performance appraisal system. PaCE signifies an important cultural shift for the CAF.”
-Commander Amber Comisso, Directorate of Naval Personnel 2, Naval Staff

If you are already using the PaCE system and want to share your story about how it has impacted performance appraisals for you, please send your story to PaCEtraining-FormationEPC@forces.gc.ca with the subject line “My PaCE Story” for inclusion in upcoming PaCE articles.