The DSWD AO 23, series of 2018 indicates that the Performance Planning and Commitment phase of the DSPMS shall be facilitated through consultative approach. This planning process begins with a review of the Department's internal and external context as well as ensuring that the DSWD plans are anchored on the pertinent international and national commitments of the Department.

At the Office Level, the DSWD Regional Offices prepare their OPCs by committing the performance indicators and targets from the Approved Harmonized OPC Indicators and Rating Guide that are related to the mandate and core functions of their respective offices. Considered as "mini-DSWDs", the OPC of FOs will mirror the overall DSWD Performance Contract, as they perform all functions of the Department only at a smaller scale. However, to preserve the conciseness of the FO's OPC, performance indicators of some mandated functions particularly for support and administrative services are delegated to the Performance Contracts of the Divisions/Center/Residential Care Facilities.

An accompanying document of the Harmonized FO-OPC is the Rating Guide which operationalizes the indicators to be committed for the plan year. The Rating Guide (Annex C) contains all targets and criteria in terms of quantity, quality and timeliness for each performance indicator. Hence, this document shall serve as the basis during office performance contracting and performance review and evaluation (PRE).

Performance Checkpoints shall be conducted after the first semester to identify missed deliverables and to replan activities to address the delay in the attainment of the commitments. It aims to determine the indicators and targets that were not or may not be accomplished during the rating period, identify additional deliverables not committed in the approved OPC and adjust deliverables and targets for the rating period.

Monitoring of performance and accomplishments can be facilitated through regular meetings, one-on-one discussions, and review of pertinent documents such as reports, among others. This shall be documented using the Performance Monitoring and Coaching Journal (Annexes F-H).

In this stage, accomplishments are assessed based on the attainment of the commitments identified during the planning process (Phase 1). Performance review and evaluation are conducted through performance assessment session. It aims to determine the performance ratings of the DSWD Offices by assessing the performance and accomplishments vis-à-vis the physical and financial targets committed during the rating period. This is conducted semi-annually.

For Field Offices, the performance assessment sessions shall be led by a panel composed of designated members of the Performance Management Team (PMT) with the assistance of the OPC Secretariat.

As pre-work, the FOs shall submit proposed self-ratings for each performance indicator following the criteria stipulated in the approved Rating Guide. These self-ratings together with the proposed ratings provided by the CO-OBS shall be consolidated into comparative rating matrices which shall serve as the basis for the negotiation using the Annex O.

Only ratings for performance indicators not agreed upon by the FO and the CO-OBS (as indicated in the comparative rating matrix) shall be deliberated upon. The FO, through the Regional Director or the Officer-in-Charge, shall present the accomplishments and proposed ratings for each performance indicator. These ratings shall be negotiated with the concerned OBS, and deliberated upon by the panel who shall provide final rating for each indicator. The resulting OPCR form from the session, agreed upon by the panel and Head of Office, shall contain the final Office performance rating.

At the Division level, the Division Chief shall prepare their respective Division Performance Contract and Review (DPCR) within the prescribed performance assessment timeline using the Annex P. The Head of the Office shall conduct a performance assessment session for each Division for the purpose of discussing the Division's accomplishments and determining the final Division performance ratings.

Part of the individual employee's evaluation is the competency assessment vis-à-vis the competency requirement of the job. The result of the assessment shall be discussed by the Heads of the Office and supervisors with the individual employee at the end of each rating period. The discussion shall focus on the strengths, competency-related performance gaps, and the opportunities to address the gaps, career path and alternatives.