Targets

Targets define performance goals in Dolfin's compensation system. They are tied to metrics and used to calculate achievement rates that drive bonuses, multipliers, and other compensation logic.

🎯 What Are Targets?

Targets define expected performance levels for a given metric within a time period. They are used to determine how much of a goal has been achieved and directly influence payout logic in compensation rules.

Targets are always evaluated as a ratio between 0 and 1. This value—called achievement—is used to:

Calculate bonuses proportionally
Determine commission tiers
Apply multipliers
Drive conditional logic

📌 Where Targets Are Used

Use Case	Description
Bonus Nodes	Used in proportional and tiered payout calculations.
Multiplier Nodes	Used to apply scaling factors to previously calculated compensation.
Commission Nodes	Used to gate commission tiers.
Conditional Logic	Can be used to define filter logic for rule branches.
Compensation Statements	Achievement is surfaced to users to show progress.

🔍 Target Structure

Field	Description
metric_id	The metric this target is tied to.
target_amount	The numeric goal to be hit.
period_start / period_end	The time range the target applies to.
team_target	If true, this is a team-based target.
global_target	If true, the same target applies to all users.
is_upper_bound	If true, lower values are considered better.
allow_partial_outcome	Only relevant for manually-entered targets. If false, achievement is binary (1 if achieved, 0 if not).
team_ids	Teams the target applies to (if applicable).

🧠 Achievement Calculation

Achievement is always returned as a ratio between 0 and 1, unless is_upper_bound = true, in which case it may exceed 1.

Standard Targets: achievement = metric_value / target_amount
Upper Bound Targets: achievement = target_amount / metric_value

Manual Targets

If the target is manually entered (not derived from a metric), allow_partial_outcome modifies how achievement is calculated:

If allow_partial_outcome = false, achievement is either:
- 1 (goal met)
- 0 (goal missed)
If allow_partial_outcome = true, partial achievement is allowed (e.g. 0.7).

⚙️ Target Evaluation Logic

Target evaluation is performed by comparing actual performance (metric value) with the defined target amount. Here's how it works:

Determine the applicable target

Identify the user’s teams.
Check if the target is global, team-based, or individual.
Select the most relevant entry (profile → team → global), using the correct aggregation function.

Calculate the metric value

Evaluate the metric over the given period and user/team scope.

Compare against the target amount

If is_upper_bound = false: divide metric_value / target_amount.
If is_upper_bound = true: divide target_amount / metric_value.

Adjust for manual overrides

If the target is manually entered:
With allow_partial_outcome = false: result is 1 if the target is met, 0 otherwise.
With allow_partial_outcome = true: result is proportional.

Return the result

The final value is a ratio representing achievement: 0.0 = nothing achieved, 1.0 = target met, >1.0 = overachieved (in some cases).

🧩 Example Usage in a Bonus Node

{
"type": "proportional",
"reference_type": "target",
"target": {
  "id": 123
},
"minimum_achievement": 0.5,
"maximum_achievement": 1
}

This rule grants a proportional bonus if the user achieves between 50% and 100% of the target.