Creating and managing performance review cycles

Creating a performance review cycle is essential for assessing employee performance, aligning goals, and promoting a culture of communication, development, and accountability. As an HR Admin, you can set up performance review cycles tailored to your organization's needs, allowing for distinct processes for different employment types (full-time, contractors, etc), entities, locations, or departments.

Νavigate to the Employees tab of the main menu and select Performance to view, manage, and create performance cycles for the organization.

 

Creating a performance review cycle

To start crafting a new review cycle, click Create review cycle on the upper right of the Performance tab and follow the five-step wizard:

Step 1: Details

Fill out the review cycle details:

• Review cycle name: This name will be shown to employees when asked to complete their reviews.
• Period under review: Select the range of dates that employees should focus on when writing their reviews. This date range will be visible to employees. For an annual review, this period would run from January 1 to December 31 of the review year. 

Step 2: Templates

In this step, select what templates should be used in this review and how answers should be rated.

You can enable the option for a self-review, a manager review, or both. For each of them, you should select which template you would like to use. You can also configure the below settings separately for the self-review and manager review:

• Include a rating scale for each section of the template. Individual questions cannot be rated.
• Require managers to add questions to customize review forms for each employee. 
• Allow employees or managers to edit their review after they've submitted it. 

Next, if you've added a rating scale for your reviews, select a method for employees to assess their performance for the overall review as well as for each section of the template. You won't be able to change this rating system after the review cycle has started. The supported rating options are:

• Star rating (1 star to 5 stars) 
• Numeric rating (1 to 10)
• Custom rating: We’ll provide some default custom rating scales (from Unsatisfactory to Exceptional), but you can also customize it to fit your needs.

Step 3: Employees

In this step, choose which employees to include in this review cycle.

• All employees: All your active employees will participate in this review cycle.
• Individual employees: Add any individual employees who will participate in this review cycle.
• Custom: Select which types of employees (Full-Time, Part-Time, Contractor) and/or which entities, locations, and departments of employees to include in this review cycle.

You can also exclude employees who should not be included in this review cycle. You can exclude specific employees manually or based on their start date. In the example below, employees who started their roles after September 30 are not required to participate in this review cycle.

Step 4: Timeline

Choose the timelines for when your employees should prepare, write, submit, share, and sign their reviews.

Prepare reviews (only for Managers)

This option will appear only if you require managers to customize self-review and/or manager review templates in step 2.

The preparation start date is when managers will be notified to customize the review template for each direct report with questions and sections specific to each individual’s role and responsibilities.

Write reviews

While the review cycle is active, employees can write, submit, share and sign their reviews. Choose the start date and deadline (both date and time) for when each of these actions should be completed.

In the below example, the timeline will look like this:

• The performance reviews will begin on Nov 1. Employees and managers will receive notifications to start their reviews at that time.

• Self-reviews are due by Nov 10. Employees will receive a reminder 3 days before this deadline.
• Manager reviews are due by Nov 24. Managers will receive a reminder 3 days before this deadline.
• Managers should share their reviews with their direct reports by Dec 22. They will receive a reminder 3 days before this deadline.

Note: Allowing late submissions gives employees extra time to complete their reviews, accommodating unexpected delays (e.g., scheduling conflicts, workload demands). This option is not displayed to employees, enabling them to stick to original deadlines and maintain consistency in the review timeline, thus preventing potential delays.

Sign review

If this setting is enabled, employees and reviewers will be asked to sign reviews after they've been shared to confirm they've discussed and agreed on the results. Employees and managers will receive a reminder 3 days before this deadline.

Timezone

Choose a timezone for this performance review's start & end dates and deadlines. Please remember that the deadlines will be consistent for all employees, but they will be adjusted to match the timezone specified in their profiles.

Step 5: Summary

See a summary of your performance review cycle based on what you've selected in the previous steps, along with a visual timeline representation. Click 'Done' to save your settings.

 

Managing performance review cycles

Once a review cycle is created, it will appear as scheduled until the review start date.

HR Admins have full control over performance review cycles, and they can view, edit, start, or end them as needed (under the three dots menu ).

Action	Explanation
View	Click View cycle to review the progress and outcomes of a scheduled or active review cycle.
Edit	Editing a scheduled review cycle A scheduled review cycle can be edited freely, and all changes will be considered when the cycle begins.  Editing an active review cycle When a review cycle is active, you can only edit the details, assigned employees, and timeline.
Start	Start a scheduled review cycle earlier than the review start date.
End	End an active review cycle earlier than the review end date (the end date will be either the manager review sharing deadline or the sign review deadline if enabled).

 

FAQs

Is it possible to edit a review cycle once it has started?

When a review cycle is active, you can only edit the details, assigned employees, and timeline.

Settings such as templates will be shown as greyed out, and you won't be able to edit them.

Who receives email notifications during the performance review cycle?

You can view all email notifications sent during a performance review cycle and see who receives them here.