Performance

A review cycle takes a group of employees through goal setting, a self-assessment, a manager review and HR sign-off, and ends with each employee reading and acknowledging their review. Open it from Performance in the left menu. Build a review form first, then plan a cycle.

Building a review form

A review form is the set of questions and the rating scale that a cycle uses. People with Create and edit review forms manage forms in Performance → Review forms.

Start from the ready-made Standard annual review: a five-level scale (Unsatisfactory to Outstanding), five rated questions, two written questions, and goals counting for 70 %. Change anything before saving.

A cycle keeps its own copy of the form when it is launched, so editing a form never changes a cycle that has started. A form that a cycle has used cannot be deleted; turn it off instead.

Planning a review cycle

People with Plan, launch and run review cycles run cycles in Performance → Review cycles.

1. Create a cycle with a name, a review form and the period it covers.
2. Choose who takes part. Combine department, designation, location, named people and a joined before date; people must match every rule you set.
3. Set the four deadlines in order: goals, self-assessment, manager review and sign-off.
4. Check the list of included people and the reviewer each would get. A person's reviewer is their manager; anyone without a manager must be given a reviewer before the cycle can start.
5. Launch the cycle. This freezes the form and each person's reviewer, and tells everyone taking part.

A cycle can include up to 2,000 active employees. You can add more people, such as new joiners, while it is running.

Stages

You advance the stages yourself. Deadlines do not lock anything; people who are late are chased with reminders instead.

Reminders go to whoever a review is waiting for, three days before a deadline and once on the day after it. You can also remind selected people at any time.

Goals

A review can have up to 15 goals, and they must count for 100 % in total before a manager can submit the review. Each goal has a title, what success means, how much it counts for, a due date and one measure: a number, a percentage or done / not done.

• Goals an employee proposes wait for their manager's approval. Goals added by a manager or HR are agreed at once.
• To give the same goal to many people, select them in the cycle and assign the goal.
• A person with no goals yet can copy them from their earlier review.
• Once a goal is agreed, the employee and the manager record progress with a new figure and a comment. Progress helps the manager decide the rating but does not calculate it.

Your reviews (employees)

Open Performance → My reviews. The page shows what you need to do next.

1. While goals are being set, add the goals you think you should have. They are sent to your manager for approval.
2. Record your progress whenever it changes.
3. When the review stage opens, answer the review's questions. You can save and come back; nothing is sent until you submit.
4. When HR shares your review you are notified. Read the final rating, your manager's comments and any recommendation, then choose Acknowledge. You can add a comment.

Acknowledging records that you have read the review, not that you agree with it. You cannot see your manager's ratings before HR shares the review, and you never see your manager's private notes.

Reviewing your team (managers)

Open Performance → Team reviews. You see only the people assigned to you.

1. Add goals for your people or approve the ones they propose.
2. Once the review stage opens and the employee has submitted their self-assessment (or its deadline has passed), rate each agreed goal and each question.
3. Write an overall summary for the employee. It is required.
4. Optionally record a recommendation: no change, pay increase, promotion or improvement plan. It is recorded and exported but does not change the employee's record.
5. Add private notes if you wish, then submit.

Private notes are for you and HR only. They are never shown to the employee and are left out of the printed review.

Signing off and sharing

People with Sign off final ratings sign off each review once the manager has submitted it. The final rating starts as the calculated rating; a different one needs a reason, which is kept with the review and appears in exports. Nobody can sign off their own review.

Share signed-off reviews one by one or in bulk. Each employee is notified and can then read and acknowledge their review.

How the score is calculated

Only the manager's ratings are scored. The self-assessment is shown next to them for comparison.

• Goals: each goal's rating is weighted by how much the goal counts. Two goals counting for 60 % and 40 %, rated 4 and 3, give 3.6.
• Questions: the average of the rated questions. Ratings of 3 and 4 give 3.5.
• Overall: the two combined by the form's split. With goals counting for 70 %, the overall score is 0.7 × 3.6 + 0.3 × 3.5 = 3.57.

The calculated rating is the nearest level on the scale, so 3.57 becomes level 4.

Results and export

Open a cycle to see where each person stands, from not started to acknowledged, and who each review is waiting for. People with Export review results can download the cycle's results as a CSV file and print a review as a PDF.

In the mobile app

Employees add goals, record progress, complete the self-assessment and acknowledge their review. Managers approve goals and write reviews. The Performance screens need an internet connection; a self-assessment you have not sent is kept on the phone as a draft. Review forms, cycles and sign-off stay on the web.