Performance

Performance cycles give the firm’s review work a start, end and due dates for self and manager review. A cycle can be annual, midyear, probation or off-cycle. Its status moves from planning into open work, review, calibration and closure. Goals and reviews refer back to the cycle, so the team can see which expectations and assessments belong to the same period.

HR Business Partner manages goals and review records. Employee can manage their goals and read performance reviews under the configured permissions. The subject and reviewer references on each review matter: the person being evaluated may not be the person who submits the assessment. A review can be self, manager, peer, upward or skip-level. Decide which types are required for each cycle before opening it.

• Cycle. Dates and status set the boundary for review and calibration work.
• Goal. A weighted business, development or behavioral goal tracks progress and a final rating.
• Review. Subject, reviewer, type, rating and narrative preserve the assessment and acknowledgement.

Goals can be drafted, active, at risk, completed or cancelled. Their due dates and progress help a manager distinguish ongoing work from a final rating. A performance review moves through not started, in progress, Submitted, Calibrated, Released and Acknowledged. A submitted review is ready for the next decision, while a released one has been shared with the employee. Preserve that distinction in reports and staff communication.

Set the cycle type and dates, then identify which employees are in scope. Agree when self-review and manager review are due, how calibration happens, and who can release the result. Check that every review has the correct subject and reviewer. Ratings should be discussed in the firm’s own language before they are used to compare teams. The status change should follow the actual decision, especially when a review is calibrated or released.

Decide how goals are linked to the cycle and who may edit them after the review begins. A late goal change can alter the context for an assessment. HR Business Partner should preserve the initial expectation and record the reason for any correction. Training records and course enrollments can inform a development discussion, but they should not be treated as the review decision by themselves.

For a midyear cycle, HR opens the cycle and enters the review due dates. An employee’s development goal is Active with progress recorded. A self-review and a manager review refer to the same employee and cycle but have distinct reviewers and types. The manager submits a narrative and rating. HR checks the submitted records in the review queue, completes calibration, releases the review and records acknowledgement after the employee has seen it.

Rehearse a late submission. The review should remain in progress until the reviewer actually submits it; the cycle should not be closed while a required assessment is unresolved. Compare the cycle population with the list of employees expected to participate, then inspect a released review from an employee account to confirm the intended access.

• Reviews in progress — Assessments waiting for submission and review within a cycle.
• Active employees — The employee population used to prepare the review cycle.

See the performance process and the employee records module.