Performance review life cycle

During its life cycle, a performance review and a self performance review undergo a number of status changes.

Draft performance review

Performance reviews in Draft status have been newly entered by the manager. Only the manager who created the Performance Review can view it in the Draft status. The Team Member, or HR, cannot yet see what has been entered - the performance review must first be revealed. Your organization may require an approval by HR for the performance review before it can be revealed to the team member - this requirement is set by the HR manager in the Policy for the department.

Depending on the approval requirement, the manager can take one of two actions:

  • Submit the performance review for HR approval:

    • On the Performance Review detail view, select Submit.

      The performance review remains in Draft status until set by the HR manager to Approved status.

  • Reveal the performance review to the team member:

    • On the Performance Review detail view, select Reveal.

Typically, the manager cannot edit the performance review after it has been submitted or revealed. If your organization needs to edit reviews after they have been revealed, your HR manager or administrator has access to a policy setting to enable editing after revealing.

For more information, see New performance review.

Approval of performance reviews

Settings in your policy control if performance reviews must be approved before revealing to team members. If approval is not required, reviews can progress directly to Reveal status.

For approval, HR Managers or managers included in the approval process review the rating and review comments. The approval process managers can then:

  • Approve the performance review, with or without altering the performance rating and review comments. The performance review is set to Approved status.
  • Reject the performance review. The performance review passes back to the manager for amendment before being resubmitted. It remains in Draft status.

Approved performance review

Performance reviews in Approved status have been entered by the manager and approved by a manager in the approval process. They are ready to be revealed to the team member.

The manager can reveal the performance review to the team member as soon as it is approved. The manager might wait for the performance review meeting with the team member. This would be appropriate if, for example, the review contained bad news. If in doubt consult your HR manager.

To reveal the performance review to the team member:

  • On the Performance Review detail view, select Reveal. The status changes to Revealed.

Draft self performance review

A self performance review in Draft status is ready for a team member to enter their self review, or after entering, ready to be revealed by the team member to the manager. A self performance review in the Draft status can only be viewed by the team member - it is not visible to the manager or to HR.

For more information, see Edit self performance review.

Reveal and performance review meeting

After revealing performance review and self performance review, it is time for a performance review meeting.

Revealed performance review

Performance reviews in Revealed status have been entered by the manager, sent for approval by HR if that is a requirement in your organization, and revealed to the team member.

Typically, the manager cannot edit a performance review after it has been revealed. Your HR manager or administrator has access to a policy setting to enable editing after reveal, if required by your organization.

The manager now holds the performance review meeting with the team member. After the meeting the performance review is signed by the manager. If there is a self performance review then the performance review cannot be signed by the manager until:

  1. The self performance review has been revealed to the manager
  2. The self performance review has been signed by the team member.

When these conditions are met the manager can sign the performance review.

Revealed self performance review

A self performance review in Revealed status is one that has been entered and revealed by the team member. Typically, the team member cannot edit a self performance review after it has been revealed. If your organization wants to allow self performance reviews to be edited after they have been revealed, your HR manager or administrator has access to a policy setting to enable edit after reveal.

As the team member, you are now ready for the performance review meeting with your manager. The review meeting is the most important part of the performance review process. By making your own notes you will be well prepared for it.

Performance review meeting

The manager is now ready to hold the performance review meeting with the team member. If the team member has a self performance review the meeting includes discussion of both the manager and team member reviews. Allow time for the team member to write their self performance review before meeting.

The manager and team member do not have to reveal their comments or the rating before the meeting but it is typically better if they both do so. The meeting will not work well if it feels like an ambush. An exception should be made if the comments carry bad news; such information is always best delivered face-to-face.

The performance review meeting is the most important part of the performance review process. The rest of the performance review process is simply a preparation for the meeting.

Signed and completed performance review

After the performance meeting, it is time to sign the performance review to complete it.

Completed self performance review

A self performance review in Completed status is one that has been entered, revealed and signed by the team member. This releases the linked performance review for signing by the manager.

A completed self performance review cannot be edited by anyone.

For more information, see Sign a revealed performance review.

Completed performance review

A performance review in Completed status is one that has been entered, revealed and signed by the manager. If a self performance review was included then this must have been completed too.

A completed performance review cannot be edited by anyone.

For more information, see Sign a team member's revealed performance review.