Performance Management FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Performance Management.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Performance Management Overview.
Setup
Do I need to set up a template before anyone can be reviewed?
Yes. A review cannot be created without a review template, and the form will not
submit until you pick one. If no templates exist yet, create one first. The
template decides what the review asks and who fills it out.
Can the employee and the manager fill in different templates?
No. A review uses one template. The template’s Who fills out this review?
setting decides who takes part: Employee + Manager (both participate),
Self-Assessment Only (employee only), or Manager Evaluation Only (no
self-assessment). To give employees a different set of questions, build a
separate template with the setting you need.
Who can create a performance review for someone else?
Super admins, business admins, HR admins and admins of the Performance Management
app can create a review for any employee. An HR admin can open a review they
created only if they are its assigned reviewer or a manager of that employee.
Everyone else — including managers — can only create reviews for people they
manage, directly or through their reports. Trying to create one for anybody else
is refused.
Is there a limit on how many reviews one employee can have?
Only if you turn one on. In the Performance Reviews settings, Enable Review
Creation Limits is off by default. When it is on, Max Reviews per
Employee (default 2, accepts 1 to 10) applies within Time Period
(Months) — 3, 6, 12, 18 or 24 months, with 12 as the default. Allow Admin
Override lets admins and super admins go past the limit, and reviews an
automation creates are never counted against it.
Performance cycles
How do I put reviews I’ve already sent into a performance cycle?
Open the cycle and use Add an element → From reviews already sent. An element is
one round of reviews inside a cycle, such as Q1 or the annual review.
- The panel lists rounds of reviews that are not in any cycle yet. A round is two
or more reviews with the same review type and the same review period. - Tick the rounds you want and click Add selected as elements. Each round
becomes an element, and its dates, template and due date are read from the
reviews themselves. - If one batch went out with slightly different dates, tick those rounds and click
Combine into one element. Only rounds of the same review type can be
combined.
A round that runs past the cycle’s dates is shown but cannot be picked. A review
that shares its period with no other review is not a round. Add it from an
element’s Add Existing Reviews instead.
Can an automation file its reviews into a cycle automatically?
Yes. Open the cycle and use Add an element → From an automation, then click
Connect next to a performance-review automation. The cycle’s elements are built
from that automation’s schedule:
- Quarterly, Bi-annual and Company-wide annual automations get one
element per review period that falls inside the cycle. - Hire anniversary and Tenure milestones automations get one element that
covers the whole cycle, because each employee’s review falls on their own date.
From then on, every review the automation creates is filed into the element whose
dates cover it. Reviews it already created that are not in any cycle are filed at
the same moment. An element already in the cycle with the same review type and
matching dates is reused rather than duplicated.
Why aren’t my automation’s new reviews landing in the cycle?
A connected automation only files reviews into an element that is active, in a
cycle that is still draft or active. Once a cycle is completed or archived, new
reviews go to another connected cycle whose dates cover them. If there is none, they
go to the cycle chosen on the automation itself while its dates cover them, or
arrive unfiled.
If the cycle page shows “automation rule without an element”, connect that
automation under Add an element → From an automation so each review lands in
its element.
Why can’t I add an element to this cycle?
Elements can only be added to a cycle that is draft or active. A completed or
archived cycle shows “This cycle is completed, so elements can no longer be added
to it.” Adding elements is also limited to admins, HR admins and Performance
Management app admins — managers can view cycles but not change them.
Permissions and access
Why can’t I create a review for someone outside my team?
Because you are a manager rather than an admin. Managers are limited to the people
they manage — their direct and indirect reports. If you need to review someone
outside that line, ask an admin to create the review, or to make you the assigned
reviewer on it.
Who can see a review once it has been created?
Five groups can open it:
- super admins and business admins
- admins of the Performance Management app
- the employee being reviewed
- the assigned reviewer
- any manager of that employee
Nobody else can, and a review is never visible outside the organization it belongs
to.
Why can’t I open someone else’s review?
Reviews are private to the people involved. You can open your own, plus anyone’s if
you are an admin, their assigned reviewer, or their manager. Anyone else sees “You
do not have permission to access this performance review.”
Day-to-day
How do I create a performance review for someone else?
- Go to Team → Team Reviews and click Create New
Review. The form is at
/apps/employee-performance-management/performance_reviews/new. The Performance
dashboard also has a New Review button for admins and managers. - Choose the employee and the review template.
- Choose the Assigned Reviewer: Employee’s direct manager (the default),
Me, or Custom reviewer. A custom reviewer must be a manager or above. - Set the review period and the due date, and pick the Review Type: Annual,
Bi-annual, Quarterly, Probationary or Ad-hoc. - Optionally add a title and a description.
- Save it, or click Save as Draft to finish later.
What happens right after I create a review?
It starts as Not Started — set up but not yet underway. It moves to In Progress
when the reviewer starts their part. The exception is a review whose template is
Self-Assessment Only. That review starts In Progress straight away so the
employee can begin.
Do I have to give the review a title?
No. Leave it blank and a title is generated from the review type, the review period
and the employee’s name. Anything you type is kept as-is.
How do I fill in my own self-assessment?
Open the review from your Performance dashboard and complete the self-assessment
section. Your answers save as you go, so you can leave and come back before
submitting.
Why can’t I edit my self-assessment any more?
Because you have already submitted it. Your organization can allow changes after
submission with Allow Employee Edits After Submission, which is off unless an
admin turns it on. Even with it on, editing stops once the review has been approved
or archived.
Why doesn’t my review have a self-assessment section?
Because its template is Manager Evaluation Only, which has no employee part. You
will see “This review does not include an employee self-assessment.” Your manager
completes it, and you can still read the result.
When something looks wrong
“The reviewer cannot be the employee being reviewed” — what do I do?
You have picked the same person as both the employee and the reviewer. Choose a
different reviewer: the employee’s manager, yourself, or another manager-level
colleague. Nobody can review themselves.
“The selected employee has no direct manager” — what now?
The person you are reviewing has no manager recorded, so the default reviewer has
nobody to point at. Choose Me or Custom reviewer on this review, or add
their manager to their profile and try again.
Why was my due date rejected?
The due date must fall after the end of the review period, and no more than a year
after it. It also cannot be more than a year from today. The error names the review
period end date so you can pick a date after it.
More help
- Performance Management Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Performance Management questions from these articles.