Launch an appraisal cycle
Activate the cycle, then assign the locked appraisal template to employees or whole departments so their appraisals appear in My Performance and Team Appraisals.
Before you start
- Set up appraisal cyclesYou activate a draft cycle; templates can only be assigned in an active cycle.
- Set up appraisal templatesOnly a locked template can be assigned.
- Check appraisal eligibilityCheck who is due before you assign, because assigning doesn't check it for you.
- Set up employees and supervisorsEach assigned employee's line manager is the one who reviews the appraisal.
- Set up HR settingsThe cycle and appraisal emails use the email templates in HR Settings.
Launching is two actions: activate the cycle, then assign the locked template to the people being appraised. Each assignment creates one appraisal, with the status Not Started, that the employee sees in My Performance and their line manager sees in Team Appraisals.
Steps
Activate the cycle
In the menu on the left, select HR, then Performance, then Appraisal Cycles. Open the draft cycle and select Activate, then confirm.
- The cycle's action button. A draft shows Activate; once active it shows Close (as here).
- After you assign templates, these counters show how many employees are in the cycle and how far they've got.
- The deadlines employees and managers work to.
- When the cycle was activated.
Open the locked template
Select Performance, then Appraisal Templates, and open the template for the department. Check it shows Locked. If it doesn't, select Lock (see Set up appraisal templates).
- Unlock shows because the template is locked.
- Approve, if HR has not signed the template off yet.
Open the Assignees panel on the right and select Assign Employees (or Assign More if some people are already assigned).
Choose the cycle and the employees
- Appraisal Cycle: only active cycles are listed. Pick one. Required.
- Employees: tick each person, or use Select all and Clear. Search by name or number. Required.
- Exclude inactive employees is on by default.
- Assign Template creates the appraisals.
The message tells you how many were assigned, and how many were skipped because they already had this template in this cycle or are inactive.
Or assign one employee to several appraisers
For a 360-style appraisal, select Assign Multi-Rater in the Assignees panel. Choose the employee and the cycle, add each appraiser with a weight (the weights must add up to 100%) and assign. Each appraiser scores separately and WbizManager combines the scores by weight.
Check the cycle
Go back to the cycle's page. Employees and Not Started now count the people you assigned. Follow progress there and under Performance › Appraisals. See Review appraisals as HR.
If something goes wrong
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Lock the template before assigning it. | Open the template and select Lock. |
| Templates can only be assigned in an active cycle (current status: Draft) | Activate the cycle first. |
| No active cycles — activate one on the Appraisal Cycles page | Activate the cycle first. |
| No new assignments: … already assigned | Those employees already have this template in this cycle. |
| Appraiser weights must sum to 100% | Change the multi-rater weights. |
What employees and managers see
- Employees see a new card under My Performance with the cycle name and days remaining, and can start their self-assessment. See Complete your appraisal.
- Line managers see the person under Team Appraisals straight away, marked Not Started, and can review once the employee submits. See Appraise your team.
Next steps
Follow the cycle and make the HR decision: Review appraisals as HR.