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Set up appraisal cycles

Create the appraisal cycle with its dates and deadlines, or plan a whole tri-annual year, and understand Draft, Active, Closed and Archived.

For hr administratorsUpdated 4 Nov 2026

Before you start

  • Set up financial yearsPlan the cycle inside an active financial year; the appraisal templates you assign in the cycle are tied to that year.
  • Set up performance settingsThe rating scale and weights must be right before a cycle opens, because employees start scoring as soon as it is active.
In this article
  1. Steps
  2. If something goes wrong
  3. What employees and managers see
  4. Next steps

A cycle is one appraisal round, for example "H1 2027". Everything in an appraisal hangs off a cycle: templates are assigned within it, and its deadlines drive the self-assessment, manager review and review meeting. A cycle moves through Draft → Active → Closed → Archived.

Steps

  1. Open HR › Performance › Appraisal Cycles

    In the menu on the left, select HR, then Performance, then Appraisal Cycles.

    1. New Cycle creates one cycle.
    2. Plan tri-annual year creates three four-month cycles at once (see the last step).
    3. Status: Draft, Active, Closed or Archived. Filter by status or year above the list.
    4. The ⋮ menu has Edit (drafts only) and Delete (drafts and archived cycles only).

  2. Fill in the cycle's basic information

    Select New Cycle.

    1. Cycle Name: for example "H1 2027 Performance Appraisal". Required, and it must be unique.
    2. Cycle Type: Probation, Confirmation or Regular Biannual (H1 January–June, H2 July–December). It can't be changed later.
    3. Year. Required, and it can't be changed later.
    4. Description: what the cycle is for.

  3. Set the period and deadlines, then create it

    1. Start Date and End Date. Both required; the end can't be before the start.
    2. Self-Assessment Deadline, Manager Assessment Deadline and Review Meeting Deadline are optional, but each must fall between the start and end dates.
    3. Save as Draft is ticked by default. Leave it ticked: you activate the cycle later, when templates are ready. Untick it to create the cycle already Active.
    4. Create Cycle saves it.

    After the self-assessment deadline, employees can no longer save or submit their self-assessment ("The self-assessment deadline … has passed"), unless the appraisal was sent back to them.

  4. Open a cycle to activate, close or archive it

    Select a cycle in the list to open it.

    1. The action for the cycle's status: Activate for a draft, Close for an active cycle, Archive for a closed one.
    2. How many employees are in the cycle and how far they've got: completed, pending, not started, overdue and completion %.
    3. The cycle's dates and deadlines.
    4. When the cycle was created, activated, closed and archived.
    • Activate (drafts only): the cycle opens and templates can be assigned in it. Every active employee with an email address gets an email and an in-app notice. See Launch an appraisal cycle.
    • Close (active only): enter a closure reason. Employees are told the cycle has closed, and no more self-assessments can be saved.
    • Archive (closed only): keeps the cycle for history.
    • Delete: only Draft or Archived cycles. Active and closed cycles can't be deleted.

  5. Or plan a tri-annual year in one go

    If your company appraises three times a year, select Plan tri-annual year.

    1. Choose the year.
    2. Three terms are planned: T1 January–April, T2 May–August, T3 September–December. Each has start and end dates and self-assessment, manager review and review meeting deadlines, which you can change.
    3. Create as drafts is on by default; activate each term from its cycle page when it starts.
    4. Create 3 cycles creates them as Regular cycles named, for example, "2027 T1 Appraisal (January – April)". If one fails, fix that term and retry; the others are kept.

If something goes wrong

MessageWhat to do
A cycle with this name already existsUse a different Cycle Name.
Self-assessment (or Manager assessment, Review meeting) deadline is out of rangeMove the deadline between the cycle's start and end dates.
Only draft cycles can be activatedThe cycle is already active or closed.
Only Draft or Archived cycles can be deleted.Close and archive the cycle first, or keep it.

What employees and managers see

  • Employees get the "Appraisal Cycle Activated" email and notice when you activate the cycle, and the cycle name and days remaining on their appraisal card. See Complete your appraisal.
  • Line managers see the cycle's appraisals in Team Appraisals; the manager assessment deadline is theirs to meet. See Appraise your team.

Next steps

Prepare the KPIs: Set up the KPI library and Set up KPI templates.