Running appraisal cycles

An appraisal cycle is one review round, for example the annual review for teaching staff. You attach a review form, choose who is in scope, and then staff, managers and HR each play their part until every review has an approved rating.

Before you start

• Staff records should have a department, designation and Reports To (Manager) set, so the cycle covers the right people and managers can see their team.
• Staff and managers need staff portal logins to take part.
• You need appraisal permission in the admin area.

If you do not see this option, it may not be included in your plan or your role may not have permission; ask your administrator.

Steps

1. Build a review form

1. Go to HR / Staff > Appraisals > Appraisal Forms and click Add Review Form.
2. Enter the Form Name and the max rating, for example 5.
3. Set Goals Weight (% of overall). Enter 0 to score competencies only, or for example 30 to make goals 30% of the overall rating. Save.
4. Open the form. On the Criteria tab, click Add Criterion and enter a Label, a Competency Section and a Weight for each thing you want to score.
5. Optionally, on the Rating Scale tab, add bands that label score ranges, such as Below, Meets and Exceeds.

2. Open a cycle

1. Go to Appraisals > Appraisal Cycles and click Add Cycle.
2. Enter the Cycle Name, the From and To dates, and choose the Review Form.
3. Limit the cycle with Department (scope) and Designation (scope), or leave them on All.
4. Set the status to Open and save.

3. Collect reviews

1. Staff open My Appraisals in the staff portal, find the cycle under Open Appraisal Cycles and click Start self-review. They score each criterion, add comments and submit.
2. Managers open My Team > Appraisals in the staff portal, use Start a manager review, enter the manager score and comments, and click Submit for HR.
3. HR can also start a review from the cycle page with Start HR review.

4. Approve

1. Open the cycle from the cycles list. The Overview shows staff in scope, reviews started and approved, and a checklist of what still needs doing.
2. Go to Reviews. Reviews waiting for HR show a next step. Click Score & approve to finalise, or send a review back for re-scoring.
3. When every review is approved, set the cycle to Closed.

Good to know

• Review stages. A review moves through Draft, Waiting for HR, Sent back and Approved.
• Staff can respond. Staff can Acknowledge a result or Appeal with their grounds. Agree in advance who handles appeals and how quickly.
• Missing people. The overview lists staff in scope who have no review yet, so nobody is skipped. It also flags anyone with more than one review in the same cycle.
• Edit the form before you start. Changing criteria after scoring has begun makes results hard to compare.

For an overview, see Appraisals.