A review cycle is an organization's evaluation period set up for employees. Review cycles are like regular check-ins to see how employees are performing. The cycle defines the review process by assigning assessors, timelines, and performance categories for specific employee groups. This helps managers give feedback, track progress, and set new goals.

As an admin, you can manage and control the activities that the employees, assessors, and admins can perform for the Reviews feature from the User Roles page.

To configure access rights for the PMS-Reviews feature from the greytHR Admin portal, click the Settings icon > User Administration > User > User Roles.

Select the required user role card and click the Edit icon.
From the Category dropdown list, select Performance Review.
In the Search search box, enter Review. The table displays all the related features.
Enable the Read Access and Write Access checkboxes for features such as Activate Review Cycle, Create Review Cycle, PMS Review Cycle, Review Statistics, and View review Cycle and click Save.

Create review cycle

To create the review cycle, from the greytHR Admin portal, hover over the 9 dots and select Performance Management > Reviews > Create Cycle.

Let us now set up each stage of the review cycle.

Add cycle details

To start setting up the review cycle, as a first step add the cycle details such as Cycle Name, Performance Period, Review Duration, Description, and attach guidelines for employees, assessors, or reviewers.

Note: The Review Duration must fall within the selected Performance Period.

The Review Start Date must be on or after the start of the Performance Period.
The Review End Date must be on or before the end of the Performance Period.

Example: If the Performance Period is from 1st July to 30th September, the Review Duration can be 1st July to 31st August, but not beyond 30th September.

Select employees

Under this section, you must select the employees who are enrolled for the selected goal plan. You can also add a new set of employees by clicking +. You can only view, manage, and create reviews for employees included in your assigned employee shortlist .

Note:

The Until option allows you to select a date that includes all employees up to that selected date.
The From and To option allows you to choose a date range to include employees within that specific period.

Add Assessors

You must add assessors to evaluate employees' performances. By default, three levels of assessors are set. You can also choose to add more.

Here are the key points to keep in mind while setting up the assessors section:

The Self Assessor is always the employee, who can rate and comment. You cannot change this, but you can easily add the weightage you need to suit your process.
For Assessor 1, you can choose the role, actions, and set the weightage as needed.
Use the + Add Assessor option to add more assessors based on your company policy.
For each assessor, you can choose actions Can Rate and Comment or Can Override. When you choose the override option, it replaces the ratings and comments of the previous assessor.
For the Final Assessor, you can change the role but the Actions are set by default as Can Approve and Publish.
You cannot add weightage for the final assessor.
You must ensure that the weightage values add up to a total of 100.
Assessors with Can Rate and Comment can be assigned weightage. Assessors with Can Override cannot have weightage.

💡 Add multiple levels of assessors and enable ratings, comments, and overrides for a well-rounded evaluation.

Set Timelines

After adding the assessors, set a time frame for them to complete the reviews.

For example, once the review window opens, each assessor takes their turn, one after the other, to complete their review.

Note:

Assessors receive email notifications as reminders informing them about the opening of the assessment window and also alerting them about the closing date of the assessment window.
If an assessor completes the assessment before the set time then the assessment window for the next level of assessor activates before the set time.

💡 Set clear timelines and enable automatic email reminders to ensure employees and managers do not miss deadlines.

Define Rating Scale

Here you must set up the score for the reviews.

Choose a scoring range, which can be 1 to 5 or 1 to 10.

Next, decide how you want the final score to show:

A whole number
With one decimal place (like 4.5)
With two decimal places (like 4.55)

Finally, add a short description for each score to explain its meaning.

Create Performance Categories

You evaluate an employee's overall performance using the categories you set up here. For example, you might create categories like teamwork, productivity, and communication. The employee’s final performance will be based on how well they score in each of these areas.

By default, the system includes a Goals category and automatically tracks goal plans based on their timeline and type. You can further customize it as per your requirements.

💡 Customize performance categories (like teamwork or productivity) and assign weightage to align evaluations or assessments with company objectives.

Select Recommendations

This section allows you to set up recommendations for employee performance reviews. Here, you decide what kind of actions or outcomes can follow an employee’s self-assessment.

For example, after the self-assessor (the employee) completes their review, the system can recommend actions based on their performance. As an admin, you can set recommendations such as:

Salary Increment for high performers
Change in Designation or Position for those ready to take on new roles
PDP (Performance Development Plan) for employees needing skill-building
PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) for those who need closer guidance

Beyond recommendations, you also control the permissions of the assessors:

Assessors can add recommendations but cannot override previous inputs.
The Final Assessor cannot add new recommendations but can override those made by other assessors.
You can also control the recommendations that can be shown for the employees in their ESS portal.

This setup ensures reviews are fair and lead to meaningful outcomes, with clear roles for each assessor in the process.

Performance Document Controls

Now you must set up what assessors can see in their performance documents.

Here is how it works:

For the Self Assessor (the employee), the system automatically shows Ratings and Comments.
For Assessor 1, you can choose what they can view Ratings, Comments, Ratings and Comments, or Not Visible.
If you've added more assessors, you can set their visibility in the same way.

By default, the system sets the Final Assessor to Not Applicable, which means they do not see specific ratings or comments unless you make changes.

This way, you can choose what each assessor sees, so they only get the information they need for their part in the review.

Summary

Once you have set up the review cycle, check its summary to ensure everything is correct.

You can click → to make changes to any of the review cycle stages.

When you Save the cycle, it moves to the Draft tab, where you can still make changes. But once you Activate it, you cannot edit the cycle.

The final step is to activate the review cycle to get it started.

Activate the review cycle

After creating the review cycle, you must activate it from the Draft tab.

After activating the review cycle, you can manage all related activities, such as pausing, resuming, cloning, or canceling the review cycles.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is a review cycle in greytHR?

A review cycle is a defined evaluation period where employees are assessed based on goals, performance criteria, and assessor feedback. It includes timelines, assessors, scoring methods, and performance categories configured by the admin.

Who can create and manage review cycles in greytHR?

Only users with the required access rights under User Roles > Performance Review can create, edit, activate, pause, resume, or cancel review cycles.

How can an admin enable permissions for creating review cycles?

Permissions can be enabled from the Settings page.

From the greytHR Admin portal go to Settings > User Administration > User > User Roles.
Select the required user role card and click the Edit icon.
From the Category dropdown list, select Performance Review.
In the Search search box, enter Review. The table displays all the related features.
Enable the Read Access and Write Access checkboxes for features such as Activate Review Cycle, Create Review Cycle, PMS Review Cycle, Review Statistics, and View review Cycle and click Save.

Where can admins create a new review cycle?

From the greytHR Admin portal hover over the 9 dots and go to Performance Management > Reviews > Create Cycle.

What details must be added while creating a review cycle?

The cycle requires:

Cycle Name
Performance Period
Review Duration
Description
Upload of guidelines for employees, assessors, or reviewers

Review Duration must fall completely within the selected Performance Period.

Can employees be selected or filtered while setting up a cycle?

Yes. Employees enrolled in the selected goal plan can be added. Options like Until, From, and To help filter employees by date ranges.

How are assessors added in a review cycle?

Admins can:

Add multiple assessors
Assign weightage
Configure actions like Can Rate & Comment or Can Override
Set a final assessor with default permissions

The total weightage across assessors must equal 100.

What rules apply to weightage assignment for assessors?

Assessors with Can Rate & Comment can have weightage.
Assessors with Can Override cannot have weightage.
Final Assessor cannot be assigned weightage.

How are timelines configured for each assessor level?

Each assessor level must be assigned a start and end date.
Assessment windows move forward automatically when an assessor finishes early. Email reminders are sent at the opening and closing of each window.

What scoring options are available in the rating scale?

Admins can choose between:

Score range (1–5 or 1–10)
Whole number
One decimal (e.g., 4.5)
Two decimals (e.g., 4.55)
Each score can have a description to explain its meaning.

What are performance categories and how are they used?

Performance categories define the areas in which employees are evaluated (e.g., teamwork, communication, productivity).
A Goals category is included by default, but admins can add custom categories and define weightage.

What are recommendations in the review cycle?

Recommendations are possible outcomes suggested based on employee assessments, such as:

Salary Increment
Change in Position
Performance Development Plan (PDP)
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
Permissions for adding or overriding recommendations can be set for each assessor.

What can assessors view in the performance document?

Visibility options include:

Ratings
Comments
Ratings and Comments
Not Visible

Admins can configure visibility separately for each assessor level.

Can the review cycle be edited after creating it?

Yes, cycles in the Draft stage can be edited. Once activated, the cycle cannot be modified.

How is a review cycle activated?

A review cycle must be activated from the Draft tab to begin the review process.

What actions can be performed on an active review cycle?

Admins can:

Pause a review cycle
Resume a paused cycle
Clone a review cycle
Cancel a review cycle
All related activities can be managed from the Reviews section.

Can cloned review cycles be modified?

Yes. A cloned review cycle can be edited before activation.

What happens when a review cycle is paused?

Review activity temporarily stops. Employees and assessors will not be able to proceed until the cycle is resumed.

What happens when a review cycle is cancelled?

A cancelled cycle stops all review activities permanently. It cannot be resumed, but the cancelled cycle can be deleted if needed.

Other related links:

Manage review cycles

Was this article helpful?

More help resources:

▶ Video - Watch our how-to videos to learn more about greytHR.

📢 Product Update - Read about the product updates.