Creating a Review Cycle

What is a review cycle?

A review cycle in Simployer One defines the scope and schedule of an employee review. Setting one up involves three main steps:

1. Select a template and add it to your review cycle.
2. Set up the review cycle, including dates and general settings.
3. Launch the review cycle and follow its progress.

A review cycle lets you decide:

• Who receives feedback (reviewees)
• Who gives feedback (reviewers)

The most common setup allows employees to share self-feedback and receive feedback from their direct manager. You can also include peers for a more holistic feedback loop, known as a 360 review. For more on reviewer combinations, see Choose from Different Reviewer Types.

Step 1: Select a review template

Admins and Owners have access to ready-to-use templates for the most common review types. These templates are built with the help of experienced HR professionals and provide a best-practice setup for common review scenarios.

If a ready-to-use template doesn't fit your needs, you can:

• Copy and edit an existing template, or
• Create your own template from scratch

Note: Managers cannot create their own templates, and cannot select reviewees outside their own subordinates.

Step 2: Set up the review cycle schedule

Once a template is selected, define the review cycle's timing and cadence.

Review cycle period

The review cycle period sets how long the cycle stays active:

• Start date: From this date, the review cycle becomes active and participants can access it and submit feedback.
• End date: The review cycle closes and locks. Participants can no longer submit feedback or notes after this date.

Cadence

Choose how often the review cycle repeats:

• One-time event: The review cycle runs once, for the defined review cycle period only.
• Recurring event: The first review cycle runs for the defined review cycle period, then automatically retriggers on a schedule you choose — weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or another interval.

Example:
If the first review cycle runs from March 20th to March 27th (giving participants one week to complete it) and the cadence is set to weekly, the next cycle will run from March 28th to April 4th, again giving participants one week.

Tip: Set the review cycle period to be equal to or shorter than the cadence, so cycles don't overlap.

Who has access to a review cycle?

By default, Owners have access to all review cycles, even ones they didn't create. Owners can view all results and make changes to ensure continued access to results.

Access can be edited even after a review cycle has been activated. For details on how to adjust access, see Access Rules for Reviews.

Setting up notifications and reminders for a review cycle

Simployer One provides several ways to keep participants informed and on schedule:

• Launch email: A custom message you write, sent to participants by email when the review cycle starts. Use this to explain the purpose of the review and set expectations.
• Default notifications: Standard notifications are automatically sent via Slack or Microsoft Teams in addition to email, to alert participants when they're expected to take part.
• Custom reminders:Additional reminders you can configure to keep participants on track:
  • Feedback reminder: Sent a set number of days after the start date, to encourage participants to submit feedback early rather than waiting until the deadline. This also allows time for reflection and any follow-up discussion or meeting.
  • Meeting notes reminder: Sent a set number of days before the end date, useful when a meeting is part of the review process, to make sure the meeting is booked and notes are logged.

Step 3: Review and launch the review cycle

Before launching, you can review the full setup to confirm everything is correct. The timeline updates automatically based on your notification settings, showing either the standard notifications or your custom feedback and meeting notes reminders, depending on what you configured.

Once you confirm the setup, the review cycle launches and becomes active according to the start date you defined in Step 2.