Performance review cycles

How it works

1. Open Performance and press New cycle. Give it a name, such as FY 2026-27 Annual, and pick the type.
2. The cycle starts as a draft. Use this time to add goals for each employee who belongs to it.
3. Press Activate when the period begins, and the status badge changes to active.
4. Choose the cycle from the list to see its summary tiles: reviews, finalized, average final rating and goals.
5. Press Close when the period ends. Closed cycles stay in the list for reference.

What you can set

• Cycle types: annual, quarterly, monthly, probation and ad hoc.
• Cycle status: draft, active and closed, moved with the Activate and Close buttons.
• A cycle name of your choice, such as Q3 Sales or Probation, July joiners.
• Summary tiles: reviews, finalized reviews, average final rating and goal count.
• Goals attached to one cycle and one employee, so parallel cycles never mix.

Why cycles come before goals

Goals without a period drift. A target set in April is quietly forgotten by October, or carried into the next year without anyone agreeing to it. Tying every goal to a named cycle fixes both the period and the kind of review. Many Indian companies run the annual cycle on the April to March financial year, while sales and collections teams often need a quarterly rhythm, and new joiners need a probation cycle of their own. Separate cycles let each group follow its own clock without muddling the annual picture.

Worked example: a textile exporter's year

A Coimbatore textile exporter with 180 staff creates FY 2026-27 Annual in draft on 6 April 2026. By 25 April HR has added four goals for each of its 60 supervisors and managers, so the summary shows 240 goals, and the cycle is activated on 27 April.

In late September HR creates Q3 Sales, a quarterly cycle for the 12-person export sales team, adds three goals per person, 36 goals in all, and activates it on 1 October. The annual cycle keeps running alongside it. On 5 January 2027 HR closes Q3 Sales, and in April 2027 it closes the annual cycle and creates the next one.

Running cycles on time

Use a naming pattern people recognise, such as the financial year for annual cycles and the quarter for sales cycles. Keep goal setting inside the draft window of two to three weeks, then activate, so late goals are the exception. Close each cycle promptly after its review meetings; a list of old active cycles makes it hard to tell which goals are current.

Frequently asked questions