Performance Review Cycles
Learn how WorkStory administrators create, configure, launch, troubleshoot, and manage 360-degree and other employee performance review cycles.
In this article
What is a WorkStory performance review cycle?
A WorkStory performance review cycle is a structured process for collecting, completing, and sharing employee performance reviews during a defined period. Administrators can configure 360-degree, manager, self, and peer workflows; assign participants; set deadlines; monitor progress; and use Advanced Settings to resolve individual review issues.
Use the questions below to learn how to create, launch, troubleshoot, and manage performance review cycles in WorkStory.
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Performance Review Cycles — FAQ
Overview & setup
A review cycle is a static, fixed-in-time snapshot of employee performance data. Unlike your live dashboards (which update continuously), a cycle captures feedback as it existed at the time it was initiated. Only admins can create review cycles.
There are five review types:
- 360 Review — includes self, peer, direct-report, and manager feedback. WorkStory suggests eligible reviewers from the organization structure and requires the reviewer list to be confirmed before requests are sent. Learn how 360 review cycles work.
- Manager, Self & Peer Review — the most comprehensive; includes peer selection, self review, manager review, and signature steps.
- Manager & Self Review — self review followed by manager review and signature.
- Self Review Only — self review plus signature, no manager step.
- Manager Review Only — manager review, optional calibration, and signature.
All feedback where either the scheduled date or the reviewed date falls within the cycle's timeframe is duplicated into the cycle. This ensures you don't miss reviews that were sent just before the window but completed during it — or vice versa. The cycle never re-queries live data after it has started.
A review cycle can be in one of five states: Draft, In Progress, Paused, Complete, or Archived. Cycles in Paused, Archived, or Completed status can be resumed (set back to In Progress).
Peer reviewers
It depends on how the cycle is configured. The peer picker setting determines this:
- If the reviewee picks peers, they select their own reviewers and their manager then validates the list before requests are sent.
- If the manager picks peers, the manager selects directly and self/peer reviews begin as soon as peers are set.
Peer reviewers have limited access. They can provide comments on WorkStory or Custom Categories, Summary, and Additional Questions. They cannot see or comment on Goals. Only admins can see full review cycle pages and information.
For reviews with status In Progress, the system automatically removes the archived user from the peer list. Their comments and submissions are preserved on the review. For reviews in any other status, no action is taken.
Comments made by a removed peer reviewer are deleted from the review. The performance review then progresses to the next status if it is eligible to do so.
Review managers
The system automatically reassigns the review to the person above the current review manager in the organizational hierarchy, or to an admin if no one is above them.
No — a user cannot hold both roles simultaneously on the same review. If a scenario arises where this would occur (for example, the review manager gets archived and their own manager was a peer reviewer), the user is automatically removed from the peer role and their comments are retained as peer comments.
The review manager is automatically assigned to another admin or the first direct report of the root node.
This can happen for root nodes when a cycle is created. WorkStory handles several edge cases for this scenario automatically. Admins can also manually assign a different review manager as long as the performance review status is In Progress.
Calibration
Calibration is an optional step where review managers and admins align on performance outcomes before reviews are finalized. Admins can calibrate any review. Non-admin managers can calibrate reviews where the reviewee is below them in the hierarchy or is someone they manage. Goals cannot be calibrated.
Each change made during calibration generates a new comment marked with a calibration badge. Reviews in Pending Calibration status transition to Pending Release to Reviewee once calibration is submitted.
Overall Rating, WorkStory Competencies, Custom Competencies, Custom Questions, and the Summary section can all be calibrated. Goals cannot be calibrated.
Deleting & archiving
Only admins can delete a performance review, and it can be deleted at any point — with one exception: if it is the last remaining review in the cycle, it cannot be deleted. Instead, you will be prompted to delete the entire review cycle.
Their performance review is automatically archived as well.
AI & comments
Each WorkStory Competency section includes an AI-suggested comment. The AI notes are generated as follows:
- Goal AI notes — based on all goal updates, the goal description, and title.
- Overall AI note — based on all WorkStory Category and general feedback comments.
- Summary AI note — based on WorkStory competency AI notes, Goals AI notes, and the Overall AI note combined.
The last updated date is refreshed when: a comment is added, updated, or deleted; when the review transitions between statuses; when a submission happens (peer selection, self review, etc.); when calibration is submitted; or when peers are set or removed.
Force submissions & stuck reviews
The review manager or an admin can use Force Submit to submit the current status and potentially move the review forward. Administrators and managers may also see Skip, which submits an eligible self, peer, or manager review empty and permanently removes its saved notes, comments, and answers. Administrators can use Revert to a previous step when a completed step must be reopened. These actions have different consequences; review the confirmation before proceeding. See the Admin Guide to Managing Performance Review Cycles for a decision guide and safety checklist.
Administrator controls
Yes. During review cycle setup, an administrator can select a fixed review manager for every performance review created by that cycle. Verify the manager assignments in the cycle preview before launch.
While the cycle is In Progress, administrators and the assigned review manager can edit eligible peer reviewers and, in 360 cycles, direct-report reviewers. Administrators and direct review managers can also send reminders. Reviewer changes are available only until the review reaches its configured cutoff. Removing a reviewer deletes that reviewer’s comments and scores, so confirm the action carefully.
The Admin Guide to Managing Performance Review Cycles explains manager overrides, reviewer changes, reminders, Force Submit, Skip, Revert, and the checks administrators should complete before changing an active review.
Still need help?
Contact the WorkStory team if your question is not covered in this guide.