Who Can View a Performance Review?
Understand WorkStory performance review permissions for administrators, direct and senior managers, reviewees, peer reviewers, and 360 participants.
In this article
WorkStory performance review permissions determine who can view, edit, or participate in each review. Access depends on administrator permissions, reporting relationships, the review’s current stage, and whether a person was invited as a peer or direct-report reviewer. Viewing a review does not automatically allow someone to edit it or submit feedback.
Administrators
Administrators can view completed and in-progress performance reviews across the organization. They can also perform administrative actions that are not available to ordinary managers or participants.
Administrator permissions should be limited to people responsible for managing the organization’s WorkStory account and review process.
Direct managers
A review manager can view the performance reviews they manage and complete the actions assigned to them. Depending on the review stage, this can include selecting reviewers, completing the manager review, reviewing submissions, releasing the review, or participating in calibration.
Higher-level and managed-user managers
Managers can view in-progress and completed performance reviews for employees below them in their reporting hierarchy, including skip-level team members. Managers assigned to manage specific users can also view those users’ reviews.
This access is view-only unless the manager is also the assigned review manager, invited as a peer, included in a 360 review, or given another explicit role.
A higher-level manager cannot submit, edit, or release a review solely because the employee is below them in the hierarchy.
Reviewees
Employees can view their own performance review when the cycle reaches the stage that makes it available to them. The timing depends on the review type and settings, including Release Review and signature steps.
A reviewee may receive specific tasks earlier, such as selecting peers or completing a self review. Those tasks provide access to the relevant step without making every part of the review visible.
Peer and direct-report reviewers
Invited reviewers can access the task assigned to them and submit the requested feedback. They do not receive general permission to view or edit the full performance review.
People outside the reporting relationship
A person who is not an administrator, is not in the reviewee’s management hierarchy, and has not been invited to participate cannot view the performance review.
Viewing versus participating
- View: Read the review information available to your role.
- Participate: Complete an assigned self, peer, direct-report, or manager review.
- Edit or administer: Change review settings, reviewers, stages, or other cycle controls.
For example, a senior manager may read a skip-level employee’s review but cannot change the manager’s answers or submit peer feedback unless specifically invited.
Performance review access versus feedback visibility
Review access and individual feedback visibility are separate rules. Being allowed to open a performance review does not necessarily mean every feedback author or private feedback item will be visible.
For feedback-specific settings, see Review Visibility Options.
Why can’t someone see a review?
- Confirm the person’s WorkStory permission level.
- Confirm the organization chart and managed-user assignments.
- Confirm the employee is inside the manager’s reporting hierarchy.
- Check whether the review reached a stage visible to the reviewee.
- Confirm the person was invited as a reviewer.
- Confirm the account and review cycle are active.
If the reporting structure is wrong, correct the organization chart before granting broader administrator access as a workaround.
Related WorkStory help
Still need help?
Contact the WorkStory team if your question is not covered in this guide.