Review Cycles Guide
Complete guide to understanding and using Review Cycles in Workbench. Learn how to create, manage, and track review cycles with workflow automation or manual control.
Quick Summary
Review Cycles are time-bound periods where you evaluate employees, collect feedback, and make compensation decisions. They bring together workflow templates, review stages, performance metrics, and participants into a cohesive review process. Review Cycles are ideal for organizations that need to run structured performance reviews with budget tracking, progress monitoring, and automated workflows. They provide real-time visibility into review progress and help ensure every participant completes their evaluations on time.
What are Review Cycles?
Review Cycles are the actual performance review processes you run in Workbench. They're time-bound periods (e.g., "Q1 2025 Performance Review") where you evaluate employees, collect feedback, and make compensation decisions.
Think of a Review Cycle as the container that orchestrates everything—it uses workflow templates to guide participants through review stages, where they evaluate performance using the metrics you've defined. Each cycle has a start and end date, a budget, and includes specific employees or teams.
Review Cycles can run with workflow-based automation (where workflows guide participants automatically) or with manual control (where you guide the process yourself). Both approaches provide real-time tracking of progress, budgets, and bottlenecks.
Key Terms
- Review Cycle
- A time-bound period where you evaluate employees, collect feedback, and make compensation decisions. Review cycles are the actual performance review processes you run in Workbench, bringing together workflow templates, review stages, performance metrics, and participants.
- Cycle Type
- A category that groups similar review cycles together (e.g., "Annual Performance Review", "Quarterly Check-in", "Mid-Year Review"). Cycle types help organize and track different kinds of reviews over time.
- Cycle Status
- The current state of a review cycle (e.g., "Draft", "Active", "Completed", "Archived"). Statuses help track where a cycle is in its lifecycle and control what actions can be taken.
- Participant
- An employee included in a review cycle. Participants move through review stages, complete evaluations, and may receive compensation recommendations based on their performance.
- Team Budget
- A budget allocation assigned to a specific team within a review cycle. Team budgets help distribute compensation budgets across organizational units and track spending at a granular level.
When to Use Review Cycles
Ideal For:
- Organizations running structured performance reviews (annual, quarterly, mid-year)
- Teams that need to track review progress and identify bottlenecks in real-time
- Organizations with compensation budgets that need to be tracked and managed
- HR teams that want workflow automation or manual control over review processes
- Companies that need to include specific employees or teams in targeted reviews
Who Benefits:
- HR Teams: Centralized review management, progress tracking, budget oversight
- Managers: Clear review structure, automated workflows, budget visibility
- Finance/Leadership: Budget tracking, spending controls, approval workflows
- Employees: Structured feedback, timely reviews, clear expectations
How Review Cycles Work
Screenshot placeholder
Review cycle creation interface showing cycle setup, participant selection, and workflow attachment
1. Set Up the Cycle
Define cycle name, start and end dates, and cycle type. Set budgets for total compensation, merit increases, and bonuses.
2. Select Participants
Choose all employees, specific teams, or individual employees to include in the review cycle.
3. Attach Workflows
Attach review and approval workflow templates to automate the process, or run manually for more control.
4. Track Progress
Monitor review progress in real-time, see who's completed their evaluations, identify bottlenecks, and track budget spending.
Workflow-Based vs Manual Control
Workflow-Based
Attach workflow templates to automate stage progression and approval processes.
- Automatic stage progression
- Enforced approval chains
- Consistent process every time
- Minimal manual oversight
Manual Control
Guide participants through stages yourself with full control over progression and timing.
- Full control over timing
- Flexible stage progression
- Adapt to unique situations
- Ideal for one-off reviews
Budget Management
Review Cycles support comprehensive budget tracking and management:
- Total Budget: Overall compensation budget for the cycle
- Increase Budget: Budget allocated specifically for merit increases
- Bonus Budget: Budget allocated specifically for bonuses
- Team Budgets: Granular budget allocations at the team level
- Real-Time Tracking: Monitor spending as recommendations are made and approved
How Review Cycles Fit Into Your Review Process
Review Cycles work together with other Workbench features to create a complete review system:
- Workflow Templates: Attach review and approval workflows to automate the cycle process.
- Review Stages: Participants move through review stages defined in your organization's stage configuration.
- Performance Metrics: Evaluations use the performance metrics assigned to each review stage.
- Compensation Management: Compensation recommendations made during cycles are tracked and approved through the cycle's approval workflow.
- Org & Team Management: Participant selection and team budgets use your organizational structure.
Common Use Cases
Annual Performance Reviews
Create a comprehensive annual review cycle with workflow automation, budget tracking, and progress monitoring for all employees.
Features: Workflow-based, full organization, budget tracking
Quarterly Check-ins
Run lighter-weight quarterly reviews with simpler workflows, focused on feedback rather than compensation.
Features: Simplified workflow, feedback-focused, minimal budget
Team-Specific Reviews
Create targeted review cycles for specific teams with team-level budgets and custom workflows.
Features: Team selection, team budgets, custom workflows
Promotion Reviews
Run focused reviews for employees being considered for promotion, with emphasis on approval workflows.
Features: Individual selection, approval-focused, compensation changes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I run multiple review cycles at the same time?
Yes, you can run multiple review cycles simultaneously. For example, you might have an annual review cycle for all employees while also running a quarterly check-in cycle for a specific team. Each cycle operates independently with its own participants, budgets, and workflows.
What happens if a participant doesn't complete their review?
Review Cycles provide real-time progress tracking, so you can see who hasn't completed their evaluations. With workflow-based cycles, participants are automatically guided through stages, but you can still manually intervene if needed. For manual control cycles, you guide participants through stages yourself and can follow up as needed.
Can I change a review cycle after it's started?
You can modify certain aspects of a review cycle after it's started (like adding participants or adjusting budgets), but some changes may be restricted once participants have begun their evaluations. Workflow templates attached to a cycle are locked to the version that was active when the cycle was created, ensuring consistency.
How do team budgets work?
Team budgets allow you to allocate portions of your total cycle budget to specific teams. This helps distribute compensation budgets across organizational units and track spending at a granular level. Team budgets are optional—you can run cycles with only a total budget if you prefer.
Related Concepts
To get the most out of Review Cycles, you should understand these related concepts:
- Workflow Templates — Attach workflows to automate cycle progression and approvals
- Review Stages — Participants move through stages during the cycle
- Compensation Management — Track and approve compensation recommendations made during cycles
- Performance Metrics — Evaluations use metrics assigned to review stages
Related Features
Workflow Templates
Automated review and approval workflows that control review progression and keep things moving — no chasing required.
Compensation Management
Easily plan merit increases and bonuses. Track compensation history and manage recommendations through approval workflows.
Performance Metrics
Define evaluation criteria once and use them consistently across all reviews.
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