Running a Review Cycle
Learn how to create, launch, and manage review cycles in Workbench. This guide covers both workflow-based and simple review cycles, participant management, and monitoring progress.
Overview
A review cycle is a time-bound period where you evaluate employees, collect performance feedback, and make compensation decisions. Workbench supports two approaches to running review cycles:
With Workflows
Use workflow templates to automate the review process, control stage progression, and manage multi-step approval processes. Best for organizations with structured review processes.
Without Workflows
Run simpler review cycles with manual stage progression. Participants move through stages as you guide them, without automated workflow controls. Best for smaller teams or flexible processes.
Not sure which approach to use? If you've set up workflow templates in Settings, use the workflow-based approach. If you prefer more manual control or haven't set up workflows yet, use the simple approach. You can always switch between approaches for different cycles.
Running a Review Cycle with Workflows
When you use workflow templates, Workbench automates stage progression and approval processes. Participants are guided through stages in the order defined by your workflow, and approvals follow your configured approval workflow.
Creating and Launching the Cycle
- Navigate to Review Cycles: Go to Review Cycles in the admin navigation
- Click "Create Review Cycle": This opens the review cycle creation form
- Enter basic information:
- Cycle name (e.g., "Q1 2025 Performance Review")
- Start date and end date
- Cycle type (e.g., "Annual", "Quarterly")
- Set budgets:
- Total budget (overall compensation budget)
- Increase budget (for merit increases)
- Bonus budget (for bonuses)
- Select participants: Choose from:
- All employees (company-wide)
- Specific teams
- Individual employees
- Attach workflow templates:
- Review Workflow: Select the workflow template that defines your review stages
- Approval Workflow: Select the workflow template that defines your approval process
- Launch the cycle: Click "Save" or "Launch" to create and activate the review cycle
Important: Once a cycle is launched, workflow templates cannot be changed. Make sure you've selected the correct workflows before launching.
How Participants Move Through Stages
With workflows, stage progression is automated based on your workflow template configuration:
Initial Stage Assignment
When the cycle launches, participants are automatically assigned to the first stage defined in your review workflow template.
Stage Completion
When a participant completes their current stage (e.g., submits self-assessment, manager completes review), the workflow automatically advances them to the next stage in the sequence.
Workflow Enforcement
Participants can only access stages in the order defined by the workflow. They cannot skip ahead or go back to previous stages unless an admin unlocks a stage.
Approval Process
Once all review stages are complete, participants enter the approval workflow. Compensation recommendations move through approval steps in the order defined by your approval workflow template.
Managing Approvals
When using an approval workflow, compensation recommendations must be approved by designated approvers in the order specified by your workflow:
- Approval Steps: Each step in your approval workflow represents an approver or approval group (e.g., "Manager Approval", "HR Approval", "Finance Approval")
- Sequential Processing: Approvals must be completed in order. The next approver cannot approve until the previous step is complete.
- Approval Actions: Approvers can:
- Approve: Move the recommendation to the next approval step
- Reject: Send the recommendation back to the manager for revision
- Request Changes: Ask for modifications before approval
- Notifications: Approvers receive notifications when items are ready for their approval
- Final Approval: Once all approval steps are complete, the recommendation is finalized and can be implemented
Admin Controls and Overrides
As an admin, you have additional controls when running workflow-based cycles:
- Stage Unlocking: You can unlock any stage for a participant, allowing them to edit or resubmit even if they've already completed it
- Stage Advancement: You can manually move participants to different stages if needed
- Workflow Status: View the current workflow step status for each participant
- Approval Override: Admins can override approval requirements in exceptional circumstances
Running a Review Cycle without Workflows
If you don't use workflow templates, you have more manual control over the review process. Participants still move through review stages, but progression is managed manually rather than being automated by workflows.
Creating and Launching the Cycle
- Navigate to Review Cycles: Go to Review Cycles in the admin navigation
- Click "Create Review Cycle": This opens the review cycle creation form
- Enter basic information: Same as workflow-based cycles (name, dates, type)
- Set budgets: Same as workflow-based cycles
- Select participants: Same as workflow-based cycles
- Leave workflow templates blank: Don't select any review or approval workflow templates
- Launch the cycle: Click "Save" or "Launch" to create and activate the review cycle
Note: Without workflows, participants are still assigned to review stages, but you'll need to manually manage their progression through stages. The system will use your organization's review stages in their configured order.
Manual Stage Management
Without workflows, you have full control over when participants move between stages:
Initial Stage Assignment
Participants start in the first review stage (based on your organization's stage order). You can manually change this if needed.
Manual Progression
As an admin, you can manually advance participants to the next stage when they're ready. This gives you flexibility to move participants at different paces.
Stage Access
Participants can access their current stage and complete the required actions. They cannot skip ahead, but you can move them forward or backward as needed.
Completion
Once all stages are complete, participants enter "Pending Approval" status. You can then review and approve compensation recommendations manually.
To manually advance a participant:
- Navigate to the review cycle view
- Find the participant in the participants list
- Click on the participant to view their details
- Use the stage navigation controls to move them to the next stage
- Confirm the stage change
Manual Approval Process
Without an approval workflow, you'll handle approvals manually:
- Review Recommendations: Once participants complete all review stages, their compensation recommendations are ready for review
- Approval Actions: As an admin, you can:
- Approve recommendations individually or in bulk
- Request changes or revisions
- Reject recommendations and send them back for revision
- Flexible Process: You're not bound by a sequential approval workflow, so you can approve recommendations in any order
- Finalization: Once approved, recommendations are finalized and can be implemented
Monitoring Progress
Regardless of whether you use workflows, you can monitor the progress of your review cycle in several ways:
Cycle Dashboard
View overall cycle statistics, including:
- Total participants
- Stage completion rates
- Budget utilization
- Approval status
Participant List
See individual participant status:
- Current stage
- Completion status
- Workflow step status (if using workflows)
- Approval status
Status Indicators
Completing a Review Cycle
Once all participants have completed their review stages and approvals are finalized, you can complete the review cycle:
- Verify Completion: Ensure all participants have completed their review stages and all approvals are finalized
- Review Final Recommendations: Check that all compensation recommendations are accurate and within budget
- Update Cycle Status: Change the cycle status to "Completed" in the cycle settings
- Export Data (Optional): Export compensation data, performance metrics, or other cycle information for records
- Archive: Completed cycles are automatically archived and remain accessible for historical reference
Tip: Completed review cycles become part of each employee's performance history. This data is used for tracking performance trends and compensation changes over time.
Troubleshooting
Participant Stuck in a Stage
With Workflows: Check the workflow step status. The participant may be waiting for a workflow condition to be met. You can unlock the stage or manually advance them if needed.
Without Workflows: Manually advance the participant to the next stage using the stage navigation controls.
Approval Not Progressing
With Approval Workflows: Verify that all previous approval steps are complete. Approvals must proceed in order. Check for any rejected items that need revision.
Without Approval Workflows: Ensure you're manually approving recommendations. Check the participant's status to see if they're in "Pending Approval."
Workflow Not Advancing Automatically
Verify that the workflow template is correctly configured and attached to the cycle. Check that workflow steps reference valid review stages. If issues persist, you can manually manage stage progression.
Participant Cannot Access Their Stage
Ensure the participant has a user account and is logged in. Verify their role permissions. Employees can typically only access self-review stages, while managers and admins have broader access.