Manager Guide
Learn how to review your team's performance, approve compensation recommendations, and manage your direct reports in Workbench.
Overview
As a manager in Workbench, you play a crucial role in the performance review process. You're responsible for evaluating your direct reports, providing feedback, and approving compensation recommendations. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know.
Your responsibilities: Review your team members' performance, complete manager review stages, approve compensation recommendations, and provide feedback throughout the review cycle.
Manager Dashboard
When you log in as a manager, you'll see your Manager Dashboard. This gives you an overview of your team's review status and pending actions.
Dashboard Features
- Pending Approvals: See compensation recommendations waiting for your approval
- Team Metrics: View overall team performance statistics
- Review Status: Track which team members have completed their reviews
- Quick Actions: Access common tasks like reviewing team performance and managing your team
Reviewing Your Team
When a review cycle is active, you'll need to review each of your direct reports. Here's how to access and complete team member reviews:
Accessing Team Member Reviews
- Navigate to Review Cycles from your dashboard or navigation menu
- Click on the active review cycle you want to work on
- You'll see a list of your direct reports who are participants in the cycle
- Click on a team member's name to open their review
Note: You can only review employees who report directly to you. If you don't see a team member, they may not be assigned to you as their manager, or they may not be included in this review cycle.
Completing Manager Reviews
When you open a team member's review, you'll see their current stage and be able to complete the manager review stage. Here's what you'll do:
What You'll See
- Employee Information: Basic details about the team member
- Compensation History: Their current and historical compensation data
- Self-Assessment: The employee's self-review (if they've completed it)
- Performance Metrics: Evaluation criteria you'll use to rate their performance
- Review Form: Where you'll provide your evaluation and feedback
Completing the Review
- Review the Self-Assessment: Read through the employee's self-review to understand their perspective
- Evaluate Performance Metrics: Rate the employee on each performance metric using the provided scale
- Provide Feedback: Add comments, strengths, areas for improvement, and goals
- Review Compensation: View the employee's current compensation and compensation history
- Submit Your Review: Once complete, submit the review to advance to the next stage
Tip: Take your time with each review. Your feedback is important for employee development and compensation decisions. You can save your progress and return to complete the review later if needed.
Approving Recommendations
After review stages are complete, compensation recommendations are created. As a manager, you may need to approve these recommendations before they're finalized.
Understanding Recommendations
Compensation recommendations include proposed changes to an employee's compensation, such as:
- Base salary increases
- Bonus amounts
- Other compensation adjustments
Approval Process
- View Pending Approvals: Check your dashboard or the review cycle for items awaiting your approval
- Review the Recommendation: Examine the proposed compensation changes and justification
- Make a Decision:
- Approve: Approve the recommendation to move it to the next approval step
- Reject: Reject the recommendation and send it back for revision
- Request Changes: Ask for modifications before approval
- Add Comments (Optional): Provide feedback or justification for your decision
- Submit: Complete your approval action
Important: If your organization uses approval workflows, approvals must be completed in order. You may need to wait for previous approvers before you can approve. Once you approve, the recommendation moves to the next approver in the workflow.
Viewing Team Performance
As a manager, you can view performance data and trends for your team members:
- Performance History: View historical performance data for each team member
- Compensation Trends: See how compensation has changed over time
- Review Status: Track which team members have completed their reviews
- Team Metrics: View aggregated performance metrics for your entire team
Tips & Best Practices
Review Best Practices
- Review employee self-assessments before completing your evaluation
- Be specific and constructive in your feedback
- Reference specific examples and achievements when possible
- Balance strengths with areas for improvement
- Set clear, actionable goals for the next review period
Approval Best Practices
- Review compensation recommendations carefully before approving
- Consider the employee's performance, market rates, and internal equity
- Provide clear feedback if you reject or request changes
- Respond to approval requests in a timely manner
- Communicate with HR or other approvers if you have questions
Time Management
- Check your dashboard regularly for pending reviews and approvals
- Complete reviews in batches to maintain consistency
- Set aside dedicated time for review completion
- Don't wait until the deadline—complete reviews early when possible