Performance reviews, review cycles and goals
Updated 2026-11-07
What it is
Performance reviews in PunchMe come in two forms:
- Review cycles: a structured round for many employees at once. Each person writes a self review, their manager reviews them, peers can give anonymous feedback, and HR sets a final rating before releasing it.
- Quick reviews: a single review that HR writes on one employee's page, with a period, a 1–5 rating, strengths, improvements and goals.
Goals with measurable key results sit alongside both.
Each employee also gets an automatic attendance summary on their Performance tab: attendance %, late arrivals, absences, average hours and overtime by month.
Who uses it
| Task | Permission needed |
|---|---|
| See the Performance page, cycles, reviews and goals | performance.view |
| Create, close or reopen cycles, change due dates, choose peers, calibrate, release, manage goals | performance.manage |
| See quick reviews on the employee's Reviews tab | employees.view |
| Add, edit or delete quick reviews | employees.edit |
The HR and Office Manager system roles have both performance permissions. Office HR has performance.view only. Scoped roles only see employees in their office or department. See Roles and permissions.
Employees and managers take part through the employee app. The manager review is done by the person set as the employee's manager on the employee record.
Where to find it
- Performance in the dashboard menu: list of cycles, New cycle, and each cycle's progress.
- One employee: Employees, open the person, Reviews tab (quick reviews, cycle reviews and goals) and Performance tab (attendance trends).
- Employee app: Profile, My performance. This shows Reviews to do, My goals, released reviews and attendance trends.
Turning it on or off
There is no switch for cycles. They run when someone with performance.manage starts one.
What employees can read is controlled by Settings, Employee self-service card, Show performance reviews to employees. Default: on.
What happens when it's on / when it's off
Show performance reviews to employees on:
- Released cycle reviews appear in the app under My performance, with a push "Your review is ready".
- Quick reviews appear in the app as soon as HR saves them.
- The employee can tap Acknowledge to confirm they have read a review.
Off:
- Employees do not see released cycle reviews or quick reviews, and cannot acknowledge them.
- No "Your review is ready" push is sent.
- Self reviews, manager reviews, peer feedback and goal check-ins still work as normal.
How a review cycle works
1. Create the cycle
Click New cycle on the Performance page and fill in:
- Name (for example "H2 2026 review"), Period and Type (Quarterly, Half-yearly or Annual)
- Starts, Self review due, Manager review due. Dates must run in that order.
- Questions: 1 to 30. Each answer type is Rating 1–5, Text or Rating + text. Self, manager and peer reviews all answer the same questions.
- Participants: pick Departments and/or Offices. Leave both empty to include every active employee in your scope.
Click Start cycle. Every participant gets a push asking them to complete their self review.
2. Self review
From the start date, the employee sees Your self review under Reviews to do in the app. When they submit, the review moves to the manager. If they have no active manager, it goes straight to HR.
3. Manager review
The manager sees Review {name} in their own app under Reviews to do. They see the self review, answer the questions and give an Overall rating.
The manager can review once the self review is in, or after the self review due date even if the employee never submitted.
4. Peer feedback (optional)
HR (on the review in the dashboard, Choose peers) or the manager (in the app, Peers) can ask up to 5 active colleagues for feedback. Peers get a push and answer in the app.
Peer feedback is anonymous. Reviewers see who was asked and who answered, but never who wrote what. Answers are shown only as averages and unattributed comments, and only once at least 3 peers have answered.
5. Calibration
HR opens the review and sets the Final rating (1–5) and an optional HR comment (shown to the employee). Click Save calibration.
HR can calibrate once the manager review is done, or once the manager review due date has passed. You can change the final rating until you release.
6. Release
Click Release on the cycle. It releases every review that has a final rating. Reviews without one stay with HR.
7. Acknowledge
The employee reads the review in the app and taps Acknowledge. The cycle shows these under the acknowledged stage.
Reminders
At 10:00 company time, PunchMe pushes reminders 2 days before and on each due date: to employees with a self review pending, to managers with reviews pending, and to peers who have not answered.
Goals
Goals have a Goal title, a Weight % (0–100) and 1 to 10 Key results, each with a current value and a target. Progress is worked out from the key results. Overall progress is the weight-averaged goal progress.
- HR with
performance.managecreates, edits and deletes goals on the employee's Reviews tab. A goal can be linked to a cycle. - Employees cannot create goals. They update progress with a Check-in in the app under My goals.
- HR can check in too. Every check-in is kept in a history.
Goals linked to a cycle show on the review, so the manager and HR see them while reviewing.
Changing it midway
- Participants are fixed when the cycle starts. People who join later are not added.
- You can change Self review due and Manager review due later. The start date cannot change.
- Close cycle stops new self reviews, manager reviews and peer feedback, and hides the cycle from the app's to-do list. Click Reopen to undo.
- Changing a peer list keeps feedback already submitted and replaces only the peers who have not answered.
- Turning Show performance reviews to employees on later makes already-released reviews visible at once, without a push.
- Released reviews cannot be changed or calibrated again.
Limits and edge cases
- Up to 5 peers per review. The employee cannot be their own peer.
- Peer feedback stays hidden until 3 peers answer.
- Only the direct manager on the employee record can write the manager review. Change the manager before the cycle if needed.
- Managers write reviews in the employee app, not the dashboard.
- Quick reviews have no workflow or release step. They are visible to the employee straight away if reviews are shown.
Related
Common questions
Can employees see who gave them peer feedback?
No. Nobody can see who wrote which peer answer, not even HR. Answers are shown as averages and unattributed comments, and only after 3 peers have answered.
An employee has no manager. What happens to their review?
After their self review, it goes straight to HR for calibration.
The employee never submitted a self review. Can we still finish?
Yes. After the self review due date the manager can review anyway. After the manager due date HR can calibrate even if the manager did not review.
How do I hide reviews from employees?
Open Settings, untick Show performance reviews to employees in the Employee self-service card, and click Save changes.
Can I add a new joiner to a cycle that has started?
No. Participants are set when the cycle starts. Write them a quick review on their Reviews tab, or include them in the next cycle.