In today's bustling business world, it's more crucial than ever to focus on employee growth and performance. Organizations count on structured review cycles to assess progress, align goals, and promote effective teamwork. In this guide, we'll walk you through how to set up your first review cycle on Keka.
Available for plans: Growth, Performance Module add on
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Getting Started
Start by going to the Performance section, and from there, open the Review tab. You may be greeted by a welcome video that offers valuable insights into the importance of performance reviews and key considerations for initiating and managing them effectively. When you click on Start Review Setup, you have two options to choose from.
Quick Setup: This is a streamlined process that's particularly useful for small and medium-sized companies.
Advanced Setup: This option offers intricate customization features that are ideal for larger companies with multiple review cycles.
Quick Setup
Quick Setup simplifies the process into four main steps, which you'll see on the left pane of your screen. These steps are Review Cycle, Reviewers, Review Forms, and Map Employees. If you ever feel the need to switch to Advanced Setup, that option is also available to you here.
Review Cycle
Here, you'll give a Name and a Description of the review cycle you're creating. This helps differentiate various cycles, especially if your organization runs multiple review cycles.
Reviewers
In this step, you decide who will provide feedback to the employees. The default setting includes Self and Reporting Managers, but you can include additional roles or specific employees by clicking +Add More Reviewers.
Review Forms
This is where you set up the review forms, consisting of two sub-steps. First, you have to select the type of rating scale you want to use, which could be a Star-based or Custom rating. You can also enable ratings in decimal increments, like 0.5. However, In the Custom scale, you can use any value, such as 3.27.
Once the rating type is decided, you proceed to configure the settings of the review forms. You can determine which of the selected reviewers must fill out the form and edit the questions for each reviewer. For details on how to add questions, click here.
You can enable reviewers to evaluate an employee's performance in key areas of the organization, such as Goals, Core Values, and Competencies. Moreover, you can configure the order in which these review aspects will appear on the reviewer's form.
In the Goals section, you can specify which time period's objectives should be reviewed. You also get to select the reviewers and the types of responses they can offer. Additionally, the system can auto-fill the ratings based on the progress made towards these goals. You can include sub-goals in the review, but this is generally not advised.
For the Competencies segment, you can determine who will provide feedback and what kind of responses they can give. You can also specify which competencies each reviewer should focus on.
The settings for Core Values are similar. You choose the reviewers and define the response types, customizing the review to fit your organization's needs.
Then, under additional settings, you will find options to allocate different weights for each reviewer and for each parameter if you have enabled ratings. You can also provide a personal message to guide the reviewers through the review process.
If you want the reviewers to suggest a rating different from the auto-calculated one, you can turn on the Proposed Rating feature. This feature enables a reviewer to offer a different overall rating for the employee. After that, you can choose who has the authority to finalize this proposed rating.
Besides, you can add reviewers to assess an employee's potential and provide a rating accordingly.
Lastly, you can set additional rules for reviewers under Additional Options. These rules include requiring comments, allowing attachments, or permitting them to skip ratings.
Map Employees
In this last step of Quick Setup, you decide which employees will participate in this review cycle. You also have the option to assign people to manage the cycle. You can create different groups of employees within the same review cycle if you want to assign different managers and questions to various employee groups. For adding employees to each group, you have three methods to choose from Condition-based, Manual Selection, or bulk Import from Excel/CSV.
Advanced Setup
For organizations that need a more detailed approach, Advanced Setup is the way to go. This method has several sections allowing intricate customization of your review cycles.
Review Cycle
Just like in Quick Setup, you give the cycle a name and description. However, Advanced Setup allows you to customize how reviews occur in your organization further. The timing could be the same for everyone, based on their Date of Joining (DOJ), or you can create your own customized timing. Your choice here will also influence how you map employees to different groups.
Reviewer
As in Quick Setup, you decide who will be able to provide feedback. The default roles are Self and Reporting Managers, but you can add more roles or even specific people by clicking "+Add More Reviewers."
Review Forms
Here, you first choose the type of Rating Scale you wish to use: Star-based or Custom rating. You can enable decimal ratings or go for more unique values like 3.27.
Once the rating type is decided, you proceed to configure the settings of the review forms. You can determine which of the selected reviewers are required to fill out the form and edit the questions for each reviewer.
For details on how to add questions, click here
You can enable reviewers to evaluate an employee's performance in key areas of the organization, such as Goals, Core Values, and Competencies. Moreover, you can configure the order in which these review aspects will appear on the reviewer's form.
In terms of Goals, you can pick the time frame you want these to be assessed for. You can also decide who will review these and the kinds of answers they can submit. The platform can fill in ratings automatically based on how well goals have been met. You also have the choice to allow sub-goal reviews, although this is typically not recommended.
Pre-filling Rating in Review Form Using Goals
In our continuous effort to enhance performance management processes, we're thrilled to introduce a feature that streamlines the review process by pre-filling ratings in review forms based on the achievement of goals and sub-goals. This innovation allows organizations to objectively evaluate employees, ensuring that review ratings are directly aligned with individual progress towards predefined objectives.
Calculation of Pre-filled Ratings:
The methodology for calculating pre-filled ratings is as follows:
- Objective/Goal/KRA Rating: The highest value on the selected rating scale for the Objectives/Goals/KRAs section is multiplied by the goal's progress percentage and then divided by 100.
- Without Decimal Ratings: If decimal ratings are not enabled, the result is rounded to the nearest whole number. For instance, values between 1-1.5 are rounded down to 1, while those between 1.5-2 are rounded up to 2.
- With Decimal Ratings: If decimal ratings are enabled, the result is rounded to the nearest value within a difference of 0.5. For example, values between 1-1.25 are rounded down to 1, those between 1.25-1.75 are rounded to 1.5, and between 1.75-2 are rounded up to 2.
- Key-Result/Sub-Goal/KPI Rating: If the option to base ratings on Key-Results/Sub-Goals/KPIs progress is selected, then ratings are pre-filled at the individual Key-Result/Sub-Goal/KPI level according to their progress. The overall rating for the Objective/Goal/KRA is calculated cumulatively based on the ratings of all its Key-Results/Sub-Goals/KPIs.
For the Competencies part, you get to choose who will assess them and what types of feedback they can offer. You can also select specific competencies for each reviewer to concentrate on.
The Core Values section works much the same way. You select the reviewers and define what types of responses they can provide, tailoring the review to align with what your organization values.
When you access Additional Settings, you will find options to allocate different weights for each reviewer and for each parameter if you have enabled ratings. You can also provide a personal message to guide the reviewers through the review process.
If you want the reviewers to be able to suggest a rating different from the auto-calculated one, you can turn on the Proposed Rating feature. This feature enables a reviewer to offer a different overall rating for the employee. After that, you can choose who has the authority to finalize this proposed rating.
Besides, you can add reviewers to assess an employee's potential and provide a rating accordingly.
Lastly, you can set additional rules for reviewers under Additional Options. These rules include requiring comments, allowing attachments, or permitting them to skip ratings.
Project-Based Reviews
Keka is introducing a dynamic new feature to its performance review module that aligns with the evolving needs of modern workplaces: Project-Based Reviews. This feature allows for a more nuanced and frequent evaluation of employees' contributions to specific projects, ensuring real-time feedback and a focus on professional growth.
What is Project-Based Review?
- It's a structured performance evaluation that occurs more frequently, offering dedicated time for employees to discuss their contributions to specific projects and receive feedback.
- It aims to provide detailed, tactical feedback that can help improve performance on an ongoing basis, unlike annual reviews which occur once a year and offer a broader overview.
Why Use Project-Based Reviews?
- Agile Feedback: Annual reviews aren't agile enough for the fast-paced project cycles most teams work with today.
- Tactical Improvement: These reviews offer specific insights into project contributions, allowing for immediate application of feedback.
- Growth-Oriented: They are particularly beneficial in project-heavy environments like consultancies or agencies, where work is dynamic and constantly evolving.\
Expanded Reviewer Options: Alongside traditional roles, project-specific roles like Project Manager, Client Manager, and Project Admin are now included in the reviewer options.
Integration with Projects: The advanced setup now includes a section for projects, allowing reviewers to provide feedback specifically on project performance.
Post-Review Meetings: You can now select Project Managers & Client Managers can have one-on-one meetings with employees post-review to discuss feedback and expectations, fostering a better understanding and setting clear goals.
Project-Specific Feedback: Reviews can now be tailored to individual projects, allowing for feedback that reflects the unique challenges and successes of project-based work.
Visibility: Alongside traditional roles, project-specific roles like Project Manager, Client Manager, and Project Admin are now included in the visiblity options. However, please note that the timesheet or PSA related roles will only appear while filling the form but not after the form is filled.
Nomination: Employees can now nominate project managers and team members who have collaborated with them on projects over the past year.
To know more about nominating reviewers please go through the article Nominating reviewersGrid View : The updated grid view of the Keka review form now includes a section for projects, displaying the ratings provided by the reporting manager for each specific project. This allows for a more detailed and organized assessment of performance related to individual projects within the overall review.
In the Review Form section, look for the Projects toggle switch and enable it. This will include project ratings as part of the review.
Continue through the setup process, adjusting any additional settings as required, such as Post Review Meeting, Visibility, and Publish. Complete the setup by mapping employees to the review cycle and finalizing your configurations.
To know more about creating and managing reviews please check our article Create and Manage reviews
This feature streamlines the performance review process, making it more dynamic and reflective of the actual work being done. It supports Keka HR's goal of providing flexible, comprehensive tools for employee development and organizational growth.
Enabling Rating Labels in Review Forms for Enhanced Clarity
We're pleased to introduce that Rating Labels are now visible in Review Forms, a new feature that enhances the review process by adding qualitative insights to the quantitative ratings. This guide will walk you through enabling and using rating labels and descriptions, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of performance feedback.
Please know that once the review cycle has been launched you will be unable to access this option, hence this option has to be enabled before launching the review cycle.
Access Settings:
Firstly Navigate to the Performance(1) section click on Reviews(2) and select Review cycle or instance(3). After that click on the Three dots(4) next to the review group you would like to enable the setting for and click Edit(5).
Within the review setup, proceed to the Review Form section(1) and click on Review form(2) select Additional settings(3). Scroll to locate the 'Overall Rating Label' segment. You will notice a toggle next to 'Allow reviewers to see the overall rating label.' Activate this feature by switching the toggle to ON(4), then choose your desired Rating scale(5). This action enables the display of descriptive labels alongside numerical ratings on the review forms while filling the review form.
Please note that the visibility settings are available in Advanced Setup but is not available in Quick setup go through this link to understand more about review setups : Review Setups
Upon enabling the Overall Rating Label setting, a new visibility option is made available for the review forms, To access this, navigate to Visibility Settings(1) of the review section. Here, you will need to choose Set Custom Visibility and Enable(2) self to see review form and click on Configure advance visibility settings(3).
In advance visibility settings section enable the options Show “Performance rating” to the employee as part of final review after the release (1) & Allow employee to see the overall rating label (2).
While filling the form the review labels will appear as shown below.
After the review is released the labels will show as shown in the below screenshot, also by hovering over a rating label, users can view a detailed description which was entered while setting up the review label.
This feature enhances the transparency and comprehensiveness of the review process, offering a clearer understanding of the performance ratings for all stakeholders involved. If you need further assistance, please reach out to Keka HR's support team.
Post Review Meetings
After the review forms are turned in, you also have the option to set up one-on-one meetings between managers and their direct reports. These meetings are key to boosting employee performance by encouraging clear and straightforward talks. During these sessions, employees can go over their achievements, hurdles, and future aims with their managers.
To organize these meetings, you'll need to give each meeting a title, decide who'll be taking part, and choose someone to write up a summary afterward. Feel free to schedule as many meetings as you see fit.
Publish
Here you choose who will write the review summary and who will publish the feedback. You can also make it mandatory for the employee to acknowledge the feedback.
Timelines
In this part, you set deadlines for various review activities, like nominating reviewers, submitting forms, and publishing reviews. You even have the option to exclude weekends from these timelines.
Custom Reviewer Timelines
How to Set Up Custom Reviewer Timelines
In the Timelines(1) section click on configure(2) to select Form filling order.
Within the 'Form filling order' window, select the Custom(1) option to begin configuring individual timelines. In the Configure Sequence & Timelines(2) section, you can add various reviewer stages, such as Self, Reporting Manager, or Department Head. Specify the number of days allocated for each reviewer by inputting the desired time frame next to each reviewer type.
Review your custom timeline settings and total days(1) to ensure they align with your review cycle goals. Click Save(2) to implement the custom timelines for your review process.
By customizing each stage of the review process, you can achieve a more structured, efficient, and effective evaluation cycle.
Visibility
This feature allows you to control who can see the reviews. You have the option to make reviews public, restrict them to a select group, or keep them private. This provides flexibility and ensures that sensitive information is only available to the right people.
Map Employees
Finally, you decide which employees will be part of this review cycle. You can also assign managers to oversee the cycle. As in Quick Setup, you have the option to divide employees into different groups, each with their own set of managers and questions. You can add employees to these groups through Condition-Based Selection, Manual Selection, or by importing data from an Excel/CSV file.
Once all these steps are completed, you have the choice to either launch the review cycle immediately or save it to make changes later.
Managing Review Groups and Cycles
After setting up the review cycle, you can still modify settings for each group as needed. This includes the option to change questions and other settings that we've discussed earlier.
And there you go! That's how you set up a review cycle using both Quick and Advanced options. Remember, you can always save your settings and come back later if you need to make adjustments.
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