Create a 360° Review Cycle
Purpose: To help you understand how you can set up a 360-degree review cycle to gather feedback from multiple sources in BambooHR® Performance Management.
BambooHR® Performance Management is available for customers on BambooHR Pro. Click here to get an overview of the Pro plan or to schedule a demo.
Overview
Setting up a 360° review cycle is only available to Pro customers and builds upon the current review cycle setup. You can verify your BambooHR package in Settings > Account Info. If you are interested in upgrading your package, please refer to this section of "BambooHR Packages FAQ."
A 360° review cycle in BambooHR will provide you with a comprehensive view of employee performance through feedback gathered from multiple perspectives at your company (peers, direct reports, and managers).
Managers and employees can gain a better understanding of their own strengths and areas for improvement. It is a valuable tool for companies looking to encourage growth and development within their teams. Here are some additional benefits of setting up a 360° review cycle:
- Fosters employee development
- Improves team collaboration
- Drives organizational growth
- Increases employee engagement
- Provides a fair and balanced evaluation
- Encourages informed decisions
A 360° review cycle will need to have all of the following components enabled:
Interested in learning more? We offer a course that covers the basics of setting up a review cycle in your BambooHR account: Getting Started with Performance Management.
Have additional questions about setting up a review cycle? Click here to review our answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ).
Review cycle setup
Navigate to Settings > Performance and then select Create a Review Cycle. Determine when the review cycle should start. The following sections of this help guide will show you how to set up a review cycle with the On Fixed Date option. If using By Hire Date, you will notice some slight differences in scheduling feedback and assessments.
Your selection will determine the settings for the rest of the review cycle setup. If you decide to switch from a fixed date to a hire date schedule (or vice versa) when setting up a review cycle OR after the review cycle has started, you will need to delete the existing review cycle and create a new one with the correct schedule.
Next, enter a name for the review cycle and determine who you would like to provide feedback and complete assessments as part of this performance review cycle. Choose either All Employees or Only Some Employees (applying additional filters). Please refer to the People section in "Performance Management in BambooHR" for more details.
Feedback due dates: The employee has a "soft" deadline of 14 days from the date of the request for submitting feedback. If they have not provided feedback by the 13th day, they will receive another email notification at 7 AM (company time zone). After 14 days, the employee will no longer receive notifications about the request, but they will have a total of 30 days to complete the request.
If the request is still incomplete 30 days after the date of request, the inbox notification will expire in BambooHR, and the employee will no longer be able to submit feedback until their manager submits a new request.
Example: A manager sent a request to an employee on January 3. The employee has a "soft" deadline of January 17th to submit their feedback. If they have not submitted the feedback by January 16, they will receive another email notification and have until February 2 to complete the feedback.
- Day of the first Feedback Reminder: The date selected here is when feedback requests will go out to managers and employees. Once the system sends feedback requests, the current date will change to the next feedback date. In the example above, the date is 05/31/2024. Once managers receive the email notification on 05/31/2024, that date will automatically change to next feedback date, which is Nov 30, 2024. (You can edit the new date if needed.)
- How often should they repeat?: Determine how often you want to send feedback requests to managers and employees. Frequency options include every three months, four months, six months, and 12 months.
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Future Feedback Dates: This setting shows you three upcoming feedback dates.
- If you make changes to the frequency, the system will change the upcoming feedback dates.
*By Hire Date option: Click here to view how scheduled reminders for feedback will look different when setting up a review cycle with the By Hire Date option.
Peer feedback
Peer feedback allows managers to request feedback from other employees on their direct reports. The direct report receiving feedback will not have access to any of the feedback given on them.
Within the Peer Feedback section, toggle on Include in Review Cycle and review the BambooHR standard questions that peers will need to answer when giving feedback on the direct report.
Examples of peer feedback
- A team member who works with your direct report on your team
- A colleague who worked with your direct report on a project outside of your team
- Another manager worked with your direct report on a project
You also have the option to add custom questions. Peers will be able to view and answer those custom questions in their feedback request. To add a custom question, click +Write a Question.
Peer feedback has a limit of five questions:
- If you keep the BambooHR standard questions, you can add up to three custom questions.
- If you remove the BambooHR standard questions by clicking on the x, you can add up to five custom questions.
Upward feedback
Upward feedback allows employees (direct reports) to provide feedback on their manager's performance. The manager receiving feedback will not have access to any of the feedback given on them. Only the manager's manager can view the feedback.
Within the Upward Feedback section, toggle on Include in Review Cycle and review the BambooHR standard questions that direct reports will need to answer when giving feedback on the manager.
You also have the option to add custom questions (as shown above in Peer Feedback). Direct reports will be able to view and answer those custom questions in their feedback request. To add a custom question, click +Write a Question.
Upward feedback has a limit of five questions:
- If you keep the BambooHR standard questions, you can add up to three custom questions.
- If you remove the BambooHR standard questions by clicking on the x, you can add up to five custom questions.
Impromptu feedback: Outside of a regular feedback review period, you can navigate to an employee profile and request impromptu feedback at any time. Keep in mind that you can only have 10 open requests at a time for the employee.
Assessment due dates: An assessment review period remains open for 30 days. After 30 days, the system will partly close the review period, meaning employees and managers can still submit assessments, but they will not receive any further email notifications.
*By Hire Date option: Click here to view how the assessment schedule will look different when setting up a review cycle with the By Hire Date option.
Enabling self and manager assessments in a review cycle with peer and upward feedback will give you a complete picture of performance at your company.* Assessments are double-blind, meaning neither the employee and manager can view the other's completed assessment until they complete their own assessment first. Only the manager listed in the Reports To field on the employee profile can fill out the manager assessment for their direct reports.
Assessments run independently of your feedback review schedule. Click here to view how to configure an assessment schedule and questions for those included in the review cycle.
*You have the option to exclude either assessments or peer and/or upward feedback from the review cycle, but the review cycle will no longer be a 360° review cycle that provides a comprehensive view of performance at your company.
The final step will show you an overview of the settings you have selected for the review cycle. This overview helps you to verify your feedback and assessment schedules and who is included in the review cycle. If you need to make edits to a specific step, click Change at the right for that step. Once you confirm all settings are accurate, click Launch 360 Review Cycle.
Feedback Status report
The Feedback Status report now includes managers receiving feedback in the Employee column, along with their direct reports listed in the Receiving Feedback From column.