Appraisals that remember last year

Custom forms, review cycles and recorded outcomes, so this year's conversation starts from last year's rather than from nothing.

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What this usually looks like today

Appraisal season arrives. The form is a document somebody adapts from last year, emailed out, filled in, emailed back and filed in a folder nobody opens again.

Twelve months later the review starts by asking what was agreed last time. Nobody can find it quickly, so the conversation starts from scratch and the objectives set last year quietly never happened.

When outcomes are recorded against the person, the next review opens with what was agreed and what came of it.

What it handles

Grouped by the job it does rather than listed as one long set of features.

Custom forms

The form your institution actually uses, designed by you rather than imposed by the software.

Review cycles

A cycle run across the institution or a department, with visibility of who has completed and who has not.

Objectives

What was agreed, recorded against the person so it can be reviewed rather than remembered.

Recorded outcomes

What came of the last cycle, which is the part that makes an appraisal a process rather than an event.

Self-assessment

The member of staff contributes their own view before the conversation rather than only during it.

Routed by reporting line

A review reaches the right manager because the reporting structure already exists.

Appraisal history

Several years of reviews for one person, which is what a promotion decision actually needs.

Linked to training

A development need identified in a review connects to the training record rather than being lost.

Cycle reporting

Completion rates and outcomes across departments, so a cycle that stalled is visible.

The cases most systems get wrong

The objectives nobody revisited. Agreed last year, filed, never opened. The next review starts from scratch and the objectives quietly never happened.

The form adapted from last year. Somebody edits a document each cycle, so the questions drift and this year cannot be compared with last.

The review that never happened. A department quietly skips the cycle. Without completion visibility, nobody notices until somebody asks for the records.

The promotion with no history. A decision that needs three years of reviews, and the evidence is in three folders that may or may not still exist.

These are the cases worth testing in a demo. Bring the messiest one you have.

Who touches it, and what they see

The same records, presented differently depending on the job.

HR

Designs the form, runs the cycle, tracks completion and holds the history.

Line managers

Review their own team, see what was agreed last year and record this year's outcome.

Individual staff

Contribute a self-assessment and see their own review history. Nothing about colleagues.

Everyone else

Nothing. An appraisal is between a person, their manager and HR.

What it shares records with

Reviews attach to the same personnel record as contracts, leave and training, so a promotion decision reads one file rather than assembling one.

The reporting structure routes each review to the right manager. Development needs connect to the training record. A leaver's history stays with their file for as long as you must keep it.

That is what turns an annual event into something the institution actually learns from.

Questions we get asked

Can we use our own appraisal form?
Yes. The form is designed by you rather than imposed by the software, which matters because an appraisal form usually encodes how an institution thinks about teaching.
Does this year's review show last year's objectives?
Yes. Outcomes are recorded against the person, so the conversation opens with what was agreed and what came of it rather than starting from nothing.
Can staff contribute a self-assessment?
Yes, before the conversation rather than only during it, which tends to make the meeting itself more useful.
How do we know a cycle actually completed?
Completion is visible per department, so a review that quietly never happened is noticed at the time rather than when somebody asks for the records.
Who can see a member of staff's reviews?
That person, their line manager and HR. An appraisal is not something other colleagues have any reason to open.
Do development needs connect to training?
Yes. A need identified in a review reaches the training record rather than being noted in a document nobody reopens.

Bring your appraisal form

We will build it in front of you. If the software cannot express your form, that is worth finding out before you commit.

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