This article describes a recommended best practice for Admins and HR to set up and run an employee appraisal cycle in flowit in a structured, efficient, and sustainable way.
The process provides orientation and proven guidelines without being a rigid rulebook.
🔍 Overview
A stable employee appraisal cycle does not emerge automatically from technical configuration alone. It requires thorough preparation, clear roles, tested guidelines, and deliberate steering throughout the cycle.
The process described here guides you step by step through:
organisational preparation
content planning
technical implementation
communication with employees
monitoring and handling special cases
Target audience:
Admins (customer administrators): setup and structure
HR: process support, communication, and monitoring
📌 Step 1: Review the Organisational Structure (before each cycle)
Before starting a new employee appraisal cycle cycle, the organisational structure in flowit should be reviewed. It is the foundation for all subsequent steps.
Recommended checks in the Admin area:
Are all employees fully and correctly recorded?
Are employees assigned to the correct teams?
Is the team structure logical and up to date?
Context:
The employee list can be exported and is well suited for completeness checks.
The team structure can also be exported. However, we recommend reviewing it directly in flowit at team level in the Admin area.
Important to know:
Errors in the organisational structure do not require restarting the cycle.
Reviews can be reassigned or corrected even after the cycle has started.
Why this step is critical:
fewer errors during the live cycle
reduced administrative effort
overall more stable execution
Helpful articles in the Help Center on the topic of employee management and team structure on flowit:
📘 CSV Upload (User): Fields, Format & Step-by-Step Guide
📘 CSV Upload (Teams): Fields, Format & Step-by-Step Guide
👥 Roles & Responsibilities in the employee appraisal cycle
In practice, a clear separation of roles has proven effective.
Cycle setup
Responsibility: Customer Administrator
Reasons:
access to the Admin area
maintenance of the organisational structure
creation of reviews at company or team level
technical end-to-end overview
Support during the active cycle
Primary: Team Lead / Reviewer
responsible for progress of their own reviews
can extend individual reviews
Supporting: HR or Admin
follow-up on delays
clarification of special cases
coordination for questions
📄 Step 2: Understand and Prepare Guidelines
The guideline forms the content foundation of the employee appraisal cycle. Typically, there are three starting points:
an existing guideline is reused
an existing guideline is adapted
a new guideline is created
Context:
New or significantly adapted guidelines are considered new templates in terms of content.
A separate article explains how to create or edit a guideline:
📋 Managing Review Templates: Overview & Guide
Best practice:
conduct a full test before productive use of a template
critically review the current version
implement changes only after testing
🧪 Step 3: Test Phase – Why It Matters
The test phase is a key success factor and should be consciously planned.
During testing, you validate:
question logic
sequence within the guideline
review flow
clarity and comprehensibility of content
Recommended scope:
1–2 complete test runs
additional tests only after later changes
Key rule:
as long as a guideline is not used productively, it can be edited
once it is used in active reviews, it can no longer be edited in a way that affects those reviews
Recommendation:
ideally have the test phase reviewed by multiple people
🗂️ Step 4: Plan the Cycle Before Technical Setup
Before creating the cycle in the system, structure and timing should be defined.
Structural decision
company level or team level
Recommendation:
company level as the standard
Advantages:
simpler administration
better comparability
consistent evaluations
more stable follow-up cycles
Team level makes sense if:
content differs significantly
different guidelines are strictly required
Note:
even with department-specific questions, a single guideline often works
differentiation can be achieved via custom attributes
Timeline planning
start date
completion period
end date (conversation phase)
Guidelines:
total employee appraisal cycle: 1–3 months
completion period: at least 1 month
extend accordingly during holidays or peak workload
⚙️ Step 5: Set Up the Cycle
After planning, technical implementation follows:
create the cycle via the Group Manager
implement according to defined structure and timing
at company or team level
A separate step-by-step article explains how to set up a review cycle:
✨ Overview: Creating Reviews
✉️ Step 6: Invitations & Communication
A multi-stage communication model has proven effective.
Best practice:
upfront communication by HR or the project owner
use of a communication template
followed by automatic system notifications
Automatic notifications
can be activated during setup
reminders can be defined
automatic reminders possible
content is system-defined
Manual reminders
sent via the Insights area
suitable for targeted follow-ups
Benefits:
higher attention
clear context for the cycle
higher acceptance among employees
📊 Monitoring & Steering
Progress is monitored via the Insights area.
Status logic:
green icon: both parties have completed their input
A review is completed when:
conclusions and agreements are defined
the conversation has taken place
both parties have confirmed
Typical pattern:
high activity at the beginning
slowdown in the middle
renewed increase toward the end
Recommendation:
avoid over-managing the first half
intervene selectively in cases of clear delays
use manual reminders primarily in the second half
Helpful articles in the Help Center on monitoring and customizing reviews on flowit:
📝 Managing Reviews: Overview & Best Practices
🔄 Changes & Deadlines After Start
Adjustments are possible even after the cycle has started:
additional reviewers
assigned team
completion period
end date
Not possible:
editing guidelines/templates after productive use in a way that affects active reviews
Deadlines
Completion period can be extended if:
no party has completed yet, or
only one party has completed
Not extendable if:
both parties have completed
End date (conversation phase) can be extended if:
the review has not yet been confirmed by both parties
If required:
set up the review again
➕ Special Cases & Complex Setups
Possible scenarios:
multiple guidelines
different timelines
department-specific content
Proven structure:
one central guideline
use of custom attributes
question visibility based on profile attributes
Benefits:
consistent process
high scalability
reduced system complexity
For very complex setups, involving Customer Success is recommended.
✅ Conclusion
A successful employee appraisal cycle is driven by structure, not by technology alone: clear roles, tested guidelines, solid planning, deliberate communication, and transparent steering.