Whether you have a clear vision or just a rough idea, Workleap Performance makes building a review cycle simple. Start with AI, set up manually, or move between the two as you go. Each section of the cycle is in the left-hand navigation, and a running estimate of the questions count and completion time keeps you grounded as you build.
Tip: New to review cycles? Start with Understanding review cycles in Workleap Performance for the basics.
Build the cycle with AI
Note: Only Executives and Collaborators can create, edit, delete, or duplicate a review cycle.
Add context
Log in to Workleap and go to Performance.
Select Manage cycles, then New cycle.
Give the AI some context, one or more of:
A purpose typed in the field (for example, "Mid-year check-in focused on company values").
A suggestion tile (based on your past cycles, your organization, and industry best practices).
Up to five supporting files (TXT, CSV, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, or PDF).
Note: Prefer to start from scratch? Select Skip to manual setup.
Review the generated draft
The AI produces a complete draft: a title and description, review types, sections, and a mix of question types (rating, text, multiple choice), with per-review-type wording.
Refine with follow-up prompts
Keep asking the Workleap AI assistant for changes, for example "Make the questions more development-focused," "Use a more formal tone," "Make question 2 optional," or "Remove [segment] from participants." Select Undo under a prompt to revert it, and switch to manual editing from the left navigation any time.
What you configure
The AI fills in many of these. Review each before launch.
Cycle details
The title, description, and review types. Choose one or more:
Self-review — people assess themselves.
Manager review — the manager assesses the employee. The reviewee can see the manager's answers if the manager shares the review.
Peer review — colleagues assess each other. Peer answers aren't visible to the reviewee unless you choose to share them.
Upward review — direct reports give feedback to their manager, so the reviewee is always a manager. Upward answers aren't visible to the reviewee unless you choose to share them.
Important: You can't change the review types once the cycle is launched, though you can still edit the form.
Evaluation form
The sections and questions. Each question can be a rating scale, open text, or multiple choice, with its own wording per review type. For peer and manager questions, you choose whether the reviewee can see each answer once the review is shared. Select Preview form any time to see it as participants will.
Languages
Workleap Performance supports English and French only. Your organization has a default language. To run the cycle in the other one, open Manage languages, add it, and either translate the questions yourself or translate the whole cycle with Workleap AI.
Evaluation period
The timeframe employees should reflect on. Set a start date and an end date.
Deadlines
A due date for each review type. Late submissions are allowed as long as the cycle isn't locked.
Review Score
Define how each participant's performance number is calculated, an Average or a Custom weighted formula, and the reporting scale. See Performance Review Score.
Calibration setup
Enable Performance and Potential to turn on 9-box calibration, and choose how each is scored. See Calibration.
Formal acknowledgement
Optionally require reviewees to confirm they've read their shared review. Their name and a timestamp are recorded as proof. See Review acknowledgment for details.
Important: This setting can't be changed after the cycle is launched.
Peer reviews
Set a recommended number of peer reviewers per participant (a guide that never blocks the cycle), and choose anonymity:
Anonymous — peer reviewer names are hidden.
Names visible — peer reviewer names are shown.
Either way, peer feedback stays visible to Executives and reporting-line managers.
Upward reviews
Choose how upward reviewers are nominated, automatically from a manager's direct reports, or manually, and set anonymity the same way as peer reviews.
Regardless of this setting, upward feedback stays visible to Executives and reporting-line managers.
Important: Anonymity is limited on small teams. If a manager has only one or a few direct reports, they may still guess who wrote an upward review. Make sure each manager has enough reviewers before relying on anonymity.
Reviewees
Choose who is evaluated. Add people by team, segment, individual, or the entire organization, and exclude specific teams, segments, or members. Only reviewees who have direct reports receive an upward review.
Note: A user must be invited to Workleap before you can add them. Invite users from Settings.
Notifications summary
A preview of the automated notifications the cycle will send during its run, which you can filter by recipient (reviewer, immediate manager, reviewee, peer, upward reviewer).
Launch the cycle
When everything's ready, select Launch cycle.
A start and end date are required, and the end date can't be before the start date.
The Review Score and any calibration setup must be valid (in Custom mode, weights total 100%), or the cycle can't launch.
You can keep editing the form on a launched cycle until it's locked, but not the review types or the acknowledgement setting.
Preview what participants will see
Participants only see the review tasks assigned to them, with the questions you defined. They don't see your setup or the rest of the cycle.
Before launching, select Preview form to see exactly what each role will see. You can switch between review types and languages, and preview the context the AI surfaces for reviewers (role, goals, recognition, meetings, past reviews, and connected sources like Jira and Slack).