How it works · Performance
How a performance cycle runs, from goals to a released rating.
Goal setting, goal updates through the year, self and manager reviews, the review coach, calibration and release. Who acts at each stage, what andteam does for them, and what stays a person's decision.
The stages, and who acts at each
A performance cycle is a year, or part of one, in which people agree goals and are then reviewed against them, once or several times. HR sets the cycle up once, from a fixed set of settings. andteam then runs it: each stage opens on its date, each person gets their own goal sheet in the portal, and each hand-off goes to the right person with the right deadline. Managers and employees do the thinking. andteam does the arithmetic, the chasing and the record of who did what and when.
Set up
- Step 1 of 12.HRSets up the cycle and opens itThe scale and behaviours are fixed for the cycle from here
- Step 2 of 12.andteamOpens each stage on its date, checks who is in it and sends each person their sheetPeople on probation can be excused automatically
Goal setting
- Step 3 of 12.EmployeeDrafts goals, each linked to the goal above itOr the manager drafts, if the cycle says so
- Step 4 of 12.ManagerEdits and approves the goalsOr sends them back with a comment
- Step 5 of 12.EmployeeAcknowledges the agreed goals
During the year
- Step 6 of 12.EmployeePosts goal updates, marked on track or at riskThe manager can post too
Review
- Step 7 of 12.EmployeeRates each goal and behaviour, and commentsSkipped in a manager-only review
- Step 8 of 12.ManagerRates beside the employee's ratings and signs offThe review coach checks comments, if switched on
- Step 9 of 12.HRCalibrates the distribution and sends back any review that needs another look
Release
- Step 10 of 12.HRReleases the ratingsOr the employee sees them at sign-off, if the cycle says so
- Step 11 of 12.EmployeeAcknowledges, and can ask HR to review
- Step 12 of 12.andteamHands the final rating to the salary review
Roles and permissions
- Employees see and write their own sheet. They see the manager’s ratings and comments only once the review is released to them.
- Managers review their direct reports: their live line manager at the moment of each hand-off. Where a cycle switches on skip-level visibility, a manager can also read, but not change, every sheet further down their line.
- HR holds the Manage performance permission, scoped to the companies they cover. They set up cycles, see progress, remind, reassign a reviewer, reopen a stage, excuse a person and release ratings.
- Protected populations stay protected. A person in an access group, such as the executive team, is visible only to people who hold that group, the same rule as for pay.
- Extra approvers are optional. A sign-off is one step, the line manager, by default. An organisation can add steps, such as an HR business partner, on its approvals settings.
Rules and settings
A cycle is configured from a closed set of settings, locked when the cycle opens so everyone in it runs on the same rules. Different rules mean a different cycle.
| Setting | Choices |
|---|---|
| Who is in it | One or more companies; a joined-by date; employees only, or contingent workers too |
| Who drafts goals | The employee, or the manager |
| Goal layout | One list, or categories: a balanced scorecard where each category counts for its share, or a grouping only |
| Goals | Between 1 and 10 per person, with KPIs under each goal or not. Each goal counts equally, or for the share agreed for it |
| Where goals come from | Top goals set at the levels of your structure (organisation and company by default), with each person’s goal linked to the goal above it |
| Rating scale | Your own scale, 2 to 10 points, with your labels |
| Behaviours | A framework from your behaviours library, counted in the overall or rated and reported only |
| Stages | Goal setting first, then any number of reviews. Each review is self and manager, or manager only, rated per goal or per KPI, with an optional probation exclusion |
| Comments | Optional, or required on every goal and behaviour at sign-off |
| Release | At sign-off, or when HR releases |
The calculation is not a setting. andteam works out every overall exactly from the ratings and the shares you set, and shows it to two decimals, so two people with the same ratings always get the same result. Where a label is shown beside the overall, it is the nearest point or the highest point reached, as the cycle chooses.
One pen at a time. Exactly one person can write a stage at any moment: the employee while it is with them, the reviewer while it is with the manager. The employee never sees the manager’s draft ratings, and the manager never sees self ratings before they are submitted. The manager’s overall is the final rating. The employee’s own overall is kept beside it.
What andteam does, and what people decide
andteam opens each stage on its date, works out who is eligible, creates the sheets, resolves each reviewer from the reporting line, checks that a sheet adds up before it can be submitted, calculates every overall, and keeps the history of every submission, send back, reopening and release.
People make every judgement. The employee and manager agree the goals. The manager decides the rating. HR’s calibration view shows the spread of final ratings by manager or by any level of your structure, and HR can send a review back to its manager with a reason. HR never overrides a manager’s rating. Acknowledgement means “I have seen this”, not agreement. An employee who disagrees can ask HR to review. That flags the review for HR and changes nothing about the rating by itself.
Where AI helps. The review coach is a Check my review button beside a comment. It flags only clear problems, such as a vague comment, a comment that does not match its rating, or biased wording, and suggests one rewrite. It never rates, never edits the saved review and never submits. It sees one comment, the goal it belongs to and the rating, never a name, pay or anyone’s profile, and nothing is kept. It is off until an organisation switches it on.
Notifications and reminders
- When a stage opens, each person in it is told, and the sheet is waiting in their portal.
- When the employee submits, the manager is told. When the manager signs off or sends back, the employee is told.
- An employee with something overdue gets it in their daily digest. A manager is reminded as their deadline nears and, if it passes, it escalates.
- A passing deadline closes nothing. Overdue sheets stay open and show on HR’s progress view, with who holds each one now, and HR can remind anyone from there.
South African specifics
The review coach runs on Claude on Google Vertex AI, which may process the comment outside South Africa. Switching it on is therefore an organisation’s own decision under POPIA section 72: andteam records who accepted the cross-border position, and when, and the coach stays off until someone does. Every other part of the cycle runs without it.
The probation exclusion reads each person’s start date. A person whose start date is unknown is included rather than skipped, so HR can excuse them instead of a review that feeds pay quietly not happening.
For developers
Reviews and ratings are not in the public API: a final rating goes to the salary review inside andteam. The people and reporting lines a cycle runs on are. See List employees, List positions, and Employee events for a change such as a new manager.
Step-by-step help for every screen is in the andteam help centre, inside the product.