Closing a Review Cycle

Complete a review cycle and deliver final review packets to employees.

Introduction

Once performance reviews have been completed and reviewed, an Account Owner can close the cycle.

Closing a cycle finalises the review process, delivers any review packets that have not already been shared, and generates the AI summary for the cycle.

You do not have to close the cycle to share one person's review. If all of their reviews are submitted, you can share their packet while the cycle is still running. See Share a review before you close the cycle below.

Before You Get Started

You must be an Account Owner to close a performance review cycle.

Closing a cycle is an important final step and it cannot be undone. Once the cycle is closed, Account Owners can no longer edit reviews for calibration or other changes, and any unfinished reviews are closed with it. If you only need one person to see their completed review, share their packet instead and leave the cycle running.

Before closing the cycle, we recommend checking:

Reviews have been submitted where possible
Calibration is complete
Manager feedback has been reviewed
The cycle is ready to be shared with employees

Somebody who has finished their review does not have to wait for everyone else, and you do not have to close the cycle to let them see it.

On the cycle's Overview tab, each person's row carries a Share action. Use it and their packet goes to them straight away, with the cycle still running. A Shared badge appears next to their name once you have.

The action only appears when three things are true:

The cycle is in progress.
Every review in that packet has been submitted. Nobody is shown a half-finished review.
The packet has not already been shared.

Anyone whose packet you share this way already has it when the cycle closes, so nothing is sent twice.

Getting Started

Go to Performance from the left-hand menu.
Open the review cycle you want to close.
Review the Overview tab to check cycle progress.
When ready, click Complete cycle in the top-right corner.

What Happens When You Close a Cycle

Closing a cycle will:

Close Unfinished Reviews

Any unfinished employee or manager reviews will be closed as part of the cycle completion process.

This means employees and managers will no longer be able to submit or update their review responses.

Stop Further Editing

Once the cycle is complete, Account Owners can no longer edit reviews.

This includes changes for:

Calibration
Manager feedback
Review outcomes
Review packet content

Make sure all updates are complete before closing the cycle.

Deliver Review Packets to Employees

Closing the cycle delivers the final review packet to each employee who has not already had theirs shared.

The packet includes:

The employee’s self review, if in scope
The manager review, if in scope

This gives employees access to their completed review information in Worknice.

Generate the AI Summary

When the cycle is closed, Worknice generates the AI summary for the cycle.

The summary helps Account Owners understand key themes, trends, and patterns across the completed review cycle.

Important Notes

Closing a cycle cannot be undone, and it is not a draft or preview step. Only close the cycle when you are ready to finalise it for everyone.

If you only need one person to see their completed review, share their packet from the Overview tab instead and leave the cycle running.

If you need to calibrate or make changes to reviews, do this before clicking Complete cycle.

You're All Done!

You’ve now closed the performance review cycle, delivered review packets to employees, and generated the AI summary.

If you have any questions, please reach out to help@worknice.com or through the help section within Worknice.