This is the working checklist an HR manager or People partner needs to run a performance review cycle from first design to final close-out. It is more detailed than the one-page review-cycle checklist PDF, which is designed to hand to managers; this version covers the HR side, including the checks that stop a cycle from slipping or producing ratings nobody trusts.

Use the performance health check before you start. It scores your process on standards, alignment, bias and admin burden, and tells you which part of this checklist deserves the most attention.

Why HR needs its own checklist

Managers experience a review cycle as a deadline and a form. HR experiences it as a project with dozens of dependencies: scope lists, scorecards, permissions, reminders, calibration packs, sign-offs, communications and records. Most cycle failures are not caused by bad managers. They are caused by a missing step: a scorecard that changed mid-cycle, a calibration session nobody booked, a changed rating nobody explained.

The CIPD’s performance management factsheet treats performance management as an ongoing, connected process rather than a single annual event, and SHRM’s toolkit on managing employee performance covers the same ground from a US perspective. This checklist turns that connected process into concrete steps for one cycle.

1. Design (once, then review annually)

  • ☐ A written talent bar by seniority exists for every level in scope.
  • ☐ Scorecards cover deliverables, skills and culture, with observable statements rather than adjectives.
  • ☐ The rating scale is defined in writing; see rating scales explained.
  • ☐ The link between grades and outcomes (promotion eligibility, development, improvement plan, pay) is decided and documented.
  • ☐ Cadence is agreed: quarterly, twice a year or annual, and why.
  • ☐ Legal and policy review is done for how ratings are recorded, stored and used, according to your jurisdiction and internal policies.

The rest of the checklist

Section 1 above covers design. The full checklist continues with 2. Set-up (about two weeks before launch) (7 checks); 3. Launch (4 checks); 4. During manager reviews (about one to two weeks) (4 checks); 5. Calibration (about one week at most, including leadership review) (6 checks); 6. Results and feedback (5 checks); 7. Close-out (5 checks). Unlock all of them on this page, free with your work email. The advice on cadence, what to share with managers, red flags and the worked example stays open below.

Adapting the checklist to your cadence

If you run reviews quarterly, the design section becomes an annual review rather than a per-cycle task, and set-up shrinks to a few days because dates, scorecards and permissions carry over. Keep the manager briefing, but make it ten minutes focused on what changed since last quarter. If you run reviews once a year, spend more time on launch: goals are likely to be out of date, and managers will need reminding to look at evidence from the whole year rather than the last few weeks. Twice-a-year cycles sit in between; the full checklist applies, with a lighter design review.

What to share with managers, and what to keep in HR

Managers need the dates, the bar, the scorecards, the evidence rule and the manager steps from sections 3, 4 and 6; the one-page review-cycle checklist PDF covers exactly that. Keep the scope decisions, distribution analysis, calibration pre-reads, change log and payroll hand-off in HR, with access limited to the people who need them. Sharing the full checklist with managers is fine; sharing the calibration materials beyond the room is not.

Red flags to act on immediately

Red flagWhat to do
A manager rates almost everyone at the top gradeAsk them to name and evidence their strongest performers before calibration
Ratings submitted without evidence notesReturn them before the pre-read is built
A grade jumps two levels since last cycleAdd to the outlier list for calibration
Scorecards changed after launchFreeze changes; note them for next cycle
Employees hear results before managers are briefedPause release until managers are ready

Worked example

An illustrative HR manager at a 350-person company uses this checklist for a half-year cycle. At set-up she finds that eight managers have reports who joined in the last month, and agrees with leadership to exclude them from ratings but include them in a development conversation. During reviews, the daily tracker shows one department at 40% completion two days before the deadline; she escalates to the department head. The ratings spotter flags two managers for possible leniency, so the pre-read leads with their distributions. In calibration, eleven ratings change, each logged with a reason. Managers are briefed the next morning, and every employee has had their conversation within five working days of sign-off. The retrospective records that the department that slipped needs its scorecards simplified before next cycle.

Common mistakes

  • Booking calibration after launch. Executive calendars fill fast; book at set-up.
  • Treating completion as success. 100% submitted with thin evidence is not a finished cycle.
  • Skipping the manager briefing. A fair process delivered badly feels unfair.
  • Not closing the loop. Without a retrospective, the same problems recur.

The method behind each step is in the performance management framework, and the template for the review itself is the performance review template with worked examples.

Sources: CIPD, Performance management factsheet; SHRM, Managing employee performance toolkit. Timings are playbook guidance; the example is illustrative.

Use with this guide