How Often Should You Conduct Performance Reviews? (And How Teamflect Can Help)

Published on:
February 5, 2025
Updated on:
February 6, 2025
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Finding the right schedule for performance reviews isn’t always easy. Some organizations check in too often, overwhelming employees, while others don’t check in enough, leading to missed opportunities. So, how often should you hold performance reviews? Quarterly, bi-annually, or once a year?  

Let’s break it down and explore how Teamflect makes the process simple and effective, no matter how often you choose to conduct them.

How to Choose the Right Performance Review Frequency

Before deciding on a review schedule, keep these important factors in mind.

Nature of Work: Are your projects fast-moving or long-term? Teams with shifting priorities (like tech or sales) benefit from more frequent reviews, while teams with stable, long-term projects do well with less frequent assessments.

Team Size and Structure: Smaller teams often handle frequent feedback more easily while larger teams need a more structured approach to keep things manageable and consistent.

Available Resources: Reviews require time and effort from both managers and HR. If your team lacks the resources to manage regular reviews, fewer sessions would be the better option.

Quarterly Performance Reviews

Quarterly reviews are becoming more common, particularly in organizations where goals and priorities shift quickly.  

They work well for teams that need to stay agile. Such as those in tech, marketing, and sales.

Pros:

  • Frequent feedback helps employees adjust quickly and stay aligned with company priorities.
  • Allows managers to address issues before they escalate, preventing small problems from turning into larger ones.

Cons:

  • Without the right system, quarterly reviews can be costly and time-consuming.
  • Too much feedback can sometimes feel overwhelming if not focused on key areas of performance.

Bi-Annual Performance Reviews

Bi-annual reviews strike a balance between offering frequent feedback and giving employees enough time to demonstrate their progress toward goals.  They are best for organizations with more stable roles or industries where projects span several months, such as finance, education, or healthcare. Pros:

  • Employees get ample time to work toward their goals and show tangible progress.
  • Less frequent than quarterly reviews, making it easier to manage and less time-consuming for managers.

Cons:

  • If there is no feedback system in place, relying only on bi-annual reviews may result in missed opportunities for feedback and adjustments. Especially if challenges arise mid-year.
  • Bi-annual reviews may focus too much on past performance rather than looking ahead, making it harder to focus on ongoing development and growth throughout the year.

Annual Performance Reviews

Annual reviews aren’t as popular as they once were, but they’re still useful in large teams or industries with a strong focus on long-term planning, like manufacturing and government.

Pros:

  • Offers a detailed review of the employee's year, providing a comprehensive assessment.
  • Aligns well with year-end evaluations and strategic planning.

Cons:

  • Performance issues or successes may go unnoticed due to delayed feedback.
  • Employees may feel disengaged if feedback is given once a year, potentially leaving them unaware of how they are performing throughout the year.

Performance Reviews with Teamflect

Teamflect makes it easy to manage the entire process. With our platform, the review process is broken down into three distinct roles: Admins, Reviewers, and Reviewees. Admins have control over the review cycles and ensure everything runs smoothly, while reviewers and reviewees are directly involved in the review process. Admins can easily set up review cycles, automate reminders, and ensure that everything runs on schedule.

Teamflect’s automated review cycles remove guesswork from review deadlines, meaning HR teams spend less time tracking progress and more time on strategy.

Automation for Maximizing Efficiency

One of the standout features of Teamflect is the automation of review cycles. Forget about tracking deadlines manually or worrying about reviews slipping through the cracks. With automated review cycles, everything runs on schedule.

We offer two types of automation to make your review process even more efficient:

Periodical Automation: Set up recurring review cycles to ensure consistent feedback without manual intervention.

New-Hire Automation: Automatically trigger performance reviews for new employees as part of their onboarding process. This feature is ideal for probation reviews like 30-60-90 days evaluations.

Did You Know?

Teamflect integrates with Microsoft Entra Identity (Azure AD) to automatically retrieve an employee's official hire date for triggering reviews. We work hard to minimize manual data entry, so everything is streamlined for you!

Custom Reviews for Your Team’s Needs

We know every organization has its own unique goals and priorities, which is why we let you fully tailor review templates to match your needs. You can either use one of our pre-built templates or create your own from scratch. This means that every review you conduct will be perfectly aligned with your objectives and goals.

Target the Right People with Precision

Teamflect goes beyond simple review cycles by offering the ability to filter users based on attributes like job title and location. You can target specific teams or even individuals for performance review cycles, ensuring that everyone gets the right evaluation at the right time.  

Did You Know?

Along with basic filters like role or location, you can also add custom filters based on attributes like tenure or salary. Simply click "Add filter," choose the attribute you need, and apply it to refine your review cycle!

Stay on Track with Microsoft Teams Integration

We all know how easy it is for things to get lost in a crowded inbox or forgotten amidst a busy day. That’s why Teamflect integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams and Outlook, ensuring that your review cycles stay front and center. Reviewees and reviewers get automatic reminders right inside Microsoft Teams, so there’s no chance your team will miss a review or delay a deadline.  

Resources

To help you get the most out of Teamflect and streamline your performance review process, check out these resources:

Free Performance Management Assessment: Get Custom Expert Analysis

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