Goals in Performance Reviews
Goals are an optional workspace inside Performance Reviews. They help an employee and manager track priorities beyond the review questionnaire itself, then keep a record of what was completed, continued, or archived.
What the goals toggle does
Section titled “What the goals toggle does”Turning on Goals in Performance Review settings enables goals for performance review cycles in your organization.
When goals are enabled, employees and managers can use the Goals section to:
- Add a goal title and optional description
- Track the goal status as Not started, In progress, Blocked, or Completed
- Add comments about progress
- Decide at the end of the cycle whether the goal is Complete, Carry forward, or Archive
When goals appear in a review
Section titled “When goals appear in a review”Goals appear inside a Performance Review after the current viewer has submitted their part of the review.
For example:
| Viewer | When they see goals |
|---|---|
| Employee | After submitting their self-assessment |
| Manager | After submitting the manager evaluation |
| Admin | When viewing a goal-enabled review they are allowed to access |
Closed cycles keep goals as a read-only snapshot, so the organization can still see what was captured before the cycle closed.
Who can update goals
Section titled “Who can update goals”Employees and managers can use the goals workspace to keep progress up to date while the cycle is open.
Managers and admins have extra controls for end-of-cycle decisions, including whether a goal should be completed, carried forward, or archived.
How carry-forward works
Section titled “How carry-forward works”Goals are designed to continue across review cycles when the work is not finished.
At the end of a cycle:
- Complete marks the goal as completed
- Carry forward keeps the goal active for the next cycle
- Archive removes the goal from future review cycles
If no archive decision is made, eligible goals can carry into the next goal-enabled review cycle for the same employee.
When to use goals
Section titled “When to use goals”Use goals when the review should create a living follow-up plan, not just a one-time evaluation.
Good examples include:
- Quarterly priorities agreed between an employee and manager
- Development goals from a performance conversation
- Follow-up actions after a review
- Longer-term objectives that should be revisited next cycle
If you only need to collect review answers, leave goals off and use the review template questions instead.