Employee Roles in Review Cycles

Overview of roles employees can hold within a performance review.

There are a number of roles that need to be assigned to your employees within a review cycle. The available roles will vary depending on your cycle settings selections. 

The possible roles are Reviewee, Nominator, Writer, Review Administrator, and Approver.

ROLES

REVIEWEE (EMPLOYEE)

This is the person being reviewed. This role will automatically be included in every review cycle type. 

NOMINATOR

Nominators select individual writers to review the target employee after the cycle has been kicked off. This role is commonly filled by the target employee or their direct supervisor. Assigning nominators takes the ownership of selecting peer writers off of your admin team and onto your employee population.

This role may be included if you select one of the following cycles on the first step of review set up:

  • Peer Review

  • Employee Review

  • Self Review + Employee Review

On the Writers page, you will have the option to toggle between two settings: Set review writers now and Set nominator who will pick writers later. Selecting the latter will allow you to select individuals to fill this role. 

You may select more than one nominator per target employee. However, the nomination process is first come, first served. This means that once the first nominator enters the cycle, selects writers, and chooses to kick off, no other nominators assigned to the target employee will be able to add writers in the nomination stage. 

WRITER

This is an individual who writes a review about the target employee. This role is most commonly filled by the employee’s peers or direct reports.

This is a required role if you select one of the following cycles on the first step of review set up:

  • Peer Review

  • Employee Review

  • Self Review + Employee Review

There is no limit to the number of writers that can be included for one individual’s review. The system will allow each writer to submit a response to the review. 

Note: If you choose to include a nominator in your review cycle, Namely will not prompt you to provide names of writers. Rather, the nominator will make their selections after your review cycle has been kicked off.

REVIEW ADMINISTRATOR

This is a non-system administrator who has admin capabilities for a target employee’s individual review. This role is most commonly filled by the target employee’s direct supervisor. Review Administrators are optional, and may be included in every available review type. 

Review Administrators have the following capabilities:

  • Write a review about the target employee via an optional admin template

  • Provide final performance rating for the target employee

  • Adjust review settings for the target employee’s review only, including adding or removing writers, administrators, and approvers; share writers’ answers with the target employee; exclude viewers from the review; and adjust performance summary settings

  • Send reviews back to writers to ask for additional feedback

  • Sign the review before finalization

  • Amend a finalized review for modifications

You may select more than one Review Administrator per target employee. However, the administration process is first come, first served. This means that once the first review admin enters the cycle, makes updates, and sends for approval, no other admins will be able to write a review about the target employee. They will still have the ability to adjust settings as outlined above. 

APPROVER

This is an individual who is not actively reviewing the target employee, but needs oversight into the individual’s review process before it is finalized. This role is most commonly filled by a member of the HR team or a department head. Approvers are optional, and may be included in every available review type.  

Approvers are the final step before a review is sent for signatures. They have the following capabilities:

  • Send review back to Review Administrator to ask for additional feedback

  • Approve the review

You may select more than one Approver per target employee. However, the approval process is also first come, first served. This means that once the first approver enters the cycle and opts to approve, no one else will be able to approve. They will still have the ability to adjust settings as outlined above.

Approvers will immediately receive a notification to approve a review once the cycle is kicked off even if nothing has been written. Approvers can even approve a completely blank review. 

ORDER OF OPERATIONS

Upon cycle kick-off, the review will follow this order of operations:

  1. Nominator selects writers

  2. Employee writes self review / Writers write review

  3. Review Administrator completes administration and submits

  4. Review Approver reviews and approves

  5. Reviewee, writers, and/or Review Administrator sign review

  6. Review finalized