Visibility is always a sensitive subject, especially when it comes to reviews. What reviews are visible? To whom? At what time do they become visible? These are all valid questions that vary from review to review. Keep reading to learn more about the default visibility settings and the optional visibility settings around Best-Self Review®.
In this article, you will learn when each of the following reviews are visible, and to whom:
- Self review
- Peer reviews
- Upward reviews
- Manager reviews (including Private Manager Assessment)
Note
The level of visibility will depend on the review settings that were in place before the cycle began. Options for visibility include Hierarchy and Basic. No matter which visibility option you choose, reviews become visible to review administrators when submitted. Manager's visibility will depend on which review was submitted and whether it needs to be routed through their manager before shared—peer and upward reviews are first sent to managers before being shared with the participant.
Help Center article 💡: Visibility settings for Best-Self Review®
Help Center article 💡: Roles in a Best-Self Review® cycle
Visibility of each review type based on status
- Self reviews become visible to a participant's manager, their review viewers, cycle collaborators, review administrators, and anyone above the participant in the reporting hierarchy* once they have been submitted by the participant—even if the self review deadline has not passed.
- Peer reviews become visible to a participant's manager, their review viewers, cycle collaborators, review administrators, and anyone above the participant in the reporting hierarchy* once they have been submitted by the peer.
Peer reviews become visible to the review cycle participant once their manager shares review results with them, usually after the final meeting.
If peer reviews are hidden from the participant, the peer answers will never be shared— even after their manager shares the results.
Review administrators and cycle collaborators cannot see the identities of their own peer reviewers if the settings are partially or fully anonymous— in other words, they will not be able to see who wrote what for their own peer reviews just because of their role. - Upward reviews become visible to a participant's manager, their review viewers, cycle collaborators, review administrators, and anyone above the participant in the reporting hierarchy* once they have been submitted by the direct report.
Upward reviews become visible to the review cycle participant once their manager shares results with them.
For example: I am one of Charlotte's direct reports. I submit my upward review of Charlotte. Charlotte's manager is notified that I submitted the upward review and can view my answers. Once Charlotte's manager clicks Share results, Charlotte will be able to see my upward review of her.
If upward reviews are hidden from the participant, the upward answers will never be shared—even after the manager shares the results.
Review administrators and cycle collaborators cannot see the identities of their own upward reviewers if the settings are partially or fully anonymous— in other words, they will not be able to see who wrote what for their own upward reviews just because of their role. - Manager reviews become visible to a participant's manager, their review viewers, cycle collaborators, review administrators, and anyone above the participant in the reporting hierarchy* once they have been submitted by the direct report.
Manager reviews become visible to the review cycle participant once their manager shares results with them.
It is important to note that managers can still edit the Private Manager Assessment and summary up until finalizing (the exception being that if the review has been calibrated, the Private Manager Assessment cannot be edited).
By default, the Private Manager Assessment is never visible to the participant, even when results are shared and/or finalized. However, visibility into the PMA can be extended to a review cycle participant and/or their hierarchy as outlined in our "Manage visibility options for private manager assessments" Help Center article. - The Summary become visible to a participant's manager, their review viewers, cycle collaborators, review administrators, and anyone above the participant in the reporting hierarchy* once the manager review has been submitted.
The summary becomes visible to the participant once their manager shares results with them.
* A person's hierarchy will only be able to see their review results if the 'Hierarchy visibility' option is enabled in your company's Best-Self Review® feature settings.