Performance Reviews (Best-Self Review®) — Feature Overview

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Performance Reviews (Best-Self Review®) is 15Five's performance review feature. It enables organizations to measure employee performance through self, manager, peer, and upward reviews, and to analyze results using ratings, calibrations, and the Talent Matrix.

Required access: Perform or Total Platform pricing package.

Feature Structure

A performance review cycle consists of the following components:

Review cycle — A configured instance of a review that defines participants, review types, timeline, and question templates. Cycles can be launched manually or run automatically via Lifecycle Reviews.

Review types — Each cycle can include any combination of Self, Manager, Peer, and Upward reviews. See Review types in a performance review cycle for definitions.

Question template — Determines what is measured in the review. Templates can use 15Five's pre-built defaults or custom questions. See Understand performance review question templates for section options.

Review dashboard — Admins and managers track cycle progress and drill into individual reviews from a central dashboard. The dashboard view varies by role.

Resources for your review panel — Review writers can access a panel showing the reviewee's High Fives, Wins & Challenges, past Check-ins, past reviews, feedback, and career path. See Access the Resources for Your Review panel during a review cycle for details.

Performance Ratings+ — An optional component that assigns each participant a performance rating based on a configured rubric and their review answers. See Performance Ratings+ overview for how ratings are calculated.

Calibrations — After reviews are submitted, admins can run calibration sessions to equitably adjust ratings across teams using the Talent Matrix. See Calibrations in performance reviews — overview for structure and access rules.

Talent Matrix (9-box) — A visualization tool that plots participants by performance and potential dimensions derived from calibrated review data. See Use the Talent Matrix in review results for navigation.

Competency assessment — An optional question template section that measures skills and behaviors using a research-backed framework. Results surface in competency reporting. See Analyze competency assessment results in a review cycle for reporting access.

Manager Effectiveness Assessment — An optional section that measures manager-specific skills and behaviors. Data can feed into the Manager Effectiveness Indicator (MEI). See Manager Effectiveness Assessment — What It Is and How It Works for configuration details.

Private Manager Assessment (PMA) — An optional section with future-focused questions on promotion readiness and compensation eligibility. Responses are not visible to the employee. See Private Manager Assessment — What It Is and How It Works.

What You Can Do

Set Up

Manage

Analyze

Common Issues

Key Rules

Performance Reviews require the Perform or Total Platform pricing package.
Every cycle must have at least one review type (Self, Manager, Peer, or Upward).
Performance Ratings+ requires a configured formula and rubric before launch.
Calibrations can only be added to a cycle that meets specific criteria. See [What are the criteria to enable calibrations in a review cycle?].
Role-based visibility controls what each participant can see and when. See Roles in a performance review cycle and Manager roles and visibility in performance review cycles.
Results are not shared automatically when a cycle ends. See [Do performance review results get shared automatically when a cycle ends?].

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