> Note: Your organization may have renamed this feature. If you don't see Performance Reviews in your navigation, check with your admin for the name used in your account.
An additional manager is a person other than a participant's direct manager who is assigned to write a manager review during a review cycle. This article explains the additional manager role — what you can do, how the review cycle works, and how to get notifications.
Feature Structure
Two types of additional managers
- Default additional managers — assigned to all review cycles a person participates in. Assigned via account settings or bulk import.
- Cycle-specific additional managers — assigned to a participant for one specific review cycle only. Up to five cycle-specific additional managers can be assigned per participant.
What additional managers can do
- Write an additional manager review for assigned participants
- View past performance reviews for assigned participants (default additional managers only, when the Additional manager visibility into past reviews setting is enabled — see )
What additional managers cannot do
- Nominate peers for a participant
- Submit, share, or finalize review summaries
How a Review Cycle Works
Additional manager reviews fit into the cycle in this order:
- A review admin launches the cycle. Participants, managers, and assigned additional managers are notified.
- Participants complete their self reviews.
- Additional managers and peers submit their reviews. Additional managers can submit once the participant submits their self review or the self review deadline has passed.
- Direct managers write their reviews, referencing peer and additional manager input.
- Calibration sessions run (if configured). Additional manager feedback is visible to review admins and calibration session participants.
- Review admins or managers share finalized results with participants. At this point, the additional manager review becomes visible to the participant.
Notifications
When assigned as an additional manager in an active cycle, you receive three notifications:
- Action item — appears on your Actions list in-app. Click it to open your review directly.
- Email notification — sent from notifications@15five.com. Default additional managers receive: "You are now an additional manager for [Name]'s future review cycles." Cycle-specific additional managers receive: "You are now an additional manager for [Name] for their '[Review cycle name]' cycle."
- In-app notification — appears in the notification bell at the top of your 15Five account. Click Go to cycle to open your review.
Key Rules
- Additional manager reviews can only be submitted after the participant submits their self review or the self review deadline passes.
- Yes/no and opinion scale answers cannot be edited in a review section that is in an active calibration session.
- A submitted review cannot be edited after results have been shared with the participant, or after the review cycle is locked.
- Whether additional manager reviews contribute to a participant's performance rating is controlled by account admins in feature settings. See .
- Hierarchy visibility — whether skip-level managers can view performance rating results for employees in their reporting hierarchy — is configured in performance review feature settings.
What You Can Do
Set Up
- Assign a Default Additional Manager via Account Settings
- Assign Default Additional Managers via Bulk Import
- Assign a Cycle-Specific Additional Manager
Manage
Understand
- What Is the Additional Manager Visibility Into Past Reviews Setting
- Who Can See My Additional Manager Review and When
- Do Additional Manager Reviews Affect a Participant's Performance Rating
Common Issues