A review template is the blueprint a performance review is built from. It sets the questions and how each is answered, who evaluates (the employee, their manager, or both, how that manager is worked out, and which parts of the organisation can use it. Get the template right once and every review created from it follows the same shape.

Your organisation starts with a system template called Standard Review Template, which applies to all subunits and can be used straight away.

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. Open the Review Templates tab to see the templates you have access to.
   
2. Click Create Review Template. The Create Review Template screen opens.
   
3. Enter the Template Name. It must be unique.
4. Under Subunits, select the subunits this template is for. The selector has its own search box and a Select All option, and subunits expand to show those beneath them. Nothing is selected by default and a selection is required.
   
5. Under Evaluated By, choose the evaluator groups. Manager is selected by default and cannot be removed; add Self if the employee should complete a self-evaluation.
   
6. Under Manager Selection, choose how the manager evaluator is worked out:
   Head of Department — the head of the employee's subunit. This is the default.
   Supervisor — the employee's supervisor. Choosing this shows Reporting Method, which defaults to Direct.
   
7. Review the questions. Each evaluator group has its own section — Self-Assessment Questions and Manager Questions — with two default questions you can edit or delete.
   
8. Click Add Question in the section you want to add to. A new row appears with the placeholder Enter your question here — type your question.
9. Set the answer type using the small selector beneath the question. It shows Text by default; the other option is Rating, a 1 to 5 scale.
10. For a rating question, the five values appear from 5 down to 1 with their labels — Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, Developing, Needs Improvement. Edit any label that doesn't match your organisation's wording.
    
11. Click Save. The template appears in the list and can be used to create reviews.

Notes & Important Behaviour

• Template names must be unique. If the name is already used — including by a template you cannot see — you will be told the name already exists.
• Rating values are fixed, labels are not. The scale is always 1 to 5, and you can reword the labels to match how your organisation talks about performance.
• Questions belong to this template only. They are not added to the question pool used by Performance Pro.
• Edits apply to future reviews. Reviews already created keep the questions they were created with.
• The Standard Review Template is protected. Everyone can view it, nobody can delete it, and Heads of Department cannot edit it.
• Editing and deleting need authority over every subunit. A Head of Department must cover all the subunits a template applies to. Authority over some of them is not enough.
• Deleting asks first. You confirm before a template is deleted, and reviews already created from it are unaffected.

Visual Indicators & Statuses

• Name — The template name
• Subunits — The subunits it covers, or All
• Created By — Who created it