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Overview

Knowlix Appraisals manages the employee performance review process from scheduling through completion. Run structured self-assessments, manager evaluations, and 360-degree peer feedback cycles. Set goals tied to appraisals, track skill development over time, and analyze appraisal completion rates across the organization. Key features:
  • Automatic appraisal scheduling based on configured review cycles
  • Employee self-assessment and manager evaluation forms
  • 360-degree peer feedback collection
  • Goal tracking linked to appraisals
  • Skills assessment with progression tracking
  • Reporting with status-based Gantt view

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Configuration

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Appraisal Settings

Navigate to Appraisals > Configuration > Settings to configure the review program. Appraisal Plans - define how frequently reviews are triggered for employees. Plans can be set to quarterly, semi-annual, or annual cycles. When a new employee is hired, the system automatically schedules their first appraisal based on the assigned plan. Default Evaluation Scale - set the rating options available on evaluation forms (e.g., 1-5 scale, descriptive labels, or custom options). 360 Feedback - enable multi-rater feedback collection from peers and colleagues. Goals - enable goal-setting linked to each appraisal cycle.

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Appraisal Templates

Templates define the questions and structure of each appraisal form. Navigate to Appraisals > Configuration > Appraisal Templates. The default template includes separate sections for employee self-reflection and manager evaluation: Employee section questions:
  • What are my best achievements since my last appraisal?
  • What has been the most challenging aspect of my work this past year?
  • What would help me improve my performance?
  • How has my work impacted the team and organization?
  • What are my goals for the next review period?
Manager section questions:
  • What are this employee’s key strengths?
  • Which areas need the most improvement?
  • How does this employee contribute to team success?
  • What is the recommended development path for this employee?
Modifying a template: Open the template record, edit questions directly, add or remove sections, and change question types (text, rating, multiple choice). Save when done. Creating new templates: Click New on the Templates page to create department-specific or role-specific evaluation forms. Assign different templates to different employee groups or review types.

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Scheduling Appraisals

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Automatic Scheduling

When the Appraisals module is installed and an appraisal plan is configured, the system automatically generates scheduled appraisal records for each employee according to their assigned review cycle. These appear in the system in “To Start” status.

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Manual Scheduling

Navigate to Appraisals > New Appraisal or click New from the Appraisals list view. Appraisal form fields:
  • Employee - the person being reviewed
  • Appraisal Date - the target completion date
  • Appraisal Plan - the review cycle being used
  • Manager - the manager conducting the evaluation
  • Template - the evaluation form to use
  • Department - auto-fills from the employee record
After filling in the details, click Confirm to move the appraisal from “To Start” to “Appraisal Sent” status, which unlocks the feedback forms.

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Conducting Appraisals

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Employee Self-Assessment

When an appraisal is confirmed, the employee receives a notification to complete their self-evaluation. They access the form from their employee profile or from the notification. The employee fills in all sections of the employee portion of the template, answering questions about their achievements, challenges, and goals for the next period. After completing the form, they mark their section as done.

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Manager Evaluation

The manager accesses the appraisal form from Appraisals or from the employee’s profile. After reviewing the employee’s self-assessment, the manager fills in the manager evaluation section. Managers can view both the employee’s responses and the manager section simultaneously to ensure alignment in the final review conversation.

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Completing the Appraisal

After the review meeting, the manager updates the final rating and any additional comments, then clicks Mark as Done to close the appraisal. The record moves to “Done” status and the completion date is recorded.

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360-Degree Feedback

360 feedback gathers input from an employee’s peers and colleagues beyond just their direct manager, giving a broader view of performance and collaboration.

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Requesting Feedback

Open the appraisal record and click Ask Feedback. In the dialog:
  1. Select the colleagues to send the feedback request to in the Recipients field.
  2. Review the pre-filled email message and customize if needed.
  3. The Answer Deadline defaults to one day after the appraisal date. Adjust as needed.
  4. Click Send.
Recipients receive an email with a link to a structured feedback survey. Their responses are collected anonymously and compiled for the manager’s review.

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Viewing 360 Feedback Results

Navigate to Appraisals > Configuration > 360 Feedback to see all feedback surveys across the organization. Each survey row displays:
  • Survey name
  • Responsible person and assignment date
  • Number of questions
  • Average completion time
  • Number of participants invited
  • Number of completed responses
Click See Results to view response analytics including response rates per question, answer distributions, and text responses. Download a PDF of the full results using the print icon. Click Test on any survey to preview the questions without submitting responses.

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Goals

Goals link performance targets to the appraisal process, allowing employees and managers to set, track, and review objectives between review cycles. Navigate to Appraisals > Goals to view all goals across the organization (admin view) or just your own goals (employee view). Creating a goal: Click New and fill in:
  • Goal - descriptive title of the objective
  • Employee - who the goal is assigned to
  • Appraisal - optionally link to an open appraisal
  • Deadline - target completion date
  • Progress - percentage complete (update as work progresses)
  • Tags - categories for filtering
  • Description - detailed explanation of the goal and success criteria
Goals linked to an appraisal appear on the appraisal form for reference during the review discussion.

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Skills Evolution

Track skill development over time to see how employees grow across competencies. Navigate to Appraisals > Reporting > Skills Evolution to view a report showing skill levels per employee across all recorded assessment periods. Skills are defined in the Skills configuration and assigned to employee profiles. During appraisals, managers update skill levels based on observed performance. The Skills Evolution report displays the progression over time. This report is useful for identifying high-potential employees, skills gaps across teams, and learning investment ROI.

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Appraisal Analysis Report

Navigate to Appraisals > Reporting > Appraisal Analysis to monitor the state of all appraisals across the organization. Default view - bar chart grouped by month and department showing appraisal volume. Gantt view - switch to Gantt to see appraisals on a timeline with color-coded statuses:
  • Yellow: Done (completed)
  • Orange: Appraisal Sent (confirmed, in progress)
  • Red: Cancelled
  • Gray: To Start (scheduled, not yet confirmed)
Filtering by time period - use the date range controls to switch between Today, This Week, This Month, This Quarter, or This Year. Enter custom date ranges in the From/To fields. Grouping by status - clear default filters, then group by Status to see a count of appraisals in each stage. Useful for identifying how many reviews need follow-up. Filtering to your own appraisals - add a custom filter where Employee > Manager = your name. This shows only the appraisals you are responsible for conducting.

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Best Practices

Schedule appraisals at a consistent cadence using automatic plans rather than manually creating them each cycle. Send 360 feedback requests at least two weeks before the appraisal date to allow time for responses. Set concrete, measurable goals with deadlines rather than vague development objectives. Use the Skills Evolution report to track capability growth as part of your talent development strategy. Review the Appraisal Analysis report before each quarter end to identify overdue or unconfirmed appraisals that need attention. Your Knowlix: “Show me all appraisals due this month” or “Which employees don’t have a scheduled appraisal?” or “List all goals that are overdue” or “Show me the skills assessment for the engineering team” or “How many appraisals are in progress right now?”