The Mid-Term Review is the second formal milestone in the Performance Review Cycle for 2025–2026. The cycle began with goal setting, and now it is time to review progress collectively across the organisation. While teams already have regular check-ins and 1:1 meetings to follow up on progress, this moment is an opportunity to pause and reflect on your goals together with your line manager and dotted line manager if you have one.
It is not a complete performance evaluation. Instead, it is a conversation focused on ensuring that your goals remain relevant, realistic, and aligned with your current work and priorities.
Continuing with our approach of having meaningful conversations that help staff members to grow, develop skills, and improve performance and goal achievement, while fostering a collaborative, values-based culture at OneWSB, the focus of this review will be exclusively on goals, with the following objectives:
- Identifying bottlenecks and obstacles, and analysing goal trends to take corrective action before the end of the cycle.
- Identifying goals that are not progressing due to poor formulation or shifting priorities, in order to determine the adjustments needed to better align them with team and organisational needs.
- Identifying new goals that should be added, or changes required for those whose roles or scope of work have evolved over the past six months.
- Recognising early wins when goals have been achieved ahead of schedule, and deciding whether to close the goal or define a stretch goal.
Note: KPIs and Goals should not be changed because they are not being met, only if a change in priorities or a poor formulation of the goal has occurred that justifies changing the goal and in agreement with the line managers.
In this guide, you will find the information and steps needed to complete the process, whether you are a staff member, line manager, or dotted-line manager. Multi-rater evaluators are not part of the mid-term review.
This review requires staff members to ensure that their goals are approved and that progress is updated in the system before holding the conversation with their Line Manager and Dotted Line (if applicable).
According to the matrix structure, for positions with a dotted line, both managers must complete the review for it to be considered final. For this process, both have been assigned as evaluators and will receive system notifications. The conversation can ideally take place jointly with both managers, or separately if preferred by the staff member.
🎯 Guidance for Staff Members
- Log into Zoho People and review the current status of your goals for the 2025–2026 cycle and update the progress so far for each goal. Refer to the How-to Guide: Goals Management on Zoho People for a step-by-step walkthrough.
- Remember that you need record your goal progress to date, on a scale of 0 to 100% and comment each goal including all relevant information that explains your progress so far. You can attach images, links, or any other evidence related to the goal.
- These comments will be visible to your line manager and will be the basis for you 1:1 conversation and the comments from your Line Manager and Dotted line if is applicable. Any comments you added throughout the year are remain in the goal’s review history and will serve as evidence of progress for your self-review and goal reporting.
- When updating your goals, reflect on them holistically by asking yourself: What progress have I made so far?, Does this goal still reflect my current priorities?, Has anything changed in my role or team that affects this goal?, What challenges am I facing?, What support do I need to move forward?
- Your Line Manager and Dotted Line (if applicable), will receive a notification once your updates are complete and will proceed with the review sequentially in the system. That is, first the line manager and then the dotted line.
- If you have a Dotted-Line Manager, share your preference regarding whether you would like to hold the 1:1 goals review jointly or in separate 1:1s.
- Plan and hold your Mid Term Review meeting with your Line Manager and/or Dotted Line, as previously agreed. Follow the recommendations in Meaningful Conversations during the Performance Review guide to help the session is insightful and rewarding. Be open and honest in the conversation, the objective is not to evaluate past performance, but to ensure you are set up for success in the months ahead.
- The appraisal is considered complete by the system once it has been finalised by the assigned manager(s). You will then have visibility of the results and comments.
- Use this moment to refresh your focus for the second half of the cycle. Identify what motivates you, and apply the agreements reached to achieve wonderful results by the end of the period. 💟
🎯 Guidance for Line Managers and Dotted Lines
- Once your staff member has updated their goals, you will receive an email notification indicating they are ready for the review conversation.
- If your staff member has a Dotted-Line Manager assigned, ask for their preference regarding the Mid Term Review meeting: whether they would like to hold it jointly with the Dotted Line or separately in individual 1:1s. Schedule the meeting(s) accordingly.
- Plan and hold the Mid Term Review meeting with your staff member, either jointly with the Dotted Line or as a separate 1:1, depending on what was agreed. Follow the recommendations in the Meaningful Conversations during the Performance Review guide to ensure the session is insightful and rewarding.
- Your role as Line Manager or Dotted Line to facilitate a constructive and forward-looking conversation that helps your team members to reflect on their progress, ensure their goals remain aligned with the priorities, adjust their direction if needed, feel supported in achieving their objectives, recognised for their progress and guided in improving their progress if it is not going well. This is not a performance rating conversation, it is a goal alignment and development conversation.
- By the end of the discussion, there should be a shared understanding of progress, clear decisions on each goal, alignment on priorities for the rest of the cycle and clarity on any support needed.
- During or after the meeting, provide your input and feedback on their goals and performance through Zoho People by following these steps:
- Log in to Zoho People (Home)
- Go to Performance -> Appraisal -> Appraisee View. The default view will show the WSB Mid Term Review 2025 - 2026 under Active Appraisals.
- Select the Staff Member and click on Open to begin evaluating each of your reportees individually.
- The Review Level of (name of staff member) window will open, there you will be able to see the dotted line assigned to perform the evaluation
- Click on Review, to start the goals review process in the system based in the 1:1 conversation you had. You can see the comments from the Staff Member in each goal clicking in the Comment(s) link in blue.
- Write a comment for each goal one by one ensuring you capturing all the relevant elements to support the progress of the goal of your team member. You can click in save draft if you require time to complete the process.
- As a final step, write a general review comment to the staff member, considering their progress so far, their attitude towards the review, acknowledging their achievements and the highlights of the agreements reached and Select a general rating using the scale provided. Please note that the Dotted Line Manager will only be able to do their review once the line manager submits theirs.
Note: You could comment goals with the option N/A (Not Applicable) where they are no longer relevant due to a change in priorities or responsibilities, previously agreed with your Staff Member or goals in which you do not have enough elements to evaluate because they are part of the Dotted Line or Line Manager review if applicable. All other goals must commented.
For rating use as reference the follow scale:
* Outstanding: The staff member clearly is exceeding expectations. The results achieved so far have gone beyond what was initially planned, generating significant added value for the team, project, or organisation.
* Excellent: The staff member has a progress as expected, meeting all key requirements. It delivered strong results and contributed effectively to the purpose for which it was set.
* Satisfactory: The staff member has an average progress, whit some aspects that still require more time or support. The objectives are being met in general, but there is room for improvement.
* Needs Improvement: The progress of the staff member so far have gone below expectations.
Key deliverables are not being met, and challenges are significantly impacting progress.
* Unsatisfactory: The goals are not being met and the expected results are not being delivered.
There has been little or no progress, and no clear evidence of achievement.
- Once the Line Manager completes their review, the Dotted line will receive the notification and will be able to provide their comments and overall rating. The review is done following the same steps described above.
- The process is considered complete once all assigned reviewers have finalised their input in the system, after which the staff member will be able to view the results.💟