The cycle

A cycle is one review period — "FY26 H1", say — and everything that happens in it: goals set at the start, kept current through the middle, settled at the end, then reviewed. The Cycle page shows where the company is in the current one and what's left.

Open it from Quick view → Cycle in the header. Everyone sees it there while kickoff or close-out is running, with how far along it is — "Kickoff · day 12" or "Close-out · 6 days left" — and a dot on the menu button. HR sees it all cycle. The kickoff and close-out cards on your home page link to it too.

The four phases

Phase	What happens	Who acts	Done when
1. Cycle kickoff	Priorities, team goals, everyone has a goal, first check-ins	HR, leadership, team leads, everyone	The four kickoff steps are done
2. Keep-up	Notes, 1:1s, check-ins every 14 days, milestones	Everyone; managers keep notes	Close-out opens
3. Close-out	Goals and milestones marked done or missed; "my record is ready for review"	Employees; leads settle goals	Every record is ready, or the due date passes
4. Reviews	Reviewers write, employees respond and sign off, appeals	Reviewers, managers, HR	Reviews are signed

The phases run on the cycle's own dates. Kickoff starts on the cycle's start date, close-out opens 14 days before the record due date, and reviews start on the review start date.

Cycle kickoff

Kickoff gets strategy in and links everyone's work to it, in four steps. Each has a typical day — a pace, never a deadline. Nothing is blocked if a step runs long, and a slow department doesn't hold anyone else up.

Step	Done when	Typically by
Set priorities	Leadership has pinned the company's priorities and HR clicks Done adding priorities	Day 3
Teams respond	Every priority has a team goal working on it, and every department has responded	Day 10
Everyone has a goal	Every person has an accepted goal, or has been marked as not needing one	Day 20
First check-ins	Every team and company goal has its first check-in	Day 30

A gap that was decided counts as finished — "Not yet — explain" on a priority, or Not needed for a department. A gap that was ignored stays open. Team leads can Remind the people holding a step up; a reminder left three days without action is flagged.

Each role sees its own part: HR, leadership and the cycle owner see every checklist; team leads see their teams; employees see one next step.

Keep-up

The long middle of the cycle. Goals get a check-in every 14 days, managers keep notes and hold 1:1s, and people log milestones as they happen — so the review is written from the whole period, not the last few weeks.

Close-out

Close-out opens 14 days before the record due date. Every open goal gets settled:

Choice	What it does	Use it when
Done	Marks the goal achieved	The work landed
Missed	Marks the goal missed; the review discusses why	It didn't land, and isn't worth continuing
Carry forward	Closes this goal as carried and starts it again in the next cycle	It's still the right goal for next cycle

The person settles goals they set themselves; their lead settles goals they assigned; HR settles team and company goals. When everything is settled, the employee clicks My record is ready for review. HR sees how many records are ready across the company; leads see their direct reports.

Reviews

The cycle's reviews: reviewers write, employees respond and sign off, and appeals are handled. See Your performance review and Reviewing someone.

Managing cycles — HR

The Cycle page is where HR defines cycles, watches them run, starts the next one and archives the last. Beside the four phase tabs, HR gets two more:

• Timeline draws the cycle's dates on one rail — record due, reviews start, and so on — so you can see whether the employee's record closes before managers start writing.
• Manage cycles lists every cycle by state.

Cycle states

State	Meaning
Current	The cycle running now. Only one at a time.
Upcoming	Set up, not started yet.
Wrapping up	The next cycle has started; this one's reviews are finishing.
Archived	Finished and read-only.

Setting up and starting the next cycle

Set up next cycle on the Manage cycles tab pre-fills the form from the latest cycle: it starts the day after that one ends, runs the same length, goes in the same group, and suggests the next name (FY26 H1 → FY26 H2). Check the dates, the date records close, when reviews start, and the owner.

Start this cycle makes an upcoming cycle current. The one that was running moves to Wrapping up — nothing is deleted, and its reviews carry on.

Archiving

Archive a wrapping-up cycle once it's done. Archiving locks the cycle's goals, milestones, marked-ready records, priorities and notes — for HR too — so the record reads the same later.

Reviews and 1:1s stay open. A late review can still be finished after its cycle is archived, and 1:1s span cycles. Reopen unlocks an archived cycle and returns it to wrapping up.

Cycle groups

Archived cycles are filed under groups you name — "FY 2026" or "Academic Year 25–26". Add a group from the set-up or edit form with + New group, and rename or delete groups from the Groups panel; deleting a group ungroups its cycles. Every cycle picker in Strive lists current and upcoming cycles first, then wrapping up, then archived cycles under their groups.

What HR is prompted to do

A card above the tabs tells HR the one thing that needs doing next:

1. A cycle is wrapping up — how many reviews are still open, and Archive.
2. The next cycle is set up once the current one reaches close-out — Start it.
3. No next cycle yet once close-out is reached — Set one up.
4. An archived cycle still owes reviews — which ones, and what each needs.

Restart cycle kickoff on the current cycle starts kickoff again from today. HR, leadership or the cycle's owner can do it, confirming by typing the cycle's name.