How performance works
Performance in Cadre has two halves that can be used together or apart. Goals and KPIs measure what people achieve in a period and turn it into a score and a grade. Reviews gather written feedback from the person, their manager, their peers and their direct reports. Around them sit 1:1 check-ins, kudos, a competency framework and skills matrix, and an optional writing assistant.
This section is written for owners and HR admins, who set everything up and run the cycles.
Who can set up performance and run cycles: Owner, HR admin.
Employees have their own guides: Your goals, Your reviews, Check-ins and kudos and Your skills. Managers have theirs: Your team’s goals, Reviews and calibration and Check-ins.
Where to find it
Section titled “Where to find it”Everything is in the Work menu, and two pages are in Settings:
| Page | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Performance | Goals, KPIs, scorecards, grades, coaching and improvement plans, and the performance cycles. HR also sees Cycles, KPI library and Settings |
| Reviews | Review cycles, the reviews each person writes, peer nominations, results. HR also sees Set-up (forms, question bank, rating scales) |
| Check-ins | 1:1s between a manager and each direct report |
| Kudos | Recognition between colleagues |
| Skills | Each person’s skills, the team matrix and finding people with a skill |
| Settings → Competencies & skills | The competency library, proficiency scale, role expectations and skills catalogue |
| Settings → Writing assistant | The switch for the AI helper in reviews |
Everyone sees their own side of each page. Anyone with direct reports also sees their team’s. Owners and HR admins see everyone and the set-up tabs.
Goals, KPIs, scores and grades
Section titled “Goals, KPIs, scores and grades”- A performance cycle covers a period, such as a quarter. It moves from Open to Scoring to Calibration to Locked. See Performance cycles.
- Goals sit at three levels: the organisation, a team (a department or a worksite), and an individual. Each goal is measured by one or more KPIs from the organisation’s KPI library, with a target, and optionally a threshold and a stretch.
- Individual goals are drafted by the employee in the cycle’s goal-setting window (or by their manager or HR) and approved by their manager. Only approved goals count. See Goals and KPIs.
- Actuals are recorded against each KPI: by hand as progress updates, or automatically from timesheets, the leave ledger and placements.
- Scoring turns actuals into a score for each person, each team and the organisation, and bands each score into a grade on the organisation’s grade scale. See Scoring and grades.
- Calibration lets HR adjust a score with a reason. See Calibration.
- Locking makes the scores permanent and applies each grade’s outcome: recognition, a coaching plan or an improvement plan.
Cadre calculates every score and grade. You set the rules; the figures come from the server.
Reviews
Section titled “Reviews”Review cycles work like Deel Engage. A cycle can collect a self review, a manager review, peer feedback and upward feedback (from the person’s direct reports), each on a form you build, each with a weight in the review score. Peer and upward feedback can be anonymous.
A review cycle moves through Draft, Nominations (only when peers are asked), Writing, Calibration, Sharing and Closed. A review cycle can be linked to a performance cycle, so the reviewee’s goals can be rated and their KPI score blended into the final score.
- Review forms: forms, questions, rating scales and weights.
- Review cycles: creating, launching, running and sharing a cycle, and who sees what.
- Calibration: the calibration grid and the 9-box.
Check-ins and kudos
Section titled “Check-ins and kudos”- Check-ins: regular 1:1s between each manager and direct report, with a shared agenda, shared notes, actions, and a private note that only its author can read.
- Kudos: public or private recognition, tied to the organisation’s company values, with moderation for HR.
Kudos and check-ins never count towards a score.
Competencies and skills
Section titled “Competencies and skills”The organisation keeps a library of competencies (the behaviours it expects) and a catalogue of skills, both rated on one proficiency scale. Each job role can expect competencies and require skills at a level. Reviews can rate a person against the competencies their role expects, and the skills matrix shows who has which skill. See Competencies and skills.
The writing assistant
Section titled “The writing assistant”An optional AI helper for people writing reviews. It suggests clearer, more specific or less biased wording, and can draft from notes. It is off until an owner or HR admin switches it on. See The writing assistant.
Getting started
Section titled “Getting started”- Open Performance → Settings and click Set up defaults, then adjust the scoring scheme and grade scale. See Scoring and grades.
- Add the measures you use in Performance → KPI library.
- Create a cycle in Performance → Cycles.
- For reviews, open Reviews → Set-up and click Add starter content, then adjust the forms.
- For competencies, open Settings → Competencies & skills and click Add the starter framework.
Every starting point is an editable template, not a rule. Change it to how your organisation works.