KPIs
Key Performance Indicators
Quantitative metrics tied to the role. Sales targets, error rates, NPS scores, on-time delivery. Tracked continuously, easy to compare across periods.
Goals · check-ins · 360 · probation · PIPs · calibration
Reviews That Drive
Decisions, Not Drama.
Goals everyone can see. Continuous feedback rather than year-end surprises. 360-degree input, country-correct probation, structured PIPs, and calibration that actually mitigates manager bias. Approved ratings feed promotions and payroll.
KPIs & OKRs
Country probation rules
Calibration built in
Q2 2026 · Goals
Mary K. · Sr. Project Officer
Submit 4 donor reports on time
3/4
Reduce field-staff churn by 15%
11/15
Train 3 junior officers to lead a site
2/3
Launch new M&E framework v2
5/10
Check-ins
8/12
360 input
5
Kudos
12
Sound familiar?
Performance reviews, the way they usually happen.
Goals in a doc nobody opens
Annual goals set in January. Doc lives somewhere on Drive. By April, nobody — including the manager — remembers what was agreed.
Year-end ambush
First time the employee hears about a problem is in the December review. The manager has been collecting issues all year and dumps them in 30 minutes.
Manager A rates everyone 5, Manager B rates everyone 3
The same calibre of work gets a 5 in one team and a 3 in another. Promotions go to the loud teams. The quiet stars resign.
Probation expired six months ago
Kenya: 6-month probation. The employee's probation ended two cycles ago. Nobody confirmed them. Now there's a labour-court risk.
Goal-setting frameworks
KPIs, OKRs, or both. Your call.
Most teams use KPIs for the day job and OKRs for stretch goals. Both work. SmartHR supports either approach — and combinations.
OKRs
Objectives & Key Results
Aspirational objective + 3-5 measurable key results. Quarterly cadence, intentionally stretch, scored 0.0-1.0. Best for product, growth, and strategic teams.
SMART goals
For frontline & support roles
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Lighter than full OKRs, more structured than free-form goals. Default for most non-management roles.
Cascade
Company OKR
Team OKR
Individual KPIs
Goals link upwards so every employee can see how their work feeds into team and company outcomes.
Continuous feedback & 360
No surprises at year-end.
The annual review should be the easiest meeting of the year — because every conversation, kudos, and concern was logged through the period. SmartHR captures continuous feedback and surfaces it when it matters.
- Quarterly check-ins with structured prompts.
- Ad-hoc kudos and concerns from anyone.
- Manager 1:1 notes captured against the employee.
- 360-degree input from peers, direct reports, customers.
- Anonymous feedback option per company policy.
360 input · Mary K. · Q2 2026
Self review
Self
Line manager
Adebayo O.
Peer · ops team
3 sources
Direct reports
2 sources
Cross-functional
Finance
Aggregated 360 score
4.6 / 5
Country-specific probation
Confirm. Extend. Or part ways. Per country, at the right time.
Probation rules differ across African countries. SmartHR knows them, applies them on hire, and prompts the right action at the right time.
🇰🇪
Kenya
6 months
🇳🇬
Nigeria
3 months
🇿🇦
South Africa
3 months
🇺🇬
Uganda
6 months
🇹🇿
Tanzania
6 months
🇬🇭
Ghana
6 months
🇪🇬
Egypt
3 months
🇲🇦
Morocco
6 months
⏰
Probation alerts
Notifications fire to HR and the line manager 60, 30, and 7 days before probation end. The system enforces an outcome — confirm, extend (where law allows), or part ways — before allowing the employee to roll into normal review cycles.
Confirm
↻ Extend (where allowed)
Part ways
Performance Improvement Plans
PIPs done properly. With evidence. With dignity.
Whether the outcome is recovery or parting ways, a structured PIP protects everyone — the employee, the manager, and the company.
Define
Issues, expected behaviours, success criteria. Typically 30 / 60 / 90-day milestones.
Check-in weekly
Manager and employee meet weekly with structured prompts. Every conversation logged.
Mid-PIP review
Formal mid-point review at 30 days. On-track / off-track decision documented.
Outcome
Confirmed (back to normal) / extended (rare) / parted ways. Documented in line with country labour law.
Evidence pack auto-compiled
Country-law-compliant termination flow
HR business-partner sign-off at each step
Rating distribution · Operations · Q2 2026
5%
1
10%
2
42%
3
30%
4
13%
5
Field team avg rating 4.6 — 2.1× above company avg
Manager X gave 5/5 to 4 of 6 reports — outlier flagged
Calibration
Bias mitigation, built into the cycle.
Manager A rates everyone 5/5; Manager B rates everyone 3/5. Without calibration, promotions go to the loud teams. SmartHR surfaces the distribution, flags outliers, and gives leaders the data to adjust ratings consistently.
- Distribution view by team, country, and function.
- Outlier detection — manager-level and team-level.
- Calibration session workflow with locked decisions.
- Adjustments logged with reason and approver.
- Forced-distribution support if your company uses it.
The reason any of this matters
See the payroll module →
Approved ratings → real compensation decisions.
Performance reviews are pointless if they don't change anything. SmartHR pushes approved ratings into compensation cycles — salary increase tiers by rating, bonus pool allocation, promotion eligibility — and then into the next payroll run.
Salary increases
Rating-based % bands. Approved increases feed payroll for the next cycle.
Bonus pool
Distributed by rating tier and team performance. Calculated, approved, paid.
Promotions
Eligibility flagged. Promotion lands as a new role, new contract, new salary — automatic.
Common questions about performance management
Don't see yours? Ask the team →
Yes. KPIs (key performance indicators) are typically quantitative metrics tied to a role; OKRs (objectives and key results) are typically aspirational and team-aligned. SmartHR supports both, and most companies use a mix — KPIs for the day job, OKRs for stretch goals.
Each country has its statutory probation period pre-configured (Kenya 6 months, Nigeria 3 months, South Africa 3 months but configurable, Tanzania 6 months, Ghana 6 months, etc.). When you hire someone, the right probation rule attaches automatically. Confirmation, extension, and unsatisfactory-completion workflows are pre-built.
The employee's manager nominates feedback sources — peers, direct reports, customers, cross-functional collaborators. Each source completes a structured questionnaire. Responses are aggregated into a 360 view; individual feedback can be anonymous if you prefer.
Yes. A structured PIP workflow with measurable milestones, weekly or fortnightly check-ins, written documentation of every conversation, and a defined end-state (confirmed / extended / parted ways). Compliant with country labour-law expectations for performance-based termination.
After managers complete reviews but before ratings are finalised, the system surfaces a distribution view (e.g. proportion rated 1-5) and flags outliers. Calibration sessions let leaders adjust ratings to maintain consistency. Adjustments are logged with reasons.
Yes. Approved ratings can drive a compensation cycle: salary increase percentages by rating tier, bonus pool allocation, promotion eligibility. Approved compensation changes feed straight into payroll for the next pay period.
Built in. Quarterly check-ins, ad-hoc feedback ("kudos" and "concerns"), and weekly 1:1 notes are all captured against the employee record. The annual appraisal aggregates the year of conversations rather than starting from scratch.
Yes. Review forms, competency descriptions, and rating scales available in English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili, and Amharic. Each employee picks their preferred language; managers can write in one language and the system can present it in another.
Run reviews you'd actually want to receive.
Tell us your review cadence, your goal framework, and your countries. We'll show you a demo with your real org — including a live calibration session.