Recurring cycles and automations
A recurring cycle creates assessment or goal cycles on a schedule, so a quarterly review actually happens quarterly rather than whenever someone remembers. Automations trigger performance activity from an event rather than a date.
Where: Performance › Settings › Recurring cycles, and Settings › Automations You need: the right to manage cycles
Recurring cycles
A recurring cycle has a type and a cadence:
| Options | |
|---|---|
| Type | Assessment, Goal |
| Cadence | Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, Yearly |
You set a first run date, and KAMI creates the next cycle on that cadence from then on.
💡 The value is not saving the effort of creating a cycle — that takes minutes. It is that the cycle happens on time, every time, including when the person who normally remembers is on leave or has left. Review processes fail through drift far more often than through bad design.
Choosing a cadence
| Cadence | Suits |
|---|---|
| Weekly / Monthly | Lightweight check-ins, goal progress |
| Quarterly | The common rhythm for goal cycles |
| Half-yearly / Yearly | Full assessments |
Match the cadence to how long it takes for a meaningful change to be observable. A monthly assessment asking the same questions produces answers that barely move, and people stop engaging with it.
Automations
Automations fire performance activity from an event rather than a date. The trigger available is probation feedback request — a feedback request raised as someone reaches the relevant point in probation.
That is the right shape for probation: the date that matters is different for every employee, so a scheduled cycle would either miss people or catch them at the wrong time.
How to set one up
- Open Performance › Settings › Recurring cycles.
- Create the recurring cycle and choose its type and cadence.
- Set the first run date.
- Confirm the participants and the template it will create from.
- Check the first automatic run against what you would have created by hand.
What Happens Next
- KAMI creates the cycle on schedule and notifies participants.
- The next run date advances on the cadence.
- A recurring cycle keeps running until it is turned off — including after whoever set it up has moved on.
Tips
- Check the first automatic run. After that, trust it; before that, do not.
- Align the cadence to your business rhythm, not the calendar. A quarterly cycle landing in your busiest week gets rushed every time.
- Review recurring cycles annually. Cycles outlive their purpose quietly, and an unwanted review lands on everyone.
- Use automations for anything keyed to an employee's own dates — probation being the obvious case — and recurring cycles for anything keyed to the calendar.
- Tell people the schedule. A review that arrives unannounced gets a worse response than one people planned for.
Troubleshooting / FAQ
Q: The cycle did not create. Check the recurring cycle is active and the next run date is what you expect.
Q: It created for the wrong people. Participants come from the configuration. Check it after any change to teams or groups.
Q: Can I change the cadence? Yes, and it applies from the next run. Cycles already created are unaffected.
Q: Which should I use for probation reviews? An automation. Probation dates differ per employee, so a calendar cadence would not fit.
Q: How do I stop it? Turn the recurring cycle off. Cycles already created remain.