How to Set Up Appraisals in Odoo
Performance reviews are easy to put off and easy to do badly, yet done well they help people grow and the business improve. Odoo Appraisals gives them structure so they actually happen and mean something. Setting it up well is the key. Continuing this series of practical Odoo how-to guides, here is Appraisals.
Set up your appraisal process
Start by defining how appraisals work in your business: how often they happen, who is involved, and what they cover. A clear process is the foundation. Setting this up means appraisals become a regular, expected part of working life rather than an awkward event that happens sporadically when someone remembers.
Create appraisal templates
Set up templates with the questions and areas your appraisals should cover, so every review follows a consistent structure. Templates make appraisals fairer, because everyone is assessed against the same things, and easier, because managers are not inventing the review each time. Consistency here is what makes appraisals credible.
Schedule reviews so they happen
The most common failure of appraisals is that they simply do not happen. Set up scheduling so reviews are planned and prompted, not left to memory. When the system reminds people that an appraisal is due, they actually take place, which is the first requirement of appraisals being useful at all.
Involve the employee
Good appraisals are a two-way conversation, not a verdict handed down. Set up the process so employees contribute their own view, perhaps a self-assessment, ahead of the discussion. Involving people in their own appraisal makes it fairer and more useful, and makes the resulting conversation genuinely worthwhile rather than one-sided.
Turn appraisals into action
An appraisal that leads nowhere is a wasted conversation. Set up how outcomes, goals, development plans, next steps, are captured and followed up. Connecting appraisals to real actions is what turns them from a box-ticking ritual into something that actually helps people develop and the business improve.
Practical tips
- Define a clear appraisal process: frequency, participants, scope.
- Create templates so every review is consistent and fair.
- Schedule reviews so they actually happen, not just when remembered.
- Involve employees with a self-assessment or their own input.
- Capture goals and next steps, and follow up on them.
My take
Appraisals in Odoo work by giving performance reviews the structure and prompting they need to happen consistently and fairly. A clear process, consistent templates, real scheduling, genuine employee involvement and follow-up on outcomes are what make them valuable. Done this way, appraisals stop being a dreaded formality and become a useful rhythm of feedback and growth for people and the business alike.
Next in this series: how to set up Referrals.
Based on the official Odoo 19 Appraisals documentation. Want performance reviews that actually help? Get in touch.