{"id":31346,"date":"2026-09-11T14:31:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T12:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/?page_id=31346"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:31:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T12:31:29","slug":"quarterly-review-definition-stakes-and-process","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/solution\/quarterly-review-definition-stakes-and-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Quarterly review: definition, stakes, and process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quarterly review:
<\/span> definition, stakes, and process<\/h1>
The annual review is the most common evaluation model used in organizations. But is it still relevant to set objectives at the start of the year and assess individual performance only at the end? The question is worth asking.<\/div><\/div>
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What if the quarterly review could modernize the annual review? A closer look, with Zest software, at this disruptive, agile, and strategic management ritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quarterly review: what exactly are we talking about?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What does a quarterly review involve?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s an evaluation ritual that enriches the annual review and makes it more effective, by increasing the number of dedicated manager-employee touchpoints throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Zest tool, modernize your HR rituals in a simple and intuitive way.<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Is the quarterly review mandatory?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No, but it’s strongly recommended given its individual and collective benefits. It addresses employees’ need for meaning, empowerment, and continuous development, boosting their motivation as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also strengthens teams’ trust in their manager, giving the manager greater visibility into potential friction points. The end result: stronger engagement and performance across the company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Annual review vs. quarterly review: what’s the difference?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The annual review<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The annual review marks the close of the year. It takes stock of work and performance (objectives achieved, strengths, areas for improvement), gauges how employees feel, and sets the roadmap for the year ahead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The quarterly review<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The quarterly review, on the other hand, feeds into the annual review. It follows an agile approach centered on developmental evaluation, with 3 interim reviews and 1 final review. This empowering management strategy, built on co-construction and regular active listening, boosts employee engagement and provides ongoing support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parmi les points \u00e9voqu\u00e9s : <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

\"Ic\u00f4neTracking of quarterly objectives<\/span><\/h3>

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\"Ic\u00f4neCheck-in on needed resources<\/span><\/h3>

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\"Ic\u00f4neHow employees are feeling<\/span><\/h3>

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\"Ic\u00f4ne\"Recognition of interim wins<\/span><\/h3>

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Zest disrupts your reviews, for better performance!<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why introduce quarterly reviews?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u2705 Encourage dialogue and feedback<\/strong>
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Quarterly reviews are regular management touchpoints, with genuine conversations about the issues that matter most, or that are holding an employee back. They’re an opportunity to give and receive feedback continuously, without pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zest advantage: <\/mark>Zest is designed to encourage collaboration and recurring feedback.<\/em>
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\u2705 Check in regularly on objectives and working methods<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The quarterly review also breaks up the year with interim check-ins on working methods and set objectives. Do they still make sense? Are they clear? How should they be adjusted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zest advantage: <\/mark>Objective or OKR management can be decoupled from the formal review, for ongoing management throughout the year.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u2705 Strengthen the relationship between managers and teams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Quarterly check-ins are also the ideal way to build closeness and reciprocity between managers and teams, by fostering constructive conversations, a culture of continuous feedback, and active listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zest advantage: <\/mark>Zest’s flexibility lets you launch reviews to match your needs, whether quarterly, twice a year, or even monthly.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u2705 Identify and resolve friction points early<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Quarterly reviews help prevent and manage potential friction points more effectively, catching them before the annual evaluation. A key issue worth taking seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zest advantage: <\/mark>The option to invite contributors other than the manager, enriching the discussion and making it more objective.<\/em>
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\u2705 Strengthen talent retention<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the quarterly review gives employees a chance to showcase their work and skills, request training, grow, get involved in their own development and that of the company, and help shape their next objectives, all key levers for retaining talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zest advantage:<\/mark> Beyond managing reviews, Zest supports employees in their professional development.<\/em>
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How a quarterly review unfolds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It generally takes place in 5 steps.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Ic\u00f4nePreparation on the employee’s side<\/span><\/h3>

The employee reflects on various aspects of their day-to-day work: achievements over the quarter, how they’re feeling, and feedback on the team, the manager, and the company.<\/p>

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\"Ic\u00f4neLa pr\u00e9paration c\u00f4t\u00e9 manager<\/span><\/h3>

Le manager, lui, pr\u00e9pare des feedbacks constructifs, mettant en avant les axes d\u2019am\u00e9lioration et succ\u00e8s du collaborateur. Pensez au feedback 360\u00b0 ! Il offre une repr\u00e9sentation compl\u00e8te de la performance via une multiplicit\u00e9 de points de vue.<\/p>

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\"Ic\u00f4nePreparation on the manager’s side<\/span><\/h3>

The manager, in turn, prepares constructive feedback, highlighting the employee’s areas for improvement and successes. This is a great time to use 360\u00b0 feedback! It provides a complete picture of performance through multiple points of view.<\/p>

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\"Ic\u00f4neTracking objectives and the dashboard<\/span><\/h3>

It’s important to put management rituals in place with clear performance objectives and indicators, aligned with the overall strategy.<\/p>

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\"Ic\u00f4neWriting up the summary<\/span><\/h3>

The quarterly review is documented in a written summary covering the points discussed, signed by the employee, who keeps a copy.<\/p>

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\"Ic\u00f4neSetting up post-review actions<\/span><\/h3>

Finally, the manager considers the employee’s areas for growth (soft skills, hard skills). The goal is to agree on an action plan and objectives to achieve over the next 3 months.<\/p>

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Make your quarterly reviews easier<\/mark> with Zest digital suite<\/strong>
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The Zest tool is intuitive and effective, modernizing the annual review by enabling agile dialogue, regular feedback, and quality listening. In Zest, reviews take place in 3 stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Employee preparation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Answering the review framework’s questions: overall feelings, tracking of objectives, need for help\/support\/coaching, outlook, and QWL (quality of work life).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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2<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Manager preparation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Reviewing the employee’s answers, then submitting their own responses (summary phase).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Validation step (optional)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The employee reviews the manager’s comments and validates the review.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Request a demo<\/span> \r\n\t
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Our clients say it best<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 \u202d\u00ab<\/em> <\/mark>I used to put off formalizing my teams’ annual reviews because I didn’t have the time and the process was too cumbersome. Zest has ‘changed my life’ when it comes to that! \u00bb<\/em><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u2013 David RODRIGUES, Human Resources and Recruitment Business Partner, Celio<\/em><\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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fixed-term contracts and annual reviews: 5 keys to a successful evaluation<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnnual performance reviews must be applied to fixed-term contract employees once the company has formalized them for all staff, in order to avoid unequal treatment and legal risks. These interviews, structured around realistic objectives, demonstrated skills, and a clear evaluation framework, provide tangible benefits both for the company (increased productivity, team cohesion, reduced legal risks) and for the employee (skills recognition, identification of training needs, growth opportunities).\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t
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The annual review for apprentices: a valuable HR opportunity too often overlooked<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnnual reviews for apprentices are a powerful HR lever to develop talent, strengthen engagement, and promote managerial equity. Discover how this strategic practice improves the retention of work-study students and transforms your company into a true springboard for tomorrow’s skills.\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What if the quarterly review could modernize the annual review? A closer look, with Zest software, at this disruptive, agile, and strategic management ritual. Quarterly review: what exactly are we talking about? What does a quarterly review involve? It’s an evaluation ritual that enriches the annual review and makes it more effective, by increasing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":31348,"parent":15909,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-31346","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31346"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31375,"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31346\/revisions\/31375"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmeup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}