Performance appraisals provide a structured way to review crew members. The crew member rates themselves first, the appraiser then scores the appraisal with that self-assessment in view and sends it to the crew member to read and respond to, and it is completed when the crew member signs it.
Appraisal Types
| Type | When to use |
|---|---|
| Probation Review | At the end of a crew member's probationary period |
| Annual Review | Yearly performance assessment |
| End of Contract | When a contract is ending |
| Ad-hoc Review | Any time — for specific feedback or development discussions |
Who Can Create Appraisals
Conducting appraisals requires two permissions on the Crew → Permissions screen (see the Crew Permissions guide):
- •Can view appraisals (prerequisite)
- •Can conduct appraisals (this is what enables creating, editing, and sending appraisals)
Optionally an Appraisal Department Scope can be set. Tick specific departments to limit who the user can appraise; leaving it empty allows all departments for Full Access and Custom users, but a Head of Department with nothing ticked is limited to their own department. The scope also limits which appraisals the user can view. Separately, a crew member never sees or conducts an appraisal of anyone holding the same position as them on the vessel (one Chief Engineer cannot open another Chief Engineer's appraisal); those are for the Master or an account owner or admin.
You cannot start an appraisal about yourself, even if you hold these permissions. Ask your Head of Department or the Master to start it; you will be asked to self-assess first, and to review and sign it at the end.
The Workflow
There are four states, one submission and two signatures:
| State | What it means | Who acts next |
|---|---|---|
| Self-assessment | Just started. The crew member rates themselves and adds any comments, then submits it to the appraiser. Nothing from the appraiser is visible yet. | Crew member |
| Draft | The appraiser is scoring it, with the crew member's self-assessment in view. The crew member can see that it is with the appraiser but not the scores. | Appraiser |
| With Crew | Sent to the crew member to read, respond to, and sign. Both columns are now visible. | Crew member |
| Completed | Signed by both. Locked and read-only. | Nobody — it is finished |
The crew member's self-assessment is locked once submitted — it is what the appraiser scored against, so it cannot change underneath the scores. The appraiser signs when they send it. The crew member signs last, on the finished appraisal — so their signature attests to a document that will not change afterwards.
If you need to change something after sending, use Recall to Draft. That pulls the appraisal back, clears your signature (you will sign again when you re-send), and notifies the crew member. The self-assessment stays locked through a recall.
Because the crew member goes first, they need a Sealogical login. A crew member who has not been invited cannot be appraised until they are — both places you can start an appraisal say so, and the profile's Invite button is where to start.
Creating an Appraisal
Appraisals belong to an employment contract, so they live on the crew member's profile under the contract they relate to. There are two ways to start one:
From the crew member's profile (the usual route):
- •Open the crew member's profile → Employment → the contract card → Appraisals tab
- •Click Start Appraisal
- •Select:
- •Appraisal Type (Probation Review, Annual Review, End of Contract, or Ad-hoc Review)
- •Review Period Start
- •Review Period End (on or after the start date; both are kept within the contract's dates)
- •Click Create Appraisal
From the vessel's appraisal list: open Crew → Performance Appraisals and click New Appraisal. This route has a crew picker, which only offers crew you are allowed to appraise and greys out anyone without a login. The appraisal is filed under the crew member's current contract.
The appraisal is created in Self-assessment status and the crew member is notified. You will be notified when they submit it, and that is when you score it. If it was started by mistake, open it and click Delete — an appraisal can be deleted at any point before it is sent to the crew member to sign.
Completing an Appraisal
The appraisal includes sections for:
- •Ratings — 14 rating categories grouped into three sections:
- •General Performance — Job Knowledge, Quality of Work, Reliability, Attendance & Punctuality, Safety Awareness
- •Initiative & Teamwork — Initiative, Teamwork, Communication, Adaptability, Professional Conduct
- •Managerial Skills — Leadership, Decision Making, Problem Solving, Planning & Organization
- •Appraiser's Comments — your overall assessment
- •Training & Development Plan — areas to work on and planned activities
- •Recommendations — fitness for promotion and re-engagement
- •Objectives — goals for the next review period
- •Attachments — supporting documents, goal-setting materials, evidence
Each criterion has two columns:
| Column | Who fills it | When |
|---|---|---|
| Self | The crew member, about themselves | While it is in Self-assessment — locked once submitted |
| Appraiser | The person conducting the appraisal | While it is in Draft |
The self-assessment is the crew member's own — nobody fills it in on their behalf, and the crew member does not see the Appraiser column until the finished appraisal is sent to them. At least one self-rating is needed to submit it. (An appraisal started before the self-assessment stage existed keeps the earlier rule: the crew member can fill the Self column while the appraisal is With Crew.)
Each rating uses a 1–5 scale:
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fails to meet expectations |
| 2 | Needs improvement |
| 3 | Meets expectations |
| 4 | Exceeds expectations |
| 5 | Far exceeds expectations |
The average rating shown in the list is calculated from the Appraiser scores only. The crew member's self-rating is displayed but never averaged in.
You must enter at least one appraiser rating before you can send an appraisal to the crew member.
Editing Rules
| Status | Who can edit | What they can edit |
|---|---|---|
| Self-assessment | Crew member | Self-ratings, their own comments, objectives, attachments |
| Self-assessment | Appraiser | Nothing — wait for the submission, or delete the appraisal |
| Draft | Appraiser | Appraiser ratings, appraiser comments, training plan, recommendations, objectives, attachments |
| Draft | Crew member | Nothing — they can see it is with the appraiser but not the scores |
| With Crew | Crew member | Their own comments, objectives, attachments (self-ratings are locked) |
| With Crew | Appraiser | Nothing — recall it to Draft first |
| Completed | No one | Read-only |
Viewing Appraisals
- •Crew members can always view their own appraisals, from their own profile → Employment → the contract card → Appraisals tab (and Back to my profile on an open appraisal takes them there) — but the appraiser's scores, comments, training plan and recommendations are hidden from them until the appraisal is sent to them to sign
- •Others need the Can view appraisals permission, scoped to the crew member's department if a scope is set
- •The Appraisals tab shows a summary by status: Completed (green), With Crew (yellow — both the self-assessment and signing stages), and Drafts (grey)
Notifications
The crew member is notified when an appraisal is started for them (their self-assessment is the first step), when it is sent to them to sign, and when it is recalled. The appraiser is notified when the crew member submits their self-assessment, and again when they sign. If you are the crew member an appraisal is sent to, or the appraiser it comes back to, you are notified directly. The Appraisal Activity switch in Notification Settings controls the wider crew notifications for this type.
Tips
- •For Annual reviews, set the review period to span the previous 12 months — typically the crew member's contract anniversary
- •Discuss the appraisal in person before sending it — the signature is a record of a conversation, not a substitute for one
- •Complete appraisals promptly — they form part of the crew member's permanent employment record
- •Use the training plan to plan development and track progress in subsequent reviews
- •The average rating provides a quick overview, but the per-category scores give more useful feedback
- •Attach supporting documents (training certificates, goal-setting templates, peer feedback) to make the appraisal a richer record