After you publish a cycle, it does not become active until reviewees are assigned. This article explains how to assign reviewees in the Assign participants wizard and how to automate assignment with workflows. Automated assignment suits recurring or event-driven cycles, such as probation reviews.

Before you begin

You must be:

• An admin with access to Engage > Reviews
• Working with a published cycle in the Ready for launch tab
• Able to manage worker access in Engage settings

Assign reviewees and activate the cycle

Note: The Ready for launch page shows the cycle's phase durations and an option to set up automations. Workers added with automations follow the same phase durations set in the timeline.

Step 1 – Open the Assign participants wizard

• Go to the Ready for launch tab of the Review cycles table and click the cycle. The header shows a Published badge, launch date, reviewee count, automation status, and collaborators.
• Click Review & launch to open the Assign participants wizard with four steps.

Step 2 – Confirm the timeline (1 of 4)

• Confirm that all the right workers have access to Engage. Click Manage worker access to update access in Engage settings.
• Review the expected launch date, cycle timezone, and Gantt chart. You can still adjust them.
• Click Next.

Step 3 – Assign reviewees (2 of 4)

• Review the list of eligible workers with their name, start date, location, and direct manager. Filter by group, worker type, worker status, or job title.
• Select the workers to review. The counter shows how many are selected out of the total eligible.
• Click Next.

Note: Step 3 of 4 is optional. It excludes groups from being assigned tasks without affecting who gets reviewed or who receives results.

Step 4 – Confirm task owners (3 of 4, optional)

• Turn on Exclude task owners by employment status. "Not started" and "Inactive" workers are preselected. Remove them or add other statuses.
• Turn on Exclude task owners by leave type and select the leave types that block task assignment (short-term, long-term).
• Turn on Exclude task owners by start date and set a cutoff date. Workers with a contract start date after the cutoff are not assigned review tasks.

Step 5 – Submit the assignment (4 of 4)

• Review the number of workers to be assigned, the launch date, and the timezone. Click Edit on a section to change it.
• Click Submit. A progress modal shows the percentage complete and estimated time remaining.
• Click Continue in background to leave the page. Deel sends a notification when the assignment is complete.

Note: Once assignment finishes, the cycle becomes Active and reviewees begin receiving tasks according to the phase timeline. The Reviewees count in the cycle header updates.

Automate reviewee assignment with workflows

Automations assign reviewees automatically based on events in Deel. Use them for recurring or event-driven cycles.

Step 1 – Open Automations

• Click Automations in the cycle header, or open it from the three-dot overflow menu. It shows "Not enabled" until at least one workflow exists.
• Click New workflow on the Automations page when no workflows exist.
• Select Custom workflow > Start from scratch to open the visual workflow builder.

Step 2 – Set the trigger

• Click the pencil icon on the Trigger node to change the trigger condition. For example: "Once onboarding status is moved to active."

Step 3 – Add delay and assign steps

• Click the + button between steps to insert a node. Steps connect vertically in a linear structure.
• Add a Delay node to pause the workflow for a set number of days, for example "Delay for 90 days".
• Add an Assign Review Cycle node to assign a reviewee to this cycle when the step is reached.

Step 4 – Edit workflow steps

• Click the three-dot menu on an action node to edit or delete it.

Tip: Combine trigger, delay, and assign steps for time-based enrollment, such as adding a new hire to a probation review 90 days after their onboarding status becomes active.

Frequently Asked Questions