Performance Review Template & Guide [FREE Download]
Only 30% of employees believe that performance reviews at their organization are fair and equitable. What’s more, 70% of organizations are reconsidering how they manage performance. Using a performance review template can help you streamline your performance review process, give your employees a better understanding of their development and career progression, and help them see how their role contributes to the success of the organization.
In this article, we’ll explore what an employee performance review is, how to measure performance, and how to create a performance review template that you can follow and customize when conducting appraisals in your organization.
Contents
What is a performance review?
What are the different types of employee performance review templates?
How to create a performance review template
FAQ
What is a performance review?
A performance review is a formal, structured process where an employee’s past performance is evaluated. It also involves setting expectations and goals for the future that align with where the employee wants to grow and the long-term objectives of the business. This is a key part of performance management and typically occurs annually, biannually, or quarterly.
An employee’s direct supervisor or manager typically conducts performance reviews, as they are most familiar with the employee’s work and day-to-day performance. HR plays a critical role in overseeing and supporting the entire performance management process, from providing guidelines and templates and training managers on providing constructive feedback to analyzing performance review outcomes.
The purpose of performance reviews is to offer constructive feedback, show them where they can improve, clarify their responsibilities, motivate them, hold them accountable, and help them develop in their careers. Ultimately, this leads to improved employee and organizational performance.
Numerous studies have shown that regular feedback that is fair and diverse results in a significant boost in performance. In addition, workplace research has suggested that meaningful feedback increases employee engagement and helps reduce turnover.
- Performance appraisal: A formal, systematic evaluation of an employee’s job performance and productivity, often focusing on individual tasks and achievements.
- Employee evaluation: A broader term that encompasses the overall assessment of an employee’s work performance, skills, and professional development, often focusing on long-term growth and potential.
While many organizations are moving toward continuous feedback, formal performance reviews remain an essential tool for structured evaluation, providing a comprehensive overview of an employee’s progress and areas for development over a specific period. A performance review template is a tool that organizations use to streamline the review process and ensure that both the manager and employee are clear on the goals and next steps.
What are the different types of employee performance review templates?
There are four different types of performance review templates that you can consider using for your performance reviews. Let’s explore each one in more detail below.
Job performance scale
A job performance scale allows managers to quantitatively assess an employee’s performance against predefined criteria. The following criteria originate from Goodman & Svyantek’s 1999 job performance scale and are intended for the supervisor to rate the employee on each of the points.
The employee:
- Achieves the objectives of the job
- Meets criteria for performance
- Fulfills all the requirements of the job
- Demonstrates expertise in all job-related tasks
- Could manage more responsibility than typically assigned
- Appears suitable for a higher-level role
- Is competent in all areas of the job, handles tasks with proficiency
- Performs well in the overall job by carrying out tasks as expected
- Plans and organizes to achieve objectives of the job and meet deadlines.
These example questions can be used to accurately measure job performance for employees. You could split the questions into various areas of a particular role and rate the employee’s performance within each one.
For this method, the performance review template should include questions similar to the above with a rating scale, such as the 4-point Likert scale (Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree).
Job behaviors scale
A job behaviors scale helps evaluate an employee’s workplace behaviors, such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. You can measure these behaviors, also called extra-role behaviors, using the following questions.
The employee:
- Helps other employees with their workload when they have been absent
- Helps others when their workload increases
- Volunteers to do things not formally required by the job
- Assists the manager with their duties
- Makes innovative suggestions to improve the overall quality of the department.
Again, the supervisor uses these items to rate the employee. For this method, we recommend using a 4-point Likert scale in your performance review template, with additional space for extra comments.
A good performance review template combines job performance with job behavior questions to get a well-rounded picture of employee performance:
Measuring performance using competencies
The next type of performance review template is based on rating an employee’s performance through competencies. Every job requires multiple competencies to carry out its tasks successfully. These are the so-called job-specific competencies.
In addition to job-specific competencies, there are also core competencies. These are the competencies that everyone in the organization needs. They are often set by the board of directors, and everyone in the organization is expected to have at least a basic proficiency in these competencies. Examples of core competencies are customer focus, financial acumen, and adaptability.
In the employee performance review, aim to select the three or four most important job-specific competencies. Continue with the core competencies of the company. Based on these competencies, you can rate the employee’s behavior over the past period. Usually, this is done by setting behavioral benchmarks for each score on the competency. You can do this by describing the specific behaviors for each competency. Here’s an example, with the competency of communication.
Communication
Below Expectations Meets Expectations Role Model Even with guidance, fails to prepare straightforward communications, including forms, paperwork, and records, in a timely and accurate manner; products require minimal corrections.
Even with guidance, fails to adapt style and materials to communicate straightforward information.With guidance, prepares straightforward communications, including forms, paperwork, and records, in a timely and accurate manner; products require minimal corrections.
With guidance, adapts style and materials to communicate straightforward information.Independently prepares communications, such as forms, paperwork, and records, in a timely, clear, and accurate manner; products require few, if any, corrections.
Independently adapts style and materials to communicate information.
Not all organizations have the luxury of working with clearly defined competency frameworks. Setting up such a framework costs a considerable amount of time and money. However, competencies do enable supervisors to give clearer and more specific indicators of performance to employees. Because the competencies are described in detail, there is more consistency between raters. They can benchmark observable behavior to a predefined behavioral rating scale.
You can also work with a simpler performance review template where the reviewers rate employees on predefined competencies on a scale from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree. Here’s what it could look like:
Measuring performance using 360-degree feedback
360-degree feedback is a peer feedback system in which the manager, direct reports, customers, and peers of an employee give input on their performance. This is a balanced approach as the employee is assessed from multiple perspectives.
A performance review template of this kind would look similar to the ones above but with multiple raters and, thus, more feedback. However, there are some drawbacks to this approach.
Simply put, 360-degree feedback doesn’t always have a positive effect, especially if executed poorly. Another drawback is the significant time spent on assessing everyone. If one person has four assessors, it takes four times as long to assess one person. If everyone in the organization is assessed using a 360-degree feedback system, employees (and clients) will have to spend days assessing each other. This is very costly and also runs the risk of favoritism.
360-degree feedback is, therefore, mostly used as a tool for more senior roles, for example, managers.
How to create a performance review template
Here are our top tips for creating an effective performance review template for performance reviews in your company.
- Choose the right format: As we explored above, there are different job performance review templates that can be used depending on the role and position in question. Choose from self-assessment reviews, a manager-led review, a 360 review, or a combination of these. Some managers prefer to take a paper-based approach to performance reviews. However, more and more companies are moving to a digital format where the template is pre-filled before the meeting, then fed back to the employee during the meeting, and any comments and goals are added. Keeping a digital record ensures that nothing important is lost.
- Select the right competencies: The aim of a performance review is to improve the performance of employees, which leads to better business outcomes. Therefore, your performance reviews will only be helpful if you evaluate the right competencies. Make sure you choose the ones that directly align with the long-term goals and vision of the organization.
- Include the employee information section: Your template should include a section at the top to note key employee information like their full name, position, department, the date, and the review period to help keep track.
- Use a consistent rating scale: There are different rating scales you can use to rate the employee on each point. For example, the Likert scale, the behaviorally anchored rating scale, or the five-point rating system. Whichever rating scale you choose, make sure that it’s clear to the reviewer and employee.
- Provide space for written comments: A rating scale is helpful because it provides quantitative data that you can easily analyze. However, it’s important to include space alongside each item for additional comments so that you can expand on the competency or behavior that is being reviewed. This is a great place to include constructive criticism and positive feedback.
- Review and update the template regularly: HR should regularly revisit the performance review template(s) being used in the organization and update it to reflect any changes in roles, goals, or company strategy.
Over to you
Creating an effective performance review template plays a key role in performance management at your organization. This document helps you provide vital feedback to your employees while helping them work toward performance improvements and goals that align with the company. Use our templates and tips to create your own performance review template and boost engagement, motivation, and commitment across your organization.
FAQ
A performance review template helps bring efficiency, transparency, and fairness into the performance review process. It is a standardized framework that ensures consistent criteria and evaluation measures are applied to all employees, facilitating objective assessments and meaningful feedback. Regular feedback has been proven to improve employee performance and reduce turnover.
A performance review template should include employee information (such as their name and role), the reviewer’s name, a series of competencies along with a rating scale so the employee can be rated on each one, a space for comments, points of improvement, areas where the employee is excelling, and signatures of both the reviewer and employee.
Writing a performance review document involves creating a standardized template that ensures consistency and fairness in the evaluation process across the organization. This template should guide managers in assessing their employees’ performance against predefined objectives, providing specific examples of achievements and areas for improvement, and offering constructive feedback. It should facilitate an objective, comprehensive, and development-focused performance review.
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