Performance Review Template
Objectives, outcomes, strengths and what comes next.
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| Employee | [name] |
| Role | [role] |
| Period | [period] |
1. Objectives and outcomes
| Objective | Outcome | Rating /5 |
|---|---|---|
| [add objectives] |
2. Strengths
| [add strengths] |
3. Areas to develop
| [add development areas] |
4. Objectives for the next period
| [add objectives] |
What is a Performance Review?
A performance review form records what somebody was asked to do, what happened, and what changes next. It is the document that supports a pay decision, a promotion case or a capability conversation months later, when nobody remembers the detail. Reviews held without one produce a warm conversation and no record, and the manager who then argues for a raise has nothing to argue with.
Managers and employees complete it together, usually on an annual or half-yearly cycle, increasingly quarterly. HR aggregates the results for pay and promotion rounds, calibration meetings and succession planning. The same form, shortened, does probation reviews. In small organisations with no formal cycle it still earns its place, because it is the only point in the year when somebody writes down what a person was accountable for and how it went. Employees keep their own copies for internal applications, where a documented record of delivered objectives beats a recollection every time.
Review records are personal data, and the employee can usually ask to see them — under UK and EU GDPR, India's data protection legislation, Australian privacy law and various US state statutes. Write accordingly. In parts of the EU, introducing or changing an appraisal system may require consultation with a works council or employee representative body, Germany being the familiar example. Ratings that cluster by sex, age or ethnicity are evidence in a discrimination complaint in every jurisdiction listed here. Check your local requirements on consultation and on how long these records must be kept.
A review is not the first time anybody hears anything. If a rating comes as a surprise, the failure happened months earlier and the form cannot repair it. It is not a pay negotiation, and running the two in one meeting means the employee stops listening at the number. It is not a performance improvement plan — where there is a real shortfall, that is a separate process with its own timescales. And a rating is not a prediction: past delivery in one role says less about the next one than most promotion committees assume.
What to put in a Performance Review
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Issuing organisation | For example: Maple Grove Homeowners Association |
| Organisation address | For example: 1420 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Issued to (full name) | For example: James Whitfield |
| Designation | For example: Senior Assistant |
| Review period | For example: 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026 |
| Objectives and outcomes | One per line: Objective | Outcome | Rating out of 5 |
| Strengths | One per line |
| Areas to develop | One per line |
| Objectives for next period | One per line |
| Signatory name optional | For example: K. Srinivasa Rao |
| Signatory designation optional | For example: Honorary Secretary |
How to write a Performance Review
Start from the objectives actually set
List last period's objectives as they were written and mark each delivered, partly delivered or not delivered, with a line of evidence. If no objectives were set, say so on the form rather than inventing them retrospectively — that admission is worth more than a fabricated baseline, and it makes the case for setting them this time. Reviews that skip this step become general impressions of a person.
Ask the employee to write first
Send the form to the employee a week ahead and ask for their assessment against each objective, with the evidence they would use. Managers forget the first eight months of the year; employees remember what they did. Reading their version before writing yours also surfaces the disagreements before the meeting, which is when they can be discussed rather than defended.
Separate what was done from how
Use two sections. Outcomes against objectives, and the way the person works — collaboration, judgement, how they handle disagreement, whether colleagues want to be on their projects. Both matter and they need different evidence. Collapsing them into a single rating produces the reviews people distrust, where a strong delivery record excuses behaviour or a well-liked colleague is rated up on nothing in particular.
Set the next objectives in the same meeting
Three to five, each with an output, a measure and a date, agreed rather than issued. Include one development objective with named support — a course, a project, time with another team — and a date to review it. Objectives set weeks later by email are the ones nobody looks at again, and next year's review then starts once more with nothing to measure against.
Record disagreement rather than smoothing it
If the employee disputes a rating or an example, write their position on the form in their own words and note that it was discussed. A record showing a disagreement handled openly is stronger than one showing unanimity nobody felt. Both parties sign and date, both keep a copy, and the form is retained for the period your jurisdiction and your own policy require.
Common mistakes
- Rating against objectives that were never written down turns the review into an argument about what the job was, and neither side can win it.
- Raising a serious performance concern for the first time at the annual review denies the person the year they needed to fix it and weakens any process that follows.
- Discussing the pay increase in the same meeting means the employee hears very little of what is said after the number.
- Writing comments you would not want the employee to read ignores the fact that in most jurisdictions they can ask to see them.
- Leaving next period's objectives to be circulated later means they are never agreed, and the following review starts from the same blank page.
Frequently asked questions
What should a performance review form include?
The review period and the objectives set for it, a rating and evidence against each, a section on how the person works as distinct from what they delivered, the employee's own assessment, development needs with named support, next period's objectives, and space for the employee to record disagreement. Both signatures and the date. Keep it to two pages that people will actually complete.
How do you write a performance review for an employee?
Collect evidence across the whole period rather than the last month, read the employee's self-assessment first, and write against the objectives that were set rather than against your impression. Use specific dated examples for every judgement, positive or negative. Say what should change and what support comes with it. Then read it back and remove anything you could not say to the person's face.
Can an employee see their performance review?
Yes — they are a party to it, and in most jurisdictions covered by data protection law they can also request the records held about them, including manager notes. Assume everything written will be read by the employee and possibly by a tribunal. That assumption tends to improve the writing, because vague criticism rarely survives being read by the person it describes.
How often should performance reviews happen?
The formal record is usually annual or half-yearly, but the conversation should not be. Monthly or fortnightly one-to-ones are where problems get raised while they are still small; the review form summarises what those conversations established. Organisations that hold one meeting a year and call it performance management are the ones where ratings arrive as a surprise.
What is the difference between a performance review and a PIP?
A review is a periodic record covering everything — what went well, what did not, what comes next — and it happens whether performance is strong or weak. A performance improvement plan is a targeted process used when performance falls below a required standard, with defined targets, support and review dates. A review can conclude that a plan is needed; it is not one itself.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.