Expert Tips When Writing a Performance Review

Writing a performance review is stressful for many business owners and managers. Of course, it happens every year, but it can feel awkward and harsh to boil your employee’s performance down to an evaluation on paper.

However, the performance review can benefit you and your direct report if done right. Here are some ideas to consider to ensure your thoughts are meaningful and not just a routine to be followed.

Before the Performance Review

You must create a custom evaluation form that’s tailored to your business. Of course, you can search for existing forms for inspiration, but no pre-made form out there will be able to capture the nuances of your business or what you value in an employee.

I have created a performance evaluation document that you can easily customize to serve your firm’s specific needs and save time and effort. There are two parts. The first is a reviewer’s guide that explains the performance criteria. The second part is the performance form document. The form has a job-specific skills section, followed by a managerial skills section if appropriate. Please feel free to adapt the form to fit your company. Click here and give yourself a headstart.  

Before writing a job performance review, rank all your employees from top to bottom. I recommend that you rank them using current performance and note future potential. Your review scores should follow a bell-shaped curve close to how you rated their recent performance. But beware, we all tend to score everyone the same. So spread them out even when you don’t want to.

Ask your people to fill out a self-assessment before scheduling their in-person review. They will probably score themselves lower than you will; if they don’t, that’s an opportunity to reset their viewpoint.

The other exciting thing is that you will probably forget many of their accomplishments as soon as you sit down with them, so the self-review will help you remember.

Writing a Performance Review

When writing a performance review for your employees, score their performance objectively. Be honest, even though it may create conflict or uneasiness. You aren’t doing yourself or your teammates any favors by being overly generous when you know there’s room for performance improvement.

Back up negative feedback with specific examples or facts so the employee doesn’t feel unfairly targeted. Be clear about what they need to accomplish or change to receive a higher score or be considered for future opportunities.

During the Performance Review

While a review should be a conversation, don’t let your agenda get hijacked. You are reviewing their performance, not the other way around.

Always discuss their personal goal achievement, and hold them accountable. This meeting is an opportunity to learn about your employees’ ambitions and encourage them to grow in your company.

Performance reviews are not beauty pageants. The objective is to give honest, straightforward, and helpful feedback. Still, it helps to end positively so that no employee leaves the room feeling attacked.

Before the end of the evaluation, set up a follow-up meeting and ensure that it’s on the calendar.

Writing performance reviews is an art that every business owner can learn to master. Click on my contact form, and we can chat about how to make the most of your company’s performance reviews and achieve the ultimate goal; improve their performance.

Coach Dave