Performance Review Template (Free Download)

Ready to support your team and grow your business? Our free Performance Review template will make those quarterly or annual reviews more streamlined and focused to help shift the dial on employee and overall business performance. 

In this template you will find: 

• Self-evaluation performance review template 
• Professional development plan template 
• Career goal template 

Download the template via the form on the right. 

What is a performance review?

Performance reviews are an opportunity to check in with your team and build strong goals for both the employee and employer future. A performance review is an assessment between an employee and their direct manager to evaluate performance, define strengths, identify weaknesses, review professional goals and plan for the future.

The goal of a performance review is to use the feedback received for professional improvement, and identify any areas of concern. However, performance reviews are not limited to these areas. They can also include discussions around:

• How the employee is currently progressing towards goals;
• How effective their working style is;
• Soft skills such as time management and communication; and
• Attendance, punctuality and behaviour in the workplace.

How can performance review templates help?

Performance review templates are useful because they provide a standardised way for you to have productive and impactful conversations. They can also be easily adapted to suit different industry or team needs.

More importantly, a performance review template provides a guideline for you to follow through the entire process, keeping you in check so you won’t miss any key areas or topics while conducting the actual review.

Using a performance review template also makes the process more structured and formal, an essential evolution as your business continues to grow.  Regardless of how the size of the team evolves, the feedback process should be universally standardised across the organisation for a consistent employee experience.

When you’ve created an effective performance review process you’re happy with, it’s essential to stick to it and follow through. It provides greater visibility and transparency across the business and the performance management process so expectations are clear for everyone.

Situations where you might use a performance review template include:

• Quarterly performance review: An evaluation an employee’s performance every three months
• Monthly performance review: An evaluation of an employee’s performance every month
• 90-day performance review: An evaluation of an employee’s performance during the onboarding period
• 360 performance review: A comprehensive feedback process that gathers information about an employee from multiple sources

A well-designed performance review template provides employees with ample space for self-evaluation and honest communication, as well as a rating scale to track overall performance.

Performance reviews should include a self-evaluation and a manager evaluation 

Overall, it helps to strengthen the relationships between managers and their direct reports, and creates a healthy work environment that everyone can thrive in.

Who is responsible for conducting performance reviews?

The line manager of an employee is usually responsible for conducting performance reviews, as they work the closest together in day-to-day tasks and also understand the employee’s role and responsibilities the best. In special cases, it could also involve a more senior leader or someone from Human Resources.

How often should you conduct employee performance reviews?

Once upon a time, performance reviews were held annually, with no other form of review or feedback process throughout the year. And although we say once upon a time, the reality is, many organisations are still using this cadence.

This means that there are millions of employees out there feeling left in the dark when it comes to their performance because it is only reviewed at annual appraisals.

When you think about it, an entire year of work achievements being discussed in an hour-long meeting just doesn’t make sense… How can you possibly discuss all of your achievements from one year, in one hour?

Review meetings aren’t an effective tool to determine an employee’s performance if they’re only conducted once a year. They need to be used in conjunction with other meetings like 1:1s.

When determining the cadence of your teams’ performance reviews, you need to find what works best for you and your organisation.

There are a few things to consider:

• Are managers holding weekly 1:1s with their direct reports?
• Does your company culture embrace feedback?
• Is the current review structure and cadence working for your team?
• Does your team want more feedback?

If you need some recommendations, here are some options we’ve come up with:

Feedback schedule example 1:

• 1x bi-annual performance review
• Weekly 1:1 with direct reports with a set list of questions
• Defined quarterly goals using OKRs
• 1x annual salary review

Feedback schedule example 2:

• 1x quarterly performance review
• Fortnightly 1:1 with direct reports with a set list of questions
• Defined quarterly goals using OKRs
• 1x annual salary review

No matter what you choose, you should continually embrace a culture of regular feedback and employee/manager catch ups. Not only can it improve communication, performance and overall engagement, it also ensures that no surprises occur during your performance reviews. 

If you don’t, you’re missing out on vital opportunities for professional development that will only propel your workforce forward.

What should a 90-day performance review include?

Bringing on new people is a big deal. But what happens after the welcome party? Starting a new job involves new responsibilities and taking on a lot of information quickly, so it can be easy for new employees to feel a bit lost early on. However, conducting a 60- or 90-day review during the probationary period can make the probationary period smoother for both you and your new employee.

You can use a 60- or 90-day review to:

• Assess how your new employee is fitting into the business, including how they’re aligning with role expectations.
• Unpack the strengths (and if applicable, weaknesses) your new employee has displayed so far.
• Tackle and resolve any red flags that may have appeared.
• Set short, medium and long-term goals alongside your employee, so they can continue to grow.
• Get feedback on the onboarding process, so you can improve it for future employees.

Questions you can use during the 60- or 90-day review include: 

• What was the most helpful part of the onboarding process? Where do you feel there are gaps?
• How has the role aligned with your expectations? Is there anything that has surprised you about working here? 
• What are you enjoying about the role? What are you not enjoying?
• How are you finding the company culture?
• Do you think your co-workers are giving you the support you need? If not, what could they be doing to help? 
• How would you rate your performance in the role so far?

Unlike regular performance reviews, 60- or 90-day performance reviews should be used to fix any initial issues that may have popped up as a result of the onboarding process. They can also assess how the employee is fitting into the business, both performance-wise and culturally. 

We’ll go more into how to conduct regular performance reviews a little bit later.

Do performance reviews need to follow New Zealand employment law?

While performance reviews aren’t a legal requirement under New Zealand employment law, documenting performance reviews properly can help your decision-making in a number of ways. 

Formally documenting your performance reviews can support any decisions you make around pay and promotions. It also supports both you and your employee if any disciplinary actions need to be taken down the line on the basis of performance issues. Your future self may just thank you.

What’s the ideal performance management cycle?

Ideally, performance management should occur as part of an ongoing, consistent cycle, rather than occurring sporadically. We believe performance management shouldn’t be an afterthought, but a powerful tool for growth.

A typical performance management process may look like:

• Weekly/regular one-on-ones with your direct reports
• Monthly goal-setting sessions with your direct reports
• Quarterly alignment sessions with your team(s)
• Mid-year check-ins with your direct reports

You can then schedule formal performance reviews around these meetings. By having these regularly scheduled meetings, both you and your employee can get more out of the performance reviews, rather than coming into them with a whole host of issues/concerns to raise. 

We also recommend having avenues where your direct reports can provide feedback to you anonymously, in case there are broader cultural concerns. Anonymous surveys, such as Employment Hero’s Employee Happiness Surveys, can help people raise issues as they happen, rather than waiting for them to escalate. 

Performance reviews, and these more frequent check-ins, work best when they’re part of a work culture where clear and direct feedback is welcomed and acted upon.

What should you include in a 1:1 check-in template?

During one-to-ones with your direct reports, it’s worth having a set of recurring questions you can ask, so you can measure their responses over time.

Some questions you can look to ask include: 

• What was your biggest win for the week and why?
• What was your biggest challenge for the week and how did you overcome it?
• How are you feeling about your role/the overall team?
• Is there anything I could be doing more to support you?
• Where are you hoping to be professionally in 6, 12 and 24 months?

One-to-ones don’t need to be exhaustive, but they are very useful as an avenue to get direct feedback from your employees. 

How should you structure a mid-year performance review?

Unlike a one-to-one, mid-year performance reviews are a chance to get deeper into an employee’s performance and understand where they’re at in their professional journey. Some recommended items to discuss include:

• How they feel they’ve progressed towards their goals (set in the monthly goal-setting sessions) throughout the year so far.
• What accomplishment(s) they’re most proud of from the year so far.
• Where they feel they’re strongest in their role.
• Where they’d like to improve in their role, heading into the second half of the year.
• How they feel their actual responsibilities are aligning with role expectations.
• Whether there are any obstacles/challenges they’re regularly facing.
• How engaged they feel with the wider company, and the rest of the department/job function.
• [If relevant] Provide space for a compensation and/or promotion discussion.

By setting expectations beforehand, and sending the employee the agenda beforehand (two weeks is ideal), you give everyone time to prepare. It makes the discussion much more valuable overall.

When should you use a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)?

We recommend using a performance improvement plan (PIP) when other avenues of feedback/support, like one-to-ones and goal-setting sessions, haven’t been effective. Unlike a standard review, a PIP should look to the future, covering current concerns about your employee’s performance and providing solutions to current issues. 

Before starting a PIP, you’ll need to check the employee’s employment agreement and your workplace’s policies. There may be a process in place to handle developing and implementing a PIP. 

Things that should feature in a PIP include:

• Your current concerns around the employee’s performance.
• What factors in the workplace may be contributing to their performance issues.
• How you/the workplace plans to provide support to the employee (training, extra feedback sessions etc.).
• A timeframe around when you’d like to see their performance improve.
• The goals/milestones they’ll need to hit along the way.
• When the PIP will be reviewed and how.

By structuring the PIP in a way that can help the employee understand where there may be shortfalls in their performance, you provide them the best chance to grow their knowledge and skillsets. Rather than using a PIP as a form of discipline, it should be used as a method of providing structured support to a struggling employee.

Should performance reviews include a rating scale?

While using a rating scale during a performance review can provide clarity, it can also cause frustration from the employee’s end. It can be frustrating if the number they receive doesn’t match up with their expectations. Here are some of the pros and cons of using a rating scale.

Pros: 

• A scale makes it easier to compare performance between employees across the company.
• A rating helps to justify decisions in conversations around compensation and/or promotion.
• A rating scale makes it easier to reward and recognise high performers, and highlight the employees who may need more assistance.
  

Cons:

• A number can take away from what is often a more nuanced discussion around performance.
• Differences in ratings can cause friction between employees.
• While ratings can standardise performance comparisons, managers may have different opinions on what each number truly means.

Overall using a simple, clearly defined scale (we recommend from 1-5) can help to standardise performance evaluations. However, it’s important to communicate clearly with employees beforehand, so they understand what each number represents, as well as explaining that their performance will be assessed based on more than just a number.

Tips for conducting effective performance reviews

Effective performance reviews take a little work but they’re crucial for employee engagement. Before the performance review, you should: 

1. Block out time in your calendar and send invites to your direct report(s)

First things first, you need to lock in a time and date for the performance review. Make sure you give ample notice to your direct reports (more than two weeks is ideal). You should also set aside more time than you think is necessary, to create a buffer in case you run over. The last thing you want is to have to stop the conversation because you didn’t leave yourself enough time.

2. Create a career development plan

When you send a performance review calendar invite to your direct reports, include a link to a career development questionnaire. You should ask them to fill it in prior to the meeting.

You can choose to go through this during the review, or schedule in some time for a follow-up meeting. It’s important you get your direct reports thinking about how they want their career journey to progress, and how you can help them get there.

Need some inspiration? We’ve created a career development plan template that your direct reports can fill out.

3. Review how their goals and performance are measured

Before you get started, it’s important to determine how you’re measuring their performance. Do they have sales targets? Or customer satisfaction scores? Is it based on their output or ability to meet their objectives and key results (OKRs)?

These are all questions you need to consider prior to the performance review meeting. You should create a document that has their actual performance and results, compared against their expected performance.

4. Identify areas of improvement

As a manager, you know what the areas of improvement are for your direct report. Your role is to mentor those you manage, so identifying areas of improvement plays a critical role in helping them develop. Whether it’s time management, attention to detail or technical ability, this is the time to encourage your employee(s) to develop in specific areas.

5. Assess whether additional training is required

Once you’ve identified areas for improvement, you should assess whether additional training is required. Although you don’t have to hand-hold them through choosing a specific course, you should let them know the areas where you think a course would prove beneficial. This is about empowering them to choose an area of interest, and letting them take the wheel with their learning and development.

6. Identify their achievements and strengths

Now that you’ve identified areas for improvement and assessed whether additional training is required, it’s time to move onto the good stuff. Reviewing achievements and strengths is one of the most important parts of a performance review, and can really help inspire and motivate your direct report(s).

You should point out specific projects, events or skills where they did a great job, recognise the great work they’ve done and encourage them to continue striving for bigger and better results.

7. Create and send a self-evaluation form to your direct report

When it comes to evaluating performance, it’s important to understand both your view and your direct reports’ point of view. At the end of the day, everyone has different work ethics and standards, so it’s important to see where both parties stand.

For example, you might think your direct report is doing a fantastic job. However, they might be placing additional pressure on themselves to perform and believe they could be doing more. This is your chance to get on the same page when it comes to performance.

This is where the self-evaluation performance review template in this bundle comes in. 

8. Avoid rushing through the performance review

The most important part of a successful performance review is giving your undivided attention. This is time dedicated for your direct report to walk through their achievements and results, and it’s crucial you provide your full attention.

You don’t want to rush through the process. Focus on actively listening to what they have to say and provide constructive feedback wherever possible. Remember that it’s a two-way conversation, so give them the attention they deserve and avoid dominating the conversation at all costs.

9. Share areas for improvement

Dedicate the majority of the performance review to discuss achievements, strengths and areas for improvement. Encourage them to provide quantifiable results and talk through areas where they’ve gone above and beyond in their role. You should also be providing feedback throughout the process and discuss any areas where thoughts differ.

10. Talk through the self-evaluation

Self-evaluation is an important part of the review process as you can see how aligned you and your direct report(s) are. You want them to be self-aware around their own performance, so it’s important to provide feedback, especially if your opinions as a manager are different.

If your employee has been with the organisation for more than one year, we suggest comparing it to the previous performance review, and identifying any areas where performance has dramatically improved or declined.

11. Provide actionable steps for career development and goals

It’s important to know the aspirations and goals of your employees. By being aware of what they’d like to achieve, you can give them more responsibility and provide training so they can work their way to their dream position.

As a manager, you can keep them accountable and motivated to achieve their best and guide them on their career journey. You want your team to know that you’re invested in their career development and want to see them achieve greatness.

Don’t forget to identify opportunities for development and growth

What do you write in an employee performance review report?

Your employee performance review report should essentially encompass everything you’ve discussed during the session, for easy reference in the future.

We’d recommend the following structure:

• Review the employee’s job description
• Clearly state how their goals and performance are measured
• Recognise all their achievements thus far, and strengths
• Identify areas for improvement
• Self-evaluation discussion
• Actionable steps for career development and goals
• Feedback on overall performance
• Recommendation (pay raise, promotion, etc if applicable)

Best practices when providing constructive feedback

Giving feedback to your employees is an incredibly powerful tool. It can help your team achieve more and inspire them to innovate. It also improves communication, builds trust and helps you get the most out of your team.

According to PWC, nearly 60% of survey respondents reported that they would like feedback on a daily or weekly basis. This number increased to 72% for employees under age 30.

If you want to ensure you’re giving constructive feedback, here are some tips:

1. Do it during 1:1 meetings

Giving someone constructive feedback in front of others can make them feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, and also undermine their confidence. It can also make them resentful and defensive if they feel that it was uncalled for or given out of the blue.

1:1 meetings on the other hand, provide a safe space for managers and their direct reports to build trust and strong relationships whilst having honest and open conversations. It provides the perfect opportunity for managers to give constructive feedback privately in a more informal and relaxed setting, so employees will see it in a more positive light.

Need some guidance on what to cover during your 1:1 meeting? We’ve got a handy template right here.

2. Be mindful of your tone and delivery

Even if you’re giving your direct report valuable feedback in a private setting, your tone and delivery is crucial. Lead the conversation by first pointing out what they are doing well, so they have a clear idea of what your expectations are. Keep the conversation focused on their work performance and how you’re keen to help them continue developing those skills.

For areas where you find them lacking, provide specific examples to demonstrate how it’s hurting their performance, and provide steps for actions to be taken. A great way to do this is utilising the SBI model: Situation, Behaviour, and Impact. This model can be used in peer-to-peer feedback as well.

An example would be:

Situation: When you presented your proposal to our client…

Behaviour: …you presented everything succinctly. However, I observed that you did not listen to the client when they interjected, and you spoke over their comments instead of acknowledging their concerns.

Impact: I observed our client shaking their head with displeasure. This means that they did not walk away with a good experience, and we did not close the deal as a result.

3. Work on solutions together

Now that you’ve explained the situation, the behaviour they’ve shown, and the impact it has caused to the business — what’s next?

Give your employee the chance to first respond to your feedback, so you can better understand their perspective and they can also address the situation properly by explaining their rationale for behaving the way they did.

Once that’s done, provide them with suggestions or steps they can take to improve. Ask them how they feel about it, and whether they are open to taking those actionable steps. It’s important to establish that there are no hard feelings involved. Your main goal is their personal and professional development.

You should also emphasise your willingness to help them, and ask them if they require any specific support from you in regards to this. If they feel that you’ve been lacking in any way as a manager that could have contributed to this, it’s also crucial for you to be receptive to receiving feedback yourself.

Help your employees to identify career goals so you can invest in their future together 

What happens after a performance review?

After the performance review has been completed, you should encourage your team to develop a plan for their short and long term career goals. Split the plan out into the next 3, 6 and 12 months, and write each goal down. You should also schedule these meetings into your calendar at these time breaks, to ensure you both stay accountable and regularly track progress.

Focus on SMART goal setting: (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely).

For more tips on performance reviews, download our comprehensive performance review guide

Discover a better way to conduct your performance reviews

If you’re looking for an all-in-one people management platform to help manage your performance reviews, Employment Hero can help. Say goodbye to paper-based systems, and hello to digital performance reviews instead.

Performance reviews don’t have to be a dreaded and painful process for all involved. When you use online performance review systems, managers can keep a running log of notes on an employee throughout the year. This helps paint a complete picture about the individual’s performance over time versus how paper-based reviews often miss the historical picture. 

It also helps to increase goal visibility by automating the areas around creating, monitoring and measuring performance against corporate goals. Managers can ensure that individual goals are pinned to company-wide objectives, and easily stay in touch with an employee’s progress during every phase of goal completion.

Automating performance reviews will undoubtedly save significant amounts of time across the business and free managers from all the tedious paperwork. Notifications to managers are also automated, which eliminates the hassle of chasing down managers to complete feedback forms.

With an online system, everyone can easily log into the system when it’s convenient for them, and workflows ensure that performance review phases are completed in the right order.

Keen to find out more? Speak to one of our business specialists today to learn more about how Employment Hero could transform your business.

The information in this article is current as at 20 August 2025, and has been prepared by Employment Hero Pty Ltd (ABN 11 160 047 709) and its related bodies corporate (Employment Hero). The views expressed in this article are general information only, are provided in good faith to assist employers and their employees, and should not be relied on as professional advice. Some information is based on data supplied by third parties. While such data is believed to be accurate, it has not been independently verified and no warranties are given that it is complete, accurate, up to date or fit for the purpose for which it is required. Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data and is not liable for any loss or damages arising directly or indirectly as a result of reliance on, use of or inability to use any information provided in this article. You should undertake your own research and seek professional advice before making any decisions or relying on the information in this article.