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Why use a performance review template?

Would you say your employees dread their annual performance review? What if we told you that a solid appraisal process could actually make your staff feel valued, more motivated and happier at work? 

Taking the time to set up your appraisal strategy isn’t just good for your employees – it’s vital for your business to thrive. Our free performance review template will help you kickstart your journey. It’s fully adaptable to your needs with tried-and-tested examples to get you started. Download your new appraisal template today.

Saves time

Having a performance review template ready to go means you don’t have to spend time creating one yourself. You can get your performance review plan up and running much quicker, gathering that invaluable feedback and helping employee development. 

Ensures consistency

A standardised performance review template means you can gather consistent data across the various teams of your organisation. This gives you valuable information for general improvement and staff training, as well as making decisions on company policies and direction. 

Improves employee feedback quality

Asking the right questions is key to getting valuable feedback. This performance review template has been carefully crafted to ensure you receive feedback that can be put into action both for the employee and the wider company. 

Fosters professional development

A good performance review should include a plan for the future. This template includes a professional development plan that can be adapted to each employee, giving them the opportunity to create objectives and measure their improvement. Career development and opportunities are essential for employee satisfaction and for the growth of the business as a whole. 

What’s included in this free template?

This appraisal template can be used to support your performance review process by talking through achievements, areas for improvement and goal setting for the future.

• Customisable PDF
• Clear and intuitive structure
• Self-evaluation questions
• Company values
• Career ambitions
• Example responses

Who should use this performance review template?

This template is ideal for HR professionals or line managers looking to put an effective appraisal system into action. Whether you’re looking to overhaul outdated processes in a larger company, you’re a leader in an SME or growing a business, this template can help you achieve your goals. 

A reliable and repeatable performance review is essential for any UK company with ambitions to evolve and improve, both through upskilling staff and improving working practices and policies.

How to use the template effectively

Here’s how to make use of this performance review template as part of your employee appraisal process. You can also check out our performance review guide for more tips on how to plan and implement effective employee appraisals. 

Before the review

• Agree a date for the review that allows plenty of time for managers and employees to complete the appraisal document.
• Provide the documents with clear guidance on what they need to do before the review, offering advice on how to complete them if this is their first appraisal.

During the review

• Go through the performance review document and discuss each section, ensuring everything is clearly communicated and understood. 
• Make notes to record the points discussed as well as for setting new goals and development plans. 

After the review

• Follow up on the review by formalising goals and objectives and set out a plan with regular check-ins to monitor progress. 
• Share an updated review document that includes manager notes and objectives agreed on, creating a final copy everyone can refer back to.

Performance review best practice and examples

Every performance review will be a little different, tailored both for your employees and for different roles, but there are tried and tested approaches that return useful and valuable results. 

Our template includes performance appraisal examples to get you started, focusing on areas such as employee strengths, company values and future development. 

Employee performance

It can be hard to assess our own strengths and weaknesses in the workplace, but it’s an essential part of any effective appraisal. Providing employees with the right questions can help encourage honest and useful self-reflection. 

For example, our appraisal template includes the question: 

What do you consider to be your most important achievements over the past 12 months? 

Asking employees to consider their achievements can be valuable in many ways, from identifying their strengths to showcasing new skills or training or helping to understand their areas of interest for future development. 

Employee development

Future development is one of the most important outcomes of a performance review, identifying areas for training and setting up short and long-term goals for the employee. This can include everything from immediate training gaps up to career aspirations, covering the whole spectrum of growth and development. This enables the creation of objectives that can be tracked, reviewed and updated when the next appraisal comes around. 

Our performance review template includes a table to set out these objectives with clear actions and dates and how success will be measured. 

Download our free performance review template to see our full range of example questions and forms that you can adapt to your appraisal strategy needs. 

Download your free performance review template

Get your employee review process started with our free template download today. 

We can also make life easier with our complete performance management software, providing a full range of features for employee appraisals, goals and professional growth.