Performance Appraisal Form (With Templates And Sample)

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When you think about conducting performance reviews, you might think of awkward conversations and vague discussions about employees’ strengths and weaknesses. This is where a well-crafted performance appraisal form can save the day and help you keep these conversations productive and consistent.

In this article, we’ll discuss what a performance appraisal form is and how to make one. We’ve even included a template and a sample form for you to use as a reference.

Key Takeaways:

• Performance appraisal forms are used to guide employee performance reviews.

• Appraisal forms serve as guides for what managers should discuss in performance reviews, as well as records of employee accomplishments and growth.

• Include a rating scale and a section for employee goals on your performance appraisal form.

What Is a Performance Appraisal Form?

A performance appraisal form is used to conduct employee performance reviews. This form serves several functions:

• They guide performance review meetings. Appraisal forms provide a roadmap for what employees and managers should talk about during the performance review. This helps all of your performance review meetings with employees stay at least somewhat standardized.

• They improve goal setting. Performance appraisal forms allow managers and employees alike to quickly see where an employee needs to improve. This makes it easier to come up with specific, measurable goals – it also helps cut down on the amount of time spent figuring out what to work on.

• They provide a reference for employee growth. When you have multiple years’ worth of performance appraisals for an employee, it’s easy to see how they’ve grown and improved over the years. Even if you don’t have multiple forms to refer to, you can also use these to track the employee’s achievements during the review period.

• It informs decisions about bonuses, pay increases, and promotions. Often companies use appraisal forms so they have a fair way to allocate performance-based bonuses and raises. In addition, if a manager wants to terminate an employee, this appraisal helps provide justification for that decision.

• It helps employees understand how they’re performing. Not knowing how their work aligns with team or company standards is frustrating to employees.

  Performance appraisals provide insight into what the expectations are and what they should be working toward, giving employees more security in their jobs and confidence in taking the initiative to achieve those goals.

What to Include in a Performance Appraisal Form

• Key assessment areas. Identify the key skills or objectives that an employee needs to have. Most organizations choose broad areas such as “Attendance” and “Job Knowledge and Skills” that apply to all employees, but some make specialized lists for each department or team as well.

• A rating scale. Now you need to attach a rating scale to the assessment areas you’ve identified. The most common way to do this is with a one to five scales, with five being the best. If you choose this method, though, you need to attach criteria to each number to help keep ratings consistent.

  Here’s an example of this:

  1 – Poor (Almost never meets expectations)

  2 – Fair (Sometimes meets expectations)

  3 – Good (Regularly meets expectations)

  4 – Very Good (Often exceeds expectations)

  5 – Excellent (Regularly exceeds expectations)

  You can also make more specific scales for each assessment area. Here’s an example of an assessment of “Attendance”:

  1 – Is consistently late and/or has regular unapproved absences

  2 – Is often late and has more than one unapproved absence

  3 – Is usually on time and has no unapproved absences

  4 – Is almost always on time and communicates absences well in advance

  5 – Is consistently early and communicates absences well in advance

  You can also attach more specific criteria for each rating, such as the number of absences or late days.

• Employee achievements. This is a space to record the employee’s accomplishments or achievements since the last appraisal period. It can be a good idea to have both the employee and the manager fill this out, as managers may not be able to remember everything for every employee.

• Employee improvement since the last review. Leave space to note how an employee has done in reaching their goals or improving in their weak spots since the last review. If this is the first performance assessment you’ve had with this employee, note this in this space.

• Employee areas for improvement. Using the results from the rating scale as well as your observations as a manager, list a few areas the employee could improve. Make sure you include steps for how they’re going to do this and how you’re going to help them make those steps.

  If you can, help them set specific goals to give them something specific to work toward. Here are some examples of goals for an employee struggling to get to work on time:

  • Find and implement two tips or pieces of advice for leaving the house on time.

  • Arrive late to work no more than once per week and no more than 15 minutes after start time.

  These goals are tangible, which means the employee can say with certainty whether or not they met the goal, and they’re much more achievable than “Never be late again.”

• Professional goals. Organizations get engaged employees by investing in their workers’ futures. This means you need to ask employees what their professional goals are or help them come up with some. These goals are for the review period, not five-year plans, so make sure they’re scaled appropriately.

  Here are some examples:

  • Improve Microsoft Excel skills by taking a course in this area.

  • Give one quarterly presentation.

  • Lead three team meetings.

  • Attend three professional development classes or events.

• Manager comments. This section is for managers to give their overview of the employee’s performance. It’s an opportunity to mention things the employee is doing well both in the assessment areas and in other areas, as well as mention what you discussed for improvement.

  Think of this section as not only encouragement to your employee but also a review to use for distributing bonuses or considering the person for promotion.

• Employee comments. Giving employees the opportunity to share their thoughts on this review is key to helping them feel heard. Let them use this section to write why they are struggling in their low-ranking areas and what they’re planning to do to improve.

  You may also want to encourage them to write down what they need from their managers to be successful in meeting their goals. This creates an environment of collaboration, which is beneficial for the whole team.

Performance Appraisal Form Template

Performance Appraisal Form Example

Employee Performance Appraisal FAQ

1. What are the KPIs for employee performance?

   KPI stands for key performance indicators, and these are quantifiable metrics used to measure employee performance. For example, here are a few common KPIs:

   • Sales quotas

   • On-time project completion

   • Customer satisfaction reports

   • Absences

   • Units processed or resolved within a certain time frame

   Since these indicators are attached to numbers, they’re useful tools for measuring employee performance across a department or organization, as well as individual employee improvement. Many companies use KPIs as a part of their performance reviews.

   Just be sure your performance appraisals cover more than KPIs, as many valuable soft skills can’t be measured this way.

2. What are the three purposes of performance appraisals?

   Three purposes of performance appraisals are:

   • To provide employees with feedback on their performance.

   • To give employees tools for improving their skills and performance.

   • To inform managers’ decisions about performance-based pay raises, bonuses, and promotions.

3. Are performance appraisals required?

   No, performance appraisals aren’t typically required for private companies. Many government organizations are required to have appraisal systems, however, so be sure to look into federal, state, and local laws. However, it’s still a good idea for private-sector employers to conduct regular employee performance appraisals.

Final Thoughts

Performance appraisal forms are key to conducting constructive performance reviews. If your HR department doesn’t have one of these forms in place, consider making one for your team.

References

1. SHRM – What You Need to Know About Performance Appraisals

Author

Caitlin Mazur

Caitlin Mazur is a freelance writer at Zippia where she has written 140+ articles that have reached over 1 mil viewers as of June 2023. Caitlin is passionate about helping Zippia’s readers land the jobs of their dreams by offering content that discusses job-seeking advice based on experience and extensive research.