How to Write a Performance Review: Step-by-Step Guide for Managers

An effective performance management process is people-centered; it is an ongoing dialogue between the performance manager and mentees, aiming to create the most favorable framework through which people can achieve the best results. 

Performance management is based on various tools to evaluate the activity, the results obtained, and the development of team members. Its purpose is also to identify motivation factors, possible bottlenecks, professional development desires, and company results contributions.

This article will provide insights on how to write a performance review, which is crucial for fostering a productive and positive work environment.

Five steps for writing effective performance reviews

This section covers how to write a performance review that is fair, comprehensive, and aligned with organizational goals and individual development.

1. Review past & present employee performance insights

When writing performance evaluations, managers should consider all aspects of their mentee's work. It is essential to consider the entire performance history, such as goals progress, received feedback and praise, career milestones, and areas of improvement.

💡 Tip: Review your mentee’s current job description during this step to ensure the evaluation aligns with requirements and expectations. This also promotes openness, lowers employee stress, boosts morale, and puts everyone on the same page.

Access your mentee's performance history easily in Mirro.                 

2. Incorporate 360-degree feedback in your evaluation

A crucial aspect of strong, fair performance reviews is 360° feedback, the best tool for enhancing performance and improving communication. One person’s perspective can never be completely bias-free. Gathering different perspectives can help you make better-informed decisions and better understand people’s professional journeys.

360-degree feedback sharing is an excellent method to:

• Remove any gaps and biases in managers' perspectives;
• Hear your people out by giving them the chance to share their viewpoints;
• Get objective, fair evaluation from those who collaborate with the team members daily.

👉 Do you want to learn more? Continue reading our article on how to give better feedback.

Asking for feedback in Mirro

3. Write the performance review objectively

Now that you’ve collected all the insights you need, it’s time to write the performance appraisal. First and foremost, you should be honest and straightforward. Be respectful and transparent if you expect the same treatment from your direct reports.

Provide concrete examples to support your statements. This will contextualize your feedback and show the employee that you pay attention and value their contributions. 

Be comprehensive. Your evaluation should include past performance, strengths, weaknesses, and development opportunities. It should also be a fair and open discussion of how your people can grow because this is the purpose of these evaluations.

4. Send out and discuss the performance evaluation

Regardless of where you write the performance review (in online documents, printed versions, Excel spreadsheets, or performance management software solutions like Mirro), send it to your mentee before discussing it so your assessment won’t surprise you. This will also give them the chance to think of potential questions beforehand.

Additionally, ensure you give your team members the chance to self-evaluate their performance in writing. This will not only empower and give them more autonomy and ownership over their actions, but it will also help you paint a clearer picture of their journey.

After you have shared your thoughts, you should discuss the employee appraisal in person or via video conference. Here is a list of aspects you should consider when having a 1:1 with your team members:

✅ Any problems encountered in their activity;

✅ Individual objectives (status, updates, new objectives);

✅ Concrete achievements and results;

✅ What they want to achieve in the upcoming period;

✅ What could you, as the performance manager, do to provide more help;

✅ Satisfaction with current role, project, and activity;

✅ Ways to improve communication and develop soft skills;

✅ What have they learned new;

✅ Topics of a personal nature, unless it's a comfortable discussion. Not mandatory. 

5. Be more efficient & organized with the right software solution

Some companies use online documents or printed versions, while innovative companies use performance review software solutions like Mirro to give them more structure. A tool like Mirro can help you better understand your team members and help them grow with you while building a positive and continuously developing journey.

Mirro focuses on people’s overall experience and has an integrated approach to culture, engagement, learning, and continuous development. With Mirro, you can control every step of performance reviews and tailor performance check-ins for different roles and departments with flexible templates.

Mirro also reduces the stress associated with long, traditional performance review cycles by providing a single platform to view all employee data. It also helps managers easily track their people's accomplishments and areas for improvement by viewing peer feedback, kudos, and goals with just a few clicks. 

Additionally, it saves time and ensures evaluation consistency with intelligent insights and suggestions. In this manner, managers can craft thorough, impartial, and impactful performance check-ins. No more doubts about how to write a performance review!

Control every step of performance reviews with Mirro.

How to write a good performance review: tips & tricks

This section covers actionable tips and tricks for enhancing your performance review process and ensuring that your feedback is both effective and constructive.

The do’s ✅

Use the SBI model

Consider including the SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) framework when crafting the performance review. Developed by the Center for Creative Leadership, this model refers to giving feedback while taking into account the situation, the person’s behavior, and the impact of the behavior. This way, managers can help the person understand the context of the feedback.

Review best practices

Examining best practices for performance reviews will help you assess your methodology and ensure that the feedback you provide is beneficial. Here are a couple of best practices every manager should take into consideration when writing a performance evaluation:

• Feedback should be organizationally aligned. According to Harvard Business Review, the most effective feedback starts with a deep understanding of organizational values. 
• Feedback should be factual rather than subjective. When giving feedback, people usually use adjectives that interpret one's behavior. However, in most circumstances, these are subjective and inaccurate.
• Feedback should be focused on patterns. Research shows that feedback on behavioral patterns that use specific events as examples is more beneficial. 

Find balance in your feedback (positive vs. constructive)

According to Harvard Business Review, top-performing teams give each other more than five positive comments for every criticism. Their research concluded that although constructive feedback goes a long way, mixing it with positive feedback is essential. People can grow only when they are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. 

Why is it important to give positive feedback?

• It helps build relationships and improve communication between colleagues;
• It has a powerful impact on self-esteem and personal motivation;
• It promotes professional and personal development;
• It increases productivity and quality of work;
• Increases the level of involvement of colleagues.

Why is constructive feedback important?

• It's an effective tool for professional and personal development - it helps the other person understand what they can improve in their day-to-day work;
• When delivered assertively, it can help build trust and create an open and honest working environment where people feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback, improving relationships and communication;
• By giving constructive feedback, leaders can help team members boost their performance and increase productivity.
  
  

Be specific and give examples

It is important to be clear and specific when giving feedback to help your mentee grow and develop. Focus on the behavior that needs to be improved, offer suggestions and solutions for this, and consider excluding personal criticism or offending your colleague.

Here’s a structure you can use to give positive feedback:

1. Start the feedback with a compliment or show appreciation for the colleague's behavior.
2. Include specific details about that behavior in the feedback.
3. Explain how the colleague's behavior contributed to the team's goals and describe its positive impact on the team.

Here’s a structure you can use to give constructive feedback:

1. Provide as much specific detail as possible about the behavior that should be improved.
2. Describe how the behavior impacted you and its consequences on you and/or others, if applicable.
3. Offer concrete suggestions and solutions to help coworkers grow and achieve their goals.
4. Assure your colleague that you are open to providing clarification on the feedback given if necessary.

Have developmental suggestions

Performance reviews should focus on areas for development. Remind your mentees that evaluations do not highlight their flaws but give them the chance and support they need to grow.

After the performance check-in meeting, we recommend you build a development plan, add everything in a simple format, and track the process through continuous feedback and regular check-ins. 

💡 Tip: To prepare for this discussion, it might be beneficial to research courses and other learning materials to suggest for your mentee. 

The don’ts ❌

Don’t rely on your biases

Humans are naturally biased, so it is almost impossible to be completely unbiased and objective when evaluating someone's performance. However, some exercises can help you identify and reduce biases by preparing your cognitive system.

There are multiple unconscious biases we need to be mindful of, such as:

• Contrast bias: evaluating someone by comparing them to the previous person who was in the same position;
• Recency bias: only focusing on recent events or behaviors;
• Horns effect: allowing one bad characteristic to eclipse everything else about the person;
• Halo effect: allowing one good characteristic to eclipse everything else about the person;
• Central tendency: giving the person an average rating despite their actual performance;
• Confirmation bias: ignoring information that contradicts our beliefs to confirm our beliefs. 

Biases affect employee engagement and retention and are a primary source of injustices, discrimination, lack of representation, and inequality. Therefore, managers must be mindful of and reduce them as much as possible.

Avoid accusatory, absolute, and general language 

Words weigh heavily, so choose them wisely, especially when giving feedback and discussing it with your mentees. Avoid using strong language and negative action verbs even in critical situations when one's performance doesn't meet expectations. These can either confuse or negatively affect people’s morale.

Don’t mention employee demographics

Despite their well-intentioned intentions, remarks about a person's demographics have the potential to be microaggressions and to make the workplace unfriendly. A performance assessment comment should never mention an employee's age, gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, or religion.

You should now better understand how to write a performance review that's fair, comprehensive, and aligned with organizational goals and individual development.

Frequently Asked Questions