Work

Performance Review Template

A performance review template is only as fair as its rating scale and its evidence. This one defines each rating level in the template itself, ties every goal to a result and a source, and leaves room for the employee to disagree in writing. Copy it, or start from the example closest to the review you have to write.

Updated 2026-10-27

Copy and adapt

The template

Performance reviewTemplate

Performance review: [Employee name], [review period]

Role: [title, team] Reviewer: [manager] Review type: [annual / mid-year / 90-day / project] Meeting: {{date}} Related: [[Employee name]]

Rating scale (agree on it before rating anyone)

5 Far exceeds: beat the goals by a wide margin and changed how others work. Needs two or more concrete examples.
4 Exceeds: met every goal and clearly beat at least one, or took on scope beyond the role.
3 Meets: met the goals that were in their control, reliably. The expected rating for a good year.
2 Partially meets: missed one or more core goals for reasons partly in their control. Needs a written plan.
1 Does not meet: missed core expectations after feedback was given. Needs an improvement plan with dates.

Goals from last period

[Goal]: [result against the target]. Evidence: [number, link, date]. Rating: [1 to 5]
[Goal]: [result]. Evidence: [...]. Rating: [...]

Core responsibilities

[Responsibility]: [how it went, with one example]

Strengths

[Behavior], for example [a specific moment and date]

Areas to develop

[Area]: [what happened]. Next step: [concrete action and date]

Input from others

Overall rating

[1 to 5] because [two sentences tying the rating to the evidence above].

Goals for next period

[Goal with a measure] @due(YYYY-MM-DD)

Development plan

[Skill or experience]: [support provided], next check-in [date]

Employee comments

[Their response in their own words, including any disagreement]

Acknowledgment

Discussed on [date]. Acknowledges receipt, not necessarily agreement: [employee name, date]
Reviewer: [name, date]

5 examples

Examples for different situations

The same structure, filled in for the situations people actually bring to it. Copy the one closest to yours.

1.Annual review for a strong performer ready for promotion

When it fits: Use this when the year was clearly good, the rating is a 4 or 5, and the review has to double as the evidence for a promotion case someone else will read.

Annual review for a strong performer ready for promotionExample 1

Performance review: Danielle Ortiz, Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2026

Role: Support Team Lead, Customer Support Reviewer: Kwame Asante Review type: annual Meeting: 2026-12-08 Related: [[Danielle Ortiz]]

Goals from last period

First response under 4 hours for 90 percent of tickets: 93 percent from April onward, up from 81 percent in Q1. The change was the split-shift rota she designed in March. Evidence: helpdesk report, Q2 to Q4. Rating: 5
Customer satisfaction of 4.5 or higher: 4.6 average across 9,840 rated tickets. Rating: 4
Publish 20 help-center articles: 31 published. Tickets tagged "export" fell 38 percent in the eight weeks after the six export articles went live in May. Rating: 4
Hire and onboard two agents: both hired by March 16, both handling tier 1 alone within five weeks. Rating: 4

Strengths

Calm under load. During the Aug 14 outage the team took 412 tickets in six hours; she wrote the status macro in 20 minutes and kept the queue under two hours.
Bug reports from support now arrive with repro steps. Product said so unprompted (see below).

Areas to develop

Delegation: her name is on 60 percent of tier 2 escalations in Q4. Next step: billing escalations move to Marco from Feb 1, reviewed weekly in our 1:1.

Input from others

Lena Fischer, product manager (written, Nov 20): "Support bugs are the best-documented ones we get."
Marco Reyes, agent (in a skip-level, Nov 12): she unblocks fast but rarely lets anyone else take the hard cases.

Overall rating

4 Exceeds because she met every goal and beat two by a clear margin, and the rota change kept response times up without new headcount. Not a 5 because the team still depends on her for tier 2.

Goals for next period

Tier 2 escalations handled by her below 25 percent @due(2027-03-31)
Run hiring for the third agent role end to end @due(2027-04-30)

Development plan

Management: recommend for Support Manager in the Q1 cycle. Company pays for the people-manager course in February. Check-in 2027-02-15.

Employee comments

Agrees with the rating. Asks for budget for a QA tool so review of agents' replies is not done by hand.

Acknowledgment

Discussed on 2026-12-08. Danielle Ortiz, 2026-12-08
Kwame Asante, 2026-12-08

2.Mid-year review the employee disputes

When it fits: Use this when the numbers say partially meets, the employee believes something outside their control explains it, and both views need to be on the record.

Mid-year review the employee disputesExample 2

Performance review: Ben Halloran, Apr 1 to Sep 30, 2026

Role: Account Executive, Mid-Market Reviewer: Sara Lindqvist Review type: mid-year Meeting: 2026-10-15 Related: [[Ben Halloran]]

Goals from last period

Quota: original H1 quota $480k, reduced to $410k after the May territory change moved 14 of his accounts to the new enterprise team. Closed $254k, 62 percent of the adjusted number. Evidence: CRM closed-won report, Oct 1. Rating: 2
Pipeline coverage of 3x next quarter's quota: 1.8x on Sep 30. Rating: 2
Discovery calls: 22 a month on average, team median 41. Rating: 2

Strengths

Win rate on qualified deals is 31 percent, the highest on the team. When he gets to a proposal, he closes.
Customers he signed renew. Zero churn among his 2025 accounts.

Areas to develop

Prospecting: the gap is top of funnel, not closing. Next step: 35 discovery calls a month from November, tracked in our Monday pipeline review.

Overall rating

2 Partially meets because the quota was already adjusted for the territory change and the shortfall comes mostly from activity, which is in his control. The win rate shows the skill is there.

Goals for next period

3x pipeline coverage for Q1 @due(2026-12-15)
35 discovery calls in November @due(2026-11-30)

Development plan

Pair with Aisha on outbound sequences for four weeks. Check-in 2026-11-16.

Employee comments

Disagrees with the rating. The 14 accounts he lost were his warmest, and the new territory had zero open opportunities at handover. He believes a 3 is fair given that. He accepts the call target.
Reviewer response: reviewed with the sales director on 2026-10-17. The adjustment stands and so does the rating. We agreed to revisit at year-end using Q3 and Q4 pipeline, and to write down how future territory changes adjust quota.

Acknowledgment

Discussed on 2026-10-15. Acknowledges receipt, not agreement: Ben Halloran, 2026-10-17
Sara Lindqvist, 2026-10-17

3.90-day probation review with an extension

When it fits: Use this at the end of a probation period when the trend is good but one condition is not met yet, and the decision has to be explicit: pass, extend or end.

90-day probation review with an extensionExample 3

Performance review: Hoang Nguyen, Aug 3 to Nov 2, 2026

Role: Inventory Control Coordinator, Reno distribution center Reviewer: Teresa Malloy Review type: 90-day probation Meeting: 2026-11-02 Related: [[Hoang Nguyen]]

Goals from last period (set on day one)

Cycle count accuracy of 98 percent: 96.4 percent in October, up from 91 percent in August. Evidence: weekly count variance report. Rating: 3 on trend, target not yet met
Own the daily returns cage reconciliation: done 58 of 62 working days. All four misses were Saturdays when he covered the cage alone. Rating: 3
Pass forklift certification: written test passed Sep 18. Practical delayed because the trainer was out; booked for 2026-11-06. Rating: not rated

Strengths

Found the mislabeled SKU batch on Oct 9 that explained most of September's variance. Nobody asked him to look.

Areas to develop

Asks for help late. The Saturday misses were known by midday and raised at 17:00. Next step: message the shift lead by noon if the cage will not close.

Overall rating

3 Meets for a 90-day review, with the decision below.

Decision

Probation extended 30 days, to 2026-12-02. Conditions to pass: practical forklift certification passed, and November cycle count accuracy at 98 percent or higher. This is an extension for one missing certification and one number still climbing, not a performance warning.

Goals for next period

Forklift practical passed @due(2026-11-06)
November cycle count accuracy 98 percent @due(2026-11-30)

Employee comments

Agrees. Asks for a second person on the cage on Saturdays; reviewer will cover Saturdays with the weekend lead from Nov 7.

Acknowledgment

Discussed on 2026-11-02. Hoang Nguyen, 2026-11-02
Teresa Malloy, 2026-11-02

4.Annual review for a manager, with 360 input

When it fits: Use this when the person manages people, the delivery numbers look fine, and the more important evidence comes from the people they manage and work alongside.

Annual review for a manager, with 360 inputExample 4

Performance review: Farah Siddiqui, Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2026

Role: Engineering Manager, Payments (7 engineers) Reviewer: Daniel Brooks Review type: annual with 360 Meeting: 2026-12-10 Related: [[Farah Siddiqui]]

Goals from last period

Ship the card-on-file migration by end of Q3: shipped Sep 22, three weeks after the original date, with zero payment incidents. The slip was agreed in July. Rating: 3
On-call pages under 10 a week: 6.5 a week average from June. Rating: 4
Keep the team intact: two of seven left. One moved internally to Data; one went to a competitor and cited the lack of a growth path. Rating: 2

Input from others (anonymous survey, Nov 10 to 21)

Direct reports (5 of 5 responded): 1:1s rated 4.6 of 5. Three of five said career conversations happen "rarely or never."
Peers (3 of 4 responded): the design lead said she protects the team well but decisions reach design late. Product said planning with her is the most predictable of any team.

Strengths

Reliability. Payments is the one team whose estimates the rest of the org plans around.

Areas to develop

Career conversations. The survey and the departure point the same way. Next step: a written growth note for each report by Feb 15, reviewed quarterly.
Earlier design involvement: invite the design lead to sprint planning from January.

Overall rating

3 Meets because delivery and on-call goals were met or beaten, and the people goal was missed in a way the 360 explains. A strong 3; the career-conversation gap is fixable within a quarter.

Goals for next period

Growth note written and shared with each of 5 reports @due(2027-02-15)
Promotion packets for Ivan and Mei submitted @due(2027-03-01)

Employee comments

Agrees on career conversations. Believes the competitor departure was mostly about pay and asks for a band review for two senior engineers. Reviewer will raise it with HR by Dec 19.

Acknowledgment

Discussed on 2026-12-10. Farah Siddiqui, 2026-12-10
Daniel Brooks, 2026-12-10

5.A solid meets review for a long-tenured specialist

When it fits: Use this when the person does reliable work, has no interest in a promotion, and the risk is a review so thin it reads like nobody noticed what they do.

A solid meets review for a long-tenured specialistExample 5

Performance review: Gloria Mensah, Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2026

Role: Senior Payroll Specialist, Finance Operations (11 years) Reviewer: Alan Pierce Review type: annual Meeting: 2026-12-03 Related: [[Gloria Mensah]]

Goals from last period

Every payroll run on time: 26 of 26 regular runs, plus two off-cycle runs after the March acquisition. Rating: 3
Payslip error rate below 0.5 percent: 0.2 percent, 7 corrections across about 3,400 payslips. Rating: 4
Set up payroll tax for Colorado and Georgia by June 30: done May 20, with no late filings. Rating: 3

Strengths

The person everyone asks. In the acquisition month she answered 60-plus questions from new employees and wrote the FAQ HR now sends to every new hire.

Areas to develop

Single point of failure. Outside her year-end checklist, the off-cycle process lives in her head. Next step: write the off-cycle runbook and walk Jamal through one run by March 31.

Overall rating

3 Meets because she met every goal, reliably, in a year with an acquisition in it. Meets is the rating for a good year. It is not a warning.

Goals for next period

Off-cycle payroll runbook written and tested by Jamal @due(2027-03-31)
Certified Payroll Professional exam booked @due(2027-06-30)

Development plan

She does not want to manage, and that is fine. Growth here is depth: the company pays for the CPP course and exam. Check-in 2027-04-01.

Employee comments

Asks that "does not want to manage" be written down so it is not reopened every year as a gap. It is now.

Acknowledgment

Discussed on 2026-12-03. Gloria Mensah, 2026-12-03
Alan Pierce, 2026-12-03

What belongs in a performance review

A performance review has to survive three readers: the employee, who will read every word; HR or a promotion committee, who will compare it with other reviews; and whoever manages this person next. The template above is built for all three.

Review type and period. An annual review, a mid-year check-in and a 90-day probation review ask different questions. Say which one this is.
A defined rating scale. The levels, and what earns each one, written into the document.
Goals with result, evidence and rating. The goals set at the start of the period, not new ones invented at review time.
Strengths and areas to develop, with examples. One specific moment beats three adjectives.
Input from others. For anyone whose work is mostly visible to people other than you.
An overall rating with a reason. Two sentences that a stranger could check against the sections above.
Next goals and a development plan. Dated, so the next review has something to measure.
Employee comments and acknowledgment. Room to disagree, and a line confirming they received it.

Define the rating scale before you rate anyone

Most performance review templates name rating levels and stop. That is how two managers give the same work a 3 and a 4. Before you write a single review, put a one-line definition next to each level: what result, what evidence and how much of it. The template's definitions are a starting point; replace them with your company's if you have them.

Two rules make the scale hold up. First, a 3 is the rating for a good, reliable year. If your team treats 3 as a failing grade, everyone gets a 4 and the scale stops carrying information. Second, a 1 or a 2 needs a written plan with dates. If you cannot write the plan, you are not ready to give the rating.

Collect the evidence all year, not in December

Every top-ranking template asks for accomplishments and examples. None of them says where those come from. Written in December from memory, a review describes the last six weeks: the outage in November, the deal that slipped in October. The first nine months are reduced to a feeling.

The fix is a habit, not a form. Keep one note per person and link every 1:1 to it, as the one on one meeting template does. When something review-worthy happens (a launch, a missed date, a compliment from another team), add one dated line with the number or the quote. Ask your reports to keep a work log for their own side. At review time, you are summarizing evidence rather than reconstructing it.

How to run the review

Ask for the self evaluation first. Give two weeks. Their view shapes what you need to address, and their facts often fill gaps in yours.
Gather input from others. Two or three people who see the work you do not.
Draft the review, then reread it a day later. Check each rating against its evidence line.
Meet before you finalize. Share the draft at the meeting or just before it, discuss, then write the final version with their comments in it.
No surprises. If something in the review is news to the employee, the problem is the year of 1:1s, not the review.

Common mistakes

Recency bias. The last quarter is weighted as if it were the whole year. Evidence notes are the only reliable cure.
Ratings without definitions. Two teams, two scales, one calibration meeting full of arguments.
Personality instead of behavior. "Not a team player" cannot be acted on. "Did not review three of Marco's PRs in October" can.
Development areas without a next step. The same area appears again next year, word for word.
Editing out the disagreement. If the employee disputes the rating, their comment and your response both belong in the record, as in the second example.

When to use a different template

The employee's half of the process is the self evaluation. The plan that follows the review belongs in a personal development plan, and goals for the next period are easier to measure if you write them as SMART goals. For a new hire, set the expectations a 90-day review will check with a 30-60-90 day plan.

Customization tips

Use your company's scale, but write the definitions in
If HR mandates a four-level scale or labels like Meets and Exceeds, keep their levels and paste their definitions into the template. The point is that the definition sits next to the rating, so nobody has to guess what a 3 means while reading it.
Cut it down for 90-day reviews
A probation review needs the goals set on day one, a short strengths and development section, and a Decision line: pass, extend with conditions, or end. Drop Input from others unless the role is customer-facing.
Add 360 input for anyone who manages people
For managers, the most important evidence comes from their reports and peers. Run a short anonymous survey two weeks before the review and summarize it in Input from others, with response counts so the reader knows how much weight it carries.
Rate only what you can point to
If a goal has no evidence line, it has no rating. Write "not rated" and the reason (the certification was rescheduled, the project was cancelled) rather than guessing. A rating without evidence is the first one an employee will dispute.
Keep pay out of the review if you can
When the rating and the raise land in the same conversation, people stop listening after the number. If your company allows it, hold the pay conversation a week later and keep this note about performance and development.
Write it as if they will read every word
They will, and so might HR, a promotion committee or a future manager. Leave out guesses about motives and personal circumstances. Keep your private observations in a separate note.

In the app

How to do this in Scribelet

Open Desk Settings, then Templates, tap Add Template and paste the template above. Set a default tag like #review so every review is one filter away.
Link each review to the person's note with [[Danielle Ortiz]]. If your 1:1 notes link there too, the backlinks panel on that note is the year's evidence file, newest first.
Before writing, ask the AI chat "what did Danielle ship between March and June?" It answers from your own notes with citations, so you can check each claim against the note it came from.
Write next-period goals as checkboxes with @due(2027-03-31). They appear in the Tasks view and on your daily note, so the mid-year check-in starts from what was actually agreed.
Reviews are sensitive. Notes are encrypted at rest with per-desk keys; keep reviews in a desk only you use. The official record still goes into your company's HR system.

Templates, template variables and AI generation are documented in Note templates.

Frequently asked questions

What should I write in a performance review?

For each goal: the result, the evidence and a rating. Then one or two strengths and one or two areas to develop, each with a specific example and, for development areas, a next step with a date. Finish with an overall rating and the reason in two sentences. If a sentence could be pasted into anyone's review, it is not doing any work.

What is the 5 rating scale for performance?

The common five-level scale runs from 1 (does not meet expectations) through 2 (partially meets), 3 (meets), 4 (exceeds) to 5 (far exceeds). The labels matter less than the definitions: write down what evidence earns each level, as the template does, and treat 3 as the rating for a good year rather than a disappointment.

What are 6 powerful questions to ask in a performance review?

What are you proudest of from this period? 2. What got in your way that I could have removed? 3. Where did my feedback this year surprise you? 4. What do you want to be doing more of a year from now? 5. What should I stop doing as your manager? 6. Which goal for next period matters most to you? Ask them before you share your rating, not after.

How do I write my own performance review?

Start from your goals, write the result and evidence for each, then pick two or three moments that show how you work. Be as specific about what went wrong as about what went well. The self evaluation examples page has five complete self reviews and a template for your side of the process.

How often should performance reviews happen?

Most companies run one formal review a year, often with a lighter mid-year check-in, plus a 90-day review at the end of probation. The formal review should never be the first time someone hears the feedback in it; that is what the one on one meeting template is for during the year.

What are good performance review examples of comments?

Good comments name a behavior, an example and an effect: "wrote the outage status macro in 20 minutes and kept the queue under two hours on Aug 14." Weak ones describe personality: "great attitude, team player." Each of the five examples above uses the first kind for both strengths and development areas.

Write the review from a year of notes, not from memory

Save this performance review template in Scribelet, link every 1:1 to the person's note, and when December comes, ask your notes what they shipped in March. Encrypted, free to start.

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Work

Self Evaluation Examples and Template

Most self evaluation examples are single sentences. Below are five complete self reviews, each for a different kind of year, with goals, evidence, what went wrong and a self-rating with its reason. Pick the one closest to your year, then use the self evaluation template to write your own.

Meetings

One on One Meeting Template

A 1:1 belongs to the report, not the manager. This template gives the report the first word, carries last meeting's actions forward, and keeps a growth conversation on the calendar. Copy it, or start from the one on one notes example closest to your situation.

Work

Personal Development Plan Template

A personal development plan names where you are, where you want to be in a year or so, and no more than three things you will work on to get there. This template adds what most plans skip: a monthly check, a quarterly rewrite, and a rule for plans that stall. Copy it, or start from the example closest to your situation.

Work

30-60-90 Day Plan Template

A 30-60-90 day plan splits your first three months into learn, contribute and lead, with goals your manager agrees to and a review at the end of each phase. Copy the template, or start from the example closest to your role.

Work

Work Log Template

A work log records what you did, what it produced, and what got in the way, written on the day while the details are still there. Copy the template, keep the hours line if you bill time, and pick the work log example closest to your job.

Planning

SMART Goals Examples

A SMART goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. The quickest way to write one is to see a vague goal rewritten next to it. Below are five, for very different lives, each with the baseline, checkpoints and a plan for when it slips. The worksheet walks you through your own.