A good performance review template gives every manager the same fair form and a conversation that leads somewhere. The one below is a complete form you can copy today, and it ends where most templates don't: with the skill to build, the training to build it, and a date to check that it happened.

What Is a Performance Review Template?

A performance review template is a standard form managers use to evaluate an employee's work over a set period. It covers results against goals, the core parts of the role, strengths, one area to grow, and the goals for the next period.

The same form goes by other names. HR teams call it an employee evaluation form, an employee review template, or an annual performance review template when it runs once a year. The label matters less than what it makes a manager do.

A template does two jobs. It makes reviews consistent, so two managers judge the same work the same way. And it creates a paper trail, so the next review starts from what was agreed last time instead of from memory.

Why the Form Matters More Than It Looks

The form decides what the conversation covers. If it stops at a rating, the conversation stops at a rating.

That's the pattern most employees know. In Deloitte's 2025 Global Human Capital Trends survey, 61% of managers and 72% of workers could not say that they trust their organization's performance management process. People stop trusting a process when nothing happens after the review.

Frequency is part of the problem. Gallup found that 56% of employees formally review their performance goals with their manager once a year or less, and that employees with quarterly progress checks are 90% more likely to be engaged (Gallup Panel, 18,665 U.S. employees, August 2023, published May 2024). A template that builds in the follow-up is the cheapest way to close that gap.

The Performance Review Template (Copy It)

Copy the form below into a document, or download the template (.docx). It works as an annual review as written. For a quarterly or mid-year review, keep every section and shorten the review period.

Section 1: Review details

• Employee name and role:
• Manager:
• Review period: (for example, January 1 to December 31)
• Review meeting date:
• Self-assessment received on:

Section 2: Results against last period's goals

List each goal agreed at the last review. For each one, fill in four lines.

• Goal: what was agreed, in one sentence.
• Result: what actually happened, with a number where one exists.
• Evidence: the work, data, or feedback that shows it.
• Rating: use the scale below.

Section 3: The rating scale

Use four levels, not five. A middle option becomes the default, and a default tells the employee nothing.

• Exceeds: delivered more than the goal asked, and others noticed.
• Meets: delivered what was agreed, at the quality expected.
• Partly meets: delivered some of it, or all of it late or with rework.
• Does not meet: did not deliver, without a reason outside the person's control.

Section 4: Core parts of the role

Rate three to five areas that matter most for this role. Write one sentence of evidence under each rating.

• Quality of work: accuracy, judgment, and how much rework it needs.
• Ownership: follows through without being chased.
• Collaboration: how the people around them would describe working with them.
• Communication: raises problems early and keeps the right people informed.
• Role skill: the one technical or functional skill the job depends on.

Section 5: Strengths and one growth area

• Strength 1, with an example:
• Strength 2, with an example:
• One growth area, with an example and the skill behind it: pick one. Three growth areas means none of them get worked on.

Section 6: Employee self-assessment

Send these three questions a week before the meeting.

1. What work from this period are you proudest of, and why?
2. What got in the way of your best work?
3. What would help you most in the next period?

Section 7: Overall rating and summary

• Overall rating: Exceeds, Meets, Partly meets, or Does not meet.
• Summary: two or three sentences the employee could repeat to a colleague.

Section 8: The next step

This is the section most templates leave out. Fill in every line before the meeting ends.

• One next step: a specific action, not a theme. "Run the Monday team meeting for four weeks" beats "work on leadership."
• The skill to build: the one skill behind the growth area, such as planning, feedback, or delegation.
• The training to take it: a coaching session, a short course, practice with a peer, or a stretch assignment, scheduled before the meeting ends.
• Owner and due date:
• How we'll know it worked:
• Follow-up date: within 30 days, booked on both calendars.

Section 9: Goals for the next period

• Goal 1, measure, and check-in date:
• Goal 2, measure, and check-in date:
• Goal 3 (optional), measure, and check-in date:

Section 10: Follow-up log and sign-off

• 30-day check-in: was the next step taken? What changed?
• 90-day check-in: progress on each goal.
• Employee comments:
• Employee and manager signatures, with dates: a signature confirms the conversation happened, not that the employee agrees.

How to Fill In the Template

Fill it in over a week, not an evening. Each step below takes less time than fixing a review that went badly.

Collect evidence before you rate anything

Start with evidence, then rate. Pull the goal results, two or three pieces of work, and notes from your one-on-ones. If you keep a one-on-one meeting template through the year, most of this is already written.

Ask for the self-assessment a week early

Send Section 6 seven days before the meeting. Read it before you finish your own ratings. If the employee's view and yours are far apart, you want to know that on Tuesday, not in the room.

Write the next step before the meeting

Draft Section 8 in advance, then shape it with the employee. Come in with a proposal, not a blank. A draft gives the conversation somewhere to go, and the employee can still change it.

Book the follow-up before the employee leaves

Put the 30-day check-in on both calendars during the meeting. This is the single step that separates a review from a checked box. A next step with no date is a wish.

Connect it to the bigger plan

Some next steps belong in a longer plan. When the growth area will take months, move it into an individual development plan and review it at each check-in.

Tie Every Review to Training

Section 8 is where a review becomes a plan. Most growth areas are skill gaps, so the next step should be training, not a reminder to try harder. Fill it in with three moves.

1. Name the skill, not the trait. "Not organized" is a trait. "Planning a week of work around fixed deadlines" is a skill someone can learn.
2. Match the training to the gap. If the person doesn't know how, start with a short lesson. If they know how but freeze in the moment, use coaching and practice on a real situation. If they need judgment, give a stretch assignment with a debrief.
3. Check it where the work happens. At the 30-day follow-up, look at the work itself: the plan, the handoff, the conversation. Not whether a course was completed.

Run the same three moves for managers. A manager whose team rates low on feedback has a feedback skill gap, and the next review should show whether training closed it.

A Filled-In Example, From the Trainer's Chair

This is an illustration written from a trainer's point of view, not a real client story.

Dana manages a team of six dispatchers at a regional logistics company with about 140 employees. She's reviewing Marcus, who hit his on-time target but keeps getting complaints about tense handoffs with drivers.

Her first draft of Section 8 said, "Improve communication with drivers." In a training session, her trainer asked one question: what would Marcus do differently on Monday morning? Dana rewrote it.

• The skill to build: clear, calm shift handoffs under time pressure.
• One next step: before each shift change for the next four weeks, Marcus gives the incoming driver lead a two-minute handoff that covers delays, risks, and one thing going well.
• The training to take it: one session with Dana to practice the handoff, and one shift shadowing the dispatcher whose handoffs drivers rate highest.
• Owner and due date: Marcus, starting the first Monday after the review.
• How we'll know it worked: fewer escalations from drivers, and the driver leads say handoffs are clearer.
• Follow-up date: 30 days out, booked during the review.

The rating didn't change. What changed is that Marcus left the room knowing exactly what to do first.

How the Template Changes by Company Size

The form stays the same. What changes is who fills it in and how much structure sits around it.

• Small companies (under 100 employees): the CEO or founder often reviews managers directly. Keep the full form, but cut Section 4 to three areas. The risk at this size is skipping reviews entirely because everyone talks every day.
• Small to mid-sized companies (100 to 500 employees): this is where reviews break most often. Many managers were promoted and never trained, and HR is one or two people. Use the full form, run the 30-day follow-up without exception, and have HR spot-check that Section 8 is filled in.
• Large companies (over 500 employees): add a calibration step before ratings are shared, so a "Meets" means the same thing in every department. Keep Section 8 owned by the manager, not by a central team.

The Rating Isn't the Point

Most HR leaders believe the hard part of a review is getting the rating right. They're partly right. A fair rating matters, especially when pay is attached.

What they miss is that the employee forgets the rating within a week. What they remember is whether anything happened afterward. A perfectly calibrated "Meets" with no next step is a review that sits in a drawer. An imperfect rating with a clear next step and a follow-up on the calendar changes how someone works.

So spend your design effort on Section 8. Then measure the process by one number: the share of reviews with a next step, and the training to take it, that was checked on within 30 days.

Train the Managers Who Use It

A template can't run the conversation. Writing a specific next step, naming a growth area without a fight, and keeping a review from turning into a debate are skills, and most managers were never taught them.

That's what manager training is for. In Bundle's 1:1 Training, a trainer with at least three years of experience works one-on-one with each manager in 90-minute sessions, on a lesson plan built for their role and level. 81% of participants apply the skills they learn, and 4 out of 5 say they're more likely to stay. For a first-year manager facing their first review cycle, pair this template with a new manager training plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a performance review template include?

It should include review details, results against last period's goals, a defined rating scale, the core parts of the role, strengths, one growth area, a self-assessment, and goals for the next period. The section most forms skip is the next step: one action, the skill behind it, the training to take it, and a follow-up date.

How do I write a performance review for an employee?

Gather evidence first, then rate against the goals you agreed last time. Write one sentence of evidence under every rating. Finish with one specific next step and book the follow-up before the meeting ends.

What rating scale should a performance review use?

A four-level scale works well: Exceeds, Meets, Partly meets, and Does not meet. Define each level in writing so managers apply it the same way. An even number of levels stops everyone from landing in the middle.

How often should performance reviews happen?

Many companies run a formal review once or twice a year, with lighter check-ins in between. Gallup's research links quarterly progress checks to higher engagement, so at minimum, check on goals every quarter. The same template works for each, with a shorter review period.

How do you connect a performance review to training?

Name the skill behind the growth area, choose a training format that fits the gap, and book a check-in to look at the work itself. Do it in the review meeting, so the training starts while both people agree on what needs to change.

Can one employee evaluation form work for every role?

Yes, if you keep the structure fixed and change Section 4. Every role shares goals, strengths, a growth area, and a next step. The three to five role areas are where a sales rep's form and an engineer's form should differ.

One Last Thing

A review is only as good as what happens the next Monday.

Bundle ties what a review finds to training that closes the gap, starting with managers who run reviews that end in a real next step. Companies with 10 or more learners can start with a free session: talk to Bundle.