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What Is Performance Appraisal?

A performance appraisal is a formal evaluation of an employee’s performance, often part of a review cycle.

An educational definition from the HR glossary. Explore related terms below, or jump into the resource center to go deeper.

Definition

A performance appraisal is a formal evaluation of an employee’s performance, often part of a review cycle.

Why it matters

It documents how someone is doing against expectations, supporting fair decisions.

Examples

Illustrative example. An appraisal records ratings and comments against role-relevant criteria.

For the practical detail behind this term, follow the related metric, template and resources below.

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For informational purposes only. This is an educational, plain-language definition — not legal, tax, financial or compliance advice and not an official definition. Terms and obligations vary by organisation and jurisdiction. Numeric examples are simple, placeholder-based illustrations, not data. Confirm specifics with qualified professionals.
Related concepts

Related glossary terms

Keep exploring the HR vocabulary.

Glossary

Performance Review

A performance review is a structured conversation that looks back at performance and agrees next goals.

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Performance Management

Performance management is the ongoing cycle of setting expectations, giving feedback and reviewing performance fairly and consistently.

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Measure it

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Put it into practice

Related templates

Template

Performance Review Template

A fair review is structured, evidence-based and two-way.

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Go deeper

Related resources

The clusters that put this concept into practice.

Lifecycle

Employee lifecycle

The full employee journey, stage by stage.

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Employer operations

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Workforce planning

Strategy and organizational design.

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HR compliance

Documentation, records, data and policy.

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Recruitment funnel

Sourcing through to accepted offer.

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HR reporting & dashboards

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AI for HR

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HR resource center

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is Performance Appraisal?

A performance appraisal is a formal evaluation of an employee’s performance, often part of a review cycle.

Why does Performance Appraisal matter?

It documents how someone is doing against expectations, supporting fair decisions.

How is Performance Appraisal measured?

It connects to the HR metric linked on this page, where you can find the formula and how to read it. This glossary entry is an educational definition, not a data source.