Part of the hr playbooks cluster. This is educational, operational guidance that connects to the wider site — the employee lifecycle, employer operations, metrics and templates.
Adapt the criteria and cadence to your organisation.
Why it matters
Consistent, fair reviews support development, engagement and trust; inconsistent ones erode all three. A shared play makes reviews comparable and defensible.
It connects performance to development and goals.
Key concepts
- Preparation with evidence.
- A two-way conversation.
- Consistent structure across managers.
- Agreed, owned next steps.
Operational framework
- Prepare with specific examples and last period’s goals.
- Hold a two-way conversation, not a verdict.
- Cover role-relevant areas with evidence.
- Agree strengths, development and next goals.
- Record outcomes and a follow-up date.
Common challenges
- Feedback saved for the review only.
- Vague, example-free comments.
- Different structures per manager.
- One-way reviews.
Best practices
- Give feedback year-round, not just at review.
- Use the same structure for everyone.
- Back every point with examples.
- Agree and follow up on next steps.
Common mistakes
- Surprises in the review.
- No examples.
- No employee voice.
- No follow-up.
Measure this with the employee development metrics metric, put it into practice with the performance review template, and run it as a system via running performance reviews as an operating cadence.
Export, edit and share documents
The documents, policies and templates this involves can be exported, edited, signed, stored and shared as PDFs with the HELPERG PDF Editor.
Free, printable HR resources
Practical, ungated resources to put this into action — no signup.