Published 14 Sep 2023
What is a Performance Appraisal Form?
A performance appraisal form, also called an employee performance appraisal form, is a tool used by people managers and HR teams to measure and benchmark the performance of employees. It helps evaluate the contributions and achievements of employees during a specific timeline. A well-structured appraisal form and appraisal process enable benchmarking across teams and divisions to identify staff career development opportunities and areas for improvement.
In this article
- What is a Performance Appraisal?
- Performance Appraisal Example: What to Include in Your Template
- Which Format Should We Use?
- How to Fill Out a Performance Appraisal Template
- FAQs about Performance Appraisal
- SafetyCulture for Efficient Performance Appraisal
- Featured Performance Appraisal Forms
What is a Performance Appraisal?
A performance appraisal is a monthly, quarterly, or annual review of an employee’s contributions toward business objectives and company goals. It can help managers identify employee gaps and give them new ideas for training opportunities to boost workplace productivity.
A performance appraisal also serves as an objective avenue for both supervisors and workers to give and receive feedback. Managers may also use it to justify compensation adjustments, bonuses, or even termination decisions.
For employees, performance appraisals help them understand where they are in terms of alignment with company expectations and team standards. With a performance appraisal form, supervisors and workers learn more about each other, the business, and themselves.
Performance Appraisal Example: What to Include in Your Template
Whether used by supervisors, the people team, or employees themselves, performance appraisal forms feature standard elements that help facilitate a complete review process. Here are three fundamental fields of an appraisal form:
A rating system
Supervisors, and even employees themselves, rate or measure employee performance for a specific timeline using key team and business metrics. Attendance, productivity, quality of work, the achievement of targets, etc, are examples of items being rated.
Example:
| Assessment Areas | Rating Guidelines |
| Attendance |
5 = No late for work or absence record, willing to take urgent duty at short notice 4 = No late for work or absence record during the appraisal period 3 = Less than 3 times of late for work or absence record during the appraisal period 2 = 3 times of late for work or absence record during the appraisal period 1 = More than 3 times of late for work or absence record during the appraisal period |
| Job knowledge and skills |
5 = Substantially exceeds job requirements 4 = Exceeds job requirements 3 = Meets job requirements 2 = Partially meets job requirements 1 = Does not meet most job requirements |
| Quality of work | |
| Initiative and motivation | |
| Teamwork | |
| General conduct | |
| Discipline |
5 = No disciplinary record, always follow supervisor’s and working instruction 4 = No disciplinary record 3 = Less than 3 times of disciplinary record 2 = 3 times of disciplinary record 1 = More than 3 times of disciplinary record |
Feedback
An appraisal sheet can include sections for qualitative feedback from peers or supervisors mentioning employee commendations or opportunities for improvement.
Here’s an example using the rating guideline above:
|
Attendance |
|
|
Score |
5 |
|
Feedback |
|
|
Job Knowledge and Skills |
|
|
Score |
4 |
|
Feedback |
|
Acknowledgment
The ratings and contents of employee appraisals need to be acknowledged or confirmed by both employees and supervisors. Appraisal forms typically include the signatures of both employees and supervisors to confirm the validity of the appraisal.
To give you a better understanding we’ve created a filled out example of an appraisal form using a digital staff performance appraisal checklist template.
Which Format Should We Use?
Performance appraisals can be a daunting task because of how tedious the entire process can be. Choosing the right appraisal format for a company’s specific context can help make it easier for all stakeholders—human resource coordinator, finance head, direct manager, colleagues, and subordinates—to efficiently carry out appraisals as hassle-free as possible. Listed below are the two most common types of appraisal formats you can try implementing in your workplace:
360-Degree
A 360-degree performance review is probably the most comprehensive appraisal format as it entails feedback not only from your direct manager and team members, but also from your peers and in some cases, from the boss of your boss and department heads. This appraisal format is for organizations that can spare enough time, effort, and resources and have adequately trained personnel for executing 360-degree appraisals. Sample 360-degree appraisal format questions include:
- Are this employee’s solutions to problems clear and effective?
- Does the employee take the lead on projects or assignments?
- Do you believe this employee is honest, ethical, and trustworthy?
Management by Objectives (MBOs)
MBO is an appraisal format, where at the beginning of each period such as quarterly, biennially, or annually and upon the approval of upper management, both the employee and his/her manager set objectives and key results aligned with the overall company goals, and at the end of each period, evaluate the former’s performance warrants a pay increase based on meeting set objectives.
For small- to medium-sized companies, MBOs can be the most optimal appraisal format to practice as the process is more manageable at their scale and it can still be easily monitored and followed through for continued professional and business growth. The two most common types of MBOs with examples are:
Performance Objectives
- Increase mobile app downloads by 15% through carrying out at least 5 experiments that improve user experience
- Reach 10,000 more customers who use our product at least once a week by integrating it with a new feature
Personal Development Objectives
- Master SafetyCulture analytics by knowing exactly how I can get the data I need on my own
- Develop better work relationships by participating in our team lunch time every Wednesday
How to Fill Out a Performance Appraisal Template
When filling out performance evaluation forms and other performance appraisal forms, employees and the management can use the following reminders as a guide:
- Read the instruction carefully and identify the criteria that need to be assessed
- Review the employee’s goals and objectives to determine if they were able to achieve them
- Collect relevant information which can include records of projects completed, client feedback, and performance metrics
- Provide specific examples that demonstrate employee strengths or areas for improvement
- Evaluate strengths and achievements, and address areas for improvement
- Establish SMART goals for the upcoming assessment period
- Maintain a professional or respectful tone when filling out the form
FAQs about Performance Appraisal
The purpose of a performance appraisal is to assess and evaluate an employee’s overall performance, provide feedback, and recognition for their accomplishments. Performance appraisals play a significant role in fostering employee growth and development, enhancing communication, and aligning employee efforts with organizational goals.
Learn how to conduct an effective performance appraisal here.
The most effective way to complete a performance appraisal can be summarized into five steps: 1) Assess previous and current performance; 2) Conduct a one-on-one interview with the employee; 3) Create action plans; 4) Set future goals; and 5) Document and obtain signatures.
Read more about how to conduct a performance appraisal.
When writing appraisal forms, it’s important to provide clear, specific, and objective feedback on employee’s performance. Outlines may vary depending on the organizational standards. Here are some of the items that should be included in the appraisal form:
- Goals – Indicate achievements and milestones throughout the year with respect to the annual goals that have been set with the manager in the previous cycle.
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Include the key progress and strategic improvements that have been achieved during the performance review cycle.
- Development areas – Indicate failures with a positive reaffirmation.
- Disciplinary acts – Employee appraisals don’t only cover job performances but encompass employee attitude towards work as well.
- Future Plans – Cover additional learnings or skills that would help employees to achieve other goals to improve current performances.
A formal performance appraisal is mostly done once per quarter as far out as 18 months. Most companies conduct their reviews every 6-12 months. For informal performance appraisals, managers can hold feedback meetings on a weekly basis. This will be a good opportunity for employees to ask questions about their performance, managers to provide coaching and collaborate on problem-solving. It will help both managers and employees to prepare for the formal review.
Yes, it is a good practice for employees to do an evaluation of their own performance because it enables them to reflect on their objectives and areas for improvement. Self-appraisals are also often a valuable component for the management to conduct a comprehensive periodic employee assessment.
The responsibility for conducting a performance appraisal lies with the employee’s direct supervisor or manager. Depending on the organizational structure and policies in place, the performance appraisal process may involve multiple individuals, such as HR personnel, peers, senior management, or even the employee being assessed (self evaluation).
The 4Cs of performance appraisal are communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. By assessing these key areas, businesses can gain a comprehensive understanding of an employee’s strengths, areas for improvement, and potential for growth.
SafetyCulture for Efficient Performance Appraisal
Employee appraisals are part and parcel of organizations that intend to measure employee performance. Paper-based staff appraisal processes, however, can create an administrative burden requiring the scanning of documents (including staff signatures) as well as data re-entry for benchmarking purposes.
SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is a web and mobile platform that can help streamline your appraisal workflows. Eliminate costs and time spent scanning appraisal forms. With the SafetyCulture mobile app and software, you are empowered to:
- Create mobile-ready performance appraisal templates and performance review templates
- Automatically save and organize all appraisal reports online in a secure cloud.
- Easily export all staff performance appraisal ratings into excel or any application using API integration or view the results on the SafetyCulture Analytics dashboard.
- Generate a performance appraisal report and export them in the format of Weblink, PDF, Word, or CSV.
To help you get started we have created 5 appraisal templates you can download and customize for your relevant teams and people managers. Get started with these templates to begin streamlining your appraisal processes.
Featured Performance Appraisal Forms
Employee Performance Appraisal Template
An employee performance appraisal template is used by managers to evaluate employees during annual appraisal. Use this digital performance appraisal template as an annual appraisal form to document employees’ contributions or achievements during the appraisal period, performance summary, and future objectives. Complete the appraisal template with the staff’s annual performance appraisal rating and enter the employee’s and manager’s signatures.
Employee Appraisal Form
This comprehensive general employee appraisal form can be used to conduct the annual performance evaluation of an employee. This template includes details of the staff member being appraised, rating scores for performance assessment (position expertise, leadership, supervision, productivity, soft and interpersonal skills and behavior), training and development plans, and incidents happened within the year. You may also include detailed comments on the performance of your employee. Provide an overall performance score and affix the digital signatures of both the appraiser and appraisee to verify completion of the appraisal.
Employee Performance Review Template
Use this employee performance review template to help measure and benchmark work performance of an employee and use it as a basis for salary adjustments. Supervisors and managers can utilize this digital form to help their subordinates form an action plan to improve performance.
Self-Appraisal Form
This self-appraisal form can be used by employees to reflect on and evaluate their performance over time. Digital signatures were provided to validate the discussion with the supervisor. A self-evaluation example can be found in this sample report.
Employee Evaluation Form
This employee evaluation form is used while conducting scheduled employee evaluations. Managers and team leaders can use this employee evaluation template to document employee performance, accomplishments, and areas for improvement. Assess the employee’s job knowledge, quality of work, attendance, and productivity. Record the employee’s strongest and weakest points and provide recommendations.
