Write Better Performance Review Comments

Performance review comments need two key things:

1. Clarity
2. Empathy

This takes practice! You need to be a good listener, a good speaker, and you need to be thoughtful. All employees, but especially high performers, benefit from these two things. Why?

Clarity leaves little to no wiggle room with what you actually mean. High performers tend to overthink. If you aren’t clear, they may think you mean one thing when you mean another.

Empathy is very important for all comments. Think about the last year of someone’s life – what could have impacted performance?

By focusing on specific behaviors, managers provide constructive feedback that motivates employees. You want them to leave performance appraisals feeling like they know how to win the next year.

Effective Performance Review Phrase Examples

Effective performance appraisal phrases capture an employee’s contributions clearly and succinctly. They provide actionable insights, helping growth. However, they can’t always be fully critical. Managers must ensure they are reinforcing strengths to enhance overall workplace morale.

How does that work?

Crafting thoughtful performance appraisal phrases fosters trust and open communication. This connection encourages growth, enhances morale, and strengthens relationships. Over time, it impacts not only manager-employee relationships but entire teams.

Now, employee performance reviews are different than check-ins, which you should also do. This is a specific time when managers can highlight:

• Quality of work
• Areas of improvement
• Goal setting
• New challenges
• Positive feedback
• Work ethic
• Workflows

Each of these areas requires a different type of feedback and follow up.

Employee Evaluation Comments for Different Categories

Employee evaluation comments should be tailored to specific categories. The categories that work for your organization will vary. However, things like attendance, attitude, and teamwork are universal.

Customize your employee feedback! This customization helps highlight strengths and areas for improvement effectively.

Here are some areas we look at:

Attendance

Regular attendance is essential for team cohesion and productivity. Recognizing punctuality fosters reliability, while addressing absenteeism sets clear expectations for performance standards.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Demonstrates exceptional attendance and punctuality. Your consistent presence contributes to team success.”
• Constructive: “Frequent absences have disrupted workflow and created extra burdens for the team.”

Attitude

A positive attitude can transform workplace dynamics. Recognize employees who approach challenges with optimism, resilience, and a solution-focused mindset.

Such individuals inspire their peers and enhance team morale.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Demonstrates a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards work and the team.”
• Constructive: “Could benefit from a more collaborative and supportive approach to teamwork.”

Customer Service

Strong customer service skills are vital. Recognizing an employee’s positive engagement with clients encourages continued success.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Possesses in-depth product knowledge and can articulate product benefits to customers.”
• Constructive: “Needs to improve communication clarity and conciseness when interacting with customers.”

Dependability

Dependability reflects an employee’s reliability and consistency in their work. Recognizing this trait fosters trust and ensures projects finish on time.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Identifies and addresses issues without requiring constant supervision.”
• Constructive: “Needs to show a stronger sense of ownership and accountability.”

Flexibility

Flexibility reflects an employee’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Recognizing this quality fosters resilience, encouraging team members to embrace challenges.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Balances many priorities and deadlines.”
• Constructive: “Shows resistance to taking on new responsibilities or challenges.”

Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are crucial for fostering collaboration. Employees who communicate, build strong relationships, resolve conflicts, and build teams.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Demonstrates exceptional ability to communicate and build rapport.”
• Constructive: “Requires development in building and maintaining positive relationships with colleagues.”

Leadership

Effective leaders inspire their teams. They communicate clearly, set expectations, and foster a collaborative environment.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Identifies opportunities for improvement and drives innovation.”
• Constructive: “Needs to better communicate the company’s vision and goals to the team.”

Teamwork

Teamwork is essential for success. Recognizing collaboration encourages employees to support each other, share ideas, and stay positive.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Demonstrates exceptional teamwork and collaboration.”
• Constructive: “Requires development in conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.”

Time Management

Effective time management is crucial for productivity. Employees prioritizing tasks and meeting deadlines contribute to team success. Recognizing this skill fosters growth in the workplace.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Manages time to avoid bottlenecks and delays.”
• Constructive: “Requires better organization and planning to manage workload.”

Productivity

Assessing productivity involves recognizing accomplishments and identifying areas for improvement. Effective comments inspire employees to maintain high performance levels.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Is a self-starter who takes initiative to improve efficiency.”
• Constructive: “Needs to improve focus and attention to detail.”

Proactivity

Proactivity reflects an employee’s initiative and ability to anticipate needs. Recognizing proactive behaviors encourages team members to take ownership of their roles.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Seeks out new opportunities to improve processes and outcomes.”
• Constructive: “Tends to be reactive rather than proactive in addressing issues.”

Communication Skills

Effective communication skills enhance collaboration. Clear, concise feedback fosters understanding and encourages open dialogue. This leads to improved team dynamics and successful project outcomes. Listening is crucial here too.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Is an effective listener who seeks to understand others’ perspectives.”
• Constructive: “Requires development in written communication skills.”

Decision Making

Effective decision-making is crucial for employees. It involves analyzing situations, weighing options, and choosing the best course of action.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Analyzes complex situations and identifies optimal solutions.”
• Constructive: “Tends to be hesitant in making decisions and seeks excessive approval.”

Creativity

Creativity shines through innovative problem-solving and fresh ideas. Recognizing an employee’s unique contributions helps innovation. It encourages others to think outside the box as well.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Challenges the status quo and seeks new ways to improve processes.”
• Constructive: “Requires encouragement to take risks and experiment with new ideas.”

Job Knowledge

Job knowledge reflects an employee’s understanding of their role and responsibilities. It showcases expertise, ensuring tasks are performed efficiently and effectively.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Shares knowledge with colleagues and contributes to team success.”
  Constructive: “Has a good understanding of job requirements but needs to apply knowledge.”

Compliance

Compliance reflects an employee’s adherence to company policies and legal regulations. Recognizing their understanding of compliance builds accountability and integrity within the organization.

Some example comments include:

• Positive: “Serves as a role model for compliance within the team.”
• Constructive: “Has a good understanding of requirements but needs to apply knowledge more.”

But this isn’t all you need to do!

Tips for Effective Performance Evaluations

Performance evaluations are harder than just about anything else. You need to have listening skills, adaptability for each member of your team, and the time to get work done.

Reviewing Past and Present Performance

Reviewing past and present performance helps identify growth areas. It highlights patterns, strengths, and weaknesses, enabling managers to provide tailored feedback for future development. Insightful evaluations drive improvement.
Think about their professional growth over the last year. Maybe they are completing tasks at a faster rate or maybe their communications with stakeholders have improved. These are things to remember! If you have a performance management system, it might be a good idea to take notes on how things have changed.

Writing Clear and Honest Comments

Clarity and honesty are key in performance reviews. Use straightforward language, avoid jargon, and provide specific examples to ensure your comments resonate with employees effectively.

If you’re stuck, use some of the performance review examples listed above.

Using Concrete Examples

Concrete examples provide clarity and context. They help illustrate points more vividly, making feedback actionable. Specific instances resonate better with employees, fostering understanding and improvement in performance reviews.

Why does this work? If someone needs improvement in a specific area, they need to know why and how. For example, if someone needs better time management skills, you want to say when they negatively impacted outcomes because they didn’t manage their time well. Or maybe you want to tie it back to overall performance. If someone exceeds expectations in their role, why did they? Use examples!

Ending on a Positive Note

Ending performance reviews on a positive note fosters motivation. Highlight achievements and express appreciation for effort, encouraging employees to build on their strengths moving forward. It sets the right tone.

Practice positive evaluation phrases during the year too – this isn’t just for annual reviews.

Using AI for Performance Review Comments

AI can streamline performance review comments, offering data-driven insights and suggestions. It helps managers craft personalized feedback, enhancing the accuracy and clarity of evaluations for employees.

However, we do need to be sure that we prioritize real feedback about the work environment. AI doesn’t always understand things that aren’t measurable with data. While it is a creative solution to a problem many companies have, it won’t replace good leaders and HR managers.

If performance reviews are just about completing tasks within a certain timeline, then AI can help. However, if your company is interested in high-quality work and professional development, there still needs to be human interaction.
That isn’t to say you can’t have automation! We know managers struggle to meet deadlines, especially when they have multiple direct reports. Instead of using AI, human resources should find technology and innovative solutions.

Avoiding Common Mistakes in Comments

Avoid vague language and generalizations. Focus on specific behaviors instead. Steer clear of emotional tones to maintain professionalism, ensuring comments are constructive and relevant to employee performance.

You want to think about competencies that matter. For example, something about customer experience probably doesn’t matter to someone working as a freelance writer. Or maybe it does – you need to have a performance review template that aligns with your business.

Making Supervisor Comments and Recommendations

Crafting supervisor comments and recommendations is key to an effective performance review. These insights should be actionable, specific, and constructive. Tailor your feedback to each employee’s strengths and areas for growth. When making recommendations, focus on the future.

Highlight skills they can develop or projects that align with their goals. Be supportive but realistic in setting expectations. Remember to balance praise with constructive criticism. This approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement while motivating employees to reach their potential. How you convey your thoughts impacts employee engagement and productivity. Thoughtful supervisor comments help create a clearer path forward for everyone involved.

Ready for Better Performance Reviews?

Crafting effective performance review comments is a crucial skill for any manager. By following these guidelines, you can create a positive and productive review process. One that isn’t tedious, but instead drives employee engagement and development.

Ready to streamline your performance management process? Mitratech Trakstar is a comprehensive platform simplifying performance reviews, goal setting, and feedback. With features to improve communication and alignment, we empower you to achieve more.