Performance Review Template: Why 70% of Managers Get It Wrong

Nearly 7 out of 10 workers would quit their jobs due to having a bad manager, according to LinkedIn's latest workforce survey.

What separates good managers from the 70% that are clearly getting it wrong? Often, it comes down to performance reviews. Successful performance reviews may mean the difference between employees feeling heard and feeling dismissed.

The hidden cost of poor performance management

The performance management crisis is genuinely expensive: when employees are unhappy, they leave. But here's a core issue most managers miss - the struggle with effective meeting minutes during performance reviews. The contrast is clear: 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week. Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their roles. Companies that provide consistent feedback report turnover rates 14.9% lower than companies where employees receive minimal input.

There's a way to escape this performance management nightmare. This guide gives you a free performance review template that you can copy and use immediately, plus a step-by-step methodology for conducting reviews that leave your employees feeling listened to and valued.

The key to effective performance review documentation is using a proven structure for preparing meeting minutes that captures essential information without disrupting conversation flow. This template serves as your meeting minutes framework for performance discussions:

Your free 'copy-paste' performance review template

Employee: [Name]
Date: [Date]
Period: [Review Period]

Overview

We discussed [Employee]'s performance over the past [period], covering achievements, challenges, and plans for moving forward.

Last Period

What went well: [Key successes and strengths shown]
What didn't go well: [Challenges faced or areas needing improvement]
Support needed: [Resources, guidance, or help they've requested]

Next Period

Objectives: [What they'll focus on achieving]
Development: [Training, skills, or growth opportunities planned]

Other Discussion Points

[Any additional topics covered - career goals, concerns, feedback about team/company]

Actions

[Any actions agreed during the review]

Next Review: [Date]

Before the meeting: preparing your template

This template will work best when you've done some preparation work first. Start by reviewing the objectives and development activities from your last review meeting - these will help prepare you to complete the "Last Period" section accurately.

Spend some time jotting down initial thoughts in each section before the meeting. In the "What went well" section, note specific examples you want to discuss. For "What didn't go well," think about challenges they faced and how you can frame these constructively. The "Support needed" section should include both what they previously requested and new support you think might help.

For the "Next Period" section, come prepared with draft objectives and potential development opportunities, but stay flexible—the best goals often emerge from the conversation itself.

During the meeting: working through each section

Important: Throughout the review - make sure that you are both sharing your own feedback but are also handing over to your employee and giving them the time and opportunity to share their own thoughts on their performance.

Overview

Start by explaining how you plan to structure the review, which should replicate the template structure. For example: "I thought we'd work through the last period first, then plan ahead, and capture any actions we agree on."

Last Period - What went well

Start with their previous objectives. For example: "Looking at the objectives we set last period, let's begin with increasing email open rates by 20%—you actually achieved 28%. What worked well for you?" Capture their specific achievements against agreed targets.

Last Period - What didn't go well

Address objectives they didn't fully hit. For example: "The social media follower growth target of 50% wasn't quite reached—we got to 35%. What do you think held that back? What can we do differently next time?"

Support needed

This will often emerge from the previous section. For example: "You mentioned the social media tools felt limiting. What support would help you hit those growth targets?"

Next Period - Objectives

Let new objectives emerge naturally from the performance conversation. Perhaps some objectives can carry over into the next period. Ask them what they'd like to focus on and shape their aspirations into specific, measurable goals. For example: "Given your success with email marketing, should we push that further this year? And for social media, what would be a realistic but stretching target?"

Next Period - Development

Focus on practical development that supports their objectives. For example: "You mentioned wanting more confidence when presenting - what kind of development would help with that? How about a training course?"

Other Discussion Points

This isn't something you need to formally run through. Use this section for broader conversations or topics that don't fit the performance structure, like: long-term career goals, feedback about team dynamics, concerns about company direction, or suggestions for process improvements.

Actions

This isn't something you need to formally run through. Use this section to capture the specific commitments you've both made during the review—both your promises to them and their commitments to development activities.

The problem with manual documentation

The template and methodology above will dramatically improve your performance reviews. However, there are still clear downsides to this approach: you're still manually making notes, trying to remember everything, turning those notes into a formal template afterwards, then sharing the document with your employee. Even with a great template, it's still a lot of administrative work - which is why utilising meeting minutes software like Voxxy to automate the process is a game changer.

How Voxxy transforms performance reviews

With Voxxy as your meeting recorder and minutes taking software, there's no need to manually document anything during the meeting. You can be 100% present in the conversation instead of being the meeting minute taker. Focus on driving the review and truly engaging with your employee. Your recording is automatically transformed into structured meeting minutes using this exact template in less than 1 minute after the meeting ends.

Our meeting minutes application lets you review the transcript and document, make changes using AI or manually, and then easily copy it out and paste it into an email to share with your employee. They get professional, comprehensive meeting minutes of your discussion, and you've spent zero time on administrative tasks.

For teams conducting multiple performance reviews who want to eliminate documentation burden entirely, this meeting minutes program converts crucial conversations into strategic development documents while maintaining professional standards.

Ready to transform your performance review process? Reach out to learn more about our professional meeting documentation solution: hello@voxxy.app