Performance Review Questions: 50 Of the Best Questions to Ask

For many HR professionals and managers, performance reviews and questions are a valuable touchpoint that promotes personal connections and continuous improvement.

But your employees may disagree. In a study by McKinsey, over half of surveyed employees reported that performance reviews have no impact on employee performance.

Instead, performance reviews can feel like a stressful ritual where scrutiny isn't paired with helpful next steps. This may be why many companies are moving away from number-based performance reviews.

For these employees, the problem might not be the concept of performance reviews, but the performance review questions you’re asking. We’ve gathered 50 of the best review questions to fuel inspiring and motivating conversations.

What Happens During a Performance Review?

A performance review is an opportunity for leaders to discuss an employee’s strengths and weaknesses, looking at ways to help underperforming employees improve.

It’s also a time when you might offer your employee a promotion or raise. You should also allow the employee a chance to ask questions for feedback on performance.

Where To Start When Planning Effective Performance Review Questions

Performance reviews can be a daunting prospect for both employers and employees. That’s why we’re here to help. We referenced Gallup’s Q12 survey, which combines performance management into 12 core statements.

1. I know what’s expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I’ve received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There’s someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9. My associates and fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I’ve had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

The 4 Best Self-Evaluation Performance Review Questions for Employees

Self-evaluation questions are a key element of the self-assessment process. These questions provide an opportunity to compare an employee’s evaluation of their own performance against how their manager perceives their work to highlight any discrepancies.

For example, in BambooHR® Performance Management, we ask four employee evaluation questions:

1. How well does my company recognize my value?
2. What would have the greatest impact on my ability to do my best work more often?
3. What are some things I do well?
4. How could I improve?

We created Performance Management to transform traditional performance reviews. In the past, these reviews were long, annual, or semi-annual sessions with lots of tough performance review questions.

Dreading a review cycle serves nobody’s interests and makes it more likely that they’ll be put off or rushed. As for only scheduling them once or twice a year, most of us can’t remember what we had for lunch yesterday, let alone remember what we were working on six months ago.

Reviews have a bigger impact when they’re relevant to what’s going on in your employees’ daily work. Making them more frequent takes some of the weight off, which allows employees and managers to communicate more openly.

Top Performance Review Questions for a 360° Review

In addition to self-assessments, include your employee’s peers and colleagues in the performance review process. This will give you a more comprehensive view of their performance, with feedback from different stakeholders.

A 360° review incorporates feedback from people who work closely with an employee. These colleagues are well-positioned to offer insights into what an employee does well—and where there may be room for further improvement.

The colleagues can be at the same level, above, or subordinates. What matters is that you get feedback from different people across the business.

We recommend designating some performance review questions to keep the feedback structured and make it as simple and effective as possible to gather valuable insights.

8 Performance Peer Feedback Questions to Ask

Depending on the scope of your performance review process, you could use all of these questions or select just a few. Here are eight performance feedback questions to ask colleagues:

1. Describe a meaningful contribution that [Name] has made since the last review window.
2. Which company values have you seen [Name] emulating well in the last few months?
3. What types of projects does [Name] excel at? Please give examples.
4. What impact has [Name] had on the team?
5. In what way(s) did [Name] contribute to the company’s current goal of [insert specific company goal]?
6. What are some positive interactions you’ve noticed between [Name] and others?
7. What are the main strengths of [Name] that should be leveraged going forward?
8. What are some areas of development for [Name]?

Additional Ideas for Performance Review Questions

While standard questions can help you track performance over time, you may also need to include customized questions that speak to your specific teams and business challenges.

Here are some additional questions you may consider incorporating into your performance reviews.

General Performance Review Questions

1. Are you happy at [company]?
2. Would you recommend working here to your friends?
3. What do you enjoy most about working for [company]?
4. Looking back, how has your manager helped you improve and do your best work? Please share 1–2 examples.
5. In what ways can [Name] help you improve?
6. What training do you feel you need to improve?
7. Do you feel comfortable taking risks and approaching your manager with new ideas? Why or why not?
8. What training do you wish you had/would you like to have?
9. What experience, project, or action are you most proud of since the last review?
10. Which of our company values did you live best in the last few months?
11. How has your manager helped you achieve your goals during the past few months?
12. What do you enjoy most about the work you do?
13. What skill or knowledge do people on your team or at the company rely on you to provide?
14. What would colleagues or clients say about their recent interactions with you?

Goal-Oriented Manager or Employee Review Questions

1. How have you met corporate goals/values this quarter/year?
2. How well have you achieved your goals this quarter/year?
3. How do I show that I am solution-oriented and responsive in my role? / How does [Name] demonstrate that they are solution-oriented and responsive?
4. What are your personal development goals (new skills, knowledge, work experience) to help you maximize your performance and potential?
5. What project/goal(s) would you like to focus on in the next quarter/six months/ year?
6. What corporate/personal goals did you accomplish? Which goals fell short?

Future-Focused Performance Review Questions for Employees or Managers

1. What special projects have you worked on this past quarter/year?
2. What do you hope to be doing within the company one year from now? What about five years from now?
3. What do you want your next position to be at this company?
4. Going forward, what do you need from your manager to better support you in your role?
5. What do you need to better support [Name] in doing their best work and/or achieving growth?
6. What are your top three priorities for the next six to 12 months?

Questions to Ask in a Performance Review as an Employee

Performance reviews are also a great opportunity for employees to get feedback and ask for advice from managers. Positive feedback can help your employee feel motivated and engaged, and constructive criticism can help get them on track to achieve their goals.

In fact, two-way dialogue helps employees develop agency over their performance and their professional development.

Here are some questions for employees to ask for feedback on performance:

• Is there room for growth within our team?
• What would make me a good candidate for promotion?
• What is the company’s main challenge at the moment?
• How do you hope the company will grow?
• What can I do to support my team better?