How to Create Employee Evaluation Forms [Free Templates]

Today's workers are craving more feedback—and giving it benefits your company, too. According to Gallup, 80% of employees who've received meaningful feedback in the past week feel more engaged. So, what does this mean for your performance review process?

Frequent feedback can be casual check-ins or regular coaching from managers, but the most consistently scheduled feedback comes from the employee evaluation. If you want to create a culture where frequent feedback is the norm, you'll need to drop the annual employee review and make sure your managers are equipped with the right forms to have these conversations more often.

Evaluation forms set the stage for a constructive, open dialogue. Building a collection of downloadable form templates makes it easy for people to access the form they need to do their assessments fairly and accurately, whether it's a peer review for a coworker or a quarterly managerial evaluation.

BambooHR has easy-to-use, customizable tools HR teams need to enhance the employee experience and performance management process. Read on to learn why employee evaluation forms are so valuable and how you can use different templates to keep your company in sync.

What Is an Employee Evaluation Form?

An employee evaluation form is an assessment employers use to benchmark performance and discuss feedback. A key part of the company's review process, evaluation forms provide a blueprint for managers and employees to follow while highlighting accomplishments, setting goals, and discussing development opportunities.

Evaluation forms also serve as documented proof of each employee's performance at your company. You can use this data to identify key workforce trends, monitor individual and team-wide progress, and uncover impactful ways for your organization to improve.

What to Include On Your Employee Evaluation Form

Standardized performance management tools and processes help make assessing employees easier—you'll know exactly what questions to ask and your employees will know what to expect. Different employee review forms may apply to different touchpoints in the performance management cycle, and they can also vary by department, but establishing templates helps ensure your assessments are conducted fairly and consistently across the board.

To help you get started, here are some sections we suggest including on your employee evaluation forms:

Basic Recordkeeping Data

Every employee evaluation form should have a section for basic recordkeeping data. This makes it easier to keep accurate employees' personnel files and preview past performance as needed. This section can include:

• Evaluation type (managerial review, 360-degree review, etc.)
• Employee name, job title, and department
• Direct supervisor's name and job title
• Reviewer's name and job title
• Performance review period
• Evaluation date

Evaluation Rating System Key

Describe how your employee rating system works in detail. Being upfront about your scale helps employees understand how they're graded and provides greater transparency into your system, which builds trust and accountability into your evaluation program. PerformYard outlines several common performance rating scales, such as:

Likert Scale

Likert scales gauge a person's level of agreement with a given statement by presenting an equal number of positive and negative responses. This scale usually offers five choices, but you can create any number of options. For instance:

Strongly Agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly Disagree

Semantic Scale

Semantic scales gauge where a person's response falls on a spectrum with polar opposites, which are labeled at either end. For example, you could ask your employee to rate their level of job satisfaction like this:

Unsatisfied | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | Satisfied

#-Point Rating Scale

Many organizations use anywhere from a 3-point rating scale to a 5-point rating scale to assess performance, goals, competencies, and other metrics. For example, a 4-point rating scale may look something like this:

• 1 = Needs Development
• 2 = Meets Expectations
• 3 = Exceeds Expectations
• 4 = Outstanding

Performance Goals Section

Add space for your employee's goals. Whether they set their own goals or a manager does it for them, these measurable milestones create a roadmap for your employees to follow until the next review period.

Comments Section

The comments section is where you and your employee jot down any extra notes that would be helpful for this assessment and the next. Every person's career path is different, and this part of your form helps you account for any unique or unforeseen circumstances that may arise.

Employee and Reviewer Signature Lines

Make it official! Signing the review form confirms that you hosted this meeting with your employee, you both discussed the feedback on the form, and they understand what's expected of them between now and their next evaluation.

» To view our examples, jump to: 7 Employee Evaluation Form Templates

10 Best Practices for Employee Evaluations

Effective performance management gives your employees the feedback they need to see themselves with your company long-term, which can boost employee retention and satisfaction. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

1. Keep your questionnaires short and sweet. Asking simple, straightforward questions helps prevent survey fatigue and can yield better responses.
2. Train your reviewers. Be sure your managers know how to run your employee evaluation program, perform accurate, unbiased assessments, and communicate feedback well.
3. Go digital. Performance management tools are more efficient than pen and paper and make it easier to track employee progress.
4. Tailor the evaluation to the role. Make sure your forms have criteria that specifically pertain to the employee's position at your company. For example, the evaluation forms for your sales team may not be as relevant to your marketing team.
5. Incorporate self-evaluations. Asking employees to review their own performance increases self-awareness, promotes fairness, and provides valuable insights into the employee experience.
6. Check and recheck for biases. From your management team to the forms themselves, limiting subjectivity with an evidence-based evaluation system helps prevent unfairly skewed results.
7. Set actionable goals. Use a goal-setting framework that's realistic, easy to measure, and relevant to the employee's role and your business's future (e.g., SMART goals and OKRs).
8. Find growth opportunities. As your employees grow, so does your company. Identify ways to develop your employees and tailor their career path in mutually beneficial ways.
9. Be proactive about performance issues. If someone struggles in their role, quickly step in to understand why and address the roadblock.
10. Celebrate wins. Your employees are doing great work! A thoughtful rewards and recognition system encourages people to keep doing their best and lets them know you value their contributions.

What Not to Do During Employee Evaluations

Giving feedback can feel tricky, but it doesn't have to be. To help you navigate the evaluation process, we've outlined some common mistakes to avoid:

• Don't make it one-sided. An employee review should be a two-way exchange. This is where those open-ended questions and blank comment sections come in handy.
• Don't be vague. Employee evaluations set expectations. It's easier for someone to understand what they're doing well and what they need to work on if the reviewer communicates those concepts clearly.
• Don't let AI go unchecked. ChatGPT can certainly be helpful, but it has limitations. AI is known to incorporate bias, inaccuracies, and other issues, so be sure to monitor its usage.
• Don't overemphasize weaknesses. Focusing solely on what needs to improve can feel demoralizing. Your employees should walk away from an evaluation knowing what they need to work on and what they did well.
• Don't misguide under-performers. Honest assessments yield better results. You should let employees know when they're not meeting expectations, so they can work with you to get back on track as soon as possible.
• Don't give "surprise" feedback. Your employees should have a good idea of where they stand before their review. It's better to address problems in real-time and review how the situation went during an evaluation.

» Learn More: 9 Ways to Help an Underperforming Employee Succeed

7 Employee Evaluation Form Templates to Try

Here are some examples of different employee evaluation forms. No matter which ones your company uses, your employees should leave their performance review meetings knowing how well they're doing in their role today and what steps they need to take next.

Remember to make it your own! There's no single evaluation form for every organization. Feel free to tailor these examples and others to fit your company, as well as its individual departments, teams, and roles.

General Managerial Review Template

Managers evaluate employee performance based on a variety of skills and behaviors. A general review form with feedback space for each metric makes it easy to give detailed guidance and praise where appropriate.

Numerical Scale Review Template

An employee review that uses a numerical scale is fast and simple to complete. Simply rate the employee according to your grading system and average their score at the end. Just be sure to add goals, wins, comments, and anything else that personalizes the assessment.

Peer Review Form Questions

Peer reviews give your employees the chance to receive valuable feedback from their colleagues. Companies typically use anonymous peer review forms, encouraging people to give open, honest feedback. But be sure to set expectations for this review that'll help your employees maintain a respectful tone and strike the right balance between praise and criticism.

Collaboration

• My coworker works with colleagues inclusively and welcomes an open dialogue.
• My coworker works with others to resolve potential problems early.
• My coworker takes responsibility for their mistakes.

Communication

• My coworker communicates clearly and effectively with their colleagues.
• My coworker responds to their coworkers and managers promptly.
• My coworker actively seeks feedback from the rest of their team.

Results

• On team projects, my coworker delivers quality work.
• My coworker helps other team members meet their goals, as needed.
• My coworker takes the initiative to ensure projects get completed on time.

Ethics and values

• My coworker adheres to the company's code of conduct and values.
• My coworker treats others with respect and professionalism.
• My coworker is a positive role model for new team members.

Employee Self-Evaluation Form Questions

Employees assess their own performance on a self-evaluation form. They use this form to reflect on past accomplishments and areas for improvement, and you get to learn more about how their experience aligns with your point of view. Many companies ask employees and managers to fill out the same assessment form, but some create different questions for self-evaluations, such as:

• What are some things I do well?
• How could I improve?
• How well does my company recognize my value? Choose one:
  • I feel highly valued.
  • I sometimes feel valued.
  • I'm not sure others value what I do.
  • I don't feel valued at my company.
• What would have the greatest impact on my ability to do my best work? Choose one:
  • A better defined company direction or purpose
  • Colleagues more committed to doing great work
  • Work that better fits my strengths
  • I have what I need to do my best work every day.
  • Other:
• How have I demonstrated the company's core values recently?
• What achievements am I most proud of this quarter/year?
• What goals would I like to accomplish in the upcoming quarter/year?

30-60-90 Day Review Form

A 30-60-90 day review is for new employees. Companies use these to assess performance based on the goals set for their first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job. In these meetings, you'll discuss whether the employee accomplished their goals, gather feedback on how they're doing, and establish their next steps.

360-degree Review Form Questions

Employers use 360-degree review forms to collect feedback from multiple sources about a single employee to gain a holistic view of their performance. During this review, you may ask the person's manager, peers, and direct reports to fill out the assessment and have the employee do a self-evaluation.

The questions below come from different perspectives and can be reframed to suit open-ended and graded review formats.

360-degree review questions for peers and direct reports:

• What are this person's strengths/weaknesses?
• How would you describe this person in three words?
• What motivates this person to reach their goals?
• How can this person develop professionally?
• How well does this person manage their workload?
• How flexible is this person when team priorities change?
• How well does this person meet deadlines?
• Which company values has this person demonstrated recently?

360-degree review questions for managers:

• Does this manager set clear goals and direction for your team?
• How does this manager reward individual or team-wide wins?
• Can you rely on this supervisor to support you at work?
• Does this manager handle conflict appropriately?
• How does this manager guide the team when the company's priorities change?
• What development activities could help this person become a better leader?
• How does this manager foster inclusivity on your team?
• Which company values does this person encourage in your department?
• What do I appreciate most about this manager?

Essay Employee Evaluation Form

Essay employee evaluation forms are typically 100% open response. The reviewer has the freedom to customize their assessment beyond traditional scoring constraints, but they're often more prone to personal bias. An essay review form requires clear-cut instructions to limit subjectivity.