Staff performance review

A performance review is a planned conversation, usually once a year, about how someone's work is going, what support they need and what comes next. For a small charity it doesn't need to be complicated. Done well, nothing in it is a surprise, because the person and their supervisor have talked regularly through the year.

This template is for staff who report to the executive director or another supervisor. The executive director's own review is the board's job; use our executive director review template for that.

How to use it

• Agree goals at the start of the year, three to five of them, tied to the job description and the charity's plan. The review then looks back at those.
• Ask the employee to fill in Part 2 first, a week or two before the meeting.
• Base it on the work, with specific examples from the whole year, not just the last month.
• Meet in private, for about an hour, and listen at least as much as you talk.
• Agree next year's goals and support, sign it, give the employee a copy, and keep one in their personnel file.
• Keep pay decisions clear. If the review feeds a raise, say how. If it doesn't, say that too.

Keep it fair

• Use the same process for everyone in similar roles, and the same rating scale.
• Rate the work, not the person. Avoid comments on personality, age, health, family or anything unrelated to the job.
• Don't punish people for raising concerns. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lists giving "a performance evaluation that is lower than it should be" as an example of retaliation when it's done because someone took part in protected activity, such as complaining about discrimination or harassment, asking for a disability or religious accommodation, or asking coworkers about pay to uncover discriminatory wages. Retaliation is against the law.
• Raise problems when they happen, not for the first time in the review. A review shouldn't be the first warning.