How can you write annual performance review comments that make your employees grow (and not shrink)?
What commentary should you write for your annual appraisal?
This is often a complex exercise, because any good manager knows that his or her appraisal must be sufficiently representative of reality, while remaining concise, and must reveal the employee's strong points, as well as the areas for improvement.
The stakes are high here, because it's just as much about helping the employee to develop as it is about helping the company to perform.
So how do you ensure that this meeting becomes the most constructive exchange possible?
This article gives you some valuable advice, and provides not just one example of an annual appraisal comment, but several! This will give you a good idea of the best practices to apply in different situations 😉.
Definition of annual appraisal feedback
As a brief reminder, the annual appraisal is a meeting between an employee and his or her manager which takes place, unsurprisingly, once a year. Its purpose? To take stock of the past twelve months.
Have the objectives been achieved?
What have been the successes, or on the contrary, the difficulties encountered?
What priorities should be identified for the period ahead?
What about the employee's needs and ambitions (career development, skills development, etc.)?
In this case, the annual performance review comments are the conclusions of the discussion, set out so that the employee can receive feedback from their manager. However, don't confuse this comment with the interview report !
Its main purpose is to summarise the points raised during the meeting and to reflect the impressions of each party. In a way, it's a personal and subjective summary, providing food for thought.
The annual review report, on the other hand, takes the form of an official, structured document, summarising all the points discussed. More detailed, it serves as a written reference for HR decisions.
Importance and role of annual performance reviews
For the manager
For the manager, this document plays an important role, quite simply because it enables :
- conclude the discussion;
- share feedback with the employee.
Written in a sympathetic way, it helps the employee to understand their weak points, not just to point them out, but to suggest real avenues for improvement that will consolidate their professional development. And that, in turn, will help the company achieve its objectives!
Of course, it's also important to congratulate the employee on all their successes, their qualities, their good attitudes and so on.
In short, as you will have realised, this is a skilful balancing act, where what needs to be said needs to be said, while opening up a constructive dialogue to help establish a solid relationship of trust.
For the employee
As far as the employee is concerned, the comments made at the annual review help them to feel recognised for the work they have done. They mention their qualities and successes... which goes a long way to fostering their commitment!
But as we've seen, it's also important to point out the things that are going wrong. In this respect, interview comments are powerful levers for progress.
Finally, this document enables you to formalise the objectives to be achieved, and thus intelligently guide the way in which the employee works.
Examples of comments from annual reviews
Example of a positive comment from an annual review
Your ability to exceed your quarterly targets while maintaining an impeccable quality of work is a real asset to the team. You have demonstrated inspirational leadership, particularly in managing Project X, where your proactive approach and attention to detail led to outstanding results.
In addition to your technical skills, you also contributed to team cohesion by sharing your knowledge and supporting your colleagues at critical moments. These results are a testament to your commitment and willingness to drive projects forward.
🎯 The aim of this comment is to highlight your performance and encourage you to maintain this level of excellence. NB: there's no point "forcing" yourself to identify areas for improvement if the employee seems to you to be truly irreproachable 😉.
Example of an annual performance review with areas for improvement
You've had a solid year, achieving your main objectives while ensuring excellent collaboration within the team. Your management of deadlines and clear communication with customers were particularly appreciated.
However, some complex situations highlighted opportunities for development, particularly in managing conflicts or unforeseen circumstances. With targeted support, these skills can become a real lever for improving your overall performance. The coming year could be the ideal opportunity to work on these points and maximise your impact in high-pressure contexts.
🎯 The aim of this commentary: to congratulate and open up relevant prospects for improvement for both the employee and the company.
Example of an annual review comment if performance is inadequate
This year has been marked by difficulties in achieving certain key objectives.
However, your perseverance and commitment to progress are encouraging signs for the future. You have shown a real willingness to learn, as demonstrated by your efforts to master the Y tool.
It would be beneficial if we could work together to explore ways of prioritising your tasks and organising your time to optimise your results. I remain convinced that, with the right tools and a tailored support plan, you can regain positive momentum and achieve your goals.
🎯 The aim of this commentary is to provide honest feedback while encouraging effort and potential for improvement.
Example of an annual review comment if you've recently taken up a new post
Your integration into the team has been very natural, and your contributions in the first few weeks have been remarkable. You quickly got to grips with your tasks and demonstrated an ability to adapt that made your transition into the job much easier. Your enthusiasm and positive energy have also had a motivating effect on your colleagues, creating a collaborative working environment. It's clear that you have the skills and attitude to excel in this role.
Let's continue to build your technical expertise and broaden your responsibilities to maximise your impact.
🎯 The aim of this commentary: to highlight a successful integration, without forgetting to encourage ongoing development.
Example of an annual interview comment for an employee with stable performance
You continue to bring constant value to the team thanks to your experience and reliability. Your expertise in your field is undeniable, and a valuable resource for your colleagues.
However, to keep progressing and avoid routine, it might be worth exploring new approaches or projects that are outside your comfort zone. This could enable you to acquire additional skills and renew your commitment to more strategic missions. You have all the potential to expand your contribution even further and inspire those around you even more.
🎯 The aim of this comment: to recognise stability while encouraging innovation and diversification.
Example of an annual interview comment for a change in responsibilities
Taking on new responsibilities this year marked an important step in your career. You have risen to the challenge with professionalism and efficiency, particularly in managing strategic decision-making in complex contexts. Your ability to mobilise your team and ensure smooth coordination has contributed to the success of several key projects.
However, this transition also requires adjustment, particularly in terms of delegation and stress management at critical moments. These aspects will be important levers in establishing your role fully in this new dynamic.
🎯 The aim of this commentary is to support your development and identify ways of strengthening the new skills required.
💡 Tip: why not use interview management software? Thanks to them, you can write your comments more easily, based, among other things, on the performance data centralised in these solutions. In other words, you base your feedback on really concrete facts. What's more, these tools simplify the ongoing monitoring of objectives.
Examples of software:
- Skeely automates numerous operations linked to the management and animation of maintenance campaigns, including the production of reports and other comments. Once the associated information has been gathered in Skeely, statistical and GPEC functions can be used to translate the exchanges into concrete actions (training, for example).
- Zest has modernised the annual appraisal, as the employee's quantitative and qualitative performance is fed directly into the Objectives or OKR functionality. Your comments are therefore based on reliable data, making them more constructive. You can then track, directly in Zest, the achievement of the objectives set during these discussions.
8 mistakes to avoid when writing annual appraisal comments
How do you write a good appraisal? On the one hand, by using the examples above, but also by avoiding the following mistakes:
- Being too vague: comments such as "Good work this year" lack detail and frankly don't help the employee to understand their strengths or areas for improvement.
- Focusing solely on negative or positive aspects : an entirely negative comment is demotivating, while an entirely positive comment gives the impression that there is nothing to improve (spoiler, this is rarely the case!).
- Making value judgements: avoid phrases like "You lack ambition " or "You're not right for this role ", which are subjective judgements that can be hurtful.
- Using ambiguous or passive-aggressive language: phrases such as "Perhaps you could try to do better " lack clarity... but also kindness!
- Ignoring the employee's aspirations: if you don't want to frustrate the employee, don't write comments without taking into account the discussions and ambitions expressed beforehand.
- Compare with other team members: pitting an employee against his or her colleagues creates a feeling of injustice or unhealthy competition. And you distract attention from the individual progress of the employee concerned.
- Forgetting to include concrete suggestions: it's vital that you propose concrete areas for development. Don't leave the employee in limbo!
- Failing to provide regular feedback: an annual review comment should not come as a surprise to the employee. If such exchanges only take place once a year, you run the risk of creating a gulf between the employee's perception and yours.
In short, good annual review comments could be characterised by these words: constructive, clear and encouraging.
What can we learn from annual performance reviews?
What is an example of a good appraisal comment? The one that, in the end, really corresponds to the employee's situation. This is where the added value of this exercise lies: personalising the feedback to make it constructive for both the employee and the company.
There are tools to help you with this task: they centralise all the data you need to share information that reflects reality.
In conclusion, annual performance reviews are not just a formality, but an opportunity to nurture the relationship of trust with the employee, to encourage him or her to grow and to prepare together for the challenges of tomorrow 🤝.
Article translated from French