Performance reviews aren’t just about ratings, they’re an opportunity to reflect on progress, reset expectations, and recognize contributions. When done thoughtfully, they help employees grow, managers lead better, and organizations achieve real results.

This mid-year template is designed to make that process simple and actionable. Whether you're an HR leader managing cycles across departments or a team lead reviewing direct reports, this guide will help you run structured, balanced, and fair reviews, without getting overwhelmed.

You’ll find six key sections covering goal achievement, execution, skills, values, and more. Each includes suggested questions, rating formats, and comment prompts to help spark meaningful conversations and support effective documentation.

While this template offers a structured approach to performance reviews, Talstack’s performance reviews module takes it a step further, enabling organizations to run streamlined, 360-degree reviews with ease and efficiency.

Section 1: Review Details

Start here to set context for the review.

Fields to complete:

• Review Period
  
  
• Employee Name
  
  
• Employee ID (if applicable)
  
  
• Role / Job Title
  
  
• Department
  
  
• Reviewer Name
  
  
• Reviewer Title
  
  

Section 2: Goal Achievement

Rationale: The most important performance signal is whether the employee is achieving their goals, and whether their contributions are helping the broader organisation achieve its goals

Sample Question: How well did the employee perform against their goals?

Choose a format:

• Rating scale (1–5):
  1 = Unsatisfactory
  2 = Below Expectations
  3 = Met Expectations
  4 = Exceeded Expectations
  5 = Outstanding
  
  
• Percentage: Ideal for numeric goals or KPIs
  
  

Comments (required):

• Both employee and manager should provide evidence (e.g. list goals and describe progress) to support their rating.
  
  
• Alternatively, the employee can write their self-review first, and then the manager is simply agreeing with the employee’s observations about their goal achievement, or providing an alternate view of performance in the rating and comments

‍

Section 3: Deliverables, Projects, and Tasks

Rationale: Feedback on the “inputs” is an important part of the performance review process, because it helps the employee understand whether they are executing well, regardless of whether or not the end results are achieved (e.g. in cases where there are acceptable external factors that limited the impact of their contributions)

Sample Question: How well did the employee execute on key deliverables and tasks?

Choose a format:

• Rating scale (1–5)
  
  
• Percentage of deliverables completed (e.g. 4 out of 5 = 80%)
  
  

Comments (required):

• Employee and Manager both have to provide evidence to support their rating (e.g. state each major deliverable, project or task and how well the employee delivered)
  
  
• Alternatively, the employee can write their self-review first, and then the manager is simply agreeing with the employee’s observations, or providing an alternate view of performance in the rating and comments
  
  

Section 4: Competencies, Skills & Capabilities

Rationale: Feedback on the employee’s competencies, skills and capabilities enables them to understand if they are operating at a level that is consistent with the expectations of their role, or in many cases helps them get clarity if they are either lacking critical competencies (in which case they’ll likely be struggling in certain areas of their job) or displaying competencies beyond their level (in which case they might be ready for increased responsibility, a new role or a promotion).
‍

Option 1: Competency ratings

• Sample Question: Rate the employee’s demonstration of the core competencies for their role?
  
  
• Rating scale (1–5)
  
  
• Comments (Required)
  
  • Employee and Manager both have to list supporting evidence (e.g. write each competency and a comment on the person’s demonstration of that competence)

OR 

• Break the question into multiple questions, with one question for each specific competency area. E.g. if your organisation has 5 competency areas, then you break this into 5 questions each addressing a specific competency
  ‍

Option 2: Strengths & Development Areas

• Sample Question A: What are three areas of strength the employee demonstrates?
  
  
• Sample Question B: What are three areas the employee should focus on improving?
  
  
• Format: Open-ended comments from both employee and manager
  
  

Section 5: Behaviours and Values

Rationale: Feedback on the employee’s demonstration of the company’s values enables them to understand if they are contributing to the company’s culture or behaving in ways that are contradictory to the agreed values and culture.

Sample Question: How well does the employee align with the company’s values?

Format:

• Rating scale (1–5)
  
  
• Optional: Break this into individual questions for each value
  
  

Comments (required):

• Employee and Manager both have to list supporting evidence (e.g. write each value and a comment on the person’s demonstration of that value)

OR 

• Break the question into multiple questions, with one question for each specific value area. E.g. if your organisation has 5 values, then you break this into 5 separate questions each addressing a specific value

‍

Section 6: Responsiveness to Feedback

Rationale: Assessing an employee’s responsiveness to prior feedback ensures accountability from one review to the next, and also ensures that feedback isn’t falling into a vacuum.

Sample Question: How much has the employee acted on feedback given in the last review?

Format:

• Rating scale (1–5)
  
  

Comments (required):

• Both employee and manager should note specific feedback given and progress observed
  
  

This template gives you a solid foundation for meaningful, structured reviews. But if you're looking to save time, boost participation, and connect performance insights to employee development, Talstack’s performance reviews module is built for you.

You can conduct 360°cycles in minutes, customize questions to fit your culture, track completion and export insights all in one place. Try it free today!