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Home Business Documents Employee Evaluation Form Template

Free Employee Evaluation Template

Use our employee evaluation form to formally review your employees’ performance.

Updated February 2, 2023

An employee evaluation form will help you assess employees consistently and fairly. Employee review is a valuable part of a business. It ensures that workers are held to high standards and given the information needed to improve their job. Many companies conduct performance evaluations annually or twice a year.

The form and content of an employee evaluation form can change to meet your unique needs. An employee performance review template gives you the power to create a printable form you can use with your business.

Table of Contents
  • What is an Employee Evaluation Form?
  • Why Should You Use an Employee Evaluation Form?
  • Types of Employee Performance Evaluation Methods
  • Employee Evaluation Form Sample
  • What to Include in an Employee Evaluation Form?
  • Employee Evaluation Forms Main Formats
  • How to Write an Employee Evaluation?
  • Legal Considerations of Employee Performance Evaluation
  • Employee Evaluation Form FAQs

What is an Employee Evaluation Form?

An employee evaluation form is a document to assess an employee’s job performance and provide feedback. It typically includes questions or a set of criteria used to evaluate specific aspects of the employee’s job, such as their technical skills, teamwork, communication, and overall job performance. The results of the evaluation are used to determine areas of strength and weakness, set performance goals, and provide feedback to the employee on their work.

These documents may be referred to by different names, such as:

  • Employee performance review
  • Performance appraisal form
  • Employee training form

These documents are a useful indicator of the success of a company and its management of employees. A printable employee evaluation form provides the tools necessary to conduct uniform employee evaluations. This gives you the critical information you need to handle human resources decisions and make informed business decisions.

Why Should You Use an Employee Evaluation Form?

You should use employee evaluation forms to improve performance and drive better results. Employees work better when they know what is expected of them. Evaluation forms provide an opportunity to give constructive comments on how to improve. There are many reasons you should utilize performance reviews with your business:

Provide Documented Feedback

Employees are often left in the dark about their performance without a review. If they know how they can improve, they often will. Uniform metrics provide employers with measurable employee data they can use to improve their bottom line.

Assess Employee Performance

Employees who know their work is assessed tend to work better. They know there are standards and they have to meet them. This does not mean a review has to be negative. You can build a form that encourages self-assessment and supervisor input. A template performance review allows you to format your assessments however you like.

When Making Promotion Decisions

When you are ready to promote an employee, you want the best. Performance reviews give you real-time information on an employee’s past work. You can know how the employees have performed to predict their ability to do a new job. It also provides evidence as to why a particular candidate was chosen over another in case of a legal dispute.

Identify Areas for Improvement

An employee evaluation identifies an employee’s strengths and weaknesses, which can help you determine what training or development opportunities are required. Identifying training and development opportunities will allow the employee to gain new skills, build aptitude, and improve their overall work performance.

Improve Communication

Employee evaluations provide a unique opportunity for managers and employers to communicate more clearly, and on a more open level. Strengths and weaknesses can be openly discussed, including career goals, training requirements, and caveats.

Set Goals

Employee evaluations provide a framework for setting and tracking performance goals, which can help employees understand what is expected of them and strive to meet those expectations.

Encourage Growth

By providing regular feedback and opportunities for improvement, employee evaluations can encourage employees to take ownership of their careers and strive for continued growth and development.

Types of Employee Performance Evaluation Methods

There are several different methods for evaluating employee performance; some of the most popular include:

Self-Assessment

You might be interested in employee evaluation using self-assessment questions. Self-awareness is important, and you might be interested in how your employees feel their performances have gone. You can even use self-assessment questions in conjunction with employee evaluation comments left by the manager. Consider including self-assessment questions as a part of the employee evaluation process.

Team Assessment

If you want your business to be successful, you need your employees to work together as a strong team. A team assessment could be helpful. That way, you will have an easier time figuring out which team members are working well together and what might have to be adjusted.

360-Degree Rating

This evaluation allows employees to receive confidential, anonymous feedback from everyone they work with. For example, this process might incorporate feedback from their managers, peers, and people who report directly. Anyone who the employee interacts with daily may contribute to this evaluation.

Peer Review

A peer review process is also important. This is an evaluation that your employees can use to evaluate their colleagues. In some cases, these evaluations are anonymous, which makes it easier for employees to be honest about how they feel they are getting along with their colleagues.

Introductory Period Performance Review

An introductory performance review is typically done after employee onboarding has been completed. This process makes it easier to determine whether employees are a good fit for the role they have been hired for. This may also allow the employee to evaluate his or her training.

30-60-90 Review

It is helpful to receive feedback from many people to help employees do their best. A 30-60-90 review combines feedback from coworkers and managers that will discuss leadership skills, personality, and character. This process can make it easier for employees to figure out how to contribute positively to their work environment.

Employee Evaluation Form Sample

A standard employment evaluation form template provides necessary information you can edit to fit your particular needs. You can download this free employee performance review template in either Word or PDF format.

employee evaluation form

Download PDF
Download MS Word

What to Include in an Employee Evaluation Form?

An employee evaluation form should contain important information documenting the meeting and what happened. It is easier to structure an employee evaluation form using a free template rather than constructing it from scratch. This is where Legal Templates can help.

An employee evaluation form pdf may include many of the following sections.

1. Employee and Supervisor Information

This section should include information such as:

  • Employee’s name
  • Department
  • Position or title
  • Employee ID
  • Name of supervisor/reviewer
  • Supervisor’s title

This section should also include the review period and dates of the evaluation.

2. Easy-to-Understand Rating System

The performance review should contain a rating system that is easy to use and understand. It should set specific guidelines and grades a supervisor can use to assess the employee. You can modify a form template to fit your employment metrics. You can measure employees how you want with clear guidelines. Rating systems may be based on numbers or adjectives such as “Poor,” “Acceptable,” and “Excellent.”

This rating system should include evaluation points to address specific skills or actions. The supervisor and employee should be able to easily understand what is going well and what needs to be improved.

 3. Space for Comments

Every form should have a space for additional comments. A rating system is very useful, but specific supervisor comments document the issues that need to be addressed. Especially when an employee requires improvement in an area, the comment section is incredibly helpful. It may even provide evidence in a later legal cause for termination.

4. Signature Lines

The employee evaluation form template should have an area where the employee and supervisor can both sign and date the document. This proves that the meeting occurred and outlines the details included. A legal signature may be required if the performance review is used as evidence in a court case.

Employee Evaluation Forms Main Formats

In general, there are two separate forms in which employees can receive feedback. It is also possible to include a mixture of each form on a single template. These formats include:

Scorecard

The first format is called a scorecard format. It provides an objective rubric that rates employees in specific areas. It may use a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. Then, the person evaluating the employee will have to rate that specific skill on this scale. Or, the scorecard may include ratings for “exceptional,” “satisfactory,” “unsatisfactory,” or something similar. The main advantage of a scorecard is that it is easier to fill out, but it may also limit the ability of the evaluator to share all of his or her thoughts.

Narrative

The other option is called a narrative format. In this format, the person evaluating the employee will have to answer several questions targeting specific areas. As the name suggests, the evaluator has a lot of freedom to include whatever he or she thinks is important. The main advantage of this format is that the evaluator is free to say what he or she wants, but it may also take longer to fill out.

How to Write an Employee Evaluation?

The entire purpose of an employee evaluation is to give the employee actionable tips that he or she can use to get better at his or her job and provide better performance for the company. Some of the most important tips to keep in mind when writing an employee evaluation include the following:

1. Always Review the Employee’s Job Description First

Before writing an employee evaluation, look at that employee’s job description. You must ensure the feedback you provide is directly related to the employee’s job duties. For example, if you provide an evaluation of employee actions that do not relate directly to his or her job description, the feedback might not be helpful. Make sure the evaluation matches the employee’s job description.

2. Provide Specific Examples

Next, you must provide specific examples to support the information to include in the evaluation. For example, if you feel like the employee tends to miss deadlines, you should provide specific examples of situations where that happened. Or, if you state that the employee has received customer complaints, make sure you provide specific examples. On the other hand, if you have plenty of positive feedback to share, make sure you provide examples of situations where the employee has gone above and beyond. This will make it easier for the employee to determine what to change and keep the same.

3. Critique the Action, Not the Person

Even though you may want to provide a lot of positive feedback, remember that an employee evaluation aims to give the employee information that he or she can use to get better at his or her job. Therefore, you will have to provide constructive feedback along the way, but make sure that you always critique the action, not the person. Your goal is always to correct the behavior and avoid personal attacks.

4. Keep the Evaluation Organized

If you are using a narrative evaluation form, make sure you keep the feedback organized. You do not want to make it hard for the employee or manager to figure out what is being said. The evaluation should have a nice flow, so think carefully about how you want to organize the individual sections. This is another situation where a template can be helpful.

5. Provide Actionable Feedback

Finally, make sure you always provide actionable feedback. At the end of the evaluation, the employee should know what he or she has to do to get better at his or her job. For example, you may want to recommend specific behavioral changes, or you may want to suggest continuing education classes that might be helpful. You may even want to provide the employee with goals to shoot for between this evaluation and the next one. If you give the employee something to aim for, you may provide him or her with additional motivation.

Legal Considerations of Employee Performance Evaluation

When filling out an employee evaluation, several important legal considerations must be considered. They include:

  • Evidence: If the employee or company ever goes to court, reviews can be used as evidence. Evaluators need to keep this in mind when filling out an employee evaluation.
  • Discrimination claims: If a discrimination claim is brought against the company, evidence from the evaluation can be used to support or refute the claim. Furthermore, companies should refrain from using two different templates for two different groups of people unless they fill entirely different job roles.
  • Retaliation: Retaliation is a significant problem in some Industries. The information included in an employee evaluation could be used as evidence to support or refute a retaliation claim. Unfairly downgrading the performance of an employee could be seen as retaliation.

Companies, employees, and managers who keep these points in mind should be able to provide an effective employee evaluation without exposing themselves to legal concerns.

Employee Evaluation Form FAQs

Do employee performance evaluation forms make sense for small businesses?


Yes, employee performance evaluation forms make sense for small businesses as they allow you to review employee performance regularly. Regular evaluations for employees in a business of any size can promote increased employee performance, help make promotion decisions and bring to light any evidence of negative employee performance. 

How do you prepare employee performance reports?


To prepare employee performance reports, you should:

  • Keep up-to-date documentation of each employee and their feedback and performance during the year
  • Allow the employee to perform a self-assessment
  • Communicate with HR to get updates on any incidents
  • Review the employee’s file before the appraisal
  • After the appraisal, create a report from reviewing all documents and employee evaluation forms

What should I write in an employee performance evaluation?


What you should write in an employee performance evaluation depends on the industry and the employee’s position. Typically, you will want to focus on the quality of work, key performance indicators, employee aspirations, communication skills, and other relevant skills. 

Are there any legal issues to consider with evaluation forms for employees?


There are no specific legal issues to consider with evaluation forms for employees, but you should not discriminate against any employee in any way and should be consistent with all employees.

What is the purpose of an employee evaluation?


The purpose of an employee evaluation is to review employees’ performance and create clear documentation that formally identifies areas the employee could improve. They can also affect the future of the employee’s career. 

Related Employment Documents

  • Employment Termination Letter: A document that formally notices an employee that they are being fired or laid off.
  • Employee Vaccination Policy: Use our employee vaccination policy template if you require your employees to be vaccinated.
  • Executive Employment Agreement: Use our executive employment agreement template to make a written employment agreement with more expansive terms and conditions than an ordinary agreement.
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Employee Evaluation Form

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