Performance Reviews

5 Year-end performance review examples to inspire stronger feedback

Looking for practical, ready-to-use examples for year-end reviews? Use these examples, insights, and tips to strengthen your process and get results.

Fabien Pinel

Fabien Pinel

— 7 min read
5 Year-end performance review examples to inspire stronger feedback

Year-end reviews are a perfect time to wrap up the year’s performance and set up the coming year’s goals. For inspirational reviews, feedback needs to be specific, practical, clear, and easy for managers to deliver. [1]

In this guide, we’ll give you ready-to-use examples covering a number of common scenarios, such as high performers, inconsistent performers, struggling employees, and new hires. Here’s a quick summary to get you going 👇

Quick Overview

The year-end performance review is a formal meeting between managers and employees to discuss the year’s achievements and set strategic goals for the following year. It provides opportunities for both parties to give constructive feedback, review job performance, and set personal development goals. These reviews can affect compensation and career progression. 

Table of Contents

How to write an effective year-end review

Many times, the annual performance review is the only opportunity given to discuss the employee’s performance.  Managers and employees want to make the most of the opportunity, and for this reason, it is best to keep it as simple as possible. Use these four main principles to guide the process:

  • Focus on observable behaviors and concrete data, and steer away from opinions about personality traits. 
  • Anchor your statements in measurable outcomes. E.g., ‘Your input into Project A reduced turnaround by 20%.’
  • Connect current performance and future goals. 
  • Close with: Here’s what success will look like in the coming year. 

Your employees may not know how they can prepare for the performance review process. You can help them by providing training or tips they can use to do a self-evaluation. 

Year-end review - Preparation help for employees:

How AI can help you write a good review

Employee performance reviews are getting a major boost with the help of AI-driven performance review software. Not only does this software help you collect data organically, making the review fact-based, but it can also help you write performance reports. By analyzing performance patterns, the AI technology can also provide deeper insights into career development and team performance. 

If you’d like to see this software in action, Simpleperf is a great way to start because you can set it up quickly and generate a review within minutes. 👉 Get started with your first review. 

Performance review example for high-performing employees

While the performance management process benefits everyone, this group thrives on discussing employee development. They value continuous improvement, innovative solutions to work problems, and job satisfaction. Writing a review for high-potential employees should focus on past performance, development opportunities, and higher achievements in the new year. 

Past performance

You have demonstrated exceptional performance this year, meeting or exceeding all set targets. You have delivered all your work on time and have raised the bar on quality. Your participation in Project X, saved the company $40,000 when you spotted a gap in the feedback loop. 

Development opportunities

Your professional growth has been outstanding this year; however, you can still make a greater impact on the overall team’s performance. Feedback by team members showed you have good leadership skills - you know how to get the best out of people. I think you could include leadership in your career aspirations. 

Higher achievements for next year

While performance data has shown exceptional growth, the company must achieve a 20% growth in customer sales next year. Your high-quality work and positive attitude will continue to be success factors next year. Thank you for your dedication.  

Further examples for high-performing employees: 

Performance review example for inconsistent performers

The annual review is a good time to consolidate the performance patterns of the inconsistent performer. It provides a wider perspective of performance over 12 months and allows for helpful feedback. Focus your review on actionable feedback, job responsibilities, additional training, and psychological safety. 

Actionable feedback

You have delivered strong results during the first half of the year; however, in the second half, a number of missed deadlines caused your productivity to drop. I feel that improved communication skills could be the answer to this problem. To ensure team success, I will be arranging mentorship for everyone struggling with this. 

Job responsibilities

Inconsistent follow-through on your part really affected the team’s overall performance this year. Since your position is key to signing off on projects, and meeting deadlines, the team morale has suffered. I appreciate your positive attitude when you’ve been addressed about this, but employee feedback shows it has not improved yet. 

Additional training

I can suggest some workshops and coaching that I think would benefit you, helping you to be more consistent in delivering key outputs. Let’s set this up and evaluate the progress at the quarterly reviews. Thank you for your contribution this year. 

Performance review example for struggling employees

An end-of-year review with a struggling employee can be uncomfortable. However, you can provide constructive feedback to improve the situation. The focus should remain on constructive criticism, problem-solving skills, positive behavior, and how to improve performance. 

Constructive criticism

Looking at the performance data and 360-degree feedback, I can see this has been a difficult review cycle for you. When you are engaged, you demonstrate strong attention to detail and produce high-quality work. However, this year you did not meet any project deadlines. 

Problem-solving and positive behavior

During team meetings, I have observed that you no longer participate in discussions. Previously, you actively participated and provided great suggestions to improve our customer retention. I would like to help you solve this, but I need to know what changed for you. 

Improved performance

You’ve been a valuable team member, and I would like to see you bounce back from this. Let’s develop an action plan to improve your performance and schedule regular check-ins to highlight achievements and ensure continuous improvement. 

Increase your confidence to handle tricky performance reviews with: Overall Performance Review Comments & Phrases You Can Use

Performance review example for new hires

The first review period for a new hire will focus on self-assessment and employee engagement. You can use their job description as a basis for the discussion, linking employee strengths and development areas to job outputs. 

Strengths

You’ve really grown during the onboarding process, and I can see how you’re consistently improving your speed and accuracy. I appreciate your dedication, positive attitude, and ability to keep moving forward despite challenges. 

Opportunities

I think it is time for more responsibilities and continued immersion into our company culture. You have really grown, but you need to better understand the processes we use. I expect this will come as you go about your daily tasks. I would like to see you work independently in the next month or two. 

Summary

You’re progressing well for a new hire and have laid a strong foundation. The coming year is about deepening expertise and taking ownership of larger accounts.

An effective annual performance review with your new hires begins during onboarding. 

Automate onboarding tasks simply and effectively with BuddiesHR. Use Alfy Matching for team intros, Pulsy Survey to help you do temperature checks, and Linky Directory to help new hires with the org structure. 

Final Thoughts

The year-end performance review is an opportunity for managers and employees to discuss past performance and set goals for the upcoming year. Reviews should be personalized, clear, balanced, and focused on observable behavior.  AI-driven performance review software managers can support the process with data-driven insights and trend analysis. 

At BuddiesHR, we believe in making it easier for managers to run great performance reviews. If you’d like further inspiration or want to dive deeper into the topic, these free resources are for you 👇.

Further inspiration: 

FAQS: Year-end performance review

1. What should I say in my year-end performance review?

In the year-end performance review, you should communicate your performance achievements and contributions to the company with relevant evidence. You can also discuss your growth and future goals. A good approach is to make notes about what you want to discuss. Show self-awareness by listing areas for improvement that you’ve noticed. 

2.  What is an example of a good year-end review?

A good year-end review is balanced, data-focused, and helpful. It should give the employee insight into their own performance and behavior. It should also look forward, providing the employee with clear goals for improvement and career growth. 

3. What is an EOY performance review?

EOY stands for End-of-Year. Therefore, an EOY performance review is the formal meeting held as the year draws to a close. This is a meeting between a manager and an employee that focuses on performance and setting goals for the next year. 

4. What five words describe an effective performance review?

Five words that are often associated with an effective performance review are: Simple, direct, honest, personal, and relevant. They describe a year-end review that is easy to understand, to the point, provides honest, individualized feedback, and is relevant to the employee's job or behavior. 

References:

1. Give Performance Reviews That Actually Inspire Employees

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