Performance Review Process: How to Build It Beyond the Annual Check-Ins

As an HR Manager for over a decade, I’ve seen firsthand how the performance review process either supports meaningful growth or completely misses the mark.

Early on, I thought the problem was just execution. Managers weren’t prepared. Employees weren’t engaged. The forms weren’t clear. So we fixed those things—rewrote templates, trained leaders, added automation. But the reviews still felt flat. Rushed. Forgettable.

Soon, I realized performance reviews aren’t meant to be a recap. They’re meant to be a reset. A realignment. 

It took years (and a lot of broken cycles) to realize the issue wasn’t any one part. It was the entire approach.

So, in this blog, I’ll walk you through the process I use now. 

A performance review system that’s clear, repeatable, and actually drives growth. 

One that managers can run without second-guessing, and employees can trust to move them forward.

Let’s get started.

Watch this brief video to learn how to conduct a performance review:

A Step-by-Step Performance Review Process

A performance review process doesn’t have to be complicated. It should be simple enough to run every quarter, strong enough to scale, and clear enough that every employee knows where they stand.

This isn’t about copying HR templates from big companies. It’s about building a repeatable process that drives alignment, surfaces real signals, and helps your people grow.

Here’s a simple performance review procedure for you:

1. Start with Clear, Role-Specific Goals

Most review chaos starts here: vague expectations, no targets, and goals that don’t map to real business outcomes.

What to do:

• Write 3–5 clear goals per role at the beginning of each review cycle. For instance, the Customer Support Manager will focus on reducing first response time from 4 hours to under 2 hours by the end of Q3. They’ll aim to boost the CSAT score from 85% to at least 92% through weekly coaching and improved response quality.
• Tie each one to a team or company KPI. If the company is aiming for NPS +10, a CX lead’s goal should reflect that.
• Spell out what success looks like. Use criteria like timelines, quality standards, or specific behaviors.

Example: A content manager’s goal: “Publish 12 SEO-optimized blog posts per quarter aligned with our ICP.” This ties directly to the marketing KPI: inbound leads.

Don’t guess during the review. Set the bar early, so people know what to aim for.

2. Use Self-Assessments to Kickstart the Conversation

Self-assessments aren’t fluff—they’re leverage. They get employees thinking about their own performance, surface insights managers might miss, and set the tone for honest dialogue.

How to run it:

• Give employees a short self-review form: 3 wins, 3 areas to improve, 1 blocker, 1 request.
• Send it out 1 week before the review meeting.
• Use their responses to frame the conversation, not overwrite it.

In smaller teams (under 20), this can be as simple as a shared doc. In larger organizations, use your HR tool to collect and store them.

When employees walk in prepared, the review becomes a conversation, not a one-way judgment.

3. Make Check-Ins the Default, Not the Exception

Waiting a year to give feedback is too slow. Momentum dies. Small issues grow into exit interviews.

Here’s what works:

• Set a quarterly cadence. Block 30 minutes per employee, per quarter. Non-negotiable.
• Use a fixed format: goals review, wins, friction, and next steps.
• Log decisions directly in your performance platform or doc.

You don’t need long meetings. You need consistency.

Watch the following video to learn how to get the most out of check-ins:

4. Layer in 360° Feedback (Where It Adds Value)

Not every role needs peer feedback, but when you’re evaluating cross-functional work, collaboration, or leadership potential, 360s matter.

How to do it well:

• Use anonymous responses for peers, named ones for managers.
• Don’t overdo it—run 360s once or twice a year max.
• Ask for 2–3 peer inputs per person. Keep it short: What’s working? Where do they need to level up?

Example: Spotify uses 360 feedback to identify future team leads based on how people actually show up in team dynamics, not just how they talk in meetings.

Use 360s for visibility, not for piling on.

Common Rating Scale for 360-degree Feedback

Watch this video to learn how you can set up 360-degree feedback:

5. Coach Managers to Lead the Right Conversations

Your review system is only as strong as the people running it. If managers freeze or ramble during reviews, the process fails.

What to do:

• Train managers with simple scripts and question sets. Teach them frameworks like COIN or Start/Stop/Continue.
• Give them a checklist: read the self-assessment, prep 2 pieces of feedback, and ask 3 coaching questions.
• Model it from the top—run skip-level reviews and share your own process.

Good reviews feel like a partnership. That takes reps and structure.

6. Document the Outcome—and the Follow-Up

If nothing is written down, nothing gets followed up. Period.

Lock this in:

• Summarize key takeaways at the end of the meeting: 1 area of strength, 1 growth focus, and the next goal.
• Write it in the same place every time—your performance tool, CRM, or shared doc.
• Set a reminder for the manager to revisit it at the next check-in.

Without follow-up, even great feedback gets lost in the noise. You can use this employee feedback playbook to get a better idea of how to follow up. 

7. Make Development Plans Real, Not Theoretical

Growth plans shouldn’t be just a “nice to have.” They should be built into the way you manage.

How to execute:

• At the end of the review, ask: “What’s one skill you want to get better at this quarter?”
• Match it to a learning resource, mentorship, or project.
• Track that development goal just like a performance goal.

Example: If someone wants to lead a cross-functional project, assign them one next quarter, and check in on how it’s going during your monthly sync.

Don’t just review. Develop. That’s what keeps people engaged.

This is the system. It’s not bloated. It’s not theoretical. And you don’t need a huge HR team to run it. But you do need to commit to running it every quarter, with clarity, accountability, and follow-through.

Why Most Performance Review Processes Still Fail

Most performance review processes don’t fail because people aren’t trying. They fail because the process itself is broken.

Here’s what I see again and again:

1. You’re reviewing too late

The problem: Do you also rely on one review at the end of the year? It’s too little, too late. By the time you give someone feedback, the moment to improve is gone. You’re not helping; you’re reporting.

What to do instead:

• Break the year into quarters. Don’t wait 12 months to say what you could’ve said in 4.
• Run 20-minute check-ins every 90 days, focused on what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to shift.
• Use the same three questions every time to keep it consistent.
• Make it a recurring calendar event, not something you scramble to plan.

You don’t need more meetings. You need faster feedback loops.

2. No one knows what “good” looks like

Check out this image to know what good goals might look like.

The problem: When people don’t know what’s expected, they guess, and reviews become subjective, inconsistent, and full of surprises.

What to do instead:

• Define success for every role before the review.
• Write down 3–5 performance goals tied to team or company objectives.
• For each goal, outline: what does “great” look like? What does “good enough” look like?
• Review these monthly in your 1:1s—so there are no surprises later.

Example: Instead of “collaborates well,” write “keeps team unblocked and responds to peer requests within 24 hours.”

This isn’t about micromanaging. It’s about setting a clear target and letting people hit it.

3. It depends too much on the manager

The problem: One manager gives coaching. Another avoids hard feedback. If your review process changes based on who someone reports to, that’s not a system; it’s a gamble.

What to do instead:

• Standardize the review format—everyone uses the same template, no exceptions.
• Start each cycle with a self-assessment. That centers the employee’s perspective first.
• Layer in peer or 360-degree feedback for roles where collaboration matters.
• Give managers guidance: here’s how to prep, here’s what to ask, here’s what to document.

Consistency isn’t bureaucracy. It’s how you make the process fair and scalable.

4. Nothing happens afterward

The problem: A review that ends in silence is worse than no review at all. It trains people to think their effort doesn’t matter.

What to do instead:

• End every review with a growth commitment: one skill, one behavior, one next step.
• Document it. Add a reminder in your project tool or calendar.
• Assign someone—a manager, mentor, or peer—to follow up.
• Revisit it next quarter. Hold the loop closed.

If you’re not turning feedback into action, you’re wasting everyone’s time.

5. You bundled feedback with pay

The problem: The moment you tie honest feedback to someone’s raise, it’s no longer honest. Everyone goes into protect-myself mode. Peers sand down their edges. Managers avoid directness. The feedback becomes theater.

What to do instead:

• Separate development reviews from compensation discussions. If needed, put a 30-day gap between them.
• Make it clear: “This review is about how you grow, not how you get paid.”
• Handle compensation with data: targets hit, goals met, scope of role. Keep that clean.
• Let development conversations be safe, so people can actually improve.

This isn’t about being soft. It’s about creating a space where people can hear the truth—and do something with it.

How to Adapt the Review Process to Different Cultures & Team Sizes

Here’s the thing no one tells you: there’s no universal performance review template that works for every team. But that doesn’t mean you throw out structure. It means you shape it around how your company actually operates.

Let’s break down how to do that.

For Small Teams (Under 25)

You don’t need heavy tooling or multi-step reviews. You need clarity, speed, and honest conversations that don’t get buried in process.

What to do:

• Keep the process lean — one shared review doc or a simple form
• Use quarterly 1:1s for feedback + growth plans
• Run lightweight self-assessments with 3 prompts: what worked, what didn’t, and what’s next
• Skip 360s for now unless someone’s leading cross-functional work
• Focus on skill-building and role clarity more than ratings or comp bands

If you have only two managers, give them a checklist to keep things consistent: prep notes, review last quarter’s goals, and write one coaching note for next time.

What matters most here is consistency. It’s easy to forget reviews entirely at this stage—don’t. Use them to create early habits and build trust.

For Scaling Teams (50–200)

This is where things get messy. You’ve got multiple departments, layers of management, and people working across time zones. Informal feedback stops scaling. You need a system now, or things start slipping.

What to do:

• Introduce a structured review cadence (quarterly or biannually)
• Standardize templates across roles, but let managers customize goals
• Automate reminders and self-assessment deadlines to reduce follow-up work
• Add 360 input for leadership, managers, and cross-functional roles
• Run calibration sessions to prevent rating inflation or manager bias

Example: At 150 employees, one company we worked with introduced peer reviews only for high-visibility roles and manager feedback for everyone else. It cut review time by 30% and made reviews more useful.

This stage is about control without complexity. Don’t overbuild. Just create enough structure that your people know what’s expected, how they’re doing, and what comes next.

For Enterprise Teams (200+ and Multi-Region)

Now you’re dealing with scale, language barriers, and a wider range of expectations around feedback. Some people want direct critiques. Others see that as confrontational. Reviews can’t be one-size-fits-all anymore.

What to do:

• Localize review cycles: use multiple languages, translate forms if needed
• Run training for managers across cultures on how to deliver feedback respectfully
• Offer flexibility in feedback format (written, verbal, or mixed) depending on the region
• Give employees visibility into how feedback loops work — transparency matters at this scale
• Use tools with role-based access, automated workflows, and real-time dashboards

Case in point: Venchi, a global retail company with 1,600 employees, used multilingual surveys with QR access for frontline staff, plus regional reporting to keep feedback actionable without overwhelming HR.

At this size, your challenge isn’t just running reviews—it’s keeping them meaningful. That only happens when people feel the process reflects their reality, not someone else’s.

This is where tools like PeopleGoal work great. You can build review workflows specific to each region or role, run 360s on your own terms, and customize visibility and form logic without writing a line of code. It gives structure without locking you into someone else’s model.

So, What’s the Play?

Here’s how you decide what your team needs:

It’s not about overbuilding. It’s about building what actually works for your context, and then improving it as you go.

How We Fixed Performance Reviews at ProProfs

We didn’t get it right the first time.

When we were a smaller team, around 30 people, it was easy to keep things informal. Managers knew what everyone was working on. Reviews were a shared doc, a quick call, and a gut-check on goals. It worked—for a while.

But as we grew across functions and time zones, that started to fall apart. Feedback got delayed. Reviews felt vague. And some of our best people weren’t getting the clarity or coaching they needed. That’s when we realized: we didn’t just need reviews; we needed a system.

Here’s how we run them now in 5 simple steps:

1. We run reviews every quarter. This gives employees regular feedback and a clear sense of progress. It’s frequent enough to fix issues early, but spaced out enough to track real growth. We also conduct weekly pulse surveys to check in with the team on a weekly basis.

2. Each review starts with a self-assessment. Employees answer a few focused questions before the meeting: What went well? Where did you struggle? What do you want to improve? This helps them reflect—and gives managers a starting point for the conversation.

3. We include 360 feedback. For most roles, we ask peers, project leads, and cross-functional teammates for input. It’s short and targeted—just enough to give a well-rounded view of how someone works with others.

4. We run everything in PeopleGoal. The platform handles all the logistics—sending reminders, collecting feedback, managing visibility, and tracking progress. Managers don’t need to chase people or manage spreadsheets. The system takes care of that.

5. Every review ends with one clear next step. That might be a new goal, a training plan, or a behavior to work on. We write it down, and managers check in on it during monthly 1:1s.

Now that we’re over 200 employees, this structure gives us the consistency we need, without slowing us down. It helps us stay aligned. Everyone knows what’s expected, how they’re doing, and what comes next. 

Best Practices to Create an Effective Performance Review Process

If you want your performance review process to actually drive growth, retention, and alignment, here’s what to keep in mind going forward:

1. Set a Cadence That Keeps Feedback Useful

Waiting 12 months between reviews is too long. By the time you give feedback, it’s already irrelevant.

What to do:

• Run quarterly or bi-annual review cycles
• Block reviews in your calendar at the start of the year
• Use lightweight formats to avoid review fatigue

2. Start With the Employee’s Perspective

Self-assessments make feedback more collaborative and give managers a head start.

What to do:

• Send 3–4 short prompts a week before the review
• Focus on wins, challenges, and one growth area
• Use responses to guide, not replace, the conversation

3. Make Expectations Clear Before the Review

Vague goals lead to vague feedback and subjective ratings.

What to do:

• Set SMART goals tied to team or company KPIs
• Define what “meets expectations” and “exceeds expectations” look like
• Add these criteria to your review templates

4. Give Managers a Simple Format to Follow

Most managers aren’t trained to run great reviews, and they won’t prep unless it’s easy to do.

What to do:

• Create templates with 2–3 sections and example questions
• Block time for prep and make it non-optional
• Use a feedback framework like Start/Stop/Continue or COIN. Check out the image below:

5. Use 360 Feedback Where It Adds Real Insight

Managers don’t see everything. Peers often notice the things that shape culture and collaboration.

What to do:

• Use 360s for cross-functional roles and team leads
• Limit to 2–3 reviewers
• Keep peer forms tight and relevant to the work

Want an easy-to-follow guide on how to set up 360 feedback? Watch this video: 

6. Unbundle Growth from Compensation

When reviews impact raises directly, people stop being honest, and the learning stops.

What to do:

• Run development reviews separately from pay decisions
• Clarify: “This is for your growth, not your bonus.”
• Use development feedback to guide coaching, not to justify comp

7. End With One Actionable Next Step

Without a follow-up, nothing changes, and feedback turns into noise.

What to do:

• Agree on one growth commitment during the review
• Log it in your performance tool or 1:1 tracker
• Revisit it in monthly check-ins and in the next review cycle

8. Build a System You Can Run Repeatedly

Check out this example of a system that you can run:

However, if you reinvent the process every quarter, no one will trust you, and your team will burn out.

What to do:

• Set up workflows once on a platform like PeopleGoal
• Use the same structure across teams with slight role-specific tweaks
• Document the process so it runs without constant reinvention
• Treat it like any core business system, not a side project

When the process runs cleanly, the feedback gets better. And when the feedback gets better, everything improves.

Quick Reference: Performance Review Best Practices for 2025

Build the Review Process Your Team Deserves

A performance review process is only valuable if it does what it’s supposed to do: help people get better.

If it’s vague, delayed, or disconnected from real work, it doesn’t just fail—it creates drag. It slows down progress, erodes trust, and turns what should be a growth moment into a formality no one takes seriously.

But when the process is clear, timely, and built to support actual development, it becomes something else entirely. It becomes useful. Predictable. Repeatable. It helps people focus, course-correct, and move forward.

That’s what you’re building toward. Not a better form— a system that actually works.

PeopleGoal gives you the structure to do that. You bring the intent. The commitment. The follow-through.

If you’ve outgrown the old way of doing reviews, this is your moment to replace it with something built to last.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I run performance reviews for remote or globally distributed teams?

Focus on asynchronous workflows and clear visibility. Use review tools that support time zone flexibility, multilingual forms, and written comments. For live conversations, prioritize structure—shared agendas, time-boxed discussions, and clear written follow-ups.

How do I prevent performance reviews from becoming biased?

Start by defining clear, role-based criteria tied to outcomes. Avoid ranking people against each other. Train managers on feedback frameworks and bias awareness. Use calibration sessions across teams to spot rating patterns that don’t make sense.

How do I manage reviews across different departments with very different goals?

Keep the structure consistent (cadence, sections, follow-up), but let each department customize the content. Marketing and engineering don’t need the same questions, but they do need the same level of clarity and accountability.

Should I let employees see peer or 360-degree feedback directly?

It depends. Anonymous feedback can encourage honesty, but transparency builds trust. A good middle ground: let the manager summarize themes, or show peer feedback directly but guide the employee through it in a conversation.

What’s the right balance between qualitative and quantitative feedback?

Use numbers to anchor the conversation—goal progress, deliverables met—but don’t rely on them alone. The qualitative side (behaviors, collaboration, leadership) gives context and depth. One without the other is incomplete.