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Since my post on Annual Performance Reviews, I have had several requests to provide sample comments managers can use on the annual performance evaluation to best describe their employees. I decided to sit down and write out some comments that you can use if you are stuck with exactly the right way to say it. Writing out a dozen performance reviews can be hard enough, yet alone coming up with the best way to say things without it being taken the wrong way!

I decided this would be a list of the good, bad, and ugly, so I hope it helps you as you begin to review your employees. These phrases for effective performance reviews can be slightly altered as needed for your employee appraisals.

Attendance and Punctuality

Positive

Jim has been a valued member of team by always being someone we can count on. Jim's attention to his attendance and punctuality has made our team function much better over the past year.

Tim is very reliable in his attendedance and consistently shows up on time.

Janet begins each day refreshed and ready for any of the challenges she faces.

George always ensures his employees adhere to their lunch schedules and breaks.

Negative

Todd is continually late for work and should work on this over the next few months to improve in this area.

Heather fails to show up to work on time and keep a normal work schedule.

Timothy leads meetings which frequently run beyond their alotted time. Over the next year, Timothy should ensure that his meetings start and end on time.

Jane consistently runs late from her breaks and needs to ensure the breaks are only for the alotted time.

Communication

Positive

One of Sally's most important skills is her ability to effective communicate complex topics. Over the past year, this ability has been very useful for the company and has helped alleviate several problems which arose.

Keith always asks for immediate feedback to ensure he is on task and performing his work correctly.

One of Frank's strengths his ability to provide candor and effectively communicate change with his employees.

Hilda's project teams always commend the way she communicates and encourages communication.

The feedback Jim provides his coworkers has been essential in how the team has improved over the past year.

Negative

Communication is one of the areas Jack should work on this year. Effectively communicating involves more than just providing information when demanded, but proactively providing information to the team as issues arise. Additionally, Jack should work on the tone of his communication. Communicating effectively means communicating in a style and tone which the listener finds easy to accept and understand.

Terry continually attempts to withhold important information from team members.

Jim should work on his ability to take feedback and criticism from coworkers. Too often, Jim feels the need to "lash out" when presented with constructive criticism.

Theo needs to "open up" and stop isolating himself from the team. In a customer facing position such as his, the ability to interact with people is crucial.

Jolie needs to improve on how she communicates bad news to her management team. She has a tendency to withhold the information for fear of how it will make her look which is causing problems on how the management team runs the business.

Cooperation

Positive

One of the postitives from this past year has been how Shirley has cooperated through the difficult company merger. Shirley has demonstrated a willingness to work with the transition teams and provided an excellent example of how cooperation can yield results.

Heather always creates a positive and inclusive work environment.

One of the more effective things about Jennifer's management style is her ability to build consensus. This has helped cut down on the animosity between the team members over the past year and improved productivity significantly.

Jerry creates an atmosphere where people can share their thoughts - good and bad - and not fear retribution or intimidation.

Negative

Kevin should work to improve his cooperation. Over the past year, there have been several instances where Kevin has refused to cooperate despite the timing pressures facing his coworkers which has caused a considerable loss in productivity for the team.

There have been multiple instances of shouting matches between Harry and his coworkers over the past year. Harry should improve his interpersonal skills over the next year.

Jim has a tendency to make other people feel intimidated when they ask for his assistance.

Creativity and Innovation

Positive

Doug shows how innovation and creativity can significantly improve a company's performance. Doug's willingness to take chances was shown in the ad campaign he pitched which on the face looked like it would bomb, but proved to be a smash hit.

Shannon took many steps to improve processes for the team over the past year. These steps were innovative and resulted in a 30% productivity gain on the team.

Kevin has a knack for changing directions when presented with new information.

A great attribute of John is his ability to skillfully move around obstacles as they present themselves.

Gina found a creative workaround to the customer billing issues which has improved revenues by 22%.

Negative

Over the past year, Ted has been a very consistent employee. Throughout this time, Ted has performed his work as instructed, but did not take any opportunities to think about new ways he could be working. Improving processes and procedures could be a significant benefit to the company, but Ted needs to work on his creativity and how to think about the steps he takes in his work and how he can reduce the time it takes.

Tim creates a stifling environment which is not conducive to creativity.

Lilly is not willing to take chances and step out.

Walter is reluctant to explore new ideas, processes, or alternatives.

The sales team has an effective telephone script which is shown to work. Jim consistently tries to "reinvent the wheel" and not work within the system which is designed for success.

Customer Satisfaction

Positive

Jim has consistently gone above and beyond his job to satsify his customers. Jim demonstrates how excellent customer service can have a lasting effect on customer relationships.

Over the past six months, Susan's attention to customer satisfaction has not gone unnoticed. Susan works with customers until their problems are resolved and often goes an extra step to help upset customers be completely surprised by how far we will go to satisfy customers.

Travis skillfully overcomes client objections.

George is a empathetic listener and makes each customer know he values their time.

Matt is clearly a "people" person and shows his clients how much he likes working with them.

Negative

Tom should continue to work on how his daily activities affect his customers. Tom doesn't consistently ensure his customers are satisified and occasionally has complaints levvied against his work. Over the next three months, Tom should work to improve how he interacts with customers, how he communicates with them, and how well he meets their needs.

Yoli needs to work on managing customer expectations. Frequent delays and problems are reported by her customers which frequently turn out to be a problem with how she managed their expectations.

Fred fails to follow up with customers as requested.

Harry has too much difficulty saying no to customer requests and it frequently causes lost revenue.

Goal and Objective Setting

Positive

One of Jane's best characteristics is her ability to set goals which are specific, measurable, and attainable. She has consistently set her goals high and met them.

George is very effective at setting goals and objectives with his employees and ensuring they meet these goals.

One of Kevin's strengths is his ability to design measurements for goals to ensure they are met. If you can't measure it, it's not a goal!

Jenny is clearly not a short term thinker - her ability to set short and long term business goals is a great asset to this company.

Negative

Jack should work to improve his abilities in goal setting. Jim likes to set high goals for himself, but infrequently can achieve these goals. Setting attainable goals will help Jack improve his performance productivity.

Terry consistently misses targets and does not stay up to date with the objectives expected of him.

James seems to want to achieve all of his goals in the last few weeks before annual performance review time, but does not consistently work towards his goals throughout the year.

One of the areas we want Tom to work on this year is his tendency to blame others when his goals or objectives are not met.

Initiative

Positive

We appreciate how Jim approaches situations with a "can do" attitude.

Harry consistently takes initiative in difficult situations and finds a resolution.

Whenever new projects arise, Jennifer is always at the front asking for additional responsibility.

Kevin's willingness to work laste hours to get the job done has not gone unnoticed.

Negative

Walter resists training and frequently reverts back to doing things the way he has always done it.

Fred does not step forward when new tasks or projects arrive and always relies on other people to take a chance.

Over the past year, the team has taken on several new responsibilities but Jim has resisting taking on any more work and has instead made the rest of the team shoulder the burden.

Tim lacks the confidence necessary to try new things and take on new tasks.

Job Knowledge

Positive

Robert demonstrates is job knowledge on a daily basis.

Jim is adept at showing his job knowledge and technical abilities.

Tim consistently keeps up on new trends in the industry and applies these new practices to his every day work.

Kate has a thorough understanding of the job skills required to perform her job.

Negative

George fails to shows even rudimentary skills for someone of his tenure with the company. George should improve his job knowledge measurably.

Doug has a tendency to produce subpar work and should improve his job knowledge to improve his work product.

Frank fails to demonstrate even the basic skillset required for this position.

Though Jane has improved tremendously over the past year, her knowledge of what it takes to succeed is still too little.

Leadership

Positive

Terry leads by example.

Holly has an innate ability to set strategic direction and manage others to meet the company's goals.

Tim's high standards of ethics is shown throughout his work.

Kevin has earned a great deal of respect from his employees and managers.

Doug's ability to schedule resources in the face of growing demand is above expectations.

Though not in a management role, Russ consistently demonstrates leadership abilities through his work pace and productivity.

Negative

Jim should work on his active listening skills over the next year.

Lilly rarely shows appreciate to her employees for a job well done.

Todd should improve his ability to set direction and goals for his team.

Yoli needs to work on her trust for her employees and learn how to delegate effectively over the next year.

Jim does not yet delegate effectively and has a tendency to overload himself with tasks which he should hand off to his subordinates.

Listening Skills

Positive

Todd has mastered the art of active and focused listening.

We appreciate how Matt listens to his employees and allows them to finish before speaking.

Harry actively elicits feedback from his customers and works to resolve their problems.

Jim has improved his listening skills significantly over the past year. He now demonstrates a sincere interest in others and listens fully before responding.

Holly always follows instructions accurately and timely.

Negative

George has a tendency to interrupt others while they are speaking and does not pay adequate attention to what they are saying.

It is obvious that Jim thinks more about the next thing he wants to say versus listening to what other people are saying.

Brian frequently has to ask questions for topics which were explained to him. Brian needs to be a more active listener and take notes when he doesn't fully understand topics.

Gina seems distracted during conversations and frequently is not paying attention.

Harry should work on being a more effective listener over the next year.

Managerial Style

Positive

Harry is very effective at providing his employees constructive feedback.

Jim's ability to maintain ongoing communication with his employees is an asset to this firm.

Holly creates an inclusive work environment where everyone feels they are a part of the team.

Tim sets very high expectations and works with his employees to meet them.

Kevin is great at setting a vision and managing his resources to meet it.

Negative

Doug frequently takes all of the credit for successes and blames others for failures.

Jim avoids confrontation which has affected his team's ability to work with other teams.

Janet doesn't hold her employees to account and allows them to get away with underperformance.

George relies too much on email and is unwilling to communicate face-to-face.

Harry plays favorites with a few employees on his team and is unwilling to see the potential in other employees.

Todd should develop a more congenial relationship with his employees.

Ty does not effectively reign in rumors which has destroyed the morale on his team.

Problem Solving Skills

Positive

Janet is very effective at identifying problems and potential resolutions.

Harry resolves problems in a timely manner.

Tim is very proactive at getting in front of problems and stopping them before they escalate.

Emily is very good at sharing knowledge and information during a problem to increase the chance it will be resolved quickly.

Negative

Jim is good at identifying problems but lacks the skills necessary to identify solutions. Jim has a tendency to refer a problem to his upper management without making recommendations for a solution.

Frank doesn't do well at identifying more than one solution for a problem. If other team members identify a different solution than the one he came up with, he is quick to dismiss it.

Peter has to ask for help with simple matters which should be easy for him to solve on his own.

Todd appears overwhelmed during every crisis and does not instill confidence in his subordinates.

Teamwork Skills

Positive

Brian is very good at building effective teams.

Jim treats people with dignity and respect.

Holly is very good at making team members feel included. The inclusion has improved her team's productivity dramatically.

Hank is very adept at resolving conflict and resolving problems before they escalate.

Negative

Tim creates a work environment which discourages team members from providing new ideas.

Walter consistently takes credit for other team member's accomplishments.

Ty doesn't share resources well.

Ike is not willing to take on difficult tasks and instead waits for easy tasks to come his way.

Tim is a distraction on work teams and is frequently discussing things out of scope.

Time Management

Positive

Ted has an innate ability for managing his time. He continues to impress us with his ability to properly assess the time it takes to complete tasks and his ability to schedule his tasks into his time at work.

Harry shows a keen awareness of his time and the ability to properly schedule tasks and get them accomplished in the timeframe he set.

Jim is a very effective multitasker.

Holly sets realistic time frames and consistently sets her customer's expectations to those time frames.

Fred uses a planner to keep himself on-task and on-time.

Negative

Lilly has difficulty accounting for her time and is consistently late putting her timesheet in.

Holly is often disorganized and appears unable to meet timelines she sets.

Harry does not pace himself effectively and has inconsistent work patterns.

Jim lacks a disciplined approach to time management and lacks the ability to effectively manage his time.