The 50 Best Questions for Employee Performance Reviews

For many HR professionals and managers, performance reviews and related discussions are a valuable touchpoint that fosters personal relationships and enables continuous improvement.

Your employees may see it differently. In a McKinsey study, more than half of the employees surveyed stated that performance reviews have no impact on their performance.

Instead, performance reviews can feel like a stressful ritual, where critical feedback is not accompanied by helpful recommendations for action. This may be why many companies are moving away from purely numbers-based performance evaluations.

For these employees, the problem may not lie in the concept of performance evaluation itself, but in the questions you ask. We have compiled 50 of the best questions for performance evaluations to spark inspiring and motivating conversations.

What happens in an employee review?  

An employee review gives managers the opportunity to discuss an employee's strengths and weaknesses and to look for ways to support underperforming employees together.  

It is also a time when you can offer your employee a promotion or a raise. Additionally, give the employee the opportunity to ask questions and receive feedback on their performance.

How to Plan Effective Questions for Performance Reviews

Performance reviews can be challenging for both employers and employees. That's why we're happy to help. We have based our approach on the Gallup Q12 survey, which summarizes performance management into twelve core statements.

• I know what is expected of me at work.
  
• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work.
  
• At work, I have the opportunity to use my strengths every day.
  
• In the past seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
• My supervisor or someone in my company seems to care about me as a person.
• There is someone in the company who supports my development. My opinions seem to matter in the company.
• The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel that my work is important.
• My colleagues and employees are committed to doing high-quality work. I have a best friend in the company.
• In the last six months, someone in the company has talked to me about my progress.
• In the past year, I have had opportunities in the company to learn and develop.

The 4 Best Self-Assessment Questions in Employee Reviews

Self-assessment questions are a key element of the self-evaluation process. They provide the opportunity to compare your own performance assessment with your manager's evaluation, highlighting any discrepancies.

For example, in IceHrm Performance Management, we ask four questions for employee evaluations:

1. How well does my company assess my value?  
2. What would most influence my ability to deliver top performance more often?  
3. What am I good at?  
4. How could I improve?

We developed Performance Management to revolutionize traditional performance reviews. In the past, these reviews were time-consuming, took place annually or semi-annually, and involved many difficult questions.  

Fearing a review round benefits no one and increases the likelihood that it will be delayed or rushed. And scheduling them only once or twice a year simply isn’t the same: most of us can’t even remember what we had for lunch yesterday, let alone what we were working on six months ago.  

Reviews are more effective when they relate to employees' daily work. More frequent reviews take some of the pressure off and allow for more open communication between employees and managers.

The most important questions for a 360° assessment

In addition to self-assessment, you should also involve your employees' colleagues in the evaluation process. This way, you get a more comprehensive picture of their performance through feedback from various stakeholders.

A 360° assessment takes into account feedback from people who work closely with an employee. These colleagues can provide valuable insights into the employee's strengths and highlight areas where there is potential for improvement.

Colleagues can be on the same level, above, or subordinate. What’s important is that you receive feedback from different people throughout the company.

We recommend setting some questions for the performance review to structure the feedback and make it as simple and effective as possible, so you gain valuable insights.

8 questions for peer performance feedback

Depending on the scope of your performance review process, you can use all of these questions or select only a few. Here are eight questions for providing performance feedback to your colleagues:

1. Describe an important contribution [Name] has made since the last review period.

2. Which company values has [Name] demonstrated well over the past few months?

3. In which projects does [Name] excel? Please provide examples.

4. What impact has [Name] had on the team?

5. How has [Name] contributed to the current company goal [insert specific company goal]?

6. What positive interactions have you observed between [Name] and others?

7. Which strengths of [Name] should be leveraged in the future?

8. In which areas does [Name] have potential for development?

Additional Ideas for Performance Review Questions

While standard questions can help you track performance over time, it can also be useful to ask individual questions tailored to your specific teams and business challenges.

Here are some additional questions you can include in your performance reviews.

General Performance Review Questions

1. Are you satisfied with [Company]?
2. Would you recommend to your friends to work here?
3. What do you like most about your work at [Company]?
4. Looking back, how has your supervisor supported you in improving and giving your best? Please give one or two examples.
5. How can [Name] support you in your development?
6. Which training do you think you need in order to improve?
7. Do you feel comfortable taking risks and approaching your supervisor with new ideas? Why or why not?
8. Which training would you have liked/would you like to take?
9. Which experience, project, or action since the last feedback discussion are you particularly proud of?
10. Which of our company values have you embodied best in the past few months?
11. How has your manager supported you in achieving your goals over the past few months?
12. What do you enjoy most about your work?
13. Which skills or knowledge are particularly appreciated by your team members or employees within the company?
14. What would colleagues or clients say about your recent interactions with them?

Goal-Oriented Questions for Employee Evaluation

1. How have you achieved the company's goals/values this quarter/year?
2. How well have you met your goals this quarter/year?
3. How do I demonstrate that I am solution-oriented and responsive? / How does [Name] demonstrate that he/she is solution-oriented and responsive?
4. Which personal development goals (new skills, knowledge, professional experience) are you pursuing to maximize your performance and potential?
5. Which project/goal would you like to focus on in the next quarter/over the next six months/in the upcoming year?
6. Which company/personal goals have you achieved? Which goals were not achieved?

Future-oriented questions for performance evaluation for employees and managers

1. Which projects have you worked on in the past quarter/year?
2. What would you like to be doing in the company in one year? And in five years?
3. Which position are you aiming for in your next role within the company?
4. What will you need from your manager in the future to better support you in your role?
5. How can you better support [Name] in delivering their best performance and/or developing further?
6. What are your three main priorities for the next six to twelve months?

Questions for Employee Reviews

Employee reviews provide employees with an excellent opportunity to receive feedback and get advice from their supervisors. Positive feedback can increase the motivation and engagement of your employees, while constructive criticism helps them achieve their goals.

Open dialogue helps employees take control of their performance and career development.

Here are some questions employees can ask to receive feedback on their performance:

• Are there development opportunities in our team?  
• What qualifies me for a promotion?  
• What is the biggest challenge for the company at the moment?  
• How do you envision the future development of the company?  
• How can I better support my team?

The success of a performance review hinges entirely on the quality and frequency of the conversation, moving beyond annual, numbers-driven rituals that employees find ineffective. By implementing structured, purposeful questions—spanning self-assessment, peer feedback, goal-setting, and future career discussions—managers can transform reviews into valuable touchpoints for continuous improvement and motivation. This approach perfectly aligns with the design of IceHrm's Performance Management module, which actively seeks to revolutionize the traditional, time-consuming review process. IceHrm facilitates the implementation of these diverse question types in more frequent, focused feedback discussions, ensuring that the process is relevant, less stressful, and directly contributes to employee development and long-term engagement, ultimately providing a more comprehensive and actionable assessment of performance.