40+ Questions for High-Performance Reviews

For many HR professionals and managers, performance reviews are a valuable touch point that fosters personal relationships and continuous improvement.

But your employees may have a different opinion. According to a recent study by Work human Research & Analytics, 55% of employees do not believe performance reviews improve their performance at work. Instead, performance reviews feel like a stressful ritual where the review is not linked to helpful next steps.

For these employees, the problem may not lie in the concept of performance reviews but in the questions you ask. To help you, our research team has compiled the 44 best performance appraisal questions to inspire and motivate conversations.

Are you looking for more ways to optimize performance management? IceHrm's performance management software streamlines the appraisal process for HR professionals, managers and employees. From the cadence of assessments to the questions, you can easily customize everything using research-backed best practices that will help you succeed. Learn more with a free trial today!

How to formulate effective performance appraisal questions

In 2022 alone, we helped companies manage performance reviews for more than 2.7 million employees across over 100,000 teams.

When developing IceHrm's key performance management questions, we referenced Gallup's Q12, which summarizes performance management in 12 key statements:

I know what is expected of me at work.
I have the materials and equipment I need to do my job right.
At work I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
In the last seven days I have received recognition or praise for good work.
My boss or someone at work seems interested in me as a person.
There is someone at work who supports my development.
At work, my opinion seems to count.
The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel like my work matters.
My colleagues strive to do good work.
I have a best friend at work.
Over the last six months, someone at work has been talking to me about my progress.
Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to learn and grow at work.

The 4 best self-evaluation questions for employees

Employee evaluation questions are a key element of the self-evaluation process. These questions provide an opportunity to compare the employee's evaluation of their own performance with the supervisor's perception of their work.

As part of IceHrm's performance management tool, we ask four employee evaluation questions:

1. How well does my company recognize my value? (multiple selection)

2. What would have the biggest impact on my ability to do my best work more often? (multiple selection)

3. What are some things I am good at? (Open questions)

4. How could I improve? (Open questions)

We developed Performance Management to transform traditional performance reviews - long, annual or semi-annual sessions with lots of difficult questions. We believe that fearing a performance review does no one any good and makes it more likely that it will be postponed or rushed when it does occur. And if we only do them once or twice a year, we can't remember what we had for lunch yesterday, so it's hard to remember what we worked on six months ago.

The theory behind our performance management software is that appraisals have greater impact when they are relevant to employees' daily work. By making them easier and more frequent, we take some of the burden off the experience, allowing employees and managers to communicate more openly.

What questions should I ask in a 360° assessment?

In addition to the self-assessment, we recommend including your employee's colleagues and co-workers in the performance assessment.

A 360° assessment takes into account feedback from people who work closely with the employee. These colleagues are able to provide insight into what an employee is doing well and where there is still room for improvement.

We recommend nine questions to help you gain these valuable insights:

1. Describe a significant contribution [name] has made since the last assessment.

2. What company value has [Name] demonstrated well in recent months?

3. Describe how you influenced [Name]'s ability to succeed and grow in his position.

4. What types of projects does [Name] particularly excel at?

5. How has [Name] been able to set and achieve goals over the past few months?

6. What role does [name] play in the team and what influence does he/she have?

7. What areas/projects could [name] focus on?

8. In what ways has [Name] contributed to the company's current goal of [creating a more inclusive culture, closing more sales, launching a new marketing campaign, etc.]?

9. What positive interactions have you noticed between [name] and others?

Depending on the scope of your performance review process, you may use all of these questions or select just a few.

30+ additional ideas for performance review questions

Standard questions can help you track your performance over time. But you may also need customized questions tailored to your specific teams and business challenges.

IceHrm performance management allows you to add up to three custom questions. Here are 30+ additional questions to include in your performance reviews:

Are you happy with [our company]?
What special projects did you work on in the last quarter/year?
How can [manager/employee name] improve/support you?
Would you recommend working here to your friends? Why or why not?
How did you achieve company goals/values this quarter/year?
How well did you achieve your goals in the last quarter/year?
What do you enjoy most about working for [manager/company name]?
How do I show that I'm focused on quality work?/What is the quality of [name]'s work?
How do I show I'm focused on customers?/How does [Name] show he's focused on his customers' success?
How do I show that I am solution-oriented and responsive in my role?/How does [name] show that he is solution-oriented and responsive?
What do you hope to be doing at the company in a year? What will it look like in five years?
What do you want for your next position in this company?
What project have you been heavily involved in recently and how did you contribute to it?
Looking back, how has your manager helped you improve and do your best work? Please give 1-2 examples.
What do you need from your manager in the future to be able to better support you in your role?
Looking back, what have you done to encourage and support [name] over the last three months?
What do you need going forward to better support [Name] to do his best work and/or achieve growth?
What are your top three priorities for the next 6-12 months?
What are your personal development goals (new skills, knowledge, work experience you would like to acquire) to maximize your performance and potential?
What training does [name] need to improve?
Are you comfortable taking risks and approaching your manager with new ideas? Why or why not?
What training would you like to have had/would you like to have?
What experience, project or action are you most proud of since your last assessment?
Which of our company values have you lived best in recent months?
How has your manager helped you achieve your goals over the past few months?
What do you enjoy most about your work?
What business/personal goals have you achieved? What goals have you not achieved?
What skills or knowledge do people on your team or company rely on to do their work?
What project/goal(s) would you like to focus on in the next quarter/half/year?
How were you able to contribute to the company's current goal of [creating a more inclusive culture, closing more sales, launching a new marketing campaign, etc.]?
What would colleagues or customers say about their recent interactions with you?

Incorporating the right questions into performance reviews is crucial for meaningful discussions and employee development. IceHrm's performance management software empowers HR professionals with research-backed best practices, ensuring effective appraisals and continuous improvement. Join IceHrm today!