Questions to Ask an Employee in a Performance Review
For managers preparing an annual or mid-year performance review with someone who reports to them. The questions follow the order the conversation usually takes: the employee's own account of the year, what got in the way, feedback in both directions, goals for the next period, growth, and a close that leaves both of you with something to check. Each has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like and what to do with it.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Their year
How would you sum up your year in a few sentences?
Why ask it
Ask this before you say a word of your own assessment, because once they have heard yours they will shape theirs to fit. A summary close to your draft means most of the meeting can go to next year. One that is far from it tells you to slow down and find where the two accounts part before any rating is mentioned.
What are you most proud of from this review period?
Why ask it
Check the answer against your written review. If they name work you left out, add it and tell them you are adding it. Then ask what made it hard, since the pride is usually in the difficulty and not the result.
Which goals from the last review did you meet, and which did you miss?
Why ask it
Put last period's goals on the table so neither of you is working from memory. A good answer goes down the list without being steered, and a worrying one stays on the hits. For each miss, ask whether the goal was wrong or the work fell short, because those lead to different plans.
What do you see as your biggest strengths in this role?
Why ask it
Compare the answer with the strengths in your draft. One you did not list is either work you have not been seeing or a view of themselves the results do not yet back, and asking for a recent example shows which. If they name something the job rarely calls on, bring it back when you reach Goals.
Where did you fall short of your own standard?
Why ask it
Their own standard is easier to speak to than yours, and the answer shows how accurately they judge their work. Someone who names a specific piece of work can be coached on it. 'Nothing comes to mind' after a mixed year means your feedback later in the meeting will land as news, so bring examples.
What did you do this year that I probably do not know about?
Why ask it
Managers see the deliverables and miss the help given to colleagues, the problems caught early and the work covered for someone who was out. Write down what you hear and decide before the review is filed whether it belongs there. A long list means you have been standing too far from their work.
What did you learn this year that changed how you do the job?
Why ask it
A real answer has a before and an after, such as how they now scope a project or handle a difficult customer. If nothing comes, the role may have stopped stretching them, which is worth carrying into the growth part of the conversation.
What feedback from colleagues or customers has stayed with you?
Why ask it
If your process gathers peer feedback, compare what they recall with what was written. People tend to remember either the praise or the one sting, and which they pick hints at how they will hear yours. When they quote a criticism, ask whether they think it was fair before you give your view.
Which parts of the job gave you energy this year, and which wore you down?
Why ask it
Treat the answer as a map for assigning work next period. Strong results in the draining column deserve attention, since a person can be good at something and still be worn out by it. Do not promise to take that work away, but have it in mind when goals are set.
If you were writing this review, what overall rating or summary would you give yourself?
Why ask it
Where the employer asks for a written self-assessment they have answered this already, so have them say it aloud and give the reason. If their rating is higher than yours, do not debate the number. Go to the two or three pieces of evidence behind each view and compare those.
Obstacles
What got in your way this year?
Why ask it
Leave it open and wait, because the first answer is often the safe one, such as a tool or a deadline. Sort what you hear into things you could have removed, things nobody could, and things that were theirs to manage. The first pile is your own to-do list from this review.
Which goal turned out harder than it looked when we set it?
Why ask it
You helped set the goal, so a miss here is partly a planning miss, and saying so makes the rest of the answer more honest. Ask at what point they knew it was harder and who they told. A long gap between knowing and telling is the thing to fix for next time.
Did your priorities shift during the year in ways the written goals do not show?
Why ask it
Goals written twelve months ago often describe a job that changed in the spring. If they were pulled onto other work, judge them on what they were actually asked to do, and note the change in the review so a later reader does not see only an abandoned goal.
What tool, access or information would have made the year easier?
Why ask it
Small answers are the useful ones: access to a report, a software license, an hour with someone who knows the system. Say which you can arrange and which you need to ask about, and do not agree to spending you have no authority over.
Who do you depend on to get your work done, and how well is that working?
Why ask it
Late inputs from another team, a slow approver or a shared specialist with no time can hold back results that look like the employee's own. Ask for the last time it cost them a deadline. If the block sits outside your team, raising it with that team's manager is your job, so say when you will.
When was your workload more than you could do well?
Why ask it
Asking when brings out particular weeks, which you can check against what was going on at the time. Find out what slipped or was done to a lower standard in those stretches, because it may explain a weak spot in the review. Someone who says never while regularly working late may not trust the question yet.
Was there a time you were not sure what was expected of you?
Why ask it
Unclear expectations are the manager's to own, so take the answer as feedback on your briefing. Ask what they did in the meantime: guessed, asked or waited. The goals you write for the next period should be tight enough that this answer becomes no.
Is anything about how the team works making your job harder than it needs to be?
Why ask it
This one is about process and habits, such as handoffs, meetings or who decides what. Steer it back there if it turns into a complaint about one colleague, which is better heard separately and outside the review. Keep a note of anything two or more of your reports raise.
Feedback
Does my assessment match how you see your year, and where does it differ?
Why ask it
Ask it straight after you have given your summary, then stay quiet. Agreement that comes too fast often means they are waiting for the meeting to end. If they name a difference, get their example before you defend yours.
Did anything I said today come as a surprise?
Why ask it
A surprise in a review usually means the feedback should have come months earlier, and it is fair to admit that. Ask when they would have wanted to hear it. The reply tells you how often to give feedback between now and the next review.
Which part of this feedback do you disagree with?
Why ask it
Wording it as 'which part' assumes there is one, and that makes it easier to say. Hear the whole objection, then decide whether it is new information or a different reading of the same facts. New information can be a reason to revise what you wrote. A different reading usually is not, so know before the meeting how an employee's own comments are added to the record where you work.
Which piece of feedback would you like a clearer example of?
Why ask it
If you cannot produce an example on request, the feedback is an impression and should be softened or dropped. When you can, give the situation, what they did and what it led to, and stop there.
In your own words, what is the main thing I am asking you to work on?
Why ask it
What they say back is what they heard, which is not always what you said. If the key point returns smaller or softer than you meant it, say it again plainly now. Skip this when the review held no real criticism, where it would sound like a test.
What do you need more of from me, and what do you need less of?
Why ask it
The 'less of' half is where the real feedback sits: fewer check-ins, fewer last-minute changes, less rewriting of their work. Thank them and do not explain yourself on the spot. Pick one thing to change and tell them which.
How do you prefer to hear feedback, and have you had enough of it between reviews?
Why ask it
Some people want it right away in a message, others in a one-on-one with time to think. If the second half gets a no, agree on a rhythm before the meeting ends. It is the cheapest way to make sure the next review holds nothing new.
Where do you want more freedom, and where would more direction help?
Why ask it
Most people want both, in different parts of the job. A strong performer asking for direction in one area is pointing at where they feel exposed. One who wants freedom everywhere, with results that do not yet support it, needs the freedom tied to something they can show first.
When did you feel your work was recognized this year, and when did it pass without comment?
Why ask it
The examples show what recognition means to this person: a public mention, a private word, a better project, or pay. It may not be what you would want yourself. If the second list is the longer one, a line in the written review naming that work is a start.
What would you change about our one-on-ones?
Why ask it
The review happens once or twice a year, and the one-on-one is where the months in between get managed. Common complaints are that it is canceled too often or has turned into a status update. Change one thing they name and ask again in a month.
Goals
What do you think your top priorities should be for the next period?
Why ask it
Let them go first, then lay your list beside theirs. Where the lists agree, the goal already has their commitment. Where they differ, explain the reason behind yours, since a goal that is only handed down is easier to drop than one the person helped to write.
How does your work connect to what the team is trying to achieve this year?
Why ask it
If they cannot draw the line, the gap is in how the team's aims were explained, and you should explain them before setting individual goals. A good answer mentions a team result and their piece of it. Borrow their wording when you write the goal down.
If you could only achieve one thing next year, what should it be?
Why ask it
A list of six goals hides which one matters. Their pick may not be yours, and that difference is worth ten minutes now. Whatever the two of you settle on goes first in the written goals.
What should you stop doing, or do less of, to make room for these goals?
Why ask it
New goals added to a full job mean something gets dropped without anyone choosing it, so make the choice together. If they cannot name anything, walk through a typical week with them, and be ready to take a task away or hand it elsewhere yourself.
What will show us that each goal has been met?
Why ask it
Agree on the evidence now: a number, a date, a finished thing, or a named person's sign-off. 'Improve communication' cannot be checked, while 'send the project update every Friday' can. A goal that resists every measure is probably a hope and needs rewriting.
What is most likely to knock these goals off course?
Why ask it
Naming the risk in advance turns a later excuse into an early warning that both of you expected. Ask what they would need from you if it happened, and put the answer next to the goal so it is in front of you at the mid-point check.
What would you like to take on that is not part of your job today?
Why ask it
This shows whether they see room to grow in the role. Offer stretch work as something they can decline, with a clear idea of what it replaces. A person already at capacity who asks for more may be asking for different work, not extra.
Growth
Where do you want your career to go from here?
Why ask it
Some people have a title in mind, some a kind of work, and some are content where they are, which is a fair answer and not a lack of ambition. Avoid steering them toward the path you took. If they are unsure, ask what they would not want to be doing in three years.
Which skill do you most want to build over the next year?
Why ask it
One skill is a plan and five is a wish list. Ask where in their current work they could practice it, then hold it against the feedback you gave. If the two do not overlap, say which you think should come first and why.
Who here would you like to learn from or work with more closely?
Why ask it
A name is easier to act on than a skill, because you can arrange a shared project, a few hours of shadowing or a regular conversation. Ask what it is about that person's work they want to pick up. If no name comes, they may not have seen enough of the wider organization, and that is something you can change too.
Is there another role or team here you are curious about?
Why ask it
Asked openly, this keeps a move inside the company from becoming a secret. You can offer an introduction or a chance to sit in without committing to a transfer. If your first reaction is to protect your headcount, they will notice and keep it to themselves next time.
What training or experience would help you most, and how would you use it?
Why ask it
The second half separates a real need from a nice-to-have. Before the meeting, find out what budget and approvals exist where you work, so you can say yes, no or 'I will ask' without guessing. A course is not the only answer: shadowing a colleague for a day costs nothing.
What do you think stands between you and the next level?
Why ask it
Their answer shows whether they understand how advancement works at your company. If they say time served and your employer looks for something else, correct that now and kindly. Read the written criteria for the level before the meeting so you describe the real bar and not your impression of it.
What questions do you have about pay or promotion that I can take away and answer?
Why ask it
Pay and promotion rules differ by employer, and some decide them on a separate timetable from the review, so learn from HR beforehand what you may discuss. Answer what you can, write down the rest and name the day you will come back with it. Do not guess at a number.
Closing
Is there anything you came in wanting to say that we have not gotten to?
Why ask it
Many people prepare one point and never find the opening for it. Give this real time, and do not ask it while closing your laptop. If something large comes out with five minutes left, book a second conversation instead of rushing it.
Is there anything in the written review you want corrected or added before it is filed?
Why ask it
Factual corrections such as dates, project names and figures should simply be made. Find out beforehand how your company handles an employee's comments and what signing the form means there, so you can explain it accurately.
What are the two or three things you are taking away from today?
Why ask it
Have them say it before you summarize, or you will only hear your own summary agreed with. If their list and yours match, the review did its job. If the item you cared most about is missing, restate it in one sentence.
What has each of us agreed to do, and by when?
Why ask it
Go through it aloud and write it where both of you can see it, your commitments as well as theirs. Dates matter more than wording. A review that ends with actions only on the employee's side tells them the conversation ran one way.
When should we next sit down to look at these goals?
Why ask it
Put the date in the calendar before either of you leaves. Quarterly suits many roles, and monthly is better where there is a gap to close. With no check-in booked, the goals tend to be read again for the first time at the next review.
What would make the next review more useful for you?
Why ask it
Typical requests are seeing the written review beforehand, more time on the future, and fewer forms. Some of that is yours to change and some belongs to HR, so say which is which. It also ends the meeting with them giving feedback, which evens things out.
How to run the review conversation
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the review
Send a few questions ahead
A week before the meeting, send three or four questions from Their year and one from Goals, and say you would like to start with their answers. A year is hard to recall on the spot, and notice helps most with people who do not think aloud in meetings. If your company already asks for a written self-assessment, read it before you choose, and do not make them answer the same thing twice.
Write your own answers first
Draft your assessment before you hear theirs, with examples that carry dates and cover the whole period. The last two months are the easiest to remember, so go back through project notes, messages and earlier one-on-ones. For every criticism you plan to make, have one example you could describe in three sentences. If you cannot find one, leave the criticism out.
Find out what you are allowed to say
How ratings are set, when pay is decided, what a signature on the form means and how an employee adds comments all differ from one employer to the next. Ask HR or your own manager how each works where you are, and what has already been decided before the meeting. Then you can tell the employee plainly which parts are open to discussion and which are not.
Choose about ten
With follow-ups, an hour seldom has room for more than ten or so. Take two or three from each group and lean toward the groups that suit the person. Someone who had a strong year needs more time on Goals and Growth. After a mixed year, spend longer on Their year, Obstacles and the first half of Feedback.
Book the time and the room
Allow a full hour somewhere private, at a time when neither of you is due in another meeting straight after. Avoid the last slot on a Friday and the day before a holiday, when a hard message has nowhere to go. For a remote review, keep cameras on and close everything else on your screen.
In the meeting
Let them talk first
Open with one or two questions from Their year before you give any of your own assessment. You learn how they see the period while their view is still their own, and they are more willing to hear yours after being heard. A fair aim is for the employee to do about half the talking across the hour.
Give your assessment once, plainly
After their account, give yours: what went well, what did not, and the overall result, each with an example. Do not wrap a criticism so tightly in praise that it goes unheard. Then move to the Feedback questions, which exist to check that what you said is what was received.
Ask for the last time it happened
General answers such as 'communication could be better' give you nothing to act on. A follow-up like 'when did that last come up?' turns them into an event with a date and people in it. Most questions under Obstacles and Feedback improve with that one addition.
Do not bargain over the outcome in the room
If a rating or result was settled before the meeting, say so early and do not present it as open. Listen to the disagreement in full, write it down, and explain what your company's process allows next, which you will know because you asked beforehand. Changing an outcome on the spot to end an uncomfortable moment is unfair to the people who did not push.
Keep the second half for the future
Reviews run long on the past and reach the goals with ten minutes left. Check the clock at the halfway point and move to Goals even if the discussion of the year is unfinished. What is left over can go to the next one-on-one. The goals cannot wait, because the next period has already begun.
Reading the answers
Specific answers are the good ones
An employee who answers with projects, dates and names has thought about their year and can be worked with, even when the content is critical of themselves or of you. Answers that stay general, good or bad, usually mean the person is being careful. Ask for one example before drawing any conclusion.
The gap between their view and yours is the main finding
When their account of the year and your draft agree, the review confirms what you both knew. When they differ, the difference is the most useful thing in the room. Find out whether you are missing facts, they are missing feedback, or the two of you were measuring against different expectations.
Fast agreement is not agreement
A quick 'that sounds fair' to a hard message often means the person wants the conversation to be over. The Feedback question that asks them to put the main point in their own words is the test. Raising it again at the next one-on-one, when the feeling has settled, tells you more than pressing in the moment.
Notice where the causes always sit
Across the Obstacles answers, listen for a pattern. If every difficulty belongs to someone else, your feedback needs to bring it back to what was in their control. If every difficulty is taken as a personal failing, look harder at workload and at what you asked of them.
After the review
Write it up the same day
Send a short summary while both memories are fresh: the goals as agreed, how each will be checked, what each of you will do and by when. Keep the employee's own wording for the goals where you can. Ask them to reply with anything you got wrong, and correct it.
Do what you said you would
The items you took away, such as the tool, the introduction or the question about pay, are how the employee will judge whether the review was worth having. Give each a date. Report back even when the answer is no, since a refusal with a reason does less harm than silence.
Hold the check-in you booked
The date agreed under Closing is easy to move once the review season is over. Keep it, bring the written goals, and ask the same thing about each: is this still the right goal, and is it on track? Goals that have stopped making sense should be rewritten then, not defended at the next review.
Keep notes through the year
A running file of dated examples, good and bad, makes the next review faster to write and fairer to the months that would otherwise be forgotten. Add to it after one-on-ones and at the end of projects. Share the praise when it happens instead of saving it up.