Performance Review Guidelines
Developing Fair and Transparent Performance Review Guidelines
This prompt helps HR teams create performance review guidelines that emphasize fairness and transparency. It ensures employees understand the review process, criteria, and how evaluations tie into career development and compensation decisions.
Responsible:
HR/Recruiting
Accountable, Informed or Consulted:
HR, Leadership
THE PREP
Creating effective prompts involves tailoring them with detailed, relevant information and uploading documents that provide the best context. Prompts act as a framework to guide the response, but specificity and customization ensure the most accurate and helpful results. Use these prep tips to get the most out of this prompt:
Define clear evaluation criteria and align them with company goals and values.
Collaborate with managers to ensure consistent use of evaluation tools.
Prepare communication materials to educate employees about the review process.
THE PROMPT
Help design fair and transparent performance review guidelines for [specific software startup] to build trust and consistency in evaluations. Focus on:
Review Criteria: Recommending clear and measurable standards, such as, ‘Define criteria based on role responsibilities, company values, and specific key performance indicators (KPIs).’
Process Transparency: Suggesting strategies, like, ‘Communicate the entire review process upfront, including timelines, criteria, and who will be involved in the evaluation.’
Feedback Consistency: Including guidelines for uniformity, such as, ‘Use standardized templates or forms to ensure all employees are evaluated using the same metrics and format.’
Growth and Development Alignment: Proposing actionable feedback strategies, like, ‘Tie performance outcomes to opportunities for career development, skill enhancement, or promotions.’
Employee Involvement: Recommending participatory approaches, such as, ‘Incorporate self-assessments and provide opportunities for employees to share their perspectives during review discussions.’
Provide a set of performance review guidelines that ensures fairness, fosters trust, and supports employee growth. If additional details about team structures or organizational goals are needed, ask clarifying questions to refine the guidelines.
Bonus Add-On Prompts
Propose strategies for aligning performance review outcomes with transparent promotion or bonus criteria.
Suggest methods for training managers to deliver clear and unbiased feedback during reviews.
Highlight techniques for integrating anonymous employee feedback on the review process itself.
Use AI responsibly by verifying its outputs, as it may occasionally generate inaccurate or incomplete information. Treat AI as a tool to support your decision-making, ensuring human oversight and professional judgment for critical or sensitive use cases.
SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE
Focus on transparency in reviews for remote or hybrid teams.
Include tips for addressing biases and promoting equity in performance evaluations.
Propose ways to integrate peer or team feedback into transparent review processes.
Highlight tools like Lattice or Workday to streamline and standardize reviews.
Add suggestions for using review outcomes to create team-level performance improvement plans.
WHEN TO USE
During performance review cycles to ensure fairness and consistency.
To build trust and clarity in review processes for employee engagement.
When revising or implementing new performance management systems.
WHEN NOT TO USE
For informal feedback or quick check-ins outside of formal review processes.
If evaluation criteria and processes are not defined or supported by leadership.