How to Make Effective Employee Evaluation Comments

If you’re tasked with providing employee evaluation comments as part of a performance review, you can use these steps to help you craft effective feedback:

1. Review work samples. Depending on the time that’s passed between this review and the last, you might want to look at current work samples and products from past months. See where there are consistent errors and where there’s been improvement in work performance.
2. Offer honesty. Make notes of positive work performance and areas for improvement. While it can be challenging to offer criticism, it’s vital for helping your team improve.
3. Give examples. Give examples of both excellent work and areas that they could improve to help your team member understand specifically what they should do moving forward.
4. Make it constructive. Make sure your criticism is constructive. Avoid value judgments and focus on what you’ve observed. Offer advice for how to improve.
5. Stay positive. Be sure to include positive feedback in addition to constructive criticism. Show the employee you see the good work they’re doing and that you appreciate them.

Consider using these examples in your next employee evaluation comments:

• ‘You are never late to work and never leave early.’
• ‘You’ve impressed the entire team with your innovative spirit and drive to find better solutions.’
• ‘You take the time to communicate your needs clearly and listen to others when they need assistance.’
• ‘You are always open to collaboration and hearing other people’s ideas.’
• ‘You’ve never turned in an assignment late.’
• ‘You take steps beyond your job description to ensure customers are satisfied with the company’s service.’
• ‘Your problem-solving skills are excellent.’
• ‘Even in the face of challenge, you continue to persevere and demonstrate excellent work ethic.’
• ‘You always hit your quotas.’
• ‘You show respect for everyone on the team, even during professional disagreements.’
• ‘When possible, you alert management to your time off needs and ensure your work is finished before taking time off.’
• ‘You respond to phone calls and emails in a timely manner.’
• ‘Your creative risks have helped the team find new solutions to old problems.’
• ‘You actively seek to build relationships and develop rapport with team members.’
• ‘You offer resources or tips to colleagues that have helped you.’
• ‘You model transparency to the team by providing information and reasoning from management.’
• ‘You take the time to acknowledge and praise your peers.’
• ‘Colleagues and customers appreciate your efforts to build relationships.’
• ‘You’re excellent at breaking down a task into manageable steps.’
• ‘You can clearly communicate expectations to your teammates.’
• ‘You regularly take the time to listen to your peers when they need help.’
• ‘Your empathy has helped us manage difficult clients on more than one occasion.’
• ‘Your team members respect and rely on you.’
• ‘You regularly offer your support to those on the team.’
• ‘You let everyone on the team have the opportunity to speak.’
• ‘Your work product is thorough and timely.’
• ‘You use your time effectively.’
• ‘You prioritize your work effectively.’
• ‘You regularly exceed set productivity expectations.’
• ‘You’re willing to work with any client.’
• ‘Clients ask for you by name.’
• ‘You are honest and transparent with customers.’
• ‘You take the time to parse through information before coming to a conclusion.’

For constructive criticism, these employee evaluation comments are great choices:

• ‘Your lunch breaks are often 10 to 15 minutes longer than allotted.’
• ‘You do not seem to ask for help when you need it.’
• ‘Your comments in team meetings can be unclear or misleading.’
• ‘Your team members have mentioned that you are not interested in collaborating.’
• ‘Your work product is regularly late.’
• ‘You have had 15 customer complaints in the last quarter.’
• ‘When faced with a problem, you seem incapable of finding solutions.’
• ‘Your productivity is erratic and leads to missed deadlines and shoddy work.’
• ‘I have noticed you’re on your cell phone regularly rather than on your computer.’
• ‘You have had several incidents with coworkers requiring mediation.’
• ‘You regularly use your company phone for personal calls.’
• ‘Your lateness has impacted others by causing meetings to begin late.’
• ‘You seem to avoid projects that require creative thinking.’
• ‘Your aversion to risk has kept the team from developing new innovations.’
• ‘You appear to favor some team members over others.’
• ‘You do not help new team members overcome learning challenges.’
• ‘You never provide praise to your team for a job well done.’
• ‘You’re not able to clearly explain goals and expectations to colleagues.’
• ‘You have purposefully withheld important information from your colleagues.’
• ‘Your work delegation of work is often uneven.’
• ‘Your lack of clear communication has led to arguments within the team.’
• ‘You do not take the time to build relationships with your team members.’
• ‘You respond to phone calls or emails days or weeks after receiving them.’
• ‘You have caused a coworker to feel upset during a meeting before.’
• ‘You talk over your colleagues during meetings.’
• ‘You don’t like to hear other people’s ideas or opinions.’
• ‘You attempt to pass the team’s work off as your own work.’
• ‘You use your seniority to bully others.’
• ‘You work well on your own, but not with a team.’
• ‘You lack the necessary time management skills to complete tasks on time.’
• ‘When you do turn your work in on time, the quality is low.’
• ‘You do not communicate regularly with your clients.’
• ‘You offer the same solution to every client regardless of the issue at hand.’