An annual performance review is one cycle of the appraisal process run once a year, usually in the weeks after the financial year closes so that the merit budget is known before the ratings are given. The annual review at work is the version most employees know: a form, a meeting and a number, in that order, once a year. Run well it is the point where a year of objectives, feedback and check-ins is read together and turned into a rating, comments, a merit outcome and next year's objectives. This page sets out the calendar for a company of ten to two hundred, gives annual review examples of what each stage produces, and closes with end of year review examples of the comments and the outcome sheet that end the period.
The calendar
Objectives were set at the start of the year and revisited at each check-in. Four weeks before the review, HR opens the cycle: the self-appraisal form goes to every employee with two weeks to complete it. Managers then rate and comment against the same objectives within two weeks. Calibration follows in one meeting per manager group. The merit matrix is applied and costed; the salary review sets the new pay. Then the review meetings are held, employee by employee, and the outcome sheets are signed. Objectives for the new year are agreed in the same meeting or within a fortnight of it. Six to eight weeks, once a year, and the record for the year is closed.
What each stage produces
The self-appraisal produces the employee's evidence and self-rating per objective: five objectives, four met, one missed with a reason, a self-rating of four on a five-point scale. The manager's review produces a rating and comment per objective and an overall rating, three met as stated, one exceeded, one missed for a reason partly outside the employee's control, an overall four. Calibration confirms or moves it. The matrix gives the merit percentage; the salary review gives the new pay. The free self-appraisal and final comments worksheets on this site work those two halves from the figures you enter.
End of year review examples: the comments and the outcome
The closing comment names the objectives met and the one missed, says what the rating means on the scale, and states the outcome and the development plan in one paragraph the employee can re-read in six months and recognise. The outcome sheet carries the calibrated rating, the merit increase, any other rise on its own line, the new salary, the development plan and the objectives for the new year, dated and signed. Kept on one record per employee, this year's sheet sits beside last year's, which is where the next annual review starts. Reviewvo Pro keeps that record per employee per cycle and exports the outcome.
Questions people ask about annual performance review
When should the annual performance review be held?
In the weeks after the financial year closes, so the merit budget is known before ratings are given. Six to eight weeks covers self-appraisals, manager reviews, calibration, salary review and the review meetings.
What does an end of year review produce?
A rating and comment per objective, an overall calibrated rating, a closing comment, the merit outcome and new salary, a development plan and the objectives for the coming year, all on the employee's record for the cycle.
Is one annual review enough?
One rating cycle a year is enough for most small companies if check-ins happen through the year and feedback reaches the record. Two rating cycles double the work without doubling the information.