Positive Things to Write on a Performance Review

Employee performance reviews provide a formal checkpoint for a manager and an employee to celebrate the employee's accomplishments and discuss opportunities for improvement. Writing positive remarks on a performance review is a pleasure for any manager, because it means the employee is doing well and performing as expected or better.

Write other people's feedback about your employee on her performance review. Several weeks in advance of the performance review date, ask colleagues who work with the employee to comment on her performance. Ask specific questions about the employee's verbal and written communication skills, about her ability to work with others, about her responsiveness to requests and the quality of her work. When the time comes to complete the performance review, include some of the positive remarks others made about the employee.

If you and your employee set goals for this review period, review the goals and assess whether the employee accomplished them. On the performance review form, list the goals the employee accomplished. Mention any obstacles that the employee overcame to achieve the goals and how he handled those obstacles.

Include your observations about the employee's professional growth and development. For example, address instances when the employee acted as a good role model for her colleagues and note her positive attitude and her ability to complete work within deadlines. Your observations do not have to solely focus on fulfilling tasks, but should also cover her effect on her department and coworkers. This is particularly important if you are considering the employee for a promotion.

Your employee's performance review should also include your recommendations for the employee. If she is ready for a promotion, write a sentence or two that describes why upper management should promote him to another position. Similarly, if you plan to assign more advanced work to the employee because she successfully handled lower-level projects, document your recommendation in her performance review.