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BONUS #1
210 Sample Power Phrases Covering 21 Core Competencies
Overview
These help managers provide clear, specific, and impactful feedback during evaluations. They eliminate vague language and allow you to:
Highlight Strengths – Use positive phrases to reinforce behaviors you want the employee to continue.
Address Weaknesses Constructively – Use improvement-focused phrases to pinpoint areas of concern without sounding personal or critical.
Stay Professional and Objective – These phrases shift the tone from emotional to professional, keeping evaluations focused on performance and behavior.
Support Documentation – Using consistent language helps create solid written records for HR and future reviews.
Start Productive Conversations – Phrases can serve as talking points to open dialogue, coach employees, and set clear expectations for growth.
Pro Tip
Customize each phrase by adding specific examples from the employee’s performance. This shows you’ve been paying attention and makes the feedback more meaningful.
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BONUS #2
Sample Script to Help Navigate a Difficult Employee Conversation
Overview
This is a sample script to help confidently navigate a difficult conversation with a fictitious employee named Billy Page. It’s designed to provide respectful language that maintains professionalism while getting the point across. This helps ensure the conversation is firm but fair, focused on improvement, and compliant with HR best practices.
Pro Tip
Before the Meeting: Review the appropriate section that fits the issue you’re facing. Add specifics from your own documentation.
During the Conversation: Use the script to guide the discussion. Adapt the language to fit your communication style, but keep the structure and tone.
After the Meeting: Document what was discussed and any next steps. Follow up as promised to ensure accountability.
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BONUS #3
Nine Tips to Help Motivate Employees When You Can’t Pay as Much as You’d Like
Overview
When budgets are tight, motivation doesn’t have to suffer. As a manager, you can keep morale high by focusing on what truly drives engagement: appreciation, autonomy, purpose, and growth.
Pro Tip
These tips offer simple, low-cost ways to show employees they matter — through recognition, flexibility, development opportunities, and a positive culture. Use them in team meetings, one-on-ones, or performance check-ins to boost enthusiasm and commitment, even when raises aren’t on the table.
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BONUS #4
Performance Review Cheat Sheet for Managers
Overview
This is a condensed quick-reference reminder for conducting performance evaluations effectively and confidently.
Pro Tip
Prepare Smart: Use the checklist to gather the right data (KPIs, past reviews, behavior patterns) so your review is fair and well-informed.
Set Clear Goals: Use the S.M.A.R.T. goal section to shift the conversation toward future growth, not just past performance.
Avoid Common Mistakes: A quick glance at the pitfalls section helps you steer clear of vague or one-sided evaluations.
Document and Follow Through: The final section ensures you summarize the conversation, get employee input, and outline next steps so nothing falls through the cracks.
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BONUS #5
The Performance Spectrum: From Superstar to Under Achiever
Overview
Here are three sample evaluations of fictitious employees, covering the spectrum from High Performer to Poor Performer.
The first is for Sarah Reynolds, an office manager who’s a high performer and exceeds expectations.
The second is for David Martinez, a customer service representative who’s a solid performer that meets expectations.
The third is for Alicia Bennet, a shipping coordinator who’s a poor performer that’s below expectations.
Pro Tip
Managers can leverage these examples as dynamic tools for future-focused development and strategic goal setting, rather than just historical reports. For exceeding performers, identify and plan for advanced growth opportunities and leadership roles. For meeting performers, pinpoint specific areas for skill refinement and outline clear paths for career progression. For below-expectation performers, establish a precise, measurable Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) with defined support, clear milestones, and explicit consequences, ensuring the review serves as a launchpad for actionable improvement and continued dialogue.
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Sample 1: High Performer – Exceeds Expectations
Sample 2: Sample 2 Solid Performer – Meets Expectations
Sample 3: Needs Improvement – Below Expectations
BONUS #6
Quick Tips for Handling Three Extreme Challenges
Overview
Here are three Manager’s Cheat Sheets on how to handle a narcissistic employee who gives himself all perfect scores in his self eval, a perfectionist who’s unrealistic in her goals, and a basket case who’s such an emotionally fragile butterfly that they can’t handle even the slightest constructive criticism.
Pro Tip
Each of these takes less than 60 seconds to read but contain a treasure trove of helpful advice based on best management practices and high level behavioral psychology principles. Look over these before doing your next evaluations even if you don’t have employees who fall into these categories.
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The Emotional Basket Case Who Can’t Handle Constructive Criticism
BONUS #7
Microsoft® Word Master Template and Real Life Examples in Microsoft® Word Format
Overview
Open “Master Template” in MS Word.
Do not use this verbatim. It’s a basic template designed to serve as a starting point so that you can edit and customize it to fit your situation.
It includes 10 samples areas of competence that you can edit, delete, or add to.
It contains a blank in each competence area labeled “Rating” to fill in a numerical score. This can be a scale of 1-100, 1-10, or 1-5 as you choose.
It contains a comment area below each numerical score to fill in comments. Here you can use any of the 210 sample phrases included in Bonus #1.
This section also contains actual evals from three different organizations to give you real time insight into how they do their appraisals. While you might not want to copy them, you can edit them as much as you’d like and add any parts of them you like to your master template.
The Arkansas National Guard’s eval uses a scale of three with rankings of “unacceptable”, “acceptable” or “exceeds acceptable”. It also requires signatures from first and second level supervisors.
The New Hampshire judicial performance evaluation allows attorneys, plaintiffs or defendants to evaluate judges. Notice that it specifies the evaluator will not be identified. The evaluator remains anonymous, but basic background information is requested. It also uses a scale of six, but in reverse order. Instead of the highest score being the best, it is the worst. The lowest score is the best. This would be used as part of a 360-degree evaluation.
The U.S. Department of Commerce performance management record uses an alternative form of pass-fail. Notice that on the second page of this evaluation form, the only two options are “meets or exceeds” or “does not meet”. On the third page, they use a scale of one to five.
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