The Performance Review Handbook
Management · Nº 32
The Performance Review Handbook
Individual Targets, 360° Reviews, and Performance Conversations, without Forms Nobody Takes Seriously
Everyone on your team got a 4 or a 5 again. So why is your best person job hunting?
24 tools, 13 ready-made templates, and one company followed through a full six-month cycle, so you review your team on facts and targets instead of a form and a gut feeling.
You get 24 tools to design the review, give each person targets they understand, track the cycle, arrive at a score anyone can check, and run the performance conversation. Plus the Review cycle spreadsheet, already filled in with the example.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
It's December, and the review forms are due Friday. You fill them out between calls, from memory, which means mostly last month. Almost everyone gets a 4 or a 5. Everyone gets the same raise. Then your fastest employee walks in, holds up a score that matches the people who load the wrong freight every week, and asks what the point is. You know who delivers. You just can't show it.
THE SPREADSHEET
Review cycle spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
Friday afternoon, five minutes
You open the fact log and write down what you saw this week: the driver who caught a loading error, the rep who let a complaint sit. Six months from now, the review won't depend on what you happen to remember.
One leader scores everyone higher than the rest
In the calibration meeting, you put the averages side by side. The difference jumps out. You go case by case with the facts from the log, change a score only when a fact backs it, and record the reason for every change.
An employee disagrees with the score
You don't argue on the spot. You listen, recheck the log and the records, and answer in writing within 5 days, with the recalculation attached. Sometimes the score stays. Sometimes the employee had a fact you didn't.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts, in the order of a real six-month cycle. Design the review: its purpose, the competencies, a four-level scale. Turn each role into targets with numbers. Track the cycle with a weekly fact log and monthly check-ins. Arrive at the score with a self-assessment, a 360° review, and calibration. Then run the performance conversation and decide pay by a rule everyone knew in advance. Each tool has a step by step, an example, and an exercise.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Performance Review Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise
- The Review cycle spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 6 working tabs, filled in with the example company
- The Template kit: 13 ready-made texts, from the target in one line and the 360° questionnaire to the performance conversation script and a 60-day improvement plan
- 2 worksheets to fill in (six-month targets and performance conversation) and a 30-day plan to launch your first cycle, one week per stage
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · Design the review
- 01The review cycleThe four stages of a six-month cycle, from agreeing on targets to the performance conversation
- 02What the review is forDevelopment, recognition, and pay, kept in separate conversations
- 03Competencies you can seeFour competencies per role, written as behaviors you can observe
- 04The four-level scaleScores with descriptions, so a 3 means the same thing to every leader
Part 2 · Part 2 · Individual targets
- 05Metrics by roleWhat you can measure in each role, from driver to customer service rep
- 06The target in one lineMetric, baseline, goal, deadline, and source, all in one sentence
- 07Threshold, goal, and stretchThree levels, so a target isn't all or nothing
- 08Individual target and team targetHow much of each score depends on the coworker next to you
Part 3 · Part 3 · Track the cycle
- 09The cycle kickoff conversationTargets, competencies, and weights settled in writing in 30 minutes
- 10Fact logFive minutes a week, so the review covers more than the last month
- 11Target check-inTen to fifteen minutes a month to correct course while there's still time
- 12When a target becomes a problemThe signs that a target is rewarding the wrong shortcut, and how to fix it
- 13Mid-cycle reviewWhen a target can change, and when it can't
Part 4 · Part 4 · Arrive at the score
- 14Fact-based self-assessmentThe employee goes first, with examples, not just numbers
- 15360° reviewWho reviews whom, how many people, and what to ask
- 16The 360° reportThe gaps between how people see themselves and how others see them
- 17The final scoreTargets and competencies in a calculation anyone can check
- 18Calibration meetingLeaders compare scores side by side before anyone hears theirs
Part 5 · Part 5 · The performance conversation and after
- 19Preparing for the performance conversationThe one-page sheet the leader takes into the room
- 20The performance conversationA 45-minute script, from the opening to the next cycle
- 21When the employee disagreesListen, recheck the facts, and answer in writing within 5 days
- 22Performance and payThe merit increase rule, announced before anyone gets a score
- 23Improvement planSixty days with a target, support, and dates for those who fell short
- 24Evaluate the cycleFive numbers that tell you whether the review actually worked
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You run reviews where everyone scores high and nothing changes afterward
- You've never reviewed your team and want to start with a simple method you can actually keep up
- You want each person to have targets they understand and you can measure
- You need to decide raises and promotions on clear criteria, not on who you get along with
- You own or manage a business with roughly 10 to 100 employees
It's not for you if
- You need to hire or let people go. That's The People Management Handbook
- You want scripts for everyday feedback. See The Feedback and Difficult Conversations Handbook
- You want to set company and team goals and OKRs. Start with The Goals and OKRs Handbook
- You need a job and pay structure built for you, or legal advice. This handbook covers the review cycle, not those
Frequently asked questions
My business only has 12 employees. Is this worth it?
Yes, with fewer moving parts. Use the target sheet, the scale, the fact log, and the performance conversation. The 360° review and calibration come in once you have two or more leaders. Tool 01 shows how to size the cycle to your team.
What about roles with no obvious number to measure?
Every role has something you can measure, even if it's only deadlines or rework. Tool 05 walks through metrics role by role. If you can only find one solid target, you give more weight to the competencies in the final score.
Do I have to give merit increases to run reviews?
No. The review is about development first. If you do tie pay to it, the handbook shows you how to set the merit increase rule and announce it before the cycle starts, so nobody feels the score was reverse-engineered from a budget.
Every six months or once a year?
Every six months is the handbook's standard: short enough to remember, long enough for a target to move. If your business runs on a strong annual cycle, you can go annual with monthly check-ins. Tools 01 and 11 cover both.
What if my leaders give everyone high scores again?
The written descriptions on the four-level scale and the calibration meeting take care of most of it. Leaders put their averages side by side and back the borderline scores with facts from the log before anyone hears a number.
How much time will it take?
About 2 hours and 24 minutes of reading, or 6 minutes per tool, plus the exercises. The 30-day plan gets your first cycle running in four weeks: the design, the targets, the kickoff conversations, then tracking and the rules.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
CONSYLION HANDBOOK SERIES
The 6 departments of your business, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks.
This handbook solves today's problem. The Series solves the next one, and the one after that, with nothing more to pay.
- 100 handbooks with 2,403 ready-made tools, to read on screen and download as PDFs
- 100 spreadsheets for Excel and Google Sheets
- 6 business areas
- Lifetime access, unlocked once payment is confirmed
One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Management · Nº 32
Review your team on facts, not on memory
Your best people notice when everyone gets the same score. This handbook gives you the cycle, the targets, the scripts, the 360° questionnaire, and a spreadsheet that does the math, so each person knows what to keep doing and what to change. Running the first cycle is up to you.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.