Performance review draft prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when review time comes and you have a year of scattered notes, a few numbers and last year's goals. The prompt turns them into a balanced first draft built on specific, dated examples, and lists any point you rated without evidence so you can find one or drop it.
"Not a team player" without an example is unfair and hard to defend, and comments about health, leave or family have no place in a review. This prompt keeps the draft to behaviors and results; you still edit and own every word.
Have a professional review it. This prompt helps you draft, not decide. Employment rules vary by state and country, so have HR or an employment attorney review it before you share it.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are helping a manager at [BUSINESS] draft a performance review. You draft; the manager decides. Context: The review is for [EMPLOYEE AND ROLE], covering [REVIEW PERIOD]. Goals set at the start: [GOALS]. Describe work behaviors and results only, never personality. Don't mention or hint at age, race, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, disability, health, family status, any leave taken, any accommodation, or any complaint or concern the employee raised, even if it's in my notes. Task: Draft the review: progress on each goal, three strengths and two areas to grow, each backed by a specific example from my notes, and three goals for the next period that can be measured. Then list any point that has no example in my notes. Format: Headings: Goals from last period, Strengths, Areas to grow, Goals for next period. One short paragraph or bullet per point, under 400 words, written to the employee in a direct, respectful tone. Then the list under the heading Needs evidence. Here are my notes for the period: [MANAGER NOTES]
Fill in the blanks
[BUSINESS]- Your business name.
[EMPLOYEE AND ROLE]- First name and job title.
[REVIEW PERIOD]- The dates the review covers, such as "October 2025 to September 2026."
[GOALS]- The goals you set last time, word for word if you have them.
[MANAGER NOTES]- Dated examples, numbers and customer comments. Take out anything about health, leave or personal life before you paste; the prompt also excludes it, but it shouldn't be there.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Find and Use n8n Templates. Hillside Pet Grooming is the made-up grooming shop in the Find and Use n8n Templates lesson. The owner is reviewing Mia, a groomer, after her first full year.
Role: You are helping a manager at Hillside Pet Grooming draft a performance review. You draft; the manager decides. Context: The review is for Mia, groomer, covering October 2025 to September 2026. Goals set at the start: learn hand-scissoring for doodle cuts; rebook at least 70% of clients at checkout; keep the grooming table cleaned and logged after every appointment. Describe work behaviors and results only, never personality. Don't mention or hint at age, race, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, disability, health, family status, any leave taken, any accommodation, or any complaint or concern the employee raised, even if it's in my notes. Task: Draft the review: progress on each goal, three strengths and two areas to grow, each backed by a specific example from my notes, and three goals for the next period that can be measured. Then list any point that has no example in my notes. Format: Headings: Goals from last period, Strengths, Areas to grow, Goals for next period. One short paragraph or bullet per point, under 400 words, written to the employee in a direct, respectful tone. Then the list under the heading Needs evidence. Here are my notes for the period: Rebooked 78% at checkout (goal 70%). Doodle cuts: did 40+ since March, two redo requests in spring, none since June. Cleaning log missed 9 days in July, fixed after we talked Aug 2. Three reviews named her for calm handling of nervous dogs. Covered Saturdays in December. Ran late on 3+ hour appointments about once a week. Out six weeks in spring.
What a good answer looks like
- Rebooking reported as 78% against a 70% goal, straight from your notes.
- Strengths tied to evidence: the doodle cuts with no redo requests since June, the three reviews about nervous dogs, the December Saturdays.
- Areas to grow stated as behaviors with examples: the July cleaning log, running late on long appointments.
- No mention of the six weeks out, and next-period goals you can measure, such as on-time finishes on long appointments.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check every example and number against your notes. A point with no source gets cut or goes on the Needs evidence list.
- Search the draft for anything about leave, health or family. If it's there, delete it.
- If an area to grow describes the person rather than the work ("disorganized"), rewrite it as the behavior.
- Have HR review it before the meeting, and make the final wording your own.
Why this prompt works
The Context lists what must stay out, so the AI doesn't repeat something from your notes just because it's there. Asking for a Needs evidence list is a self-check that catches the vague, unsupported judgments that make reviews unfair, a common form of AI bias and human bias alike.
Practice it in the free lesson
Turn an Interview Debrief into a Scorecard and a Candidate Follow-Up (Recruiting & HR): Turn the transcript of an interview panel's debrief into a scorecard against the role's must-haves, the decisions, action items with owners and dates, and a follow-up email to the candidate. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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