Performance Review Email to Employees: 5 Templates to Use

Alex Cleary

Employee Email

Performance reviews can be anxiety-inducing for both employees and managers. Use our free templates for performance review emails to make the review process as smooth as possible.

It’s not always easy talking about performance reviews. But by properly preparing both employees and managers, you can ease the anxiety of the review process and facilitate productive and meaningful performance reviews. 

We’ve created email performance review email templates that you can customize and use to inform your employees and managers about upcoming reviews or changes to the review process.

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Tips for Emails to Employees About Performance Reviews

There are some basic things your performance review emails should include, depending on the type of email you’re sending. For example, performance review reminder emails should contain information about date and time, where review process change emails should detail the nature of the changes. 

In general, your emails about performance reviews should include key dates during the review process like:

  • When the reviews are taking place
  • Overall timeline for the entire review process
  • Deadlines for employees to submit self-reviews or relevant information
  • Deadline for managers to complete performance reviews or submit relevant information 

You can also include other information, like listing those in management involved in the review process. If different managers are conducting performance reviews for different groups of employees, provide a breakdown of who is responsible for who.

Email Announcement of the Performance Review

When delivering your performance review announcements via email, there are several considerations you should make. These tips will increase the reach of your announcement emails and help employees better understand what to expect.

Ensure your emails hit your employees’ inboxes when they’re most likely to see them. With email tools like ContactMonkey, you can schedule your performance review emails to be sent at a future date and time:

Screenshot of Gmail email sending dashboard within ContactMonkey

Coordinate your performance review announcements with your other internal communications by mapping out your content using our free Internal Communications Planning Calendar.

Performance reviews are a recurring event, which means that it’s important to be consistent. Keep a consistent tone and use a similar design when announcing performance reviews. Consider creating an email template for your performance review announcements, so all you have to do is plug in new information rather than re-designing the entire email.

We should note that it’s important to distinguish between consistency and monotony. No one likes receiving an email that’s obviously been sent to countless others, especially when that email has important information that affects their jobs. Personalize your email subject line and body copy using ContactMonkey’s merge tags feature:

ContactMonkey's merge tags allow you to add personalized subject lines and body copy to your employee emails.

Use these email tips to ensure your emails help, rather than hinder, the review process by keeping your employees in the loop.

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5 Employee Performance Review Email Templates

We’ve created these email templates for Outlook and Gmail to give you an idea of how to structure your performance review email announcements. Pick and choose what parts of the emails you want to use, and customize them to match your company’s existing internal communications.

Note: You may notice certain fields in the example emails set off by {{curly brackets}}. These are merge tags, which produce personalized text in your email subject line or body copy according to who your recipient is. 

Email reminder for employees

This is the most common email a business will send regarding performance reviews. It notifies employees that a performance review is upcoming, and includes details about how it will be carried out, who will be conducting the review, when it will happen, and any other relevant information.

Subject: Upcoming performance reviews on [date]

Hello {{first_name}},

Please be advised that we will be conducting performance reviews on [date]. Your review will take no longer than [time], and your manager will schedule time in your calendar. 

Performance reviews at [company] consist of [details about performance reviews at your company]. Please come prepared with [documents/notes required for performance review].

If you have any questions or concerns about your upcoming review, please contact [manager/supervisor name].

Thank you,

[Head of HR/Internal communications manager]

Email reminder for managers

Performance reviews are a two-way street, and managers should put just as much preparation into reviews as employees do.

Send an email reminder to your managers when performance reviews are approaching. This gives them notice to start gathering resources, scheduling reviews with their employees, and setting time aside in their calendars for the review process.

Subject: Prepare to conduct performance reviews on [date]

Hello {{first_name}},

With performance reviews beginning on [date], please begin to make arrangements to perform reviews with employees in {{department}}. 

For the review process, you will need up to [time period] with each employee to conduct a full review. Performance review materials can be found at [link to resources].

Please notify your employees of the upcoming performance reviews to give them adequate time to prepare. If you have any questions, please contact (department head/relevant stakeholder).

Thank you.

[Head of HR/Internal communications manager]

Performance review process changes/updates

If performance reviews have been an integral part of your business, both managers and employees will often know what to expect. But if you are making changes to the review process, let everyone know the nature of the changes so they can plan accordingly. 

Use this template to let employees and managers know about any changes to the performance review process, and outline the details of those changes.

Subject: UPDATE: Changes to performance review process

Hello {{first_name}},

Please be aware that we have made [several] changes to our performance review process. Take time to review these changes so you can prepare accordingly.

  • [details of changes]
  • [details of changes]
  • [details of changes]

If you have any questions about the changes to the performance review process, please do not hesitate to reach out to your [manager/supervisor].

Thank you,

[Head of HR/Internal communications manager]

Performance review deadline reminder for employees

Compared to the performance review reminder email, the deadline reminder is sent closer to the review date. Rather than getting into the details of the review process, the deadline reminder email simply alerts employees that they have a performance review in the next few days.

Subject: REMINDER: Performance review on [date]

Hello {{first_name}},

This is a reminder that your performance review will take place on [date] at [time]. [Manager/supervisor name] will be conducting your review, and they should have scheduled a meeting in your calendar.

If you have any questions about your review or are unable to attend your review on the set date, please notify your [manager/supervisor] with your concerns.

Thank you,

[Head of HR/Internal communications manager]

Performance review deadline reminder for managers

Similar to the deadline reminder for employees, managers should also be alerted when they have to conduct upcoming performance reviews. This email may differ from the employee deadline reminder in that it can include a list of the materials your managers need prepared for the review.

Subject: REMINDER: Conducting performance reviews on [date]

Hello {{first_name}},

This is a reminder that you will be conducting performance reviews for [section of employees] on [date range].

To prepare for your performance reviews, please have the following resources ready and available for your employees:

  • [performance review material]
  • [performance review material]
  • [performance review material]

If you are missing any of the above resources or need additional clarification about your responsibilities during the review process, please contact [department head] or consult [link to relevant company resources].

Thank you, 

[Head of HR/Internal communications manager]

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Take the Worry Out of Performance Reviews

Performance reviews don’t have to be an anxiety-ridden experience. Effective internal communication can help prepare both your and employees for a meaningful review process.

Use our email templates to take the edge off the performance review process and keep everyone in the loop.  Prepare your performance review emails ahead of time, schedule them appropriately, and respond to inquiries promptly.

Want to create your own performance review emails in snap? Book a free demo of ContactMonkey to see how easy it is to create your own email templates: 

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