A performance appraisal, also referred to as a performance review, performance evaluation,[1] (career) development discussion,[2] or employee appraisal[3] is a method by which the job performance of an employee is documented and evaluated. Performance appraisals are a part of career development and consist of regular reviews of employee performance within organizations.
Performance appraisals are most often conducted by an immediate manager, such as line managers or front-line managers (Tyskbo, 2020]) Annual performance reviews have been criticized (Evans & Tourish, 2017) as providing feedback too infrequently to be useful, and argue performance reviews in general do more harm than good. It is an element of the principal-agent framework, that describes the relationship of information between the employer and employee, and in this case the direct effect and response received when a performance review is conducted.[4]