12 Types of Performance Evaluations You Can Run in Deel Engage

Picture this: your startup just hit 100+ people, and performance reviews are anything but smooth. Your engineering team runs their performance review using a previous manager’s Google Sheet, but Sales and Product use a completely different version. You spend hours trying to standardize templates and performance rating scales, only to end up in calibration with a mess of PDFs and manager notes to work from.

When annual review season finally wraps, new challenges immediately land on your plate: probation reviews for new hires, level-progression assessments for emerging leaders, and project-based evaluations for cross-functional teams.

This illustrative example is the reality for organizations worldwide. No surprise, then, that only 32% of executives in 2025 say their performance management approach enables timely, high-quality talent decisions about high and low performers, according to Deloitte.

In reality, no single review cycle supports all the moments where performance needs attention. Without a system designed to flex across various review types, HR ends up reinventing the wheel every time. That’s exactly what makes a unified, automated platform like Deel Engage so powerful, enabling you to run these 12 performance review types from one central location.

1. Annual performance reviews

Best for: Organizations seeking structured goal-setting and reflection

Annual performance reviews help you take stock of an employee’s performance over the past year, including what they achieved or missed, and what development opportunities should shape the year ahead. This type of review is most effective when it combines data, reflection, and forward-looking planning.

Common elements of an annual performance review include:

• Quantitative ratings to evaluate goals, competencies, or role expectations
• Qualitative questions that identify nuance, context, and real examples of impact
• Manager evaluations that reflect performance, growth potential, and areas to improve
• Peer or cross-functional input for employees whose work spans multiple teams
• Calibration sessions to promote fairness and consistency across departments
• Goal-setting for the next cycle, often tied to OKRs or role expectations.

Sample questions for an annual performance review

Here are a few examples of qualitative and quantitative questions you can borrow for your review.

• On a scale of 1-5, how has the employee contributed to reaching the current company goals?
• How effectively does the employee align their goals with the organization’s objectives?
• On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate the employee’s demonstration of their core competencies in their role?
• What can the employee do differently in the future to avoid repeating mistakes?

Run your annual performance review in Deel Engage

In Deel Engage, you can:

• Launch structured annual reviews with clearly defined stages, such as feedback writing phase, calibration, and feedback sharing and discussion
• Set automated reminders for reviewers
• Funnel all feedback into a single, centralized dashboard

Managers gain a clear view of performance trends, while HR receives consistent data across teams, and results seamlessly integrate into compensation and promotion processes.

2. Mid-year or biannual reviews

Best for: Companies focused on agility and continuous improvement

Mid-year or biannual reviews offer a great middle ground, giving teams a chance to recalibrate between annual cycles. They’re designed to help managers identify if the employee is on track or if they could benefit from some additional support or resources. Typically, these reviews include:

• Shorter check-in forms focused on progress rather than a full-scale evaluation
• Updates on goal status (met, in progress, blocked, or re-scoped)
• Brief manager comments to reinforce strengths or highlight areas requiring attention
• Self-reflections on obstacles, priorities, and next steps
• Adjustments to goals or expectations to reflect any changing business needs (for example, after a new product launch or team reshuffle)
• Lightweight calibration to maintain consistency without the overhead of annual cycles

Sample questions for a mid-year performance review

Anchor your questions to the annual review a few months before, such as:

• How well has the employee progressed towards their goals set at the beginning of the year?
• Can you provide an example of how the employee effectively managed a shift in priorities?
• How would you assess the employee’s time management skills and their impact on overall productivity?
• What areas does the employee need to improve for the remainder of the year?

Run your mid-year or biannual review in Deel Engage

With Deel Engage, it’s easy to run lighter-weight mid-year check-ins without rebuilding your process from scratch. You can:

• Clone your annual review survey
• Adjust it to a shorter format with fewer questions and launch in minutes
• Use automated reminders for consistency without extra admin

It’s a simple, streamlined way to keep performance conversations ongoing, while providing managers and employees with a clear view of progress year-round.

3. Peer reviews

Best for: Organizations emphasizing teamwork and shared accountability

Peer reviews collect horizontal feedback from their colleagues to strengthen collaboration across the team. A peer-review process typically looks like this:

• HR decides how many peers should be involved, who qualifies as a peer (e.g., same team, cross-functional collaborators), and who’s responsible for choosing and approving them.
• Peers are nominated to review specific colleagues (either by the employee or their manager). The nominees should be familiar with their work and be able to articulate their collaboration, reliability, and impact on shared outcomes.
• Managers or HR approve nominations based on the policy. The aim is coverage and balance, so the reviewers shouldn’t all be close friends or from a single function.
• Peers complete structured review forms by rating and commenting on areas like teamwork, communication, dependability, problem-solving, and contribution to group goals.
• Peer input is combined with manager and self-assessments to inform reviews, development plans, and coaching conversations.

Sample questions for a peer review

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how effectively does your coworker communicate within the team?
• How often does your coworker meet project deadlines? (1 = Never, 5 = Always)
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how well does the employee handle and adapt to change?
• How well does the employee demonstrate collaboration across teams on a scale of 1 to 5?

Run your peer review in Deel Engage

Deel Engage is an ideal central space to conduct your peer review. You’ll use the nomination settings to tweak:

• Number of peers per employee
• Number of reviews per peer
• Peer approval process (who approves, when)
• Anonymity options based on your feedback culture: Should peer feedback be anonymous or not?

4. Managerial reviews (upward feedback)

Best for: Companies prioritizing leadership development and cultural alignment

Where traditional performance feedback flows from manager to direct report, a managerial review turns the tables, using upward feedback. This type of review provides employees with a safe and structured way to share their thoughts on how effectively their managers lead, communicate, and support their growth.

Managerial reviews typically include:

• Anonymous upward-feedback surveys completed by direct reports who feel safe to speak up without fear of reprisal
• Clear criteria tied to leadership behaviors, communication, coaching, and decision-making
• Ratings and qualitative comments that reveal how managers influence team morale and performance
• Questions focused on support, clarity, fairness, and people-management skills
• Optional visibility rules to protect employees and maintain trust
• Aggregated insights for leadership development, manager training, or calibration discussions

Sample questions for a manager review

• How clear and understandable are the instructions and information provided by your manager?
• The manager consistently shows consideration for me as a person. (Scale: 1-5, where 1 = Strongly disagree and 5 = Strongly agree)
• How does your manager resolve conflicts within the team?
• The manager has had meaningful discussions with me about my career development in the past six months. (Scale: 1-5, where 1 = Strongly disagree and 5 = Strongly agree)

Run your managerial review in Deel Engage

You can launch confidential upward-feedback forms in Deel Engage, with customizable visibility settings so employees feel safe sharing candid insights. From here, all responses roll into intuitive reporting dashboards.

As performance and growth data live in the same platform, upward-feedback results can easily inform leadership development programs, supporting ongoing manager training without any administrative overhead.

5. Self-evaluations

Best for: All employees, especially in feedback-driven cultures

Managers can’t see everything. Sometimes, the best way to bring something to light in a performance setting is to ask reviewees to evaluate their own performance, providing context that might otherwise be invisible. This exercise also encourages the direct report to reflect on their performance and take ownership of their growth journey.

Self-evaluations typically include:

• Reflection prompts on achievements, challenges, and recent outcomes
• Ratings that help employees evaluate their own performance objectively
• Space to describe strengths, wins, and personal contributions
• Honest discussion of improvement areas and growth opportunities
• Values-based reflection to assess cultural alignment
• Future-oriented goal-setting or commitments for the next cycle

Samples of self-evaluation feedback

Here are some examples highlighting strengths:

• “I have consistently improved my coding skills by taking online courses and in-house training from senior colleagues. I’ve mastered React and will move on to backend languages in the coming period.”
• “I have been successful in achieving a 95% customer satisfaction rating, surpassing the company target of 90%. This was accomplished by implementing a proactive approach to customer service and timely resolution of issues.”

The following examples cover potential improvement areas:

• “While I have made progress in most KPI areas, I fell short of the target for reducing customer churn by 5%. I will be focusing on improving customer retention strategies and working with my team to find innovative solutions to this challenge.”
• “I tend to delve deep into details, which is valuable for quality but can at times slow down my productivity. I am working on discerning when to employ a broader overview versus a detailed analysis.”

Run your self-evaluation in Deel Engage

HR teams use Deel Engage to launch self-evaluations as part of any review cycle. Responses flow into the same centralized dashboard managers use for reviews, making it easier to compare self-perception with manager feedback and development needs.

6. 360-degree reviews

Best for: Leadership development, performance calibration, and culture building

Instead of relying on a single source of input to evaluate performance, a 360-degree system collects holistic feedback from multiple sources, such as peers, managers, and direct reports, for a more well-rounded overview. Companies like Netflix have famously scrapped the traditional downward feedback via the annual review, opting instead for a 360-degree performance appraisal.

360-degree reviews typically include:

• Multi-rater surveys capturing feedback from managers, peers, direct reports, and self-evaluations
• A mix of ratings and open-ended questions for well-rounded insights
• Role-based question sets tailored to each reviewer group
• Anonymity for upward and peer feedback
• Aggregated reports showing trends across rater groups
• Cross-functional insights that support leadership development and performance calibration

Sample questions for a 360-degree review

• Manager: Rate the employee’s ability to meet deadlines on a scale of 1-5, where 1 means rarely meets deadlines and 5 means always meets deadlines.
• Self: Rate your efficiency in pitching solutions on a scale of 1-5, where 1 means rarely efficient and 5 means always efficient.
• Manager: Describe a situation where the employee went above and beyond their job requirements. What specific actions did they take?
• Self: Rate your ability to communicate clearly with clients and third parties on a scale of 1-5, where 1 means poor and 5 means excellent.

Run your 360-degree review in Deel Engage

Deel Engage makes multi-rater reviews simple and structured. You can:

• Define self, peer, downward, and upward feedback surveys
• Configure reviewer selection rules
• Set anonymity levels to encourage honest feedback
• Automate invitations and reminders for each reviewer group
• Access the summary view to learn how an employee is perceived across roles and relationships.

7. Goal-based reviews

Best for: Cross-functional or project-driven teams

Goal-based reviews evaluate an employee’s performance against specific targets, deliverables, or project outcomes. Instead of assessing broad competencies or long-term behaviors, this type of review focuses on specific achievements and their impact on team or business priorities.

Goal-based reviews typically include:

• Goal-completion metrics that show progress, blockers, or re-scoped objectives
• Milestone commentary detailing wins, setbacks, and adjustments along the way
• Reflection questions about decision-making, impact, and collaboration
• Assessment of outcome quality along with the output itself
• Next steps or new priorities for the upcoming cycle

Sample questions for a goal-based review

• Manager: What were the most significant contributors to hitting or missing key milestones?
• Manager: On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate the employee’s collaboration and communication with cross-functional partners during this project?
• Manager: What impact did the employee’s work have on team, customer, or business outcomes?
• Manager: What lessons from this project should carry forward into future cycles?

Run your goal-based review in Deel Engage

Deel Engage ties reviews directly to measurable goals by linking performance criteria to OKRs, team priorities, and individual objectives. Managers and employees can track progress using integrated dashboards that show status updates, milestones, and historical context, giving you a clearer picture of outcomes, not just intentions.

You can filter reviews by project, team, or contributor, helping you evaluate impact across cross-functional work.

Additionally, goals can be directly linked to feedback surveys. It’s as easy as checking off a box.

8. Competency-based reviews

Best for: Organizations with defined competency or skills frameworks

Instead of focusing solely on output or goals, competency reviews assess the underlying capabilities, skills, and behaviors that drive performance, such as communication, problem-solving, leadership, collaboration, or technical expertise.

It’s especially useful in organizations with clear leveling guides, role expectations, or defined career pathways. Competency-based reviews typically include:

• Ratings for each core competency are tied to requirements for the employee’s role or level
• Qualitative comments that provide examples of strengths and areas to improve
• Competency categories, such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, or leadership
• Behavior-based indicators that make expectations clear and consistent
• Insights used for development planning, promotions, and coaching

Sample questions for competency-based reviews

• Self: How have you demonstrated your ability to think critically and strategically in your role? Please provide a specific example.
• Manager: Can you provide an example of when the employee had to manage competing priorities and how they ensured the timely completion of tasks?
• Self: How effectively have you applied your technical skills to meet your job responsibilities? Please provide an example.
• Manager: Can you share an instance where the employee had to provide constructive feedback to a coworker? How did they approach this situation, and what was the outcome?

Explore more examples of competency-based performance appraisal questions and frameworks in our full guide.

Run your competency-based review in Deel Engage

Deel Engage offers a complete system for assessing, developing, and leveling talent.

You can:

• Define a competency library for all roles and levels in your organization (and accelerate content creation with AI)
• Link competencies with feedback surveys, regardless of who inputs the feedback (peers, manager, etc.)
• Help reviewers leave structured feedback against the exact behaviors that matter, as competency definitions will appear next to the form to provide context
• Use 360-degree feedback tools to gather input from peers, managers, and direct reports

Additionally, with career frameworks, you will help employees understand how their current competencies map to future progression.

9. 9-box assessments

Best for: Leadership teams and HR functions focused on strategic workforce planning

9-box assessments evaluate an employee’s current performance alongside their future potential, giving organizations a simple but powerful way to identify top talent, rising stars, and development needs.

9-box assessments typically include:

• A 3×3 grid mapping employees by performance (low-high) and potential (low-high)
• Manager input on readiness for expanded responsibilities or higher-level roles
• Behavior- and results-based performance insights from recent review cycles
• Discussions around leadership qualities, growth trajectory, and long-term fit
• Calibration meetings to encourage consistency across teams or departments
• Follow-up development planning based on where employees land in the grid

Sample questions for a 9-box assessment

• Does the employee demonstrate strong leadership potential? How well have they taken initiative or led projects?
• Does the employee consistently demonstrate a commitment to the company’s core values and culture?
• How well is the employee performing in their current role? Are they meeting, exceeding, or falling short of expectations?
• How proficient is the employee in both technical skills and soft skills (communication, teamwork, adaptability)?

Run your 9-box assessment in Deel Engage

Deel Engage unifies performance and potential data, automatically generating your 9-box grid from single- or multi-rater reviews. HR and leaders get a clear view of high performers and succession candidates, backed by consistent inputs.

You can then support development with career pathways, built-in learning tools, and custom training programs, all in the same platform.

10. Job leveling reviews

Best for: Organizations with structured job families or career frameworks

Job leveling reviews check if an employee is ready to move into a higher role, or whether their current role is still the right level. This review type is only possible with a clearly defined job architecture. It’s an approach that’s vital for establishing a fair promotion and career progression process.

Job leveling reviews typically:

• Compare the employee’s current role responsibilities to the expectations of the next level
• Evaluate demonstrated competencies, behaviors, and measurable outputs aligned to job-family standards
• Assess decision-making authority, scope of influence, and impact on the organization
• Identify performance gaps relative to role expectations and next-level readiness
• Articulate any missing criteria or skills required for promotion
• Document the agreed next steps or development plan for leveling

Sample questions for job leveling reviews

• On a scale of 1-5, how well does the employee perform the core responsibilities of their current level?
• Which promotion criteria are already met, and which are still missing?
• On a scale of 1-5, how proficient is the employee in the competencies required for the next level (e.g., communication, influence, technical depth)?
• What evidence is there that the employee is ready for broader responsibilities or a higher-scope role?

Run your job leveling review in Deel Engage

Deel Engage makes job leveling consistent and transparent by linking reviews directly to your role- and level-based criteria.

You can:

• Set up leveling frameworks that map expectations to each level
• Support managers in evaluating employees against the right standards
• Consolidate results into clear dashboards that highlight readiness, gaps, and development opportunities.

11. Probation or onboarding reviews

Best for: Scaling organizations hiring frequently

Probation and onboarding reviews help you understand how well new hires are adjusting, performing, and integrating into your culture, long before the annual review cycle.

These short, structured check-ins provide new employees with the support they need, and give managers an early signal of whether resources or role clarity need adjustment. They’re especially valuable for fast-growing companies where dozens of employees may be onboarding at the same time.

Probation or onboarding reviews typically include:

• 30-, 60-, and 90-day check-ins to track early performance and ramp-up progress
• Short surveys for new hires, managers, and (optional) peers
• Ratings on goal clarity, training quality, and alignment to role expectations
• Qualitative reflections on challenges, wins, and culture fit
• Early identification of performance or onboarding gaps
• Follow-up action items or development support for a successful ramp-up

Sample questions for probation or onboarding reviews

• Probation: What were some challenges you experienced during your probationary period?
• Probation: How do you see yourself developing in this role/organization in the next six months? 12 months?
• Onboarding: On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means “not at all clear” and 5 means “extremely clear,” how clear were your goals of the onboarding?
• Onboarding: On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means “not at all adequate” and 5 means “very adequate,” how adequate do you feel the materials and equipment provided are to perform your job effectively?

Run your probation and onboarding reviews in Deel Engage

With Deel Engage, you can automatically launch probation reviews using the hire date as a trigger, so every new hire completes their 30-, 60-, or 90-day check-ins on time.

Managers receive automatic reminders, and full-cycle tracking is available from onboarding through development. You also benefit from Deel’s built-in compliance layer, keeping you in check with local probation requirements as you scale.

12. Development or growth reviews

Best for: Organizations with established career frameworks or job architectures

The primary goal of a development-oriented review is to focus on future skills and growth pathways, rather than past performance ratings. These reviews shift the conversation from “How did you do?” to “Where do you want to go?” and “What skills will you build to get there?”

This kind of developmental feedback emphasizes personal and professional growth by identifying strengths and skills to develop.

Development or growth reviews typically include:

• Open-ended, conversational questions that prompt reflection and growth
• Goal-setting linked to future skills, experiences, and career ambitions
• Linking feedback to role competencies and emerging capabilities
• Collaborative planning between employee and manager around next steps
• Readiness indicators for new challenges, new roles, or broader scope
• Free-form insight rather than strict rating scales (though ratings may still be used)

Sample questions for development and growth reviews

• What career goals should we prioritize in your development plan?
• Which competencies or behaviors will have the biggest impact on your readiness for the next role?
• In what areas do you want to stretch or take on more responsibility this cycle?
• How will you measure your progress toward these growth goals over the next six to 12 months?

Run your development and growth reviews in Deel Engage

Deel Engage supports growth-oriented reviews by:

• Linking growth goals directly to skills frameworks and role levels
• Enabling personalized feedback loops that drive meaningful progress
• Allowing you to define and map competencies to roles
• Enabling you to set growth-oriented questions
• Tracking development goals alongside performance reviews
• Providing dashboards and analytics that deliver visibility into skill gaps, growth trajectories, and development plan progress.

Deel Engage features for every review type

No matter which review cycle you’re running, Deel Engage gives you a flexible foundation. Instead of switching between forms, spreadsheets, and ad-hoc templates, you can rely on a single system that adapts to your workflows, keeping every team member aligned and accountable.

Here’s how Deel Engage supports every review, at every scale:

Tips to get the most out of your reviews

Deel Engage will house and power every type of performance evaluation in your business. But even with everything running smoothly, you can still maximize the value of your reviews by following some key tips:

• Match your review type to your company’s rhythm: Employee feedback should land when the context is fresh, and it’s time to make important comp, promotion, and headcount decisions. So, anchor your annual or biannual reviews to key decision points like fiscal year close, budget cycles, or promotion windows. Layer project-based reviews after major launches or campaigns, and probation reviews at 30/60/90 days.
• Stagger cycles around high-pressure periods: Avoid running heavy reviews during peak sales seasons, product launches, or funding rounds. Use lighter-weight check-ins during “crunch” quarters, versus deeper reviews when leaders have the bandwidth to calibrate and act on the data.
• Consider adapting the cadence by team, not just by company: Product, Sales, and Support rarely move on the same rhythm. Let some teams run project- or sprint-based reviews, for example, after a release or campaign, while others stick to semiannual cycles.
• Combine quantitative signals with qualitative context for better timing decisions: Use scores and completion data to spot where a team might need an extra check-in (e.g., consistently low engagement, rapid growth, or lots of new managers). Then spin up an ad-hoc pulse or focused review in Deel Engage instead of waiting for the “next big cycle.”
• Tie review outcomes to company planning: Performance insights should flow straight into salary reviews, recognition programs, and growth opportunities, rather than sitting in a dashboard until the next cycle.

Drive performance with Deel Engage

Along with providing a suite of review tools, Deel Engage gives you a single, integrated system to manage performance and growth. Everything lives side by side in perfect harmony: your cycles stay consistent because the latest data is available 24/7 to flow into the next initiative.