Performance agreement template

You can use this template to help you make a performance agreement with your employee. Having a performance agreement in place will help your employee understand what you expect from them. It also sets out what support or assistance will be provided to help the employee achieve their goals.

This template has been colour coded to help you complete it. You simply need to replace the red < > writing with what applies to your employee and situation.

Explanatory information is shown in blue italics to assist you and should be deleted once you have completed the agreement.

Suggested steps for developing a performance agreement

For more information on managing employee performance, see our online learning courses at fairwork.gov.au/learning. For information about minimum employment rights and entitlements you can also call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 or visit www.fairwork.gov.au.

Step 1: Plan

The first step is to plan by looking at your business goals for the year ahead. Think about how the employee’s work performance will help your business reach these goals.

You should consider:

what tasks the job involves
what skills and abilities are needed to do the job
what level of performance is expected.

If you have prepared a job description, you can use this to help you with this step. If you haven’t prepared a job description, there is a template available at www.fairwork.gov.au.

Step 2: Discuss

The next step is to arrange a time to meet with the employee to discuss and set up the performance agreement.

Prepare for the meeting by gathering the information you used in your planning, as well as details of how the employee has been performing so far.

During the meeting, talk with the employee about:

how they have been performing
the skills they needs to develop
their own ideas about learning and development opportunities.

Together with the employee, use the template below to help you write a performance agreement with this information and set a date for review.

Step 3: Monitor

After you’ve made the performance agreement, the next step is to monitor the employee’s performance and support the employee to meet their goals.

Remember to:

give regular feedback (both positive and constructive) to the employee
deal with any underperformance issues as soon as they come up
support employees to improve performance, by providing training, coaching or mentoring opportunities.

Step 4: Review

The final step is to review and evaluate the employee’s performance at the end of the performance cycle.

Meet with each employee at least every 12 months to assess their performance against the agreed goals. You might also like to do interim evaluations, especially in the employee’s first year, where the job’s requirements change, or where the employee is having performance problems.

Prior to meeting with your employee, it’s a good idea to give your employee the opportunity to reflect on their own performance by completing a self-assessment. Refer to the template below.

After you’ve completed the review of the current performance cycle, consider whether you need to revise their performance goals or set new ones for the next cycle.

PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT TEMPLATE

Employee name: Smith Will

Employee position and level: Hotel Manager

Date of agreement: 14^th July

Period of agreement: 25^th July, 2021 to 27^th July, 2022 Performance agreements usually apply for a period of 6 to 12 months

Planned review date: Interim 26^th July Final 1^st September

Performance goals

To be completed with the employee during the initial performance discussion meeting.

Task / Responsibility	Required outcomes
Supervising all staff	It gives future concern about performance
Recruiting staff	Increased productivity
Maintaining financial and statistical records	To assure that all records are kept safe and confidential

Learning and Development plan

To be completed with the employee during the initial performance discussion meeting.

Areas for development	Actions
Improvement in skills of consumer service	External training, on-the-job training
Improvement in skills of communication	Mentoring, coaching training, workshops
Improvement in decision-making	Seminars, consultation with executives

Performance agreement approval

Employer signature: Employee signature:

Print name: Print name:

Date: 14^th July Date: 14^th July

Employee self-assessment

Employee to complete before the interim and final review meeting

How do you think you have performed against each of your performance goals?

I think I have performed very well, but I also need to consider some areas for improving my skills and performance.

What areas would you like to develop?

I would like to develop my skills in communication, decision-making and skills of consumer service.

Other comments:

I think I should attend some training sessions so that I could improve my interpersonal skills.

Manager’s feedback

Manager to complete after the mid-year and final performance discussions

How do you think the employee has performed against each of their performance goals?

The employee has performed very well against each of their performance objectives.

What areas would you like to see the employee focus on in the future?

The areas are skills of communication, decision-making and skills of consumer service.