Use this bank to evaluate a candidate’s philosophy and mechanics for driving performance—goal setting, feedback, accountability, development, and fairness. Each section includes prompts and cues for what strong answers demonstrate.

Philosophy & Principles

• What does great performance management mean to you?
  Good answers: Continuous, fair, outcomes-focused; clear goals, frequent feedback, and growth pathways.
• How do you balance results and behaviors?
  Good answers: Uses a rubric that weights both; no “brilliant jerk” policy; role modeling values.
• Describe the cadence of your performance system.
  Good answers: Annual/biannual reviews + quarterly goal refresh + weekly 1:1s + mid-cycle check-ins.
• What’s broken about most review processes?
  Good answers: Recency bias, vague ratings, low-quality feedback; proposes calibration and training.
• How do you ensure equity across teams?
  Good answers: Calibration, diverse panels, bias training, and audit of outcomes by demographic/level.

Goal Setting & Alignment

• Walk me through how you set goals (OKRs/KPIs).
  Good answers: Clear outcomes, leading indicators, few priorities, published owners and due dates.
• How do you cascade goals across levels?
  Good answers: Company → org → team → individual; ensures line of sight and avoids sandbagging.
• Tell me about resetting goals mid‑cycle.
  Good answers: Uses change control with rationale; preserves fairness in evaluation.
• What’s your stance on stretch goals?
  Good answers: Ambitious but achievable with resources; no penalty for high‑quality misses when learning occurs.
• How do you prevent metric gaming?
  Good answers: Balanced scorecards, guardrails, and qualitative cross‑checks.

Coaching, Feedback & 1:1s

• Walk me through your 1:1 structure.
  Good answers: Agenda with priorities, obstacles, growth, and commitments; notes with owners/dates.
• How do you deliver tough feedback?
  Good answers: Timely, specific, behavior‑impact framing, examples, and follow‑up plan.
• How do you ensure feedback quality in your org?
  Good answers: Training, examples library, manager reviews, and spot checks.
• Describe a coaching success story.
  Good answers: Baseline, plan, actions, measurable improvement, and sustained change.
• What artifacts do you use?
  Good answers: Growth plans, skill matrices, call/code reviews, and shadowing templates.

Measurement & Reviews

• What rating system do you prefer and why?
  Good answers: Simple scales with defined anchors; avoids grade inflation; ties to development.
• How do you run performance reviews people trust?
  Good answers: Self/peer/manager inputs, evidence links, calibration, written rationale.
• Explain how you mitigate bias.
  Good answers: Rater training, structured examples, review of outcomes by cohort, and appeals process.
• What metrics matter most?
  Good answers: Outcome KPIs + competency growth; leading indicators (quality, cycle time) and customer impact.
• How do you ensure consistency across managers?
  Good answers: Rubrics, exemplars, calibration sessions, and audit/QA.

Managing Underperformance

• How do you diagnose underperformance?
  Good answers: Skill vs. will vs. context (tools/process), evidence-based with examples.
• Walk me through a PIP you led.
  Good answers: Specific goals, supports, timeline, checkpoints, outcomes; humane and compliant.
• What’s your threshold for moving to formal steps?
  Good answers: After coaching attempts with data; risk and fairness considered.
• How do you maintain team morale during a PIP?
  Good answers: Confidentiality, clarity on standards, and focus on team goals.
• Example of turning around performance quickly.
  Good answers: Fast feedback loops, targeted practice, and measurable lift.

Recognizing & Scaling High Performance

• How do you identify top performers early?
  Good answers: Consistent outcomes, peer feedback, cross‑team impact, and role‑model behaviors.
• What mechanisms keep them engaged?
  Good answers: Bigger scope, mentorship, stretch projects, clear advancement pathways.
• How do you share best practices across the org?
  Good answers: Communities of practice, demos, playbooks, and internal talks.
• What’s your approach to promotions?
  Good answers: Transparent criteria, evidence packets, cross‑functional review, and pacing to avoid title inflation.
• How do you avoid hero culture?
  Good answers: Reward systems, sustainable pace, team wins over individual heroics.

Compensation & Pay for Performance

• How do you connect ratings to rewards?
  Good answers: Bands and guardrails; avoids cliff effects; communicates rationale.
• What’s your view on SPIFFs/bonuses?
  Good answers: Clear objectives, time‑bound, avoid perverse incentives, and review effectiveness.
• How do you ensure fairness across teams/regions?
  Good answers: Market data, calibration, equity review, and pay transparency where applicable.
• Describe a comp change you led.
  Good answers: Problem, options, chosen path, stakeholder management, and impact.
• How do you handle budget constraints?
  Good answers: Non‑monetary recognition, growth opportunities, and clear communication.

Change Management & Communication

• How do you roll out a new performance process?
  Good answers: Pilots, champions, training, templates, and feedback loops.
• What’s your approach to manager enablement?
  Good answers: Toolkits, sample language, office hours, and QA of review drafts.
• How do you communicate ratings and outcomes empathetically?
  Good answers: Evidence-based conversation, clear next steps, time for questions.
• Describe how you handle disagreement on ratings.
  Good answers: Revisit evidence, use calibration precedents, escalate only with new information.
• How do you measure program success?
  Good answers: Participation quality, rating distribution health, attrition of high/low performers, goal attainment.

Remote/Hybrid & Tools

• How do you fairly evaluate distributed teams?
  Good answers: Outcome orientation, normalized visibility, async documentation, and timezone awareness.
• What tools/systems do you use?
  Good answers: HRIS, performance platforms, calibration workspaces, and data dashboards.
• How do you track commitments and follow‑through?
  Good answers: Decision logs, 1:1 notes, and review checklists.
• How do you maintain culture without “face time” bias?
  Good answers: Explicit norms, documentation, and equal access to high‑visibility work.
• What signals show remote processes are working?
  Good answers: On‑time reviews, actionable feedback quality, reduced surprises in ratings.

Legal, Ethics & Risk

• What legal/ethical pitfalls do managers often miss?
  Good answers: Documentation, consistency, protected classes, and retaliation safeguards.
• How do you document performance decisions?
  Good answers: Fact-based notes, timelines, and approvals; secure storage and access.
• How do you handle complaints about unfair evaluations?
  Good answers: Independent review, evidence check, and corrective actions.
• What is your approach to probationary periods?
  Good answers: Clear outcomes, mid‑point checks, and decision criteria.
• How do you safeguard privacy in reviews?
  Good answers: Need‑to‑know, anonymization where possible, and secure systems.

Case Study Exercises

• Calibration: You see rating drift across teams; design a 2‑week calibration plan.
• Underperformance: Draft a 60‑day improvement plan with milestones and support.
• Goal reset: Mid‑year strategy shift; rewrite a team’s OKRs fairly.
• Promotion: Create an evidence‑based promo packet and committee agenda.
• Feedback quality: Build a training and QA process to improve written feedback.

Tip: Look for evidence‑based management, bias mitigation, humane conversations, and systems that make good performance easier and bad behavior harder.