A good attitude is one of the most important traits an employee could have. I will take a pleasant and good attitude over almost anything else when I hire someone and would promote someone with a good attitude over someone who has a poor attitude, yet better job skills. A good attitude is so crucial to the job performance that focusing attention in this area is important for the performance reviews you perform. If you’re doing a self evaluation, make sure you select phrases that match your attitude on the job.

We categorized these phrases into positive and negative. Positive sample performance appraisal phrases are for employees meeting or exceeding expectations, while negative sample performance review phrases are for unsatisfactory or failure to meet expectations employees.

Positive Attitude Sample Performance Evaluation Phrases

Holly has one of those attitudes that is always positive. She frequently has a smile on her face and you can tell she enjoys her job.

Greg is a cheerful guy who always makes you feel delighted when you’re around him. We are fortunate to have Greg on our team.

Thom has an even demeanor through good times and bad. His constant cheer helps others keep their “enthusiasm” – both positive and negative – in check.

Angela has a soothing personality which reflects in a very calm personality. Her attitude is one which should be emulated.

Bob brings a level of enthusiasm to his job that few can. He is always one of the guys on the team we go to when we need a lift.

Ted always has such a positive mind-set. We are frequently pleasantly surprised by Ted’s posture during difficult times.

Tom frequently seems to have a positive outlook and we appreciate his stance on difficult decisions.

Jenny’s attitude is one attribute which is positive.

Wendell has a way of thinking about things that we appreciate. His willingness to share positive thoughts is refreshing.

Bill is quick to congratulate coworkers and builds an atmosphere of trust with his team.

Ken’s attitude is an asset to his management skills. He continually builds people up, deals with difficult situations with incredible posture, and focuses on the positives.

With the incredible pressure we have been feeling as a company, it would be easy for Tim to get down, but he stands firm that the situation won’t affect his attitude. Tim has a mind-set that few people do and we appreciate that about him.

Penny’s internal bearing is always right on with a focus on the right attitude.

It was once said that life is 20% what happens to you and 80% how you react to it. Over and over again, Harry shows how important the 80% is by displaying a positive attitude, no matter what the circumstances.

Despite the problems inherit with a support position, Steve carries the stress well and never seems to get down. His continual focus on making each customer feel like they are the most important customer in the world demonstrates his great attitude.

Stress can cause people to react in funny ways, yet Sally seems to perform better under pressure. She is a constant which holds the team together.

Bill has a cheerful attitude which makes others feel good when he’s around.

Julia accentuates the positive in most situations.

One of the difficult things a new manager must learn is how to emphasize the right things and downplay the other things. Brenda keeps a steady, positive attitude that helps her employees know everything is ok – even when it seemingly isn’t ok!

Some people choose to point out problems or highlight difficulties, but Jane just chooses to emphasize all of the good things going on around her group.

It’s difficult to get demoted. When the recent HR adjustments caused Ryan to step down from his manager position to a staff level role, we weren’t sure how he would react. Fortunately, the consummate team player he is, Ryan focused less on the anxiety and more on how he could be a positive, high-impact team player.

Susan is the type of employee you want to be around when the going gets tough. She keeps everything in focus and makes sure the team moves forward.

Judy has a strong personality, yet she balances it by remaining positive and upbeat.

Though a few times she has let the stress of the job get to her, Kate is generally a very upbeat and professional asset to our team.

As a supervisor, Randy has proven to be a steady hand for his team and keeps a balanced view on day to day events.

Negative Performance Review Attitude Phrases

Jim frequently gives off “an air” of superiority to his coworkers. He is not approachable and is rough to work with.

Walter’s attitude is unpleasant at times.

Bill has a dreadful outlook at times which has a tendency to bring down the entire team.

For the most part, Lenny is a personable guy, but when he gets upset, his attitude turns to shocking. Lenny needs to balance his personality out and not react so much to negative events.

Bill has a tendency to instigate problems between his coworkers.

Tom knows that certain conversations provoke members of his team, yet he continues to be vocal about non-work related topics. Tom should keep his conversations work related.

Angela has a tendency to erupt over minor things. This causes unease with her coworkers who do not want to set her off.

Peter could work on his point of view about difficult company decisions. Sometimes we need to do things that are unpopular, but necessary. Peter does not always promote positive thinking about these decisions.

One of the key indicators as to whether an employee is ready for management is how well he does under pressure. Unfortunately, Tim is not ready for management.

Greg has a sporadic bout of attitude problems which affect his coworkers.

Ken is normally a very affable guy, but under times of pressure, he succumbs to it and needs to work on his choice of language and volume level of his voice.

When the pressure is on and there is a choice to blink or not, Jack too frequently blinks.

Mary is a good manager, but her mood changes too often for people to keep track of.

Jennifer is an asset in many ways, but her attitude needs to be kept in check.

There seems to be relatively random occurrences of complaints from coworkers regarding Tim’s attitude. We do not often witness these outbursts, but they need to be resolved.

Over the next 90 days, Jim should focus on improving his erratic attitude. Specifically, Jim does not maintain an even keel and will react however the situation is flowing without thinking about his reactions affect other people.

Eric has an uneven attitude regarding the company. He swings from happy with the company to upset with the company. His willingness to share these feelings with many coworkers causes many to wonder why he is still working here.

Periodically, Holly has an attitude shift which can have a negative effect on the team.

Jim has a very productive team reporting to him, but he has some outbursts with other managers which must be resolved.

George has a very even attitude – unfortunately, the level of the attitude isn’t good. George should work to raise his attitude.

Kevin has a tendency to disrupt work after company meetings where difficult decisions were announced.

Bob seems distant lately; as if he wasn’t fully connected to what he was doing.

Terry is quick to show his discontent with work; he should stop to think about how his display affects those around him.

Lindsay is a good person, but any constructive criticism devastates her. We cannot walk on egg shells around her if we want the team to get better.

Simply put: Jim’s negative attitude negatively affects his work performance. Jim needs to bring his attitude under control.

Suggest Some Phrases

We’d love your feedback! Suggest Attitude performance evaluation phrases to add to our performance review database. This will help others when they fill out their performance or self evaluations.