Free template

Appraisal and one to one templates for veterinary practices

Most practices have an annual appraisal and nothing else, which means eleven months of silence and one uncomfortable meeting. This pack is three documents doing three different jobs, so the difficult thing gets said in March instead of being saved for November.

Editable Word document, free, emailed to you.

What is in it

• Monthly one to one record. Five questions, twenty minutes, and an actions table with a column for what happened to last month’s actions. Not tied to pay and not a performance record.
• Objective setting sheet. Three or four objectives, each with a “support needed from the practice” column, because an objective the practice does nothing to enable is a wish. Includes the RCVS CPD position.
• Annual appraisal form. Part A for the employee to complete a week beforehand, Part B for the meeting, Part C for the year ahead.

If you only use one of them

Use the one to one. Twenty minutes a month per person catches what an annual appraisal finds out about a year too late, and it is the cheapest retention tool a practice has. Recruitment in this profession is slow and expensive, and freelance cover in the gap costs more than either.

The single rule that makes it work is in the form itself: record the actions, not the conversation, and open the next meeting by saying what happened to the last set, including the ones you could not do and why. People will tell you things once. If nothing visibly happens, they will not tell you twice.

Keep pay out of the appraisal meeting

If pay is decided in the same conversation, everything the person says is shaped by that, and you will not hear anything true. Separate the two, even by a fortnight.

And appraise everybody. Practices reliably appraise vets and nurses and quietly skip receptionists, animal care assistants and cleaners, who are often the people with the least development and the highest turnover. The omission is always noticed.

Why the timing matters more from 2027

Never save a concern for the appraisal. A concern first raised in November that has existed since March is unfair to the person and, if it ever leads to a capability process, close to indefensible.

That has always been true and it gets sharper on 1 January 2027, when the unfair dismissal qualifying period falls to six months. The written record you have built matters much sooner in an employment relationship than it used to.

Use it alongside our guide to one to one meetings and, for new starters, the probation review form.