90 day review: A practical guide to goal setting

A 90 day review is one of the most important conversations a new employee will have. It's not a pass-or-fail test; think of it as a strategic check-in that happens right as the onboarding phase wraps up. This meeting is all about aligning on what's working, celebrating those early wins, and mapping out a clear path for growth.

Why Your First 90 Days Are a Critical Checkpoint

Those first three months on the job are incredibly formative. They do more than just get someone up to speed—they lay the groundwork for their entire future with the company. The 90 day review isn't about judging performance; it's the first real strategic dialogue that sets the stage for long-term success.

This initial period is the best time for a new hire and their manager to sync up and make sure they're truly on the same page. It’s an opportunity to make small course corrections early on, preventing minor misalignments from snowballing into bigger problems down the road.

Setting the Foundation for Success

You really can't overstate the importance of this milestone. A well-run review takes the guesswork out of the equation. It defines what success actually looks like, recognizes real contributions, and addresses any skill gaps in a supportive, constructive way. It turns ambiguity into a clear, actionable plan.

For the employee, the benefits are huge:

Clarity and Confidence: They walk away with a solid grasp of expectations, which makes them feel far more secure in their role.
Feeling Valued: When their early contributions are acknowledged, they feel seen and appreciated. This is a massive boost for morale and engagement.
Structured Support: It creates a dedicated space to ask for the help, training, or resources they need to really knock it out of the park.

What happens in the first 90 days has a ripple effect. Research consistently shows that this initial period largely determines an employee's future performance, how long they stay, and their overall impact on the organization. That’s why a thoughtful review process is so powerful.

A Powerful Tool for Growth

For managers, the 90 day review is a fantastic diagnostic tool. It gives you a real look into how effective your onboarding process is and how well the new hire is fitting into the team dynamic and company culture. It’s the perfect moment to reinforce company values and build a relationship based on trust and open communication.

The primary goal here is to nurture potential. This is where you build that solid foundation, map out the next steps in their development, and make sure the employee feels completely supported and equipped for what's next.

This meeting is where a new hire starts to transform into a confident, productive member of the team. And the organizational benefits are clear. According to research from Apps365, companies that conduct effective performance reviews are 30% more likely to hit their financial targets.

This table breaks down the core objectives of the 90 day review and highlights the distinct advantages for everyone involved.

Core Objectives of the 90 Day Review

Objective	Benefit for Employee	Benefit for Manager	Benefit for Organization
Align Expectations	Gains clear understanding of role, responsibilities, and success metrics.	Confirms the employee understands the role and can course-correct early.	Ensures role clarity and reduces the risk of long-term performance issues.
Provide Feedback	Receives constructive input on early performance and areas for improvement.	Delivers timely feedback to shape behavior and reinforce positive habits.	Fosters a culture of continuous feedback and proactive development.
Celebrate Wins	Feels valued and recognized for contributions, boosting morale and motivation.	Builds rapport and shows appreciation, strengthening the manager-employee bond.	Increases employee engagement and builds positive momentum from the start.
Identify Gaps	Can openly discuss challenges and request specific training or resources.	Pinpoints areas where more support is needed, improving onboarding effectiveness.	Addresses skill gaps early, leading to a more competent and productive workforce.
Set Future Goals	Collaborates on a clear plan for the next 30-60-90 days, providing direction.	Establishes a roadmap for future performance and growth.	Aligns individual goals with team and company objectives for better overall results.

Ultimately, a successful 90 day review ensures that the initial investment in a new hire pays off, creating a win-win scenario that supports individual growth and drives organizational success.

How Employees Can Prepare for a Productive Review

A person sitting at a desk and reviewing documents in preparation for their 90 day review

Walking into your 90 day review ready to go can transform it from a nerve-wracking meeting into a real opportunity. This isn't about defending every little thing you've done. It's about having a thoughtful, two-way conversation that showcases your value and helps steer your future at the company.

A great place to start is right back at the beginning. Pull up that original job description and any goals you set during onboarding. Seeing how your day-to-day work lines up with those initial expectations gives you a solid foundation for the entire discussion.

Document Your Accomplishments with Evidence

If you do one thing to prepare, make it this: document your accomplishments with hard evidence. Vague statements like "I worked on the campaign" are easy to forget. Data and specific examples, on the other hand, stick. You want to shift the focus from what you did to the impact you had.

So instead of saying you just "worked on a campaign," get specific. Try something like, "I drafted three ad variations for the Q2 campaign, which helped drive a 15% increase in click-through rates on our main keywords." That simple change frames your work around results, not just activity.

Gather tangible proof you can point to. It makes your claims undeniable.

Positive Feedback: Did a colleague praise your work in a Slack channel? Screenshot it. Got a thank-you email from another team? Save it.
Data Points: Pull specific numbers from a report you built or a dashboard you monitor.
Project Deliverables: Have links ready for the landing page you created, the presentation you gave, or the process document you wrote.

A 90 day review is your first real opportunity to build your professional narrative within the company. Collect your wins—big and small—like a storyteller gathering key plot points. Each piece of evidence helps paint a clear picture of your contributions.

Frame Challenges as Growth Opportunities

Look, nobody expects you to be a flawless expert after three months. Bringing up challenges doesn't show weakness; it actually shows self-awareness and a desire to improve. It’s all in how you frame it.

Don't just say, "I'm bad at using the CRM." That's a dead end. Instead, try something constructive: "I'm still getting the hang of our new CRM. I'd love to get a quick tutorial on the advanced reporting features so I can be more efficient." This approach shows you've spotted an area for improvement and are already thinking about solutions. That’s what managers love to see.

This is also the right time to check in on your workload. If you're feeling stretched thin, it’s much better to talk about it constructively now than to let it turn into a bigger problem. For some practical ideas, check out our guide on https://salaryguide.com/blog/how-to-prevent-employee-burnout.

Come Prepared with Thoughtful Questions

Finally, don't forget to prepare a few questions for your manager. This is a clear sign that you’re engaged, thinking ahead, and invested in your future with the company. The best questions go beyond your daily to-do list and focus on your growth, impact, and alignment with the team.

Try asking things like:

Looking Ahead: "Based on my first three months, what's the most important thing I should focus on next quarter to make the biggest impact?"
Team Integration: "What’s one thing I could do to better support the team's wider goals?"
Skill Development: "Are there any skills becoming more critical for our team in the next six months that I could start working on now?"

When you bring documented wins, constructively framed challenges, and forward-thinking questions to the table, you walk into your review with confidence. You’re setting the stage for a productive conversation that cements your value and positions you for long-term success.

A Manager’s Guide to Setting the Stage

As a manager, you have the power to make the 90-day review a career-defining moment, not just another meeting on the calendar. How you prepare sets the entire tone. It’s your opportunity to show you're invested in your new hire's growth, reinforce a supportive culture, and give them the clarity they need to really start firing on all cylinders.

The real work happens well before you step into the room. You need to get a full picture of their first three months, and that means looking beyond just your own interactions.

Grab a few minutes with key teammates who’ve worked closely with the new hire. This isn't a formal investigation; it’s a quick, casual chat to gather different perspectives. You’re looking for those little anecdotes that paint a bigger picture—like the time they jumped in to help a colleague hit a deadline, or how a fresh question they asked helped the team solve a nagging problem.

Go Beyond Vague Praise with Specific Examples

Once you have that wider perspective, it’s time to zero in on their performance against the goals you set during onboarding. The golden rule here? Avoid vague feedback at all costs. Saying "You're a great communicator" feels good, but it gives them nothing to build on.

Instead, pull out concrete examples that show what you mean. Ground your feedback in things you actually saw and the impact they had.

Instead of: "You're picking things up quickly."
Try: "I was really impressed with how you got that new analytics dashboard configured on your own last week. Your initiative saved the team several hours of setup time."
Instead of: "Good job on that project."
Try: "The project update you sent for the Q3 campaign was fantastic—so detailed and clear. The design team was able to move forward without any questions, which was a huge win."

The goal is to create a library of concrete examples—both wins and areas for development. Specificity turns feedback from a subjective opinion into an objective, actionable insight that the employee can learn from and replicate.

This approach strips out any ambiguity and shows your new hire exactly what "good" looks like in their role.

Cultivate Psychological Safety

A truly productive review can only happen if there’s psychological safety. Your employee has to feel comfortable enough to be honest about their challenges without fearing they’ll be judged for it. You set this tone from the start by preparing questions that invite a real, two-way dialogue.

To get ideas for the right kind of open-ended questions, it's helpful to review crucial onboarding survey questions designed to uncover a new hire's early experiences.

Think about asking things like:

"What's one thing we could change that would make your job easier or more enjoyable?"
"Which part of your role are you most excited to grow into?"
"What's been the biggest surprise or unexpected challenge for you so far?"
"Where do you feel you need more support or resources from me?"

These aren't "gotcha" questions. They signal that you're an ally, not just an evaluator. You’re subtly shifting the conversation from a backward-looking critique to a forward-looking partnership.

When you walk into a 90-day review having done this groundwork—collecting team feedback, finding specific examples, and crafting thoughtful questions—you change the entire dynamic. It stops being a test and becomes what it should be: a powerful tool for building trust, providing real guidance, and setting your new hire up for long-term success.

Defining and Measuring Success in Your Role

https://www.youtube.com/embed/zyYpaHQk1l8

For a 90-day review to be genuinely useful, you have to get past subjective feelings like "they're doing a great job." The real value comes from digging into objective, measurable results.

This is what elevates a simple chat into a strategic conversation. Both the manager and the new hire need to be on the same page about what success actually looks like, and that shared understanding has to be built on clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

From Vague Tasks to Tangible Goals

Let's take marketing roles as an example. When a new person joins the team, success isn’t just about looking busy; it’s about making a real, tangible impact.

Imagine a new Content Marketing Specialist. The job description probably said something like "write blog posts." That’s a task, not a goal. To actually measure their success, we have to turn that task into a measurable outcome. For their first 90 days, the goals need to be specific, quantifiable, and connected to what the marketing team is trying to achieve.

Instead of a vague to-do list, their 90-day goals should look more like this:

Publish 8 high-quality blog posts that are fully optimized for our target keywords and fit our content strategy.
Increase organic traffic to the blog by 10% compared to the previous 90-day period.
Generate 50 marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) from content like ebooks, webinars, or other downloadable resources.

See the difference? These metrics create a clear scorecard. At the end of the 90 days, there’s no guesswork. You can look at the numbers and know definitively if the targets were met, missed, or crushed.

The best KPIs are the ones that draw a straight line from an individual's daily work to the company's bottom line. When an employee sees exactly how their effort moves the needle, it creates a sense of ownership that a simple to-do list never will.

Getting this clarity from the start is a game-changer. It takes the ambiguity out of performance and makes it about real results, not just opinions. For more frameworks on how to measure performance effectively, this practical guide to the assessment of competency is a fantastic resource.

A Look at Sample KPIs for Marketing Roles

To make this even more concrete, let's break down what these KPIs might look like for different marketing roles. It's not just about the what (outputs), but the why (outcomes) and the how (learning).

Marketing Role	Sample Output KPIs (The 'What')	Sample Outcome KPIs (The 'Impact')	Sample Learning Goals
Content Marketing Specialist	Publish 8 blog posts and 2 downloadable guides.	Increase organic blog traffic by 10%; generate 50 MQLs.	Master the company’s SEO tool; complete a copywriting course.
Social Media Coordinator	Post 5x weekly on all platforms; launch 1 influencer campaign.	Grow follower count by 5%; achieve a 2% average engagement rate.	Become certified in Sprout Social or a similar platform.
Digital Marketing Manager	Manage a $10,000 ad budget for a new launch.	Reduce Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) by 5%; improve landing page conversions by 2%.	Present a competitive analysis and growth strategy to leadership.
Email Marketing Specialist	Create and send 4 monthly newsletters and 2 automated nurture sequences.	Achieve a 25% average open rate and a 3% click-through rate.	Get certified in HubSpot email marketing; learn A/B testing best practices.

Having this kind of framework from day one ensures everyone knows what they're aiming for and how their success will be measured.

Scaling KPIs For Different Levels of Impact

As people move into more senior roles, their KPIs naturally evolve. The focus shifts away from pure output and more toward strategy and overall business impact.

Think about a Digital Marketing Manager. Their success isn't measured by how many ads they create, but by how efficiently they can run the entire marketing engine.

Their 90-day KPIs should reflect this bigger-picture responsibility:

Reduce Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) by 5%: Can they make our ad spend work harder?
Improve landing page conversion rates by an average of 2%: Are they using data to make our marketing more effective?
Successfully manage a $10,000 ad budget for a new product launch and deliver a positive Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
Present a competitive analysis report that uncovers three new growth opportunities for our paid search strategy.

These goals are tied directly to financial results and business strategy, giving a clear way to evaluate the manager's true impact.

Connecting Performance To Broader Career Growth

When you define success with clear numbers, you're also laying the groundwork for much better career conversations down the road. It’s a lot easier to talk about promotions and compensation when performance is backed by hard data.

If an employee is consistently blowing their lead generation or conversion targets out of the water, they’re building a powerful, undeniable case for their next step.

This is where ideas like performance-based compensation really come into play. By setting clear, metric-driven goals from the very beginning, you create a transparent path for recognizing and rewarding top performers. If you're curious to learn more, check out our guide on what is performance-based compensation.

Ultimately, setting measurable, role-specific goals makes the 90-day review a truly productive checkpoint. It’s how you confirm a new hire is on the right track, give feedback that’s grounded in reality, and align their day-to-day work with the company’s biggest goals.

Navigating the Conversation with Confidence

This is where all your preparation comes together. The 90-day review isn't a performance—it's a real conversation meant to build trust and keep the momentum going. When both you and your new hire know how to talk through things, the meeting becomes productive, motivating, and genuinely helpful.

As a manager, your first job is to make the room feel safe. How you open the meeting sets the tone for everything that follows. Don't just dive into a list of critiques. Start by making it clear this is a two-way street, a chat about growth and working together.

Kick things off with something positive and open-ended. It works wonders.

"Thanks for making the time. I'm really looking forward to hearing your take on your first three months with us."
"I’ve been excited about this check-in. The goal today is to celebrate what’s going well, talk about the path forward, and make sure you have everything you need to knock it out of the park here."

Framing it this way immediately changes the vibe from an evaluation to a strategy session.

Giving Feedback That Actually Builds People Up

When it comes to talking about areas for improvement, how you say it is just as important as what you say. Vague feedback just creates confusion and anxiety. I've found the best way to handle this is to ground your feedback in specific, observable moments using the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model.

This simple framework takes the personal judgment out of the equation and focuses on what actually happened.

Situation: Pinpoint the specific context. "During the team presentation on Tuesday..."
Behavior: Detail the exact action you saw. "...you did a fantastic job walking everyone through the data, but you spoke very quickly during the Q&A."
Impact: Explain the result of that behavior. "...and because of that, a few team members seemed to hold back on follow-up questions while they were trying to keep up."

This approach is direct, fair, and most importantly, actionable. You're not saying, "you're a bad presenter." You're pointing out a specific behavior in a specific moment and its real-world effect.

For Employees: How to Articulate Your Experience

If you're the employee, remember this is your meeting, too. Don't just sit back and wait for questions. This is your chance to get clarity, talk professionally about any hurdles you're facing, and share what you're hoping to achieve next.

Have a few phrases in your back pocket to help guide the conversation where you want it to go.

To Get Clarity: "That's really helpful feedback. To make sure I'm on the right track, could you share an example of what a stronger approach might look like in that situation?"
To Frame a Challenge: "One thing I'm working on is getting faster with our project management software. I'd love your advice on any advanced training you'd recommend."
To Share a Goal: "I'm really enjoying the content strategy work and would be excited to take on more responsibility there next quarter if the opportunity comes up."

Using lines like these shows you're engaged, solution-oriented, and invested in your own growth.

The best 90-day reviews feel less like a report card and more like a huddle with your coach. Both people are working toward the same goal: making sure the employee can make a huge impact and feel great doing it.

How you deliver feedback has a massive effect on the bottom line. Research shows that teams who get feedback focused on their strengths are 8.9% more profitable and 12.5% more productive. This proves that a positive, forward-looking review can directly boost results. You can dig into more eye-opening performance stats on ThriveSparrow to see the full impact.

Handling the Tough Conversations

Sometimes, things just aren't clicking. These conversations are never easy, but they're necessary. The key is to be direct without being discouraging. Stay supportive and focus on finding a solution.

A manager might frame it like this:

"I want to be transparent about your progress. We set a goal for you to complete the certification by the end of month two, and that deadline has passed. Let's talk about what's getting in the way and map out a solid plan to get it done in the next 30 days. Your success is my priority, so let's figure out exactly what support you need from me to get there."

This language is clear about the problem but avoids blame. It immediately shifts the focus to working together on a fix. By navigating even the hard conversations with confidence and care, you can turn a challenging review into a positive turning point.

Creating Your Action Plan for the Next 90 Days

A great conversation during your 90 day review is motivating, but it's just talk without a clear roadmap for what comes next. The final—and most important—step is to translate all that great discussion into a tangible 30-60-90 day action plan. This isn't about creating some ridiculously complex project plan; it's about providing structure and turning insights into real momentum.

Think of this roadmap as a simple framework for growth, focusing on three core areas that give both the employee and manager a shared language for progress.

Performance Goals: What will you specifically achieve? These are the tangible outcomes and results tied directly to your role.
Learning & Development: What new skills or knowledge will you learn? This is all about professional growth and picking up new tools for your toolbelt.
Professional Integration: How will you better connect with the team and company? This covers building relationships and feeling more a part of the culture.

When you break the next quarter down into these pillars, the path forward becomes much clearer and far less intimidating.

Building Your 30-60-90 Day Plan

This structure is brilliant because it prevents big goals from feeling overwhelming by breaking them into manageable, time-bound chunks. Each stage builds on the last, creating a natural progression of responsibility and skill.

Let's imagine a new marketing coordinator's plan. It might look something like this:

First 30 Days: The focus here is purely on foundational knowledge. A great goal would be to "Complete the advanced product training and get certified in our email marketing platform."
Next 60 Days: Now, it's time to shift from learning to doing. A logical next step could be to "Co-lead the development of one client-facing email campaign."
Final 90 Days: The goal now is ownership and initiative. A powerful objective would be to "Independently develop and present a proposal for a new workflow improvement in our campaign process."

This timeline shows how a productive review conversation should flow—from celebrating what's been accomplished to setting a clear course for the future.

As you can see, a successful review is a forward-looking process. It uses past wins as the launching pad for future growth and ambitious goal-setting.

The Manager’s Role in Follow-Through

For managers, your work isn’t over when the meeting ends. Your role now shifts to that of a coach and a resource. The action plan you just co-created is a living document, and it needs consistent support to actually mean something.

An action plan without follow-up is just a wish list. The real value comes from the small, consistent check-ins that keep the employee on track and feeling supported long after the formal review is over.

Make sure to schedule regular, informal check-ins—maybe a quick 15 minutes every other week—just to talk about progress on the plan. These aren't meant to be mini-reviews. They're quick touchpoints to remove roadblocks, offer guidance, and give a bit of encouragement.

This consistent support ensures the employee has what they need to hit their goals, which builds a strong foundation for their career. Ultimately, a well-executed action plan is a key part of building a case for future advancement. To learn more about career progression, explore our guide on how to get promoted. This proactive approach is what turns the 90 day review from a one-time meeting into a continuous cycle of growth.

Got Questions About the 90 Day Review? We've Got Answers.

It's natural to have questions about your first big check-in. Let's clear up some of the most common ones surrounding the 90 day review.

What’s the Real Point of This Meeting?

Think of it as a calibration session, not a final exam. The main goal is to make sure you and your manager are on the same page about the role, the expectations, and what hitting the mark actually looks like. It’s a chance to celebrate what’s going well and gently tweak anything that's a bit off course.

It's all about alignment.

Is My Job on the Line?

This is a common fear, but let's put it to rest. A 90 day review is almost never a surprise "you're fired" meeting. If there were serious performance issues, you should have heard about them long before this point.

This review is designed to be a supportive tool to help you succeed, not a trapdoor.

Why Not Just Wait for the Annual Review?

Honestly, the old-school annual review is on its way out. It’s just too slow for today's pace. In fact, a staggering 95% of HR leaders are dissatisfied with their traditional performance processes, and 90% admit they don't accurately capture an employee's contributions.

The 90 day check-in is part of a much smarter, modern approach. It provides timely feedback that you can actually use now, when it matters most. For a deeper dive into this shift, the Global Performance Management Report has some great insights.

Ready to understand your market value and accelerate your career? SalaryGuide provides the real-time salary data, verified job opportunities, and AI-powered tools marketing professionals need to grow faster. Get the career intelligence you deserve at SalaryGuide.com.