How do you measure individual performance in your team?
Why This Is Asked
Interviewers want to understand how you assess and develop individuals fairly. They're looking for a balanced approach that considers output, growth, collaboration, and impact—without creating a toxic, competitive environment or relying solely on subjective impressions.
Key Points to Cover
- Clear, transparent criteria that align with team and company goals
- A mix of quantitative and qualitative inputs (not just velocity or lines of code)
- How you use performance data for growth, not just evaluation
- Fairness and consistency in how you apply standards
STAR Method Answer Template
Describe the context - what was happening, what team/company, what was at stake
What was your specific responsibility or challenge?
What specific steps did you take? Be detailed about YOUR actions
What was the outcome? Use metrics where possible. What did you learn?
💡 Tips
- Avoid metrics that incentivize individual heroics at the expense of teamwork
- Emphasize calibration and 360 feedback where appropriate
- Show how you tie performance to growth plans and career development
✍️ Example Response
STAR formatSituation: I managed a team of 8 backend engineers at a Series B startup. We had no formal performance system—reviews were subjective and people felt unclear about expectations. High performers felt underrecognized, and one engineer was struggling but didn't know why.
Task: I needed to design a fair, transparent way to measure individual performance that supported growth, not just evaluation.
Action: I created a performance framework with three pillars: impact (what you shipped and its business effect), growth (how you're developing skills and helping others), and collaboration (how you work with the team). I used 360 feedback from peers and stakeholders, calibrated with other managers to ensure consistency. I avoided velocity or LOC as primary metrics—instead I looked at cycle time on owned work, code review quality, and mentorship. For the struggling engineer, I gave specific, actionable feedback with a 90-day improvement plan and weekly check-ins. I tied all feedback to growth plans and career conversations.
Result: Within six months, eNPS improved from 32 to 58. The struggling engineer turned around and was promoted within a year. I learned that people want clarity and fairness—when criteria are transparent and tied to development, performance conversations become growth conversations.
🏢 Companies Known to Ask This
| Company | Variation / Focus |
|---|---|
| Amazon | Hire & Develop the Best — "How do you assess and develop individuals?" |
| Calibration, 360 feedback, growth mindset | |
| Meta | High performance, impact at scale, candid feedback |
| Microsoft | Growth mindset, development focus |
| Netflix | High performance, candor, direct feedback |
| Professional growth, learning agility | |
| Salesforce | Trust, equality and inclusion in evaluation |