Today’s employees are more independent and self-motivated than ever before. Virtual work, social media, and mobile technologies have all contributed to a new era of work.
Today’s employees are more productive and collaborative than ever before — and they don’t need a performance review to prove it! The old-school performance review is going the way of the fax machine. A recent Gallup poll found that only 13% of U.S. workers still have performance reviews.
If you still give regular performance reviews at your organization, now is the time to stop and ask yourself why you’re doing them. Do they serve any real purpose, or are they just another vestige of an old way of working?
Why Performance Reviews Don’t Work Anymore
The traditional performance review has been dying a slow death for a long time. But the final straw might have been the financial crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession that followed.
Organizational cultures that once rewarded employees for their loyalty and longevity are now far more likely to promote the Darwinian survival of the fittest. Executives may have once been forced to conduct performance reviews, but many now have the authority to abolish them.
Technology has made it possible to conduct real-time EMPLOYEE TO EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION. The widespread adoption of smartphones and the internet has also made it easier to track employees’ progress, measure their productivity, and SHARE regular SUPPORT & ADVICE.
Problems with the Traditional Performance Review
The biggest problem with the traditional performance review is that it’s done at a specific point in time. Employees know exactly when the review is going to happen, and they have time to get nervous and obsess over it. This can have a very negative effect on productivity and morale.
Another problem with the traditional performance review is that it’s usually a one-sided conversation. Many managers feel pressured to spend “80% of the meeting explaining why the employee didn’t get a raise or promotion”, as opposite only “20% of the meeting explaining why he or she did”. Managers often use the review to cover their own behinds for any hiring mistakes they’ve made in the past year — or for anything else that’s gone wrong at the company. In the process, they may unfairly criticize their employees or make them feel inadequate.
Why Employees Hate Performance Reviews
Employees hate the performance review because they feel that they can’t do anything to change their situation. Other than begging their manager for a raise or promotion, they have no control over the outcome of the review. A lot of people think that the performance review process is just not fair. Some people get rewarded and others don’t — and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Others feel that they are being put on the spot. They know that they are being evaluated, but they don’t know what they’re being evaluated on. And they don’t know how to improve.
The End of Annual Ratings & Moving to Real-Time Feedback
As businesses move away from annual performance ratings and toward real-time employee feedback, the focus is shifting to how employees can improve their performance, as opposed to how they performed in the past. At the same time, technology is making it easier for managers to provide regular feedback to employees.
Research shows that managers spend an average of just 1.5 hours each week writing employee performance reviews. This is especially troubling, given that the average manager spends nearly 50 hours each week managing employees.
Although employee engagement has increased over the past few years, it remains low. Despite their best efforts, managers don’t have the time or resources to help all their employees improve. Real-time feedback is an effective solution to this dilemma but only if done right.
The End of the Annual/Quarterly/Monthly Performance Review
The end of the annual review won’t spell the end of performance COMMUNICATION. Instead, it will usher in a new era of real-time performance COMMUNICATION and continuous improvement. Every interaction between a manager and an employee IS an opportunity FOR CONSTRUCTIVE COMMUNICATION. Managers have more frequent opportunities to praise their employees and provide constructive ADVICE & SUPPORT when necessary. Employees will have more frequent opportunities to ask for ADVICE & SUPPORT and make performance improvements.
definition
A performance appraisal, also referred to as a performance review, performance evaluation, (career) development discussion, or employee appraisal, is a periodic and systematic process whereby the job performance of an employee is documented and evaluated. This is done after employees are trained in work and settle into their jobs. Performance appraisals are a part of career development and consist of regular reviews of employee performance within organizations
