Annual performance reviews still have value — if you know what to do
The annual performance review is dead — or so some writers would have us believe. Many companies are looking for better ways to provide employee feedback, evaluate performance, and calculate raises and bonuses. I first wrote about the drawbacks of performance reviews five years ago. Recently, Grant Levitan of RHR International wrote a good summary of the shortcomings of the annual review process.
I was especially interested in Grant’s article because once upon a time he was my manager and I used to get semi-annual performance reviews from him. And you know something? I found them quite valuable. First of all, the process required me to review my own work from the previous six months. What did I accomplish? Did I meet my benchmarks? How did I contribute beyond the requirements of my role? What did I do that was innovative and groundbreaking? I was usually pleased and surprised to review how much I had done — and Grant was a great cheerleader, offering praise and encouragement.
The other part of the process was looking ahead to the coming year. Grant often suggested goals that stretched my thinking and challenged me to reach new levels of performance. An early goal was to develop my own model of leadership. At that time, I wasn’t sure what that even looked like, but I took a stab at it and found the exercise worthwhile.
So, what’s the takeaway? First, there may be value in an annual or semi-annual performance review. Of course, it shouldn’t be your only form of feedback — it’s too slow and too meager. But combined with other more rapid and targeted feedback, the performance review can be a useful opportunity to take stock. Second, performance reviews are only useful if the manager is skilled at providing them. A good annual performance review includes listening, praising, brainstorming, critiquing, and some good humor. Unless a manager knows how to engage in all of those interactions, the review is likely to be a waste of time.
For more tips on how to better perform annual reviews, email me here.
