Ditch the "One-off" Annual Performance Review?

THE ANNUAL performance review, where an individual meets with his or supervisor or line manager to review performance and is “rated”,  has been a loathed fixture of organisations for decades. 

So why is it that only now that times are a changing, with some organisations now deciding to ditch the practice of the annual performance review? 

Dr Shaun Ridley, a work colleague offers some insight describing the process as unnatural.

 “If it is such a good idea, why don’t we use it with our children, our friends and our partners?”, Dr Ridley explains.

 “The answer, of course, is we would destroy the relationships with the people we care about most,” he says.

“So, why then would managers think this approach will work with their staff?”, Dr Ridley says.

Dr Ridley, further explains that annual performance reviews don’t reflect the real world of the interactions between managers and members of their teams.   He questions why, if you are having regular conversations with someone, why you would want, or need, to have an annual formal conversation about performance. 

The fact is, while they are designed to enhance performance, the annual performance review can do the reverse in many situations. 

In fact many managers and employees would argue that annual performance reviews are political and subjective, and create schisms in their relationships.

And for many employees, the annual performance review can end up as a source of employee anxiety, frustration and annoyance.

These often one way or one-sided processes which are fraught with a range of problems.  

Take, for example, the formal nature, of an annual performance review.   The uncomfortableness created by a formal structure often scuppers the capacity of both the manager and the employee to have an open, transparent conversation which might result in real, honest and actionable feedback for both sides.

Consider also the fact that annual performance review  fails to deliver “real-time” feedback. It’s well known in business circles that feedback is best delivered on a regular basis and not shelved for the annual performance review.  Employees don’t necessarily want to know what their manager thought of their performance 6 months back, they would prefer to know what they think of their performance “right now”.  

And ask any manager, the one task they dislike performing the most, and many will say it’s the annual performance review.   They recognise that these reviews can be time consuming, that they feel contrived, and that they don’t always deliver enhanced performance. 

No wonder the annual performance review is falling out of favour in some circles.

Of course there are challenges with ditching the annual performance reviews which are a well-entrenched process in many organisations.   It’s fair to say that it’s never easy to disrupt the status quo or change how things have always been done. 

But the fix is, however, simple: replace the annual performance review with regular “check-ins” designed to deliver real-time feedback which aims to boost future performance. 

This article originally appeared in the The Sunday Times and PerthNow: