Performance Reviews are Dead. Here's What We Need Instead:

At a time when the battle for talent is as fierce as ever, it’s never been more important to have an effective system in place for evaluating performance.

But here’s the catch: Traditional performance reviews, as we know them, are dead.

It’s long past time for a paradigm shift in employee performance evaluation. Let’s move beyond the archaic methods of the past and embrace what I call the Continuous Learning Cycle (CLC) – a transformative approach designed to cultivate growth, trust, and engagement within organizations.

The concept of continuous learning revolves around shifting the narrative from feedback to learning itself. Unlike the traditional performance review, which dissects the past, this model is a forward-looking endeavor, emphasizing both introspection and future planning, encapsulating a constant cycle of growth.

This process is conducted every six months and encourages individuals to reflect, learn, and evolve. It aligns perfectly with a company culture that prides itself on unearthing potential, not only in individual performers but in the organization as a whole.

While companies may think annual performance reviews enhance employees' learning and productivity, the reality is they often achieve the opposite. When managers give feedback to employees, they are often out to prove a point instead of coming to the meeting with a hypothesis and the goal of trying to evoke learning on both sides.

Capturing the scope of an individual’s performance in a single document is a tall order, especially in today’s landscape of distributed teams and shifting priorities – even high performers can struggle to get full visibility on everything they bring to the table.?

But it doesn’t help that many performance reviews are essentially designed in reverse, casting a gaze on past achievements rather than paving a path for future growth. Managers and employees alike grow frustrated with these reviews, their cumbersome requirements to fit individuals into boxes, and the distorted narratives that can arise.

And, too often, the focus is on promotions and raises, eclipsing the true essence of feedback and growth.

In contrast, the Continuous Learning Cycle (CLC) offers a structured yet adaptable framework, beginning with two key reflective questions:

• What have I achieved in the last six months that fills me with pride?
• What lessons have I learned, both from my successes and failures and how can I carry these forward?

Then there are two more questions:

• What are my goals for the next six months??
• What support do I need from my manager and company to achieve those goals?

Both the employee and the manager answer these four questions -- those ‘reflections’ tend to be a page in total and take about a half-hour to write -- before they meet. When the employee and manager meet (typically for an hour), they share their perspectives, agree on what the summary is, and then the manager submits it. That document is then reviewed again six months later, during the next cycle.

The initiative is both lightweight in terms of workload and powerful in terms of insights and outcomes. It's not just about success; it's about understanding the underlying strengths that contribute to them. A surprising number of people don’t understand why they were successful.?

In my experience, this method has been well-received and popular, a sentiment rarely associated with traditional performance reviews. When we did a survey, more than 70 percent of employees said they were looking forward to the next cycle. They didn’t experience any of the fear or anxiety that can so often accompany a traditional performance review because the CLC process was by design more collaborative and collegial.

Imagine walking into a conversation with your manager armed with a different set of expectations than what you have grown used to in Corporate America and accepted as the norm. Instead of merely discussing projects and deliverables, this interaction delves deeper into personal goals and achievements. This is where the magic of CLCs comes to life. By setting clear expectations, aligning objectives, and acknowledging accomplishments, both manager and employee are on the same page, fostering a shared sense of purpose.

I have seen first-hand how effective this process can be. Take a hypothetical situation in which someone on your team has a remarkable knack for asking thought-provoking questions. Through this framework, overlooked skills can be recognized, making your team more thoughtful and efficient in a variety of ways. By encouraging the employee to embrace that as their superpower, the employees, team, and company collectively move toward a better outcome, driven by their ability to peel back layers and uncover core issues.

At its core, the CLC aims to foster a culture of perpetual growth. It transcends mere dialog or a check-the-box exercise to become a transformative journey, empowering individuals in their quest for excellence. This process champions learning over ratings, trust over bias, and engagement over disconnection. It's a departure from the norm, a break from the mundane, and a leap into a brighter future.

Change is hard, and it doesn’t happen overnight. But if we have the foresight to embrace a new way of evaluating performance, we can embrace a future that thrives on learning, evolves through reflection, and journeys forward with purpose.

Listen to the Future of HR Podcast: Is Performance Management Dead?