How to Improve Review Systems

In my 18 years at Amazon, I've seen more careers transformed by the next 2 weeks than by the other 50 weeks of the year combined. It's performance review season. Most people rush through it like a chore, seeing it as an interruption to their "real work." The smartest people I know do the opposite: they treat these upcoming weeks as their highest-leverage opportunity of the year. After handling over fifty feedback requests, self-reviews, and upward feedback 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 for nearly two decades, I've learned this isn't just another corporate exercise. This is when careers pivot, accelerate, or stall. Your feedback directly impacts compensation, career trajectories, and professional growth. Your self-assessment frames how leadership views your entire year's work. This isn't busywork—it's career-defining work, but we treat it with as much enthusiasm as taking out trash. Here's how to make the most of it: 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 - Ask yourself: "What perspective am I uniquely positioned to share?" Everyone will comment on the obvious wins and challenges. Your job is to provide insights others miss, making your feedback instantly invaluable. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀 - I keep a living document for every person I work with. When something feedback-worthy happens—good or challenging—it goes in immediately. No more scrambling to remember projects from months ago. This ensures specific, timely examples when needed. 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 - Don't just list tasks—craft a narrative. Lead with behaviors that drove impact. Show your growth in handling complex situations, influencing across teams, and making difficult trade-offs. Demonstrate self-awareness by acknowledging areas where you're actively improving. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 - They receive little feedback all year. Focus on how they help you succeed and specific ways they could support you better. Make it dense with information—this might be their only chance to learn how to serve their team better. 𝗢𝗻 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 - The difference between criticism and valuable input is showing you genuinely want the other person to succeed. When that intention shines through, you don't need to walk on eggshells. Be specific about the behavior, its impact, and how it could improve. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 - Good constructive feedback often feels like an insult at first. But here's the mindset shift that changed everything for me: feedback is a gift. It's direct guidance on improvement from those who work closest with you. When you feel that defensive instinct rise, pause and focus on understanding instead. Here's your challenge: This year, treat performance review season like the most important work you'll do. Because in terms of long-term impact on careers—both yours and others'—it just might be.

Interesting research from ADP posted in a WSJ article last week saying that 29% of employees in their workforce analysis quit one month after their first promotion. The main reason they found was that employees waited so long to get that promotion (many companies only do promotions once or twice a year) that they’ve already started looking for something new, and by the time the promotion finally happens, they’ve decided to leave. This doesn't surprise me after a couple of decades of working in the people space. Too many companies have such lengthy review and promotion processes that they don’t want to facilitate the process very often. However, if your process is too lengthy and affects your business practices and doing what’s in line with your people philosophies (pay for performance? Employee growth is important? recognition?), perhaps your process is broken. When you limit abilities to formally recognize & pay employees for their impacting contributions, a couple of things tend to happen: Employees start to look elsewhere You do something unnatural outside of a well-calibrated process and give more money or a promotion as a way to “save” the employee who will likely still quit in six months anyway, and you lose respect when it comes out Employees lose trust in their management & company at large Over the years, I’ve implemented quarterly promotion processes across various companies. Not being a fan of performance reviews and instead using tools for real-time feedback, my teams would work with me to figure out how to do talent planning across the organization (who is doing well/lower performers, who are ready for a move, what is our succession planning, do we have any single points of failure, and who is on track for a promotion). I've found having good descriptors in a thorough nine box can make these discussions much richer (performance on one axis, trajectory on the other) and the calibration much better over time. What’s key to being able to facilitate this quickly is having very thorough job architectures/frameworks (which give clarity to both employees and managers around expectations), clarity on business growth (or not) to understand the need for more senior employees, and less paperwork and more trust in decision-making with a budget. We can calibrate to look for biases, push to understand gaps in our talent org and have a broader discussion of what we need for the future. I don’t have any statistically significant data, but anecdotally, the leaders who didn’t want to spend time in quarterly (or twice a year) talent reviews to understand their talent better and set up a process/budget for quarterly promotions usually had higher attrition & lower engagement. If people are your top priority (let alone your highest cost), spending extra time understanding how they’re delivering toward our customer problems is important. https://lnkd.in/gmz4EPCh

If you can commit to clarity for your team, you'll be amazed at the results. Here’s what my HR team trained supeevisors and revamped our organizational approach and how you can take similar action: 1. Clarify Roles: Ensure everyone understands their responsibilities. Regularly update job descriptions to reflect the current expectations and eliminate ambiguity. (We had impact descriptions made for every employee by their supervisors and trained supervisors on creating them effectively) 2. Create SMART KPIs: Develop Key Performance Indicators that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, instead of saying, "Improve customer satisfaction," specify, "Increase customer satisfaction scores by 15% within the next quarter." This gives your team a clear target to aim for. 3. Provide Specific Feedback: Regularly offer constructive feedback and openly praise behaviors you want to encourage. This not only reinforces positive actions but also sets a standard for the entire team. 4. Set Clear Expectations: By establishing clear performance metrics, you allow team members to see how their contributions directly impact organizational goals. This clarity reduces confusion and fosters collaboration. 5. Review and Adapt: Implement a system for reviewing KPIs and job descriptions every six months. This ensures they remain relevant and aligned with business objectives. 6. Transform Performance Reviews: Shift to narrative-based evaluations that include not just performance metrics, but also recommendations for development and a list of stakeholders for collaboration. By embracing clarity and structured performance metrics, you empower your team to excel, reduce frustration, and foster a truly collaborative environment. Commit to this approach and watch your team thrive! #TeamCulture #Leadership #PerformanceManagement #PeopleOfficer #HRInsights #SMARTGoals

I stopped performing annual reviews. 99% of the time they don’t increase actual performance.  Give me 2 minutes. I'll show you what I did instead: 👇 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 • Break free from traditional annual reviews. • Be a year-round coach, not a once-a-year judge. • Continuous feedback, like a sports coach, is key. 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 • Avoid misalignment with clear, measurable goals. • Limit to 3 major goals. • Employees set personal goals aligning with these. • Focus: 80% on these goals, 20% on everything else. 𝗠𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝟭𝘅𝟭 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 • Essential for ongoing feedback. • Ideal timing: 60 minutes every two weeks. • Discuss progress on top 3 goals. • Address blockers & celebrate successes. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸-𝗜𝗻𝘀 • Extend a regular 1x1 to 90 minutes quarterly. • Explore the employee’s broader career aspirations. • Discuss quarterly performance. • Checkin on personal development (see next) 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 • Traditional reviews list too many improvement areas. • Focus on ONE key area for yearly improvement. • Agree on the area together. • Review progress in quarterly sessions.    👇 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀 For 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 1. Make every 1x1 a coaching opportunity. 2. Consistently give feedback or praise. 3. Avoid canceling 1x1s – they're crucial. 4. Repeated mistakes may indicate a poor fit. 5. Link bonuses to both company and individual goals (50/50 split). Ditch the bureaucracy and transform performance management into a tool for real feedback and personal growth! 📈 _____ Enjoy this? Repost to your network and follow me Scot Chisholm for more! 📌  P.S. I'm writing about how to delegate like a pro this Friday to all my newsletter subscribers. Sign up here: scotchisholm.com  

How does feedback affect performance? There is a solid body of research to show that feedback can be among the most powerful influences on performance (see references in the attachment and link in the comments). However, it is also apparent that feedback is not always a gift, and it can often harm performance. An evidence-based approach can help establish a feedback culture that effectively drives performance. Below you can find recommendations adapted from CIPD’s evidence review and my consulting practice: 1- Remember that feedback is not always useful. Instead of encouraging managers to give as much feedback as possible, emphasize quality feedback. Prompt managers to invest time in better preparing and delivering feedback. 2- Train managers to recognize and work with reactions to feedback. Managers can ask how the person feels about the feedback, and whether it is actionable or fair. 3- Consider assessing employees’ reactions to feedback more systematically. For example, ask short questions to quickly survey employees after a feedback meeting to evaluate how useful the feedback was for them and how positive/negative they feel following the feedback. This can inform further line management conversations or target training to develop managers’ capability in feedback. 4- Managers and colleagues giving feedback should be encouraged and trained to do the following: • Deliver specific feedback. Provide them with a guide on what specific, detailed, and elaborated feedback means, including what points they should cover. • Before giving feedback, assess what type of tasks the feedback will cover. For most tasks, and especially creative ones, avoid giving negative feedback where possible and focus on positive episodes and on how to recreate them in the future. For precision, risk, and prevention tasks, negative feedback is more appropriate. • Ensure feedback is fair and seen to be fair.  Explain to employees how the information was gathered, highlighting why it is consistent, accurate, and unbiased. • Encourage managers to ask people what feedback they would find most helpful, both to involve them in the process and help make it specific in relevant ways. • Don’t push for very frequent or immediate feedback across the board. Encourage teams and managers to find the frequency and timing that works for them –monthly might be better than weekly, and immediate feedback might not always be the most helpful. • Managers should involve employees in a two-way conversation, rather than making feedback one-way, top-down communication. • Provide training on how to minimise biases and accurately use observations to inform feedback. 5- Ensure feedback enables behavioral change that is both strategic and impactful. You can find more recommendations and references in the doc attached. What best practices would you add to enable a feedback culture? ♻️ Repost to spread value. 🔔 or follow to read similar content.

Are Your Performance Reviews Broken?  90% of HR Pros believe the process lacks accuracy. 95% of managers are dissatisfied with their performance review processes. 75% of employees find performance reviews unfair. It's clear - traditional performance reviews need a major overhaul. When dissatisfaction spans managers, HR, and employees, it's time to rethink the process. Ready for a performance review makeover? Here are some 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 tips to make these reviews dynamic and engaging: 1️⃣ 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 Transform reviews into a game show with categories like ‘Achievements’ and ‘Future Goals’. Add playful metrics and rewards to make it fun and less stressful. 2️⃣ 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 Start with a ‘Success Spotlight’ where employees share their major wins. This sets a positive tone and empowers them to own their achievements. 3️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 Let employees review the review process! Gather feedback on how to improve the process, making them feel valued and involved. 4️⃣ 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 Create a two-way dialogue where employees can give feedback on the feedback, ask questions, and discuss alignment with expectations. 5️⃣ 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 Build ‘Future Vision Boards’ to map out career goals and steps to achieve them. This visual tool energizes and motivates employees. 6️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗱𝘆 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 Pair employees with a peer ‘review buddy’ for informal, ongoing feedback throughout the year. 7️⃣ 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 End with a workshop to co-develop a ‘Personal Development Plan’, setting actionable goals and outlining support needed. Performance reviews don’t have to be a chore. Infuse creativity and openness to make them impactful and less daunting. What unconventional methods have you tried? Share your innovative ideas below! #PerformanceReviews #HR #EmployeeEngagement #Leadership #CareerDevelopment #HRTrends #WorkplaceInnovation --- Sources: Mercer. Global Performance Management Survey Report. 2019 Deloitte. Global Human Capital Trends 2017: Rewriting the Rules for the Digital Age. 2017 Gallup. State of the American Workplace. 2017.

Performance reviews shouldn’t feel like a surprise attack. They should build trust. Clarify expectations. Support growth. But too often? They leave people confused or deflated. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s what happens when emotionally intelligent leaders get it right 👇 It’s a two-way conversation, not a monologue ↳ One-sided reviews undermine trust and overlook valuable insights. ❌ Avoid saying: “Here’s how you did this year...” ✔️ Consider saying: “Before I share my feedback, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how this year went—the wins and the challenges.” It starts with strengths, highlighting achievements ↳ Emphasizing strengths fosters safety and enhances openness to feedback. ❌ Avoid saying: “First, let’s address the areas needing improvement. ” ✔️ Consider saying: “Let’s begin with what’s working. You’ve had a strong impact in [XYZ area].” It names emotions without making it personal ↳ Emotions are important, but feedback concentrates on behaviors, not character. ❌ Avoid saying: “You were quite challenging to collaborate with on this project.” ✔️Consider saying: “There were a few moments that caused frustration for the team—can we discuss how we might approach that differently together?” It balances necessary candor with care ↳ Candor fosters personal growth, while care encourages openness to embrace that growth. ❌ Avoid saying: “This is probably not a strength of yours.” ✔️ Consider saying: “This area fell short of expectations, and I know you can achieve more. Let’s discuss what would assist us moving forward.” It includes future-forward coaching ↳ Reviews should focus on growth rather than merely reviewing the past. ❌ Avoid saying: “There’s not much more to say. I think you know where I stand on your performance. Let’s see how the next quarter goes.” ✔️Consider saying: “Let’s discuss what’s next—what goals you’re excited about and how I can support your development.” It reflects active listening for deeper understanding ↳ People share more when they feel understood ❌ Avoid saying: “I already know how you’re going to respond—we don’t need to rehash that.” ✔️Consider saying: “Can you share more about your experience with the [XYZ] project? I want to ensure I’m not overlooking anything.” It ends with alignment and encouragement ↳ The conclusion of a review should create clarity and momentum, not confusion or hesitation. ❌ Avoid saying: “I suppose you should just keep working on it.” ✔️Consider saying: “I feel like we are on the same page, and I’m committed to supporting you at every turn." ✨ That’s the kind of review that builds trust, ownership, and momentum. What’s a phrase you’ve heard—or used—that made a performance review feel like a real conversation? Drop it in the comments 👇 *** ♻️ Re-post or share so others can lead more effectively 🔔 Turn on notifications for my latest posts 🤓 Follow me at Scott J. Allen, Ph.D. for daily content on leadership 📌 Design by Bela Jevtovic

Managers often resist performance appraisals—not just because they’re uncomfortable, but because deep down, they feel uneasy about passing judgment on another person’s worth. This insight, drawn from a 1972 Harvard Business Review article, remains just as relevant today. Douglas McGregor argued that traditional performance evaluations put too much power in the hands of managers while treating employees as passive subjects rather than active participants in their own growth. Instead, he advocated for a shift: let employees set their own performance goals, reflect on their progress, and work collaboratively with their manager to course-correct. This approach was groundbreaking then, and it still challenges the way many organizations operate. Despite decades of leadership development, many companies continue to rely on top-down, judgment-heavy appraisals rather than empowering employees to take ownership of their growth. The world looks different today—more remote work, shifting employee expectations, and a stronger focus on autonomy—but the core truth remains: people perform better when they have agency over their own development. Three takeaways for leaders today: (1) Turn Appraisals into Coaching Conversations Instead of judging past performance, help employees define clear, meaningful goals and guide them forward. (2) Shift from Evaluation to Self-Reflection Encourage employees to assess their own progress first. They often hold themselves to a higher standard than managers do. (3) Recognize That People Aren’t Products Performance reviews aren’t about "quality control." Employees aren’t widgets on an assembly line—they are individuals with evolving skills, aspirations, and challenges. McGregor’s ideas may have been ahead of their time, but they still hold a mirror up to how we manage talent today. If leaders want engaged, high-performing teams, they need to stop controlling and start empowering. How do you approach performance conversations in your organization? #performance #collaboration #coaching #teams #leadership #learning #growth #reflection #management #managers #conversations https://lnkd.in/e_tk9_DB

Personality Traits Don’t Belong in Performance Reviews Performance reviews should focus on skills, outcomes, and behaviors—not personality traits. An article by Suzanne Lucas for Inc. Magazine highlights a troubling finding from Textio: ✅ 88% of high-performing women receive feedback on their personality compared to only 12% of men. When men do get personality-related feedback, the descriptions differ significantly: Women: "Collaborative," "nice," or "abrasive" Men: "Confident," "ambitious" This disconnect reflects stereotypes that don’t help anyone grow. What NOT to do in performance reviews: ❌ Describe someone as "introverted" (personality-based language). ❌ Focus on general traits like "nice" or "helpful" without linking them to outcomes. What TO do instead: ✅ Address observable behaviors and impact: Instead of: "You're too quiet." Say: "I noticed you didn’t contribute in meetings; your ideas could add value if shared." ✅ Focus on outcomes: Highlight measurable results, goals, and areas for development tied to skills. ✅ Offer actionable feedback: Provide steps to improve performance, like asking someone to prepare discussion points to engage more actively. By focusing on behaviors, outcomes, and skills, reviews can help employees grow without reinforcing unhelpful biases. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gWTeTw5a What do you think? How does this impact women of color? How can we improve feedback processes to create fairer, more -actionable- reviews? #LeadershipDevelopment #PerformanceManagement #InclusiveLeadership

Lots of reactions in my network in the last couple weeks to the buzzy story about Square ending annual performance reviews, but I found these next few lines of the announcement important for others considering this: "There are natural and asynchronous milestones that are specific to individuals and teams, like launches or product completions, that will force our leads to be more specific and personalized with feedback, promotions (which need to be dramatically simplified!), compensation, or whether to part ways immediately (instead of letting things linger). Of course, there are things like calibration across disciplines that require a synchronous action, but everything else should default to asynchronous..." That final sentence is the real sticking point on "ending" annual reviews: Performance drives compensation and promotions, which means budgeting and calibration, and those need to be done synchronously. So if your reaction to the Square story is, "Of course, feedback should be continuous instead of all at once in big, painful cycles" a few recommendations and things to consider: ▶ Make sure this aligns with your operational needs for compensation planning. Do performance scores / ratings factor into compensation adjustments? How and when will you collect those? Make sure that you're not just implicitly merging your formal performance reviews into compensation planning & calibration. ▶ Be transparent with employees about what this means for promotions and compensation. If there is still ultimately a single performance score every 6 months that "counts" for comp and promotions, don't pretend that there isn't, and make sure they're clear on where that came from. I once participated in a planning cycle where we had "eliminated performance scores" but still required managers to fill out a performance based bonus attainment score... your employees are smarter than that and deserve transparency here. ▶ Consider whether continuous feedback should mean more frequent promotions and comp adjustments Calibration and budgeting require getting people together at specific times of year, so continuous promotions and comp adjustments probably won't fly at any mature company. That said, if you can make these processes less burdensome (Aeqium can help!), doing them more frequently might be a better fit. What do you think? How have you seen companies navigate this successfully while eliminating annual performance reviews?