According to a 2018 WorldatWork survey - which reflected responses from 867 WorldatWork members - it is suggested that employers are beginning to move away from the practice of conducting formal performance reviews.
Fewer employers conducted reviews in 2017 compared to 2016 - 91 percent against 94 percent. In addition, fewer employers gave formal performance ratings - 80 percent in 2017 against 85 percent in 2016.
Alison Avalos, CCP, GRP – Director of Research and Certification for WorldatWork – said:
“This move away from some of the more traditional elements of performance management is consistent with the expectations we had going into the survey. There’s been a lot of buzz about organizations moving to nontraditional programs, and while they aren’t abandoning traditional performance management systems entirely, there is evidence that they are looking at emerging practices and implementing individual components of cutting-edge programs. What we’re seeing this year is that continued shift toward potentially more effective ways of driving and assessing performance.”
On the same subject, survey results released from Korn Ferry say that formal performance reviews fail to achieve the intended result of helping employees become better at their jobs. More than 500 professionals were surveyed by Korn Ferry and of these more than 75 percent said they have annual performance reviews with their boss. However, nearly 42 percent said that their annual performance review had no effect or was ineffective at improving their professional performance.
Katie Lemaire - Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry - stated:
“Organizations realize that managing business performance is a very dynamic process, so having a once-per-year meeting that hopes to both evaluate and improve performance is a tall ask. It is still critical that employees receive regular feedback and companies have the opportunity to re-evaluate their processes.”
The Korn Ferry survey also found that annual performance reviews take a large amount of time - with seven or more hours being cited by the largest percentage of respondents - as the period spent on their review.
One of the most forceful reasons for performance reviews is to establish rewards and pay for employees. However, Katie Lemaire said:
“It’s critical that managers regularly have conversations about performance throughout the year, which is far more effective in driving performance improvement than trying to have a conversation about what people could or should be doing differently at the same time that you are sharing compensation information with them.”
James Pennington - an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Birmingham, Alabama, referred to the 2018 WorldatWork survey at the firm's recent 2018 National Workplace Strategies Seminar and suggested that managers who intend to continue conducting formal performance reviews should write goals at the start of the performance cycle, adjusting them if necessary. They should also give leaders guidance on making feedback an ongoing conversation and using objective criteria as much as possible; request comments and examples to support ratings and allow an employee comments and an appeals process.
