The Joke of Year-End Reviews

In my 20 years of corporate life, the year-end review became such an arduous chore and joke, no one could believe we did them! Once pay raises were separated from the review rating, performance reviews became virtually useless.

The reviews took a variety of routes:

1. The boss handed you the form and said "fill this in, say whatever you want"
2. The content was copied from LAST YEAR'S review
3. The review was late - too many to complete at year's-end, so it never went on file

Of course, the RIGHT way to provide performance feedback is on-going - conduct many feedback or coaching moments with an employee frequently throughout the year. These can be done informally (keep notes electronically or manually in an employee file so you have a record of conversations), on the run or scheduled for specific times.

The frequent conversations and updates keep the employee informed (how am I doing?), engaged in his/her work (someone does know what I do and appreciates it), let's him/her know YOU'RE on top of things (the boss IS in touch in spite of all the other demands), and provides a sense of value to the employee (they care enough to talk to me, ask me about my work).

A recent Talent Magazine article prompted this note - check out the article: http://talentmgt.com/talent.php?pt=a&aid=1130 - Is It Time to Ditch Year-End Performance Reviews?

What do you think?