What Do You Hate More Than The Annual Performance Review?

Pick one you hate the most. (Hint: I hate the annual performance review).

The smell of trash and rotting garbage on a hot summer day.
Nails scratched on a chalkboard while you are strapped into a chair.
Annual performance reviews.

Can you think of a more worthless thing that companies do than an annual performance review? What a waste of time, energy, and a colossal demotivator of talent. I’d rather smell the rotting trash.

Imagine having a sports coach saving up all her observations to the end of the year?
Consider a parent keeping a list during the year and sitting down in December with their child to review their behavior.
Image your piano teacher holding all his criticism for months at a time and then sharing a list with you of things to improve.

The annual reviews often done this time of year are always late. Why wait for months to give feedback, when it could be more useful and timelier if done on the spot?

If you notice a direct report unprepared for meetings, why not provide them with feedback that same day and give them some suggestions to help them be more prepared. Talking to them in six-months can be fruitless.

Another challenge is that goals change for the year. Often they are stuck in a folder and not reviewed mid-term to make them relevant. You may be reviewed on something more than a year old and no longer key to the company anymore.

Time Wasters

Isn’t it better to be helping and supporting an employee during the year? You could be offering valuable suggestions that are more timely and helpful. If you observe someone during a presentation with too many slides, a lack of focus and no next steps – the best time to give them feedback is within 24 hours, not 24 weeks later.

I don’t know anyone who likes annual performance reviews. They are a pain for the reviewer and the employee. I always struggled to give a number to an action. Are they a three or a four for this category or that? Worst of all, they still felt demotivating for many people.

There is a better way, and you can see it from how they do reviews at Netflix.

Netflix

Patty McCord is the former CTO (Chief Talent Officer) and explains an alternative approach in her book Powerful. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, she said:

Patty McCord said in an HBR article:

“When we stopped doing formal performance reviews, we instituted informal 360-degree reviews. We kept them fairly simple: People were asked to identify things that colleagues should stop, start, or continue.”
Patty McCord in her book Powerful

Stop. Start. Continue.

That’s the idea in a nutshell. These regular but informal reviews ask colleagues to share what they should stop doing, start doing, or continue. The suggestions come from colleagues, NOT supervisors.

Simple & Actionable

This approach emphasizes praise because it gives everyone a license to recognize positive contributions by individuals. Although Netflix management had some initial fears about the process, it soon became a part of the culture and landscape. According to McCord,

Stop, start, continue

What should you stop?
What should you start?
What should you continue?

Beyond Annual Performance Review about Culture

There is a powerful deck that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Patty McCord put together to explain the Netflix culture. These slides go beyond performance reviews but is well-worth reading. You can find it here on LinkedIn.

Although the deck is ridiculously long, few companies have had the success and growth that Netflix experienced in the last decade. A $1,000 investment in Netflix in 2009 would be worth nearly $47,400 as of Sept. 12, 2019, for a total return of about 4,640%

Now, back to The Crown. Oh dear.

Need help with altenatives to annual performance reviews?

I can help. You can set up a time chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conver?sation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com. Let’s explore working together today.