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Performance Reviews - Weekly Newsletter (3/30/23)

Where do you fall on the helpful to bullsh*t spectrum for reviews?

John Hartley

Mar 30, 2023

This is another weekly edition of Hartley’s Handbook with thoughts, links, and more!

Whether you’re finishing up performance reviews, haven’t ever done them, or don’t need to think about it until next year, there’s work you can do between now and then. One of the interesting posts I read this week stated “Employee Performance Reviews Are (still) Bullsh*t."

If done well, performance reviews can be helpful, but if we view them as B.S., how can we make them better?

I prefer to give performance reviews with myself at one end of a long table, the reviewee at the other end. Definitely the thing I miss most about in-office (100% joking btw). Photo by Benjamin Child on Unsplash

The article makes the case that “In the employer’s mind, performance review SZN is just a way to tell good performers and bad performers the same message: Step up your game,” or that’s what their company’s training told them.

Not even touching on whether or not performance reviews should be directly related to merit and promotions (that’s a whole separate post), we need to do more than say “step up your game.”

Reviews should be a time to:

Celebrate the positives of the last year, including any major wins, their impacts, and the overall results
The growth that was made over the year, especially when it comes to goals. It’s not enough to stop at “you accomplished the goal,” but review the how of getting to that goal
A focus on the future in areas where the individual can “step up their game” the rest of the year

Reviews should also not be one side talking at the other side. Have a conversation and talk through the feedback together. If feedback seems unfair or received poorly, talk through why that is.

Above all, none of the feedback in reviews should be a surprise to the individuals receiving the feedback. If they are surprised, you’ve not done your part of delivering feedback throughout the year. Note that as an area for you to step up your game over the coming year.

I view performance reviews as a good yearly reset to say, “last year’s done, here’s how we did, here’s what we should focus on this year.” How about you, how do you like to deliver performance reviews, or do you fall in the “they’re bullsh*t” camp?

What I Read This Week:

Employee performance reviews are (still) B.S. - Forbes
Why the Leaders Still Aren't Back In Charge - The Lowdown
Beware a Culture of Busyness - Harvard Business Review
How do I push back on work when my manager is a pushover? - /r/ExperiencedDevs
Effects of Meetings on the Brain - Microsoft’s Human Factors Lab
Google, Meta, Salesforce, and more get tough on employee evaluations. Here’s how they’re overhauling performance reviews - Fortune
Ceiling breakers: Women IT execs shake up the status quo - CIO
Gordon E. Moore, Intel Co-Founder Behind Moore’s Law, Dies at 94 - NYT

A Movie I Watched: John Wick 4

More gun-fu and probably one of the best fighting scenes done on stairs, John Wick 4 came out in theaters. Definitely a fun watch with one of my favorite cinematography moments in quite some time.

Spoiler, there are multiple dogs in the movie.

What else are you interested in seeing in these weekly newsletters? Let me know below!