Performance reviews – are they as dead as the dinosaurs?
Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of managers in New Zealand would like to ditch the annual performance review in favour
of more regular feedback, according to a survey by recruiting experts Hays.
In the survey of 164 New Zealand managers, only 37 per cent prefer an annual review. Instead, most say ongoing regular
conversations, preferably monthly, between an employee and their manager are more useful. These can then be supplemented
with a more formal quarterly KPI discussion and an annual salary review and career planning session.
“Most respondents agreed that some form of annual feedback is still important in order to celebrate the year’s
successes, but that other more regular feedback must be provided too so that areas for improvement are addressed as they
arise,” said Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand.
“This allows an employee and employer to change behaviour before it becomes embedded. Performance and productivity
improve because feedback isn’t held off for the annual review, and managers spend less time managing issues that could
have been avoided.”
As one survey respondent said, “We’ve abandoned annual reviews as feedback should be ongoing throughout the year. We're
not abandoning the focus on performance, just how it is managed and discussed with employees. By making it more timely
and ongoing we see performance improvements throughout the year.”
Another noted, “If someone told me I’d performed one thing wrong eight months ago, it (the feedback) wouldn’t be
effective and would actually discourage me because it took so long to feed that back.”
Regardless of the feedback process used, Jason says it’s critical that it is transparent, credible and consistent for
all staff. He also says staff must have a voice in the process.
Ditching a formal feedback process altogether however is not an option; most employers say without it employee
performance would decline, their feelings of ownership and accountability would fall, and they’d be given the impression
no one cares.
As one respondent said, “Work performance evaluation is critical for managers to feel connected with staff and ensure
both their physical and emotional needs are being considered. For staff it is imperative that they feel their supervisor
listens to them and takes their feedback on board. Staff need to feel they are being heard at all levels.”
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