A Mckinsey survey indicates that most CEOs don’t think the performance review process helps identify top performers.
A Gallup study presents that just 1 in 5 employees agreed that their company’s performance practices motivated them.
And last week, I shared how managers have to work extremely hard on the review process while being the bad guy when you disagree.
The system seems broken. So firms should scrap performance ratings altogether, right? A few did.
However, this is what another McKinsey study found (^3), “When these organizations scrapped the performance ratings, they found a need for a form of annual documented administrative evaluation to make employment decisions, such as promotions and raises. To address this need, these organizations often implemented ‘ghost’ ratings—a system of evaluation that is, ultimately, just another annual performance rating.”
Lol! Same product, new packaging!
So, whether your company has a formal or informal review process, how decisions around promotions and raises are made are the same.
But there’s a myth I’ve heard lately. Many people believe that promotions are just offered to exceptional performers, but in reality, they are given to employees who are pushing to be leaders — irrespective of their final rating.
And the best way to push to be a leader is to stop thinking of the review system as a 1-1 goal-based discussion with your manager but understand the game being played behind the scenes and how you can communicate your impact in the current system.
I present the performance review system’s behind-the-scenes look and how to navigate it successfully in my course — Crush Performance Reviews.
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