Performance reviews are utilized by many companies to create an established cadence of goal setting and feedback once or twice a year, but a comprehensive study from Adobe is contesting this convention.
The study, which surveyed 1,500 U.S. employees, concluded that annual performance reviews are outdated and unnecessarily time consuming. In fact, the findings were so convincing that Adobe’s EVP of Customer & Employee Experience recently announced that the company would be doing away with them completely in 2017.
Why? Here’s what they found.
While the vast majority of people surveyed (88 percent) participate in traditional performance reviews, 64 percent of workers and managers agree that performance reviews as they exist today are outdated. What’s more, three-fourths of millennial managers—a growing population within leadership ranks—say performance reviews negatively impact their ability to do their job.
Annual performance reviews are stressful. Half of the employees surveyed says this type of feedback, all at once and collected via lengthy documents, can add to their stress. As it turns out, managers are on the side of their teams: 61 percent would do away with annual reviews entirely if it were up to them.
So, what’s the solution? According to survey, most people want feedback iteratively and in the moment instead of all at one time. Four in five employees surveyed said they want immediate feedback.
You can browse the full study here.
Study: 80% of Employees Prefer Immediate Feedback to Annual Reviews
