Transcription
Hi, and welcome to the latest episode of The Great Debate. He's Andy Cohen, I'm Dave Agnoli. Thanks for joining us. Our question for today: Should annual performance reviews be abolished? Andy, what do you think?
No, Dave. People need to know how they're doing. Now, you asked on an annual basis. Yes, that was a question. The annual review, if left to its own devices, will not work. Sure, he agrees with me. A fight over no. But people need to know how they're doing throughout the year. So, if you're depending just on the annual review to gauge and let people know how they're doing, then, then that's not going to be a successful process. So, people need to be measured. They need to be, they need to have clear goals. And I think a good way to do that is through the annual review. However, if you're only depending on the annual review, then you're doing it a little backwards.
Yeah, the annual review is a lousy idea because you should be, as you would take that as you just, you know, made very clear, if you do it once a year, that's not good. You need to have more frequent check-ins, right? So, why don't we just, why don't you just admit that the annual review is a bad idea? No, I don't. Because that's, and then let's have monthly meetings, monthly review. Annual review is a good time to lay out goals and to come up with objectives for the coming year. No. Now, then you have to check in and make sure things are happening to meet those objectives for the year. Why do we have to wait? But not end of the year. Why don't we have to wait 90 days? Ooh. Why don't have to wait until, you know, November 1st? I'm not saying, why can't, if Joe is doing a great job on April 1st, why can't he be a boss? You know what, Joe, you're doing a great job. Not the end of the year yet. Here's a $250 bonus for you because you're doing a great job and I appreciate you. Why do we have to wait? Because it's always been done this way, right? That's the answer. Why don't we have to wait until the end of the year to have that conversation? If Joe's doing a great job, why? Well, you shouldn't wait. That's my point. You shouldn't be waiting till the end of the year. But that end-of-year process is a good way to look back and look forward in a formal way. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with, in a formal way, sitting down with employees and saying, we did this, this, and this. Awesome. We still need to focus on that, and that's what we're going to do.
Employees hate annual performance reviews. Managers? Yes. The survey starvation show that. Worrying clearly? Yes, they do. Aight, managers hate them because they have to do all this paperwork. Employees hate them because they have this goal process, and then they fulfill their goals and I get a two percent raise. And then you come up with goals as a boss, and then the employee's like, okay, this sounds great. They go back to their desk, and I'm going to do all these goals and do more work, and I'm going to two percent raise again next year. It was like, in this process, that's why I'm saying, if you do check-ins, progressive companies have these check-ins where, if, like I said, an employee is doing really well early in the year, and they just had a great couple of months, you should be able to reward them. As a boss, that makes you feel good as a boss, right? It makes the employee feel more appreciated. There's no reason to have the annual one-time annual performance review and make that to be all end-all for an employee. And there's a reason why, besides, you know, what we've talked about. What if it's, what if you're dealing with a lousy employee, right? Let's say Jack is a lousy employee. Why wait until the end of the year to tell them that? If you're meeting with him every month, you're gonna be able to wait him out, or maybe Jack realizes he's not going to cut it, so he leaves himself out. Isn't that better and more efficient for the company instead of this very static, cyclical, once a year, we're going to meet, talk about goals, and if you meet your goals from the last year, you're gonna get a raise? Now, see, that, that has to happen throughout the year anyway. If you're, if you as a manager are letting an employee go who's not, who's just, go throughout the year, not meeting objectives and not doing what you expect him to do, and you're not talking about that, you're not doing your job as a manager. Then that means you're not managing effectively. So that's on you. That's not on the company's annual review process. That's on you as a manager. If you're not, if you're not telling somebody that they're not doing well, and you're just letting it happen, you're not doing your job.
I think Andy, you're coming around to the reality, which is that if you meet with employees every month, then you don't have to have this annual, this big annual performance review that everyone dreads. Because if you meet and you have these check-ins, like good companies are doing right now, the gaps in the Adobe's, it's out there. Why companies are trying this and they're retaining good employees by trying this this metric, by trying this measure. Why go through the rigmarole? Why go through that? Why go through that static process? Because it's good to have a formal process. You can do it every month. You, you should, you can be steady. You should be doing everything you can accomplish. Annual review, Andy, you could do in the monthly. I don't agree because companies won't do it. They won't do it. Why is there not progressive? Okay, maybe. But if there isn't a full of Ariel's, no. It so it'll be a non-aggressive company. Go with Andy. If you want to be progressive, then you should get away from you. If you don't have some sort of formal process, then I don't think you're doing, I don't, I think you're doing a disservice as a company. You're not. Because then it won't be formalized, and then people will forget to do it because they get busy. You have to do something. You have to do something on a formalized basis, and if it's not done, then it's not going to happen.
Yeah, I think it can be formalized at different points throughout the year. I don't think it only needs to be formalized in November, December. Well, I voted that, but I think you do need the annual to run that process. Yeah. I'll have six times a year. You can have your one time of year and God, my company is going up and up. Or Andy says one time is great. One annual performance review is the way to go. I say no. There are better ways out there. Tell us what you think. Send us a tweet at ASI Central. For Andy, um, Dave, thanks for watching The Great Debate.