If once or twice a year is not enough feedback, then why not swing the pendulum all the way to feedback all the time? This is where the fallacy of real time feedback comes in. The new, polar opposite solution may eliminate many of the problems it was set out to solve, but unfortunately creates many of its own. When you swing the pendulum completely in the other direction and throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater, the correction can cause just as much damage as the original problem. The risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. With all this in mind, it's little surprise then that a recent study found, "More than half ( 55 percent) of office workers and 66 percent of managers wish that their companies would get rid of or change the current performance review process." Additional damage is done when managers mail it in, rush through them, or play favorites. (17 hours per employee according to Deloitte's recent study)Īnd those are just the issues when managers actually put in a real, positive effort into writing their reviews. The incredible time spent by employees, managers, and HR.
The inherent bias in evaluating other people's skills (62% of score variance is based on your own skill level).The toxic, damaging effect on culture from stack ranking team members.Common issues of performance appraisals include: We've talked about why this is the case a number of times on the Lighthouse blog. When a problem becomes big enough, it's often considered easier to throw it all away and start over than it is to try to fix it. While we can't help you with your regrettable dining decisions, or an ill-considered text, we can save you from getting on the disastrous hype train of "real time feedback." Question: What do New Coke, texting your ex late at night, breakfast burritos at convenience stores, and real time feedback for your team all have in common?Īnswer: They all seemed like good ideas in the moment, but ultimately failed to work out as hoped.