The end of the year is rapidly approaching and many companies are turning their focus to the yearly performance review. Unfortunately, most leaders and employees are dreading its arrival and take a “grin and bear it” attitude toward them. With this type of anxiety surrounding performance appraisals, it begs the question: Are performance reviews really necessary?

Performance appraisals developed as a way to ascertain productivity and relative merit with regard to getting a pay raise. Even today, many companies utilize the yearly performance appraisal to assess the employee’s work performance and progress towards goals in order to justify a raise or placing the employee on probation with the idea of showing them the door.

But with the changes to the way people work nowadays (remote workers, less supervision, more autonomy, etc.) is the way we execute performance reviews still valid and, if not, what is a better way to apply them? If we don’t have some way of “rating” employees’ job performance, progress towards goals, work ethic, attitude and behavior, then how do we reward good employees with raises and promotions while providing poor performers with the tools and direction to improve?

I believe that as long as a company or boss handles performance reviews as an annual “look back” event instead of a proactive plan for the future they will continue to have negative connotations for all involved. Employees need positive and constructive real-time feedback and honest dialogues with their managers on a consistent basis in order to have the tools and desire needed to truly improve their job performance.

All of these questions, ideas and concerns will be answered in a series of blogs I’ll write and post now through the end of the year. In the meantime, enjoy this slideshare graphic from WorkSimple on the History of Performance Reviews.