How effective is the annual appraisal performance reviews really? Are employees motivated or is it counterproductive? More and more organizations are questioning the traditional appraisal interview and some even decided to abolish it.

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Billion euros on frustrating appraisals

According to Kilian Wawoe, a lecturer in Human Resources Management at VU Amsterdam, we would waste a billion euros on frustrating appraisals. After a seven-year study, he came to the conclusion that there are many more disadvantages than benefits to performance appraisals. For example, he says: “Performance reviews are only to a very small extent related to performance. That sounds contradictory, but it turns out that when you have one person rated by different people, the ratings differ considerably. For example, men are generally rated better than women, and people with a bigger mouth are also rated better. An assessment often says more about the assessor than about the assessed. ”

Companies and organizations stick to the current system because it is transparent and offers certainty. “But,” continues Wawoe, “What remains is a conversation about outdated goals and not about what someone has been doing all year. The result: disappointed employees who have no confidence in a fair assessment by their manager. ”

Continuous coaching

Worryingly, only 6% of organizations believe their current review process is valuable. In addition, 95% of managers are dissatisfied with how the assessment interviews are organized within the company. Wawoe therefore advocates continuous coaching. “If you hardly ever hear whether you’re doing it right or wrong, your imagination runs wild and you think it’s all going very well. But if you hear this more often, you get a realistic picture of your position in the workplace. ”

Download the free ebook: How to give feedback to 16 different personality types

Focus on talent & qualities

Going further into the figures, it appears that 28% of employees mainly receive negative feedback and only 16% focus on talent and qualities. Something that should be focused much more on. More than half of the employees therefore see the assessment interviews as an unhealthy competition. They get stressed by it and even 15% burst into tears. On the other hand, employees who are actively engaged in their development also run much less risk of burnout.

Continuous feedback throughout the year

Mike Teflar, Human Capital Strategist, wonders why you’d wait an entire year before sitting down with your manager to receive feedback on your performance. He says that employees need continuous coaching, feedback, direction and development. “Not once a year, but all year round.” As a tip, written on the human resource management website HR Practice, he gives: “Help your managers think about feedback as a constructive way to improve employee performance and get them into the habit of recording performance feedback. in various sources. This way you avoid reviews that only describe the performance of the previous month. You also help develop a culture of coaching and continuous improvement. ”

Read more: Happiness at work – What are the effects and how to implement it

Say goodbye to tradition appraisals

More and more organizations are now saying goodbye to traditional appraisal interviews to encourage mutual feedback, give employees autonomy and allow them to continuously learn and develop. “Everyone wants to achieve their personal goals and that only works if you take several moments for that each year. A meeting with your supervisors once is outdated. It’s a huge profit. Not only in time, but also in the fact that your employees will only do better ”, says Richard Hamaker, Senior HR Business Partner at Leaseweb.

TruQu as support

Are you ready to turn traditional appraisals into a more meaningful experience? A tool like TruQu can support you in this process. This gives you insights that are necessary for such an assessment interview. Through continuous feedback, setting goals and making reflection reports, you use the software to work on your personal development and at the same time on the success of your organization.

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