Performance Reviews Are Designed To Trigger One Basic Human Instinct

Ultimately skewed for the employers’ benefit and waste our time

Managers and above are expected to communicate formal feedback at least once a year to their team.

It feels like a forced procedure that leaves us feeling like we are not good enough.

It taps into our inner critic which puts us in survival mode and we want to compensate. So we feel bad but we work harder for the boss.

According to a study by Gallup, only 14% of employees strongly agree that their performance reviews propelled them to improvement.

In most of my jobs, I have been told to be myself. Just be you, they told me. That feels good on the moment, when your personality is appreciated.

But most companies I have worked at have some kind of fictional individual that you should aim to be like. Let’s call him Batman.

So at the end of each cycle, which usually happens annually (or quarterly though that is changing), you are measured against Batman. He comes with a series of criteria, grouped under different categories, like leadership, technical skills etc.

I was confused: be me and be Batman at the same time? I do not do well with contradictory messages and I suspect most people do not either. Sometimes there are conflicting messages at the department level and at the corporate level.

This could meas that the people you work with like who you are and how you work well together but unfortunately Karen from corporate is the one who comes up with the criteria for assessment.

Wait, there are people better than Batman. They are not superheroes but hyperheroes. They surpassed what was expected of them at their level of seniority.

They are the superstars of the company. They are known to be brilliant, ultra-competent and also sometimes just great at hanging out with management.

To compete with the superstar is the subliminal goal, otherwise you are just not ‘there’ yet:

Related posts:

The retail apocalypse is very real in 2019. According to Business Insider, 18 retailers have already announced that they’ve filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019. While not all of these companies…

Development in the leadership context is a disintegration/reintegration process. The word “metanoia” is commonly understood to mean a transformative change of heart, and that is what leadership…

If everyone has to be right all the time, can we ever have equality? I can’t disagree with certain ideas without being labeled something mean. As a Catholic, I don’t support abortion. It’s not…