October might be the spookiest season, but for those managing teams, there’s something even scarier than the ghosts and goblins of Halloween—annual performance reviews.
Every year around this time, my firm sees a surge of requests for last-minute training on handling “uncomfortable conversations.”
The truth is, it’s not just new managers who find these reviews daunting; even seasoned executives feel the dread. But why is the annual review process so scary?
After more than a decade of helping leaders navigate these challenges, we’ve identified three key reasons why performance reviews trigger so much anxiety.
Ghosts of reviews past.
Most of us have had at least one bad experience with an annual review. Maybe it was an awkward conversation with a former boss or a difficult moment delivering negative feedback. The memories of those past experiences often haunt managers during present-day reviews. They’ve trained themselves to expect the worst, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Ouija board-like processes.
Trying to capture an entire year’s performance in a single conversation or form at the end of the year is like using a Ouija board to decide who gets promoted. The process often feels random and superficial, plagued by psychological biases, assumptions, and shortcuts designed to save time rather than provide insight. No wonder it feels so inaccurate and unreliable.
Time-sucking vampires.
Annual reviews are notoriously time-consuming. Managers spend an average of 210 hours a year—almost five full work weeks—on them, and employees invest around 40 hours each year. By the time both sides sit down for the big conversation, they’re usually exhausted, frustrated, and stressed over the pile of work waiting for attention. And all those hours come with little ROI. Nearly every manager finds the process ineffective.
To learn more about the hidden costs of annual performance reviews and the biggest risks of changing them, check out my latest Business Journal’s Leadership Trust article here.
If your leaders could use a shift to their mindsets or a boost to their skill sets in advance of annual performance review conversations, we can help. Schedule a call with me here to learn how.
