No Surprises

An office door, slightly ajar, ominously inviting the next performance review conversation.

“I can't wait to deliver my annual performance reviews.”

Said no leader. Ever.

In two decades in the workforce, I've yet to hear anyone genuinely excited about delivering performance reviews. And yet, much of the stress around them is self-inflicted.

As the year wraps up, leaders are already navigating deadlines, planning cycles, and competing priorities, only to have the responsibility of evaluating our people added.

There should be no surprises in a performance review.

Surprises are for birthdays.

If reviews feel uncomfortable or contentious, it's rarely because of the form, the rating scale, or even HR compliance.

It's because feedback hasn't been happening consistently.

Your people should already know:

• Where they're performing well

• Where they need to improve

• What “great” actually looks like

If you're not having meaningful check-ins at least quarterly, you're missing the point. And paying dearly for it in lost productivity, disengagement, and missed potential.

And if you’re thinking, “I’m sure they know…”

You’re already out of alignment.

Sometimes there will be a low performer. That's part of leadership.

But a poor performance review?

That's not a people problem, that's a leadership one.

If you want more people who exceed expectations, you have to define those expectations clearly and repeat them often.

The best performance reviews don't happen once a year.

They happen all year long.