How to Make Performance Reviews Worth Everyone’s Time
Let’s start with the basics. A performance review should do three things: bring clarity, give recognition, and open doors for growth. It’s a structured conversation where managers and employees discuss achievements, challenges, and opportunities for the future. Ideally, it happens regularly (quarterly, bi-annually, or annually) and draws information from multiple sources: self-reflection, peer feedback, and manager insights. The goal? Help employees understand their impact, guide their development, and help companies retain their best people.
Sounds simple, right? But let's be honest, most reviews are a disaster. Below, we'll explore the mistakes commonly made when it comes to performance reviews, and how you can avoid making them.
Why People Quit
- The Manager (poor management, lack of trust, micromanagement)
- Limited opportunities for growth and career progression
- Burnout
- Lack of recognition
- Unclear expectations
- Poor communication
The manager is generally the number one reason folks resign, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad person or even bad at their job, it could simply mean that they're not doing a good job with numbers 2-6.
A good performance review is designed to help fix this. Done right, it helps employees feel seen, heard, and empowered.
The first key to a well executed performance review lies in what comes before the review itself: communication and clarity. There should be no surprises during the review. Employees should already know how they’re tracking, what their growth pathways look like, and where they need support. Feedback from peers, managers, and self-reflection should be shared in real time, then rolled up into the review as a summary. This can be done with manual documentation or by using a tool specifically designed to help with this, like Sumario. The review itself should confirm and align. Nothing new. No surprises.
Why Traditional Reviews Make Things Worse
Disorganization: Managers and employees dumpster dive through Slack, email, and project management tools hunting for forgotten work, feedback, and proof of impact.
Gut-feel bias: Too much emphasis on recent wins and achievements and too little feedback through a 360 degree lens. As a result, comments are subjective and biased.
Stiff templates: One-size-fits-all forms are confusing. The language is unclear, complex, and stilted (yes, I said stilted - as in stiff and awkward). Stilted is the kind of word you’d see in one of these templates.
Counting tasks, not impact: Ignoring things like mentorship, leadership, problem-solving, and other meaningful contributions.
Unclear on goals: No clear line between company objectives, individual achievements, and how these connect.
Cramming: Last-minute review prep leads to a bias toward more recent work, missed feedback and forgotten achievements. I get it, everyone is busy all the time. But frankly, this a sloppy way to do it.
Past-focused, future-blind: Reviews that focus too much on “what happened” and skip “what’s next?”
Single-source feedback: Feedback that is top-down only, ignoring critical peer and cross-team input.
Culture ignored: Vague or non-existent notes on company culture, values, and how the employee positively contributes to team health.
Ok, that was a lot. Here’s how you can fix it.
How to Do Reviews Right
Balanced recognition & feedback: Highlight both visible outcomes (projects, goals) and invisible contributions (mentorship, problem-solving, collaboration, leadership). Feedback should be specific, actionable, and context-rich.
Two-way conversation: Employees should share wins, challenges, and goals. Ask questions like: “What do you want to learn?” and “Where do you want to grow?”
Future-focused: Move beyond past performance, talk about development opportunities and next steps. Include a clear, collaborative personal development plan that feels achievable and motivating.
Supportive tone & environment: Reviews should feel personal, thoughtful, and worth everyone’s time. Employees leave knowing they’re valued, heard, and supported.
Stay organized & document everything: It’s a manager’s job to keep performance insights in order. Don't put it on the employee to keep notes on their own achievements. If you're too busy to do this manually, use a tool designed to help.
A good review says: “We see you. We value you. We’re invested in your growth.”
The Most Important Thing
Promises mean nothing without action. If you’ve helped the employee plan for the future and made promises to help them grow, you must take action on your promises. After speaking with hundreds of employees over the years, I can say that one theme is consistent: when people leave, it’s often because their manager promised support, growth, or training and never delivered.
Great managers see reviews as an ongoing responsibility, not a once-a-year check-box. When done right, reviews become more than paperwork. They’re a key driver of retention, growth, and recognition.
Let's Make It Happen!
Want to improve your current process for performance reviews? I’d love to help.
Contact me at hello@mirandaferreira.ca. Or, connect to my calendar and book a meeting.