Annual Reviews Are Unfixable
We keep redesigning annual performance reviews hoping to find the right format. The problem isn't the format. It's the frequency.
Every few years, someone announces they've reinvented the annual review.
New rating scales. No rating scales. Calibration sessions. No calibration. Competency frameworks. Behavioral anchors. 360 feedback. Upward feedback. Self-assessment. Manager assessment.
All of it misses the point.
The annual review is unfixable because the core problem is temporal, not structural.
Human memory doesn't work in 12-month intervals. Recency bias means your manager mostly remembers the last 6-8 weeks. The halo effect means one impressive project colors everything else. Attribution errors mean your circumstances get confused with your abilities.
These are cognitive limitations, not manager failures. No amount of training overcomes how memory works. The only fix is changing the timing.
Research from Gallup found that employees who receive daily feedback from their manager are 3x more likely to be engaged than those who receive feedback once a year.
The organizations getting results aren't perfecting the annual form. They're replacing it with continuous feedback loops, lightweight check-ins, and real-time recognition. They're designing for how memory actually works.
The nudge: If you're planning to redesign your review process, ask first: are we solving the format problem or the frequency problem? They require different solutions.
