Joe Carbone says that Teradyne's managers review specific goals and accomplishments at the separate annual salary review. For a senior engineer, those goals might include delivering a product on time or getting new software running by a specific time. The individual review looks much like a traditional review, and it includes specific goals and deadlines. At HP, the manager coordinates this part of the review and works with the employee to make sure that all the key points are covered. HP's development review works similar to the self-assessment review at Teradyne.
Managers help employees evaluate their skills and plan their careers.
Just because someone has the skills, however, doesn't mean that he or she automatically advances into a new position. That employee still competes with the other qualified applicants. Heger notes that some employees may like the jobs they have and want to continue doing the same things. HP's and Teradyne's review programs probably seem unusual. Many human resources people still think that because managers fill out review forms, they know what employees are doing and how well they are doing it.