Yes, a more continual, fluid process is preferable to the inadequacies of the traditional performance review. About 80 percent of companies in the United States use annual performance reviews of some kind. Yet 85 percent of these firms are dissatisfied with employee appraisals, according to Jenkins. They're no picnic, either, for those whose work is being appraised. And 98 percent say they believe they're in the top 50 percent.
Employers usually end up with employees who feel it's unfair and frustrating.
So what's intended to be motivating can often be de-motivating. And appraisal is a way of documenting the company's position in the event that a worker is fired. Traditional methods of appraising employees fail, however, in part because so much of great importance is invested in them, Jenkins says. One of the reasons we may have difficulty even absorbing the feedback is that we're very attentive to what the implications are for our pay and future opportunities and who else might see this. We're trying to do too many important functions with one process.