Ground reviews in evidence

Useful reviews bring together outcomes, feedback, and contributions to the team from across the review period. Looking beyond recent events helps reduce recency bias. Reviews should build on feedback already shared, so employees have had a chance to understand and act on it.

Assess people against clear expectations and use calibration to examine inconsistencies between managers. Keep rating scales simple. Recognize and reward exceptional contributions, and address performance gaps with clear support and accountability. If improvement does not follow, make decisions about role fit with care.

For employees meeting expectations, use salary bands, market conditions, and cost of living to guide pay decisions. Keep the connection between ratings and compensation simple. Limited budgets should not change how performance is assessed. Be transparent about pay constraints.

Use rating distributions to prompt discussion, not enforce a curve. Ratings should reflect evidence and outcomes. Invite employees to add missing context and correct errors before judgments are finalized.

Put it into practice

• Consider evidence from across the review period.
• Recognize quality, judgment, and contributions to team success.
• Keep ratings and compensation calculations simple.
• Give particular attention to exceptional contributions and performance gaps.
• Use calibration to examine evidence and reasoning, not enforce a distribution.