5 unconscious factors impacting your performance reviews and how to stop them

Recency bias occurs when managers rate an employee based on their most recent performance, leaving out the whole picture. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Objectivity is the most important part of having an effective performance appraisal system. What you want is a system in which your top performers are recognized and then given opportunities to advance their skills. Meanwhile, rather than being discouraged, low performers should come out with the advice and motivation they need to improve. Unfortunately this isn’t always the case.

A CEB survey found that 9 in 10 HR leaders don’t believe annual performance reviews result in accurate information. Imagine you have a talented employee that gives 110 percent but finds their performance evaluation doesn’t reflect all their hard work. Eventually, their disillusionment will turn into disengagement. Then they’ll begin to look for another job where they feel their work will be appreciated. The US Department of Labor reported that the number one reason Americans leave their job is because they don’t feel appreciated.