Performance Review Initiative

4 Steps to create an objective and equitable performance review process.

We form up to 90% of our judgments and decisions unconsciously. And when these biases show up in the workplace, they can severely impact performance, culture and psychological safety.

Biases prevent employees from feeling valued, welcomed, and psychologically safe. In fact, over 30% of workers who experience workplace bias are more likely to feel alienated and uncomfortable sharing ideas and solutions, which can ultimately impact productivity and innovation.

Compared to their colleagues who don’t experience bias, these employees are also more than three times as likely to leave their current jobs within the first year of employment.

So what’s the antidote companies need to combat bias? Unfortunately, a “fix-all” solution for bias in the workplace doesn’t exist. But organizations can make changes to help prevent discrimination. One solution is to create an objective and equitable performance review process to promote fairness consistently throughout the organization.

HR leaders should take these four steps to develop a fair performance review initiative.

1. Create a continuous equitable review cycle

Employees want to move away from the traditional, annual review cycle. Nearly 60% believe that a yearly review has no impact on their performance because they don’t have regular access to positive feedback or constructive criticism. Instead, employees prefer ongoing feedback offered through more regularly scheduled reviews happening at least twice a year or quarterly.

An ongoing feedback strategy empowers managers and employees to talk more frequently, fairly, and honestly about performance. More frequent conversations also offer opportunities to address smaller issues before they potentially escalate into larger problems, identify and address employee pain points, and recognize accomplishments.

Further, infrequent traditional performance reviews can introduce recency bias – a tendency to weigh recent events with more importance than historical events. Imagine the impact on an organization if managers conducted performance reviews influenced by recency bias.

Employees could begin to dread performance reviews, resent management and feel increasingly burned out over fear of inconsistent evaluations. An organization’s retention rate will plummet if employees feel unhappy and don’t believe their managers recognize and value their work.

To reduce recency bias, managers should review employee data continuously and provide employees with a more holistic view of their performance. And whether organizations implement bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, or bi-annual check-ins, managers should maintain consistent communication with their employees.

Cultivating relationships with employees and knowing what’s going on in their personal and professional lives also mitigates bias and sparks more extensive assessments.

2. Set clear goals

Employee evaluations cannot include subjectivity. Managers must set clear goals, objectives and key results (OKRs), and key performance indicators (KPIs) through a standard review system. These concrete expectations serve as roadmaps during each performance review period and show employees how they contribute to the larger company mission.

A standard review system should use the same feedback template and rating scale for all employees. Fixed evaluation guidelines eliminate the need for managers to rely on their own interpretations of good performance. And in turn, HR leaders gain more objective and accurate performance data to inform development plans and training discussions.

When establishing an organization-wide review process, OKRs and KPIs don’t have to focus strictly on productivity. Well-rounded reviews should include goals around leadership opportunities, professional development, and communication styles.

Resources – like a people operations platform – support a standardized review process by allowing managers to create and share definitive objectives with their teams. The platform acts as a single source for gathering, analyzing, and visualizing performance data and feedback. Then, HR leaders can view performance scores by gender or race to identify trends and respond appropriately.

3. Share constructive feedback

While a standard review system helps eliminate bias, managers can’t simply assign a number or adjective to an employee’s performance. Granular feedback addresses challenges and successes and inspires growth more effectively. Managers need to provide a space for constructive and explicit feedback while considering the following:

Language referring to community biases

Unconscious bias can creep into the language managers use to describe performance and job roles. HR leaders must educate managers on the implicit bias of language, making them aware of the words they use and what they can infer.

For example, leaders may inaccurately expect women to be more reserved. When women are labeled as outspoken, there may be a fear of being dinged in relation to male peers.

It’s important to use inclusive language for everyone. For example, reconsider using common greetings like “hey guys” because they’re not gender-neutral. It’s also important to consider personality. While a leader may be labeled as introverted, that doesn’t mean they are incapable of leading a team.

Organizations that update their vernacular and consistently respect employees’ self-ascribed pronouns promote a culture of belonging during the review process — and throughout every work day.

Data and metrics

Managers need numbers to help inform conversations, including those where they’re sharing constructive criticism. Data helps managers interpret performance and offer bias-free, relevant, and actionable feedback.

Data also helps managers identify employees who may need additional support, even if those employees didn’t ask for it or recognize the need themselves. Managers can use this data to guide conversations and potentially uncover what’s influencing lagging KPIs, like personal issues, missed emails, or a lack of connection with fellow employees. By analyzing data, managers can present timely feedback and put performance and goals into constructive context.

Performance plans

Data also informs performance plan development, clearly communicating — in writing — specific goals to achieve. Employees have a roadmap to follow, and managers know where to provide support and guidance. Plans can include professional training initiatives to help employees develop or strengthen specific skills.

Managers should also invite employees to help create their performance plans by providing opportunities for employees to refine their career aspirations and interests, which may change over time. Those conversations help managers develop a better training plan that addresses their employees’ goals.

4. Provide reliable and relevant resources for success

While performance reviews provide value to employees, they also need ongoing support in other areas – like career pathing and professional development — to succeed. HR leaders should provide employees access to other resources, metrics, and data to drive their achievements, including:

Training completion rates;
One-on-one feedback from managers;
Performance plans; and
Promotion history.

A people operations platform centralises these resources in a portal for easy employee access. This platform provides a safe, secure place to house reviews, document problems, and record cases of bias. As a result, this single source of truth makes it easier for company leaders to identify large-scale issues requiring their attention.

Employees who experience bias are three times more likely to disengage at work, costing companies up to $550 billion annually. HR leaders who understand performance reviews’ role in perpetuating bias — and design them with an intent toward objectivity — foster more equitable workplaces.

By refining performance review initiatives to increase impartiality and facilitate equity, organizations set the foundation to inspire fairness across business operations and cultivate an environment where employees thrive.

Ivori Johnson is Director of DEIB at ChartHop. She is recognized for her work in the diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging space. Originally from New Jersey, she identifies as a masculine presenting Black queer woman and a bonus mom. A former Hampton University and Penn State alum, she has worked for organizations such as Google, Twitter, DuPont and Capital One.

She is passionate about creating opportunities for underestimated communities, but most importantly, making sure that all people belong and are welcome in any industry. Ivori advocates for equity, fairness and representation in the tech industry. She breaks down barriers that do not support inclusive hiring, retention, inclusion, fairness and equity.