The annual performance review isn't dead yet

• The formal, annual performance review lives on, according to Aug. 19 survey results from XpertHR. Of 344 employers surveyed, 63% said they conduct reviews once a year; 18% said they do so twice a year, and only 8% said once a quarter.
• Most employers surveyed said that managers provide the feedback, while close to half of feedback processes included employee self-assessments.
• As far as preparation for reviews, 38% of employers surveyed said they train both managers and non-managers on how to complete the review process, while 26% provide no training at all.   

Reports of the annual review's death may have been exaggerated, according to XpertHR, but employees and employers have pushed for more continuous coaching — especially in an era of remote work. Since 2018, the expectation from HR that managers provide daily feedback to direct reports has increased 170%, a 2020 Reflektive study showed.

Getting those reviews right is key to talent retention, a separate Reflektive study said. Eighty-five percent of employees surveyed in 2019 said they would leave a company over an unfair performance review; notably, 92% of workers surveyed by Reflektive said they would prefer being reviewed more than once a year.

Annual reviews tend to be formal affairs but may not preclude informal check-ins — and employers may have to consider ways to train managers on both. Employees surveyed by Evive in a report released in February said they feel managers aren’t sharing with them ways that they can develop their skills and grow their careers.

The push to remote and hybrid work has only complicated the matter, experts previously told HR Dive. Quantitative measures may be difficult to maintain when employees can't be supervised in traditional ways, meaning employers may need to emphasize qualitative aspects for review. That may also mean training managers to more regularly check in with employees on goals and concerns.