Annual Reviews Are Still Relevant
In recent years there has been a major shift in business management philosophy. There are hundreds of articles arguing that old school tactics, like meetings, reviews, time clocks, set vacation days, working in the office, etc.. are ineffective and out of date. These “new school” thinkers support remote working, informal schedules, unlimited vacations and co-working. Informality is all the rage and comes with time savings and fosters imaginative thinking. While many of these concepts are effective, in some cases the “old way” is the best way.
The goal for an employee (and the managers) is for the employee to work hard, be low maintenance and create solutions instead of problems. If you as the manager have quality leadership techniques then you are hopefully giving the employee constructive feedback throughout the year. If that is the case then in theory you might try to argue that an annual review is not necessary. After all, the new school mentality dictates that there is an open flow of two-way communication so everyone should know where they stand, right? Not really! Remember from above that one of the goals for the employee is to be low maintenance. That means staying focused on the company and keeping personal requests to a minimum throughout the year.
Annual reviews give you an opportunity to let the employee know what they are doing well and what they should work to improve. The goal of the employer is to constructively communicate ways on which the employee can be the best at their job. Many employees fail to realize however, that employees see an annual review as their once a year chance to express their personal feelings about their role (and the company) as well as make their personal requests. It is their once a year chance to tell their story and “pitch” themselves to you. They will likely summarize their positive efforts and outcomes from the past year and utilize that information to ask for a raise, a promotion or more vacation time, etc.
As an employer you may have no interest in entertaining any of the requests. Even if that is the case it is still therapeutic for the employee to express their feelings. You should at least give them the respect of their once a year chance to communicate their personal value. It will increase their morale and confidence. Who knows it may even help change your mind.
