[colonelxc]

The "nobody dares giving bad feedback" thing isn't about retaliation (though I suppose that could happen). It's because perf is actually the worst place to provide "honest" feedback to a person about their performance.

It's complaining to managers/directors instead of talking to the person themselves (the recipient wont get to read your feedback for a couple months after). Even if you want to talk to a manager about some performance concerns, you should do that directly, instead of putting it in a record that sticks around for a persons whole employment

It's a bureaucracy game, and people who give bad feedback don't know how to play.

(I'm not endorsing the system at all, just rejecting the idea of it being retaliation-based. Anybody giving bad feedback doesn't understand what is going on)

[icedchai]

I worked at a place that did perf reviews every 6 months. 360 degree style, where you got manager feedback and a bunch of peers that you nominated. None of the feedback I received was ever actionable or useful. None of the feedback I gave was ever really useful, either! People rated you on a bunch of silly, vaguely described sliding scales from 1 to 5, then answered a couple of equally vague questions. It probably distracted people for 3 or 4 days, every 6 months.

All I ever got was stuff like "Joe writes excellent design documents! His code is always well tested. I always want Joe on my projects!" I'd write stuff like "Amy is extremely effective at solving problems with <blah> API's, and is a great communicator. She should do a brown bag session about her experience with <blah>." The reviews were all fluff. Some people wouldn't put in any effort at all, and write one liners. Seriously, one of my reviews was "Just keep on being Joe!" Thanks, but why bother?

The review process at most companies is a big waste of time and money.

[coredog64]

I gave a coworker honest feedback during our 360 review period and now I feel bad.

[icedchai]

It really depends on the corporate culture. The last review heavy place would put an overly positive spin on everything. In one review I wrote, I could've said "Jack's project has been taking an excessively long time to complete. He needs to work on delivering changes incrementally", instead I spin it as "I'm really looking forward to the delivery of Jack's work on X! He's been working on <initiative> since the last review cycle. It will be exciting when it is finally completed."

Leave it up to the manager to interpret and read between the lines. At the end of the day, the better managers know it's all bullshit anyway.

[prakhar897]

This is Amazon 100%.

[icedchai]

It was actually a much smaller tech company! I hesitate to call it a startup, since it was well over 10 years old.

This sort of BS review process is pervasive in the industry.

[Forge36]

Oh. I think I understand my work culture now. Thank you.

[mirker]

I’d say this goes with letters of recommendation, too.