[bicx]

I spent a while in management, and what I learned about the review process was pretty eye-opening. Basically everyone was graded on the curve, and you couldn’t afford to have too many “exceeds expectations” ratings. That would mean they probably met expectations above their role, and they could make a strong case for promotion. If you can’t give out lots of promotions, then the top performers get pissed. So, just don’t let them all know how great they’re doing.

Performance reviews are a dumb system, and you shouldn’t be learning anything new from them anyway. Just give helpful feedback throughout the year, and give promotions to people strategically as you’re able.

[WalterBright]

> Performance reviews are a dumb system

The purpose of them is to avoid discrimination lawsuits.

[reval]

When everybody exceeds expectations then the expectations are too low.

[bicx]

I'm talking more about cases when there are (for instance) initially 4 "exceeds expectations" seniors out of a department of 50, and management really just wanted a max of 2. So they curve things more harshly until only 2 get "exceeds expectations."