All articles tagged with #performance reviews
The Trump administration has implemented a new stacked-ranking system for federal employees, capping top ratings at 40% and eliminating the second-lowest performance tier. While OPM Director Scott Kupor argues this rewards high performers, critics and employees report severe morale issues, chaotic implementation, and potential violations of union contracts.
Federal employees at the Department of Health and Human Services are submitting mandatory 6,000-character self-assessments under a new performance review system, but many view the change with deep suspicion. Officials claim the updates aim to calibrate ratings and ensure consistency across agencies, yet staff fear the process is a tool to justify pay reductions or push out workers. This tension is heightened by the trauma of recent layoffs and departures during the DOGE era, leading to a widespread distrust of the administration's motives behind the new evaluation framework.
Annual performance reviews remain widespread despite evidence that they fail to motivate employees and often worsen performance. Companies cling to the model due to inertia and lack of accountability, even as some firms adopt continuous feedback or AI-assisted alternatives. The system persists because it is easy to administer, though experts argue it creates anxiety and disconnects feedback from actual development.
Microsoft is retiring its peer-feedback tool Perspectives as part of a broader revamp of its performance-review system, moving away from formal requests toward ongoing, informal conversations. New feedback requests are no longer allowed, but employees can respond to active requests and export feedback history until September 15. The overhaul also adopts a five-category rating scheme and accompanies organizational flattening in engineering, signaling a cultural shift within the company and across Big Tech.
Salesforce will skip base salary raises for directors and above this year, opting to boost stock grants and bonuses for top performers; pay details will be revealed during performance reviews that begin later this month, with more directors receiving stock grants, higher average grants, and a 103% funded bonus pool, in a move aligned with a broader tech pivot toward equity-based compensation amid a roughly 37% drop in Salesforce stock over the past year.
Employees should prepare thoroughly for performance reviews by reflecting on their achievements and areas for improvement, manage their emotions to avoid defensiveness, and stay focused on relevant topics to make a positive impression and foster growth. Avoiding unpreparedness, negative reactions to feedback, and off-topic discussions can help improve the review process and relationships with managers.
Meta employees are facing anxiety as the company concludes its annual performance reviews, with some fearing potential job losses amid ongoing reorganizations and a focus on "efficiency." CEO Mark Zuckerberg's emphasis on smaller, more productive teams has led to concerns about layoffs, with some departments already experiencing incremental job cuts. Employees receiving lower performance ratings may be offered severance packages, and compliance with the return-to-office mandate has become a significant factor in reviews. The company's stock price has reached a record high, but the atmosphere of uncertainty and fear of layoffs persists among workers.
Jack Dorsey, founder of Block, has announced that the company will be ending performance reviews and performance improvement plans (PIPs) in favor of constantly evaluating employees and parting ways immediately if necessary. Dorsey also named Dhanji Prasanna as the new CTO. These changes come as part of Dorsey's efforts to build a culture of excellence at Block.
Biglaw firms are implementing tougher performance reviews as a means of rightsizing their ranks without resorting to layoffs. The surge in demand in 2021 led to a rush in hiring, resulting in the employment of lawyers who may not have found positions in a different market. As a result, associates are now facing more stringent performance evaluations than they would have in a stronger environment.
Google's updated hybrid three-day-a-week office policy, which includes badge tracking and attendance being included in performance reviews, has faced backlash from some employees who feel management is overreaching in its oversight of physical attendance. There is also increased uncertainty about the future for those who moved to different cities and states after being cleared to work remotely. The discontent represents the latest challenge for Google as it tries to get people back into its offices and campuses across the country.
Google's parent company, Alphabet, is facing pushback from its workers' union after announcing that office attendance will be a part of performance reviews for those who work from home more than they should. The Alphabet Workers Union argues that the company's teams are distributed across multiple locations, and there may not be anyone to collaborate with in physical office locations. Google is the latest company to tighten its policies on working from home, following similar moves by companies like Disney, Starbucks, and News Corporation.
The Alphabet Workers Union, which represents some contract and direct employees at Google, is pushing back against the company's mandate that employees spend at least three days a week in the office. Google's Chief People Officer, Fiona Cicconi, sent an email to employees saying that attendance will now be a factor in performance reviews, and teams will send reminders to workers who are consistently absent from the office. The Alphabet Workers Union says it has over 1,400 members, while Google employed more than 190,000 people at year-end, along with contract staffers.
Google is formalizing its in-office policies and may include compliance with return-to-office policies in performance-review conversations for consistently absent workers. The company already required most employees to come to the office three days a week, but Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi said in a note to staffers that Google was going to be "clearer" about that requirement. While some Google employees are approved to be remote, the company is hoping some will change their stance. The Alphabet Workers Union criticized the company's latest moves.
Google is making its hybrid work policy stricter by including attendance rates in performance reviews and limiting full-time remote work to exceptions only. The company will track turnout through badge data and managers will send reminders to employees who are consistently absent from the office. Google's Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi said that there is no substitute for coming together in person and that the company hopes remote workers will consider switching to a remote schedule. The changes reflect a changing attitude to remote work among big tech companies.
Google plans to crack down on employees who haven't been coming into its offices consistently, including tracking office badge attendance, confronting workers who aren't coming in when they're supposed to, and including attendance in employees' performance reviews. Most employees are expected in physical offices at least three days a week. Google's chief people officer Fiona Cicconi even asked already-approved remote workers to reconsider. Going forward, new fully remote work will only be granted "by exception only." These policy updates represent the company's most stringent attempt to bring employees back into physical offices.