How and where to get information

You will find two ways to gather information about your company –

to compile past and real-time outcomes. The first type comes in the

form of surveys and reports on things that have already occurred:

customer satisfaction surveys, employee opinion surveys, perfor-

mance reviews, company website analytics, and so on. Real-time

work and progress can be measured as it happens, digitally and

through self-analysis and third-party observation.

Compiling a large amount of data will give you the most insights.

Innovation in this area has brought us many tools. We have search

engine optimization (SEO) and analytics to track website perfor-

mance; customer relationship management (CRM) systems such as

Salesforce to rate sales and the customer experience; and online

crowdsourced solutions such as Glassdoor to record employee satis-

faction. You might institute periodic surveys, like we did at PeopleG2

with monthly customer accounts. Speaking of periodic assessments,

are you wondering when to measure? The answer to that is ‘often.’

Measure frequently

Because collecting and measuring data keeps getting easier and the

findings more sophisticated, companies should be moving towards

frequency. Besides allowing companies to act quickly on impending

business circumstances, frequent assessments requiring human input

make it easier to provide honest information. Short-term recall is

simply better. For instance, is it easier for you to remember what you

had for dinner a year ago, or last night?

I once thought that, if I could, I would wave a magic wand and

make annual employee reviews disappear forever. I dislike their struc-

ture and all the problems they create. Here is how they usually work:

once a year, a manager – who may or may not have been your boss

for the previous 12 months – is charged with evaluating you. This

manager must strain to remember all that you did – or did not do – in

the past, or rely on second-hand information, if they are new to the

PILLAR III: MEASUREMENT 111

post. In some instances, they are instructed to give you just enough

praise to keep you going, but not enough that you demand a large

pay rise.
In my world where magic wands exist, I would also remove the entire

discussion of money from annual reviews. Remember the Harvard

study I mentioned in Chapter 2, which found an inverse relationship, in

certain situations, between cash bonuses and work performance? The

annual review juncture is the worst time to stir this pot. It sets the tone

for the next 12 months. So, what’s my suggestion? Forget the wand and

work the magic yourself.

At PeopleG2, we didn’t conduct annual reviews – we conducted

monthly reviews. Each month, all employees rated themselves on

about five goals, which are unique to each person and position. They

also rated their performance on five competencies that we felt were

important for the entire organization that month. Then, their manag-

ers did the same. The combined self-assessment and manager’s

evaluation resulted in a score and an explanatory report.

How you analyse staff is not as important as doing it often. Instead

of one make-or-break review, each person had 12 interactions a year

with their boss to check in on goals and skills that were fresh in both

of their minds. Greater frequency also allowed PeopleG2 to focus on

goals that were particularly relevant that month.

More frequent assessment helped us to move forward more quickly,

too. As individuals completed goals, we could add new goals. If a

larger, long-term objective was in place, this let us move towards it

steadily, month to month, while not becoming overwhelmed by its

scope. Here, the focus was on the micro, not the macro, goals, but we

were using these micro events to ensure the macro mission was

successfully achieved.
are you wondering when to measure? The answer to that is ‘often.’
Performance Reviews vs. Continuous Feedback
July 28, 2023
—
By
Manasi Patel

IN THIS ARTICLE
Performance Reviews
Pros of Using Performance Reviews
Cons of Using Performance Reviews
Continuous Feedback
Benefits of Continuous Feedback
Drawbacks of Continuous Feedback
The Solution: A Hybrid Approach
High-performing teams recognize the business value of reviews and feedback, two key
performance management tools. With performance management as one of the top five highest-
priority HR initiatives among respondents in 2023 — and learning and development as another
— performance reviews and continuous feedback may be getting more attention from HR teams
as of late.
Here, we’ll dive into the merits of both and explain why human resources teams shouldn’t look
at implementing performance reviews and continuous feedback as an “either-or” proposition.
Key Takeaways:

 Performance reviews and continuous feedback are performance management

methodologies that can be leveraged for business success.
 The structure and standardization of performance reviews can help combat bias during
employee evaluations, but infrequent reviews can feel high stakes to employees.
 The frequency and timeliness of continuous feedback can support employee development
and engagement, but feedback oversaturation could make it difficult to pick out useful
comments.
 Performance reviews and continuous feedback can be used together to prioritize
performance management all year.

Performance Reviews

Performance reviews are the most common approach to performance management, and most
employees know to expect them in almost any role. Performance appraisals evaluate employee
progress on established goals and serve as a benchmark for compensation and promotion
decisions. The frequency of reviews varies by organization and is dependent on several factors,
including goal refresh cycles, level of internal mobility, headcount, and other business
characteristics.
Performance reviews give organizations important insight into the type of work employees are
doing and the overall value they bring to the company. Reviews also give employees a chance to
know where they stand within their team and the organization as a whole. Apart from these high-
level benefits, there are a number of reasons why performance reviews are a core element of
performance management.
Pros of Using Performance Reviews

1. Structure: Performance reviews rely on concrete benchmarks to make accurate

assessments of employee performance. By using data to determine how effectively an
employee is or isn’t delivering on job competencies and objectives, performance
appraisals provide much-needed structure to the evaluation process. This objective
approach is also useful for identifying top performers and employees in need of support,
and it indirectly pushes companies to document key factors behind decisions that affect
employees, such as compensation and promotions.
2. Planning: Periodic reviews serve as progress markers for employees with an eye on
advancement and career development. This is especially true at companies where annual
performance reviews are the only performance management process being practiced.
Employees want to know if and how their hard work is paying off and helping them
move in the right direction professionally. Performance reviews are a chance for
 managers and direct reports to sync on past results and future expectations, including
opportunities for career growth.
3. Combating Bias: Performance appraisal systems are valuable tools for combating
bias and promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the workplace.
Without the standardized criteria of performance reviews, it’s common for managers to
rely on their “gut instinct” when evaluating employees, which can have a detrimental
impact on crucial decisions around compensation and promotions. Performance reviews
prevent this by ensuring that performance management processes follow the same
procedure for all team members.

Cons of Using Performance Reviews

Despite being a necessary tool for almost every company, performance reviews may have a bad
reputation for being stressful or time-consuming. Here are a few reasons why reviews shouldn’t
necessarily stand alone or simply happen once a year:

1. High Stakes: Performance appraisals are a source of anxiety for many

employees because these reviews can carry a lot of weight. Performance is directly linked
to many important aspects of the employee experience, such as pay, job security,
interpersonal relationships, professional development opportunities, and overall
confidence in the workplace. The review process also has the power to influence
employee-manager relationships. Even with 360-degree performance reviews, which
allow employees to receive feedback from their peers, the feedback is often delivered and
addressed by only one person — the manager. This puts a lot of pressure on both
managers and employees to create a healthy and positive exchange that leads to progress
instead of resentment or discomfort.
2. Inaccurate Representation: When managers and employees are expected to reflect on a
year’s worth of work, some challenges are inevitable. Relying on memory for an annual
performance review is a surefire way to gloss over important details that help paint a full
picture of performance. Data-driven goals are great for tracking certain types of
employee development, but managers should also consider less quantifiable qualities,
such as leadership or communication, that add value to the organization. Periodic reviews
also leave room for things like recency bias — the tendency to refer to recent events
when drawing conclusions, even if recent events don’t match the broader trend. For
instance, if you arrived late one day before your annual appraisal, a manager may be
more likely to mention tardiness in your review than if you were late months earlier.
3. Lack of Agility: Your company, team, and employee objectives set the context for
performance reviews that take place across your organization. But goals are fluid, and at
many companies — especially ones that are growing quickly — changing circumstances
or business needs are constantly driving goal refresh cycles. Performance reviews that
take place on an annual basis can become misaligned with shifting priorities, so it’s worth
considering whether your organization needs to implement a more agile approach like a
continuous performance management strategy.

Continuous Feedback
Continuous feedback is an HR strategy that encourages managers and employees to exchange
feedback on a regular basis. While continuous feedback relies on one-on-ones to ensure
employee-manager communication occurs regularly, informal feedback is also
encouraged. Employee feedback — written and verbal feedback exchanged between colleagues
— is another element of a successful continuous feedback strategy.
Companies are increasingly augmenting their performance management process with continuous
feedback. This approach creates a culture of ongoing, honest communication between managers
and employees (and among peers). It’s also important to note that continuous feedback includes
praise and constructive feedback, both of which should be given and received freely throughout
your organization, not just from the top down.
Benefits of Continuous Feedback

1. Employee Growth: Instead of focusing solely on performance metrics, ongoing

feedback drives discussions around employee growth and development as well. Adopting
a framework of continuous feedback allows employees to take a more active role in goal-
setting. These conversations also encourage employees to seek training or development
opportunities in areas that may not be directly tied to their role but provide immediate
value to the organization.
2. Real-Time Insights: Performance management frameworks that incorporate continuous
feedback eliminate room for recency bias and place emphasis on providing actionable
suggestions that can be applied immediately. Rather than waiting months to deal with
performance issues, managers and employees can use real-time feedback to course-
correct or refresh goals without wasting time or resources in the long term. New
communication technologies have made exchanging real-time feedback easier than ever,
allowing for better collaboration between employees and more accurate and timely
insights for managers.
3. Improved Employee Engagement: Employees want to know where they stand, and
businesses that prioritize regular feedback are investing in a better employee experience
by promoting transparency and autonomy. Frequent feedback, both positive and
constructive, shows employees that development and recognition are important in the
workplace, ultimately driving a more engaged workforce. In fact, Gallup research shows
that employees who strongly agreed they received meaningful feedback in the past week
were nearly four times more likely to feel engaged than other employees. And with
high engagement linked to lower employee turnover rates, improving engagement is a
smart move for companies that are prioritizing employee retention.
4. Stronger Relationships: Establishing a culture of consistent feedback not only engages
employees but also helps with retaining top talent by giving them a sense of ownership
over their work. Feedback is also a valuable channel for building strong relationships
between employees, managers, and the business as a whole. The more often feedback is
exchanged, the more natural and authentic it feels for your employees to pass on helpful
comments when they see something that could be improved. Establishing this trust is
crucial when it comes to weathering inevitable rough patches as a united front.

Drawbacks of Continuous Feedback

 1. Oversaturation: Having more feedback is better than having too little, but there’s a fine
line between feedback that is helpful and feedback that is overwhelming.
Continuous performance management models draw data from a wide range of sources,
including project management software, time-tracking systems, testimonials, and
more. Sorting through all of this information can be challenging, and it takes time and
awareness to discern which pieces of feedback are valuable for employees and which
ones are counterproductive.
2. Implementation Challenges: Establishing a continuous feedback culture takes time to
implement across an entire organization. For managers, encouraging and demonstrating
healthy feedback is a time-consuming responsibility that starts at the team level. But
transitioning to a mindset of greater connection and communication at work doesn’t come
naturally to everyone, and companies often need to find the right tools to help foster the
seamless practice of continuous feedback. Making this cultural shift requires budget and
buy-in from leadership.

The Solution: A Hybrid Approach

Most businesses find their performance management sweet spot by using both performance
reviews and continuous feedback. Lattice’s 2023 State of People Strategy Report found that
high-performing HR teams run more frequent reviews and are more likely to leverage feedback
from various sources, including from managers, peers, and ad hoc praise.
If your company is in the process of reimagining its performance management program, it’s
important to note that the performance review and continuous feedback methods both have
something to offer.
Performance Reviews Continuous Feedback Both
• Talent management
• Relationship-building
• Succession planning • Developing employees
• Ad hoc recognition
• Compensation • Driving engagement
• Coaching
• Identifying top • Motivating top performers
• Autonomy
performers
Augmenting your scheduled reviews with real-time feedback and regular check-ins is a great
way to ensure that performance management is transparent, consistent, and prioritized year-
round. The two methods can work together well. For example, with a bank of continuous
feedback to reference, managers can complete mid-year and annual reviews efficiently. And with
that more frequent feedback, employees will feel supported in working toward their objectives
and key results (OKRs) in the time between reviews.
While performance management software that features a feedback system can make this hybrid
approach feasible for many businesses, the process of balancing performance reviews with
continuous feedback is influenced by a variety of factors, such as company size, industry, and
culture. Regardless of where your organization stands, here are some universal tips for getting
performance management right at your company:

1. Link feedback to goals at the individual, team, and company levels.

2. Ask leadership to set an example by offering real-time feedback.
 3. Create opportunities for sharing feedback regularly via one-on-ones.
4. Develop a system for classifying types of feedback (e.g., project-based versus skills-
based).
5. Use a tool for documenting feedback that can be used at any time.
6. Simplify the process of giving and receiving feedback by integrating it with existing tools
like Slack.

—
Reviews are a crucial part of the performance management process, but they shouldn’t be the
only opportunity employees have to give and receive feedback. Bringing real-time feedback and
performance reviews together can drive your overall performance management program
throughout the year.
Using a performance management system can help companies facilitate regular performance
conversations and enable managers to provide relevant support at the right time. To see how
Lattice empowers teams to manage and improve performance, schedule a demo today.

When or How Often Should You Conduct

Performance Reviews?
What is the best time to conduct employee
performance review?
The frequency of performance reviews depends on the scale of the company’s growth,
market, and performance deliverables. Implementing the right kind of performance
reviews that is effective for the organization is where major growing organizations get
stuck.

There is no fixed answer to what kind of annual review is the best. However, the most
common types of performance reviews are:

a) Annual reviews
Annual reviews are a traditional practice of performance reviews and almost all
previously growing companies followed its system at one point. Companies hold
annual performance reviews once a year for appraisals, feedback, rewards, etc. Even
though in the agile digital world, a lot of companies have stopped following the
annual review system, a few big companies still follow the yearly reviews.

In the absence of an effective performance management system they find it hard to

transition into other more effective performance review processes with a large number
of employees spread globally.

b) Bi-annual reviews
This performance review system is similar to the annual review system. However,
instead of conducting a review only once a year, bi-annual reviews are conducted
twice a year. The review and feedback for performance are conducted once every six
months.

In these reviews, the participants discuss their achievements accomplished and areas
that need improvement, and objectives that need to be achieved in the upcoming six
months.

c) Quarterly reviews
The most recent system that a lot of organizations are trying to implement for
performance reviews is quarterly reviews. This review system sets a chain of four
performance reviews in a year. It helps managers and team members set short-term
goals that are achievable within three months. Since quarterly reviews happen so
frequently, employees get instant feedback on their projects that help them improve
their performance sooner.

SUPER-TIP — Get all your top questions answered about managing employee
performance in our detailed guide on Continuous Performance
Management. Click here to download the PDF
6 reasons why annual
performance reviews
don’t work anymore
The system of annual performance reviews has lost its merit in the fast-paced, digital
corporate scene. In the dynamic work culture without the office boundaries, waiting
for reviews at the end of the corporate spectrum do not seem very fitting.

1. Annual performance reviews are arbitrary and

weakens company culture
Annual reviews are arbitrary, as they are something the manager recalls by memory
about employees' contributions to the company. Thus prone to recency bias where
managers tend to give more weightage to the work employees did and didn’t do in the
last few weeks leading to annual review. It fails to take into account the actual
performance of the employee throughout the year.

Moreover, most annual reviews are filled with opinions and judgments rather than
backed by actual data and involve using metrics like attendance, which has no real
impact on an employee's performance.

Using manager’s opinion as a valid input for performance reviews often creates an
unhealthy work culture where employees are more interested in pleasing their
managers than improving their performance. When employees don’t open up about
their actual problems at the workplace, the management does not get a clear picture of
the root problems leading to low employee morale and poor business performance.

SUPER TIP — Learn A to Z of building a high performance company

culture. Download our free culture guide today!
2. Annual reviews fail to engage or motivate
employees
As mentioned, annual performance reviews often put employees in a position where
they are at the end of the goodwill and mercy of the manager. Managers who strive
for employee welfare and wellness sometimes feel they are put in an uncomfortable
position of power against their employees, making it hard to conduct themselves well
to give an effective review in absence of a continuous unbiased performance tracking
system.

In contrast, managers who seldom care about employees may use it as an opportunity
to take advantage of their subordinates and assert their dominance.

Both are unfavorable situations that flow against employee morale, goodwill, and
productivity and can be easily avoided with continuous employee performance review
methods that are more casual, transparent, and promote good morale.

SUPER TIP — Supercharge your team’s engagement with custom pulse surveys
and create your own index. Book a free demo here

3. Annual performance surveys are prone to

favoritism and rater bias
Among the forbidden things that clog up the workspace dynamics to achieve
productivity is favoritism shown by some managers to their employees. A practice
that brings down teamwork, creates a gap between employees and generates ill will
towards managers and the company. Some managers also fall prey to unconscious
biases such as the rater bias, which makes them rate employees higher in performance
reviews if the employees showcase behaviors that resemble them, even if their output
at work may be less than impressive. Hardworking employees who may not be at the
grace of the managers might also have to watch poor-performing coworkers climb up
the corporate ladder.

Rater bias defers growth, and consequently, the manager's actions affect the whole
company's performance. It also reduces employee satisfaction and makes the
workplace toxic over time.
4. Annual performance reviews often tie up with
salary creating anxiety and stress
One major factor that managers and employees hate about annual reviews is that it
often ties with salary.

Managers feel the stress as they have to make judgments about the employee's overall
performance, review their productivity, code of conduct and finally make decisions
about their future roles in the organization. The review decides whether to promote,
demote, or fire the person. Moreover, in most organizations, there’s no proper
learning program to train managers to provide a meaningful review.

On the other hand, being at the receiving end, employees feel the pressure and stress
as the once-a-year performance review decides their future in the company, and
decisions will directly affect their livelihood.

Add to the misery, sometimes, companies use annual performance reviews as a time
to cut down wages, and staff either to survive in the market or to keep the charts clean
in terms of profit to keep the goodwill of the stakeholders.

Tying salary with performance reviews may have worked well in the past, but now it
lowers employee morale, engagement and long-term employer brand.

SUPER TIP — Looking for employee recognition ideas? Check out our complete
guide on employee recognition do’s and don’ts.

5. Annual performance reviews are too formal and

prevent open feedback from employees
Formally structured performance reviews fail to collect authentic and open feedback
from employees. Instead, it often comes as a namesake, and employees feel that their
feedback may either not get valued or might be used against them.

Performance evaluations feel like a sit-down interrogation. The employees do not get
enough room to comment and reflect on the manager's performance or share any other
general issues that may indirectly affect them, making it a dull, unproductive, biased,
and one-sided affair.

SUPER TIP — Take your performance reviews 1:1 and team meetings from
being an interrogation to two-way feedback driven conversations
with SuperBeings 1:1 meetings tool.

You can also check these top 50 1:1 meeting conversations prompts to guide your
next meeting.

Most of the time, the review's formal structure also prevents employees from opening
and sharing their feedback. They are rigid, and the structure feels unwelcoming to
provide any meaningful feedback.

6. Lack of timely feedback in annual reviews

negatively affect productivity
In this agile environment where scrum meetings and standups are the norms to save
time and bring focus to work, annual reviews hold no significant value. It is because
yearly reviews make managers wait to give feedback to an employee who urgently
needs it.

Instead of tackling an issue head-on, right at that moment, often they are dealing with
it only when the performance review is near. Such delays negatively affect team
morale and company culture because, during that waiting time, the poor performer is
either stuck or only helping to bring down the rest of the team.

Continuous feedback vs. annual

reviews
Annual performance reviews were a largely followed tradition for providing raises
and bonuses and all the required feedback of the year. But with the changing times,
the annual performance review methods and evaluation lost their value in
performance management or employee satisfaction.

These reviews allow employees to receive feedback from their immediate supervisor.
But puts both managers and employees in a difficult, anxiety-ridden situation, where
the manager has to deliver the feedback of their performance all through the year with
various aspects at stake. It is inevitable that some major details are skipped, leaving
employees dissatisfied with the results.

Annual reviews were replaced with more modernized and tech-based processes to
streamline the way feedback and reviews are done within the organization.
Continuous feedback creates a cycle of more regular review and feedback sessions
with transparent conversations between employees and managers.

Since it is a two-way communication system, employees can voice out their concerns
as well as receive praise and feedback instantly for their work. Continuous feedback
provides real-time insights for employee growth, improving engagement, and building
good relationships through open communication.

SUPER-TIP — Read this article to learn more about implementing continuous

feedback in your workplace

How relevant is the

bell curve today?
Bell curve has also lost its relevance in the upcoming times, due to its
extremely rigid system and several issues in measuring the performance of
individual employees with accuracy.

A bell curve is a form of equal distribution, it contains a large group at the

center and then an equal number of people on either end of the spectrum.
This means the maximum number of people falls under the curve of average
while a relatively smaller and equal number of people are put in the top-
performers and non-performers. In today’s workplace culture, employees look
for equal treatment and opportunities when considering taking a job and the
bell curve rarely includes any of it.

There are several reasons why it lost its relevance such as —

 In this method, collaboration isn't a factor

 Assessments that are inaccurate and unfair
 Employees are severely discouraged by forced rankings and
constructing the idea of losers and winners sets the wrong example.
The Bell Curve performance appraisal best remains irrelevant as it is replaced
with much more effective and data-driven performance appraisal systems that
provide results based on real-time insights.

Which performance
review cadence
should you choose?
There is no strict rule that specifies how many performance reviews an
organization should do in a year. However annual and bi-annual reviews are
being criticized for lacking accuracy. These reviews are usually related to
salary appraisals and promotions, managers and employees both have to rely
on their memory to recall the achievements of the past twelve or six months.

On the other hand, studies indicate that enabling managers and employees to
have more frequent and transparent conversations about work expectations,
problems, and progress improves engagement and performance in the long
run.
Making it evident that having a continuous feedback-based performance
review system naturally leads to proper employee development, brings more
connected and engaging employees, builds solid organizational bonds and
results in the company's overall growth and revenue.

Conducting Quarterly Performance

Reviews

According to Officevibe, regular feedback is something 96% of employees see as

positive. Still, 32% of workers wait on feedback from managers for more than
three months. With many businesses using an annual review model, many
employees are left wondering how they’re doing without any formal feedback.
Switching to quarterly reviews helps you stay in touch with your employees and
gives them the feedback they want.

Benefits of conducting quarterly reviews

Quarterly reviews might seem like a lot of work, especially if you’re used to annual
reviews, but they can benefit you and your employees in many ways. Here are
some benefits of quarterly employee reviews to consider:

 Better recall: It’s sometimes difficult to remember what you did last week,
so trying to think back to how your employees performed last year can be
challenging. Also, a recent success or struggle can overshadow everything
else the employee did in the last year since that’s the most current and
memorable event. This can skew the review because it doesn’t capture the
full year. The shorter period of quarterly reviews allows you to review
employee performance more effectively because you’re looking at recent
work and repeatedly reviewing it throughout the year.
 Faster correction: If an employee’s performance isn’t adequate, waiting a
year to address it can make the situation worse. Quarterly reviews make it
easier to catch and address the issue quickly.
 Frequent check-ins on issues: Once you identify an issue, quarterly reviews
let you touch base on improvements regularly. You can verify that the
employee is following the plan you create to correct the issue and make
adjustments if necessary.
 Improved goal-setting: Setting goals is an effective way to help your
employees improve their performance. With quarterly reviews, you can
check in on goal progress, adjust goals and set new goals more effectively.
 Alignment with business quarters: This performance review schedule
aligns with your business quarters, which can help you naturally coordinate
your review with business activities such as quarterly sales numbers.
 Actionable feedback: Quarterly reviews let you provide faster feedback,
which gives employees actionable information they can implement
immediately.
 Decreased compensation focus: Annual reviews are often tied to raises,
which can be distracting for employees. They care more about whether
they’re getting a raise and how much they’re getting than what you think of
their performance. Quarterly reviews focus more on performance and
regular improvement than on compensation.
 Relaxed and informal: One major annual review can make employees
nervous. They’re often one-sided and formal. Quarterly reviews take more of
a check-in approach with two-way conversations. The more relaxed vibe of a
quarterly review might help employees be more open.
 Less time: In many cases, a quarterly approach is less time-consuming for
managers. Since you’re constantly evaluating your employees, you have a
 better idea of their performance. You don’t have to dig back through files or
your memories to complete the evaluation.
 New employee support: Quarterly evaluations mean your new employees
don’t have to wait as long before they get structured feedback. They should
get regular informal feedback from supervisors and coworkers as they learn
the job, but sitting down for an evaluation can also be helpful.

Monthly reviews are also an option, but they can become time-consuming if you
do formal, written evaluations every month. Quarterly evaluations make the
process manageable while providing more frequent feedback than annual reviews,
making them a good balance. You can supplement the quarterly reviews with
informal weekly or monthly check-ins to give employees quick feedback and hear
their concerns.

When to conduct a quarterly employee review

Timing is important since you need to schedule four reviews per year for each
employee. Time the quarterly performance review near the end of the quarter or
at the beginning of the next quarter. For example, your Q1 reviews for January
through March should happen in the last week or two of March or the first week or
two of April. This allows you to rate employee performance while the data is still
fresh, and you can evaluate performance before you get too far into the new
quarter.

Schedule your quarterly reviews around the same time each quarter for
consistency. This gives you a review period that’s roughly the same length each
time and spaces out the reviews better. If you schedule the Q1 review for March 15
and the Q2 review for July 15, you go four months instead of three months
between meetings. Following that with a Q3 review on September 15 would
shorten that period to two months.
Scheduling them in advance also ensures you make time for the reviews so they
don’t get pushed off or skipped. The end of the quarter is often a busy time for
companies, so planning ahead and scheduling the reviews makes it easier to fit
them in with other end-of-quarter activities.

What to cover in a quarterly performance review

Your quarterly reviews can cover the same types of topics as your annual reviews,
just on a more frequent schedule. Creating a checklist for the quarterly reviews
helps you stay on track and makes the reviews consistent across departments.
Consider including these things in your quarterly employee review:

 Evaluation of skills, behaviors and performance over the last quarter using a
rating system or series of questions
 Review of the employee’s goals from the previous quarter
 Adjustment of goals or setting new goals for the upcoming quarter
 Plan for correcting any issues that come up during the review
 Open discussion period to get feedback from the employee on things such
as the working environment, conflict and tools they need to be successful
 Raises and compensation discussion if the quarterly review aligns with the
employee’s work anniversary or at a time when you’d normally consider a
raise

Tips for effective quarterly reviews

The following tips help you handle the quarterly performance review process more
effectively.

Start small
If you have a large company and you’re used to doing annual reviews, start the
transition to a quarterly employee review system in one department. Moving to
more frequent reviews can have a learning curve to make the reviews meaningful
and effective. A slower rollout allows you to work out the kinks and figure out what
works well for your company. Continue rolling it out to other departments
gradually. You might add a new department each quarter, for example.

Create a quarterly employee review form

Keep the quarterly reviews consistent with a form that covers key areas. Include
relevant performance review questions to guide your managers. Make the rating
system clear and consistent. Managers should complete the form before the
scheduled review. You might also include a self-evaluation portion that employees
complete before the meeting.

Look at past reviews

Look over previous quarterly reviews to check the employee’s progress. There may
have been some concerns about the last quarter’s performance, but when you
look back, you might notice an improvement. This helps you give actionable advice
that builds on past performance.

Be detailed

Even though performance reviews happen more frequently with this schedule, it’s
important to include impactful statements to make the assessments valuable.
Provide specific examples that back up your ratings, and give employees
actionable feedback they can use to improve their performance.

Meet one-on-one
When discussing the review, schedule a one-on-one meeting with the employee.
This can be a face-to-face meeting in the office or via videoconference if your
employees work virtually. Schedule the meeting when you won’t be distracted and
don’t have to rush. The meeting will likely only take 30 to 60 minutes, but it’s best
to have a buffer to avoid rushing the conversation if it goes longer.

Make it a two-way conversation

A quarterly review is more effective when you make it a two-way conversation.

Instead of just telling the employee why you gave them certain rankings or what
they need to work on, ask them questions about how they feel their performance
was during the quarter. Let them give open feedback beyond the structured
questions. This helps build trust and gives you information you can use to improve
the work environment.

Follow up on reviews

Even though reviews happen every three months with a quarterly schedule, it’s still
necessary to follow up on the meetings and take action before the next one. If you
set new goals or give an employee a plan to correct behaviors, check in regularly
to see how they’re doing.

If you get feedback from an employee that calls for change, take action on those
changes. That might mean ordering new equipment or getting the employee the
training necessary to do the job. The reviews aren’t as useful if you don’t also take
feedback from them and use it to improve the company.

Offer more frequent feedback

Your formal reviews might happen quarterly, but it’s important to provide
feedback to your employees more frequently. Don’t wait for the quarterly review to
speak to your employees. Provide feedback and guidance when you see a
problem, and recognize exceptional performance when it happens.

Measure at the right time

Frequency is not the only timing issue in data collection. When you

ask a question can influence the answers you will get. Take employee

surveys about how things are working within the company. Most

organizations are still going through this ritual once a year, which is

112 THE SEVEN PILLARS OF CULTURE SUCCESS

as problematic as it is with annual performance reviews. First,

employees are being formally asked just once a year for their opin-

ions on company operations. When does this happen? The timing

could skew the results.

If you ask when business is slower, such as in December, you might

get a different answer than you would when things are busy. Asking

financial questions at different times might render different answers –

for example, at the beginning of springtime versus 15 April, when US

employees file their tax returns.

A second issue around the timing of surveys is when the results

will prompt action. Suppose that the data you have collected in your

annual survey is useful. Now management needs to review the infor-

mation and decide what to do next. This could take months of

meetings, preparation and planning. It’s possible that, from the time

you start working at a firm in January and then take a survey in

December, management might have no opportunity to respond or act

on the results until the following June. This means that 18 months

can pass in which some easily addressed problems are left untouched,

or a new-found strength ignored.

Despite our best intentions, issues often do not percolate to the

top. That situation is a nightmare for employees. To counter this at

PeopleG2, we instituted a weekly survey of a single question, to

which users may respond anonymously. By doing this weekly, I got

52 questions answered per year, and I could respond and set the pace

of change accordingly. I recommend questions that are open-ended

and draw out answers that go beyond yes or no. With just one ques-

tion before them, employees can take the time to think more deeply

about a topic than if it were buried among dozens more. This deliv-

ered better-quality information to me and the management team.

Employee Surveys Are Still One of

the Best Ways to Measure
Engagement
by
 Scott Judd,

Eric O'Rourke,

and
 Adam Grant
March 14, 2018
vincent tsui for hbr
Summary. Companies are using cool new machine learning algorithms that
crunch big data to measure engagement and forecast turnover risk. So who
needs clunky, time-consuming employee surveys? You do. For decades, having
regular employee opinion surveys has...more

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Once upon a time, surveys were a staple for every leader to solicit feedback and every
company to assess engagement. But now, surveys are starting to look like diesel trucks
collecting dust in the age of electric cars. Companies are using cool new machine-
learning algorithms that crunch big data to measure employee engagement
through email response times and network connections outside one’s core team, and
forecast turnover risk by tracking signals like how often employees update their
resumes. Who needs a clunky, time-consuming survey where some employees only tell
you what you want to hear, and others don’t bother to respond at all?

You do.

For decades, having regular employee opinion surveys has been on evidence-based lists
of high-performance HR practices. Our internal research at Facebook suggests that for
three reasons, it would be a big mistake to abandon them today.

1. Surveys are still great predictors of behavior.

At Facebook, we’ve found that simply asking our people how long they intend to stay is
more than twice as accurate at foretelling their future turnover than machine-learning
forecasts by an industry leader in predictive analytics.

We learn a lot from surveys even when people don’t participate. People who don’t fill out
either of our two annual surveys are 2.6 times more likely to leave in the next six
months.

2. Surveys give employees the chance to feel heard.

Not having a regular survey sends a clear message: you don’t care about people’s
opinions. The act of filling out a survey gives them a specific channel for expressing
voice. At Facebook, even though we can often gain the insights we need from a sample,
we often invite the whole company to participate so they have a chance to contribute to
the conversation. Passive monitoring loses that employee feeling of active ownership.
Differential participation rates tell us what issues matter most to our people: 95%
complete the engagement survey, more than two-thirds fill out our annual diversity
survey, and more than half do our benefits survey. And it turns out that employees value
having a say even if they don’t get their way. When we send out a survey, we get a
surprising volume of write-in comments: on average, 61% of our people submit their
own feedback and suggestions, and each person touches on (on average) five distinct
topics. It’s clear that people take the survey seriously and want to be heard. And
knowing that they won’t adopt every idea, leaders go out of their way to show that they
still value the input. As a fun way to reward participation, some of our leaders have
come to work dressed in a costume of their teams’ choice when they reached a 100%
response rate!

3. Surveys are a vehicle for changing behavior.

When you ask people for their input and insights, you aren’t just learning from them.
You’re also influencing them. Psychologists find that asking questions can change
behavior. Survey people on whether they’d like to volunteer three hours for the
American Cancer Society, and volunteering rates spike from 4% to 31%. Poll people
about whether they’re planning to buy a new computer in the next six months, and they
become 18% more likely to do it. Survey NCAA basketball ticketholders on whether they
intend to show up at next week’s game, and their attendance jumps from 76% to 85%.

Part of the effect is consistency: saying yes creates a commitment and many people
follow through. But even people who say no are more likely to shift their behavior,
because questions prompt reflection. As long as the behavior is desirable, some of them
will end up convincing themselves to do it.

On our engagement survey at Facebook, we often try out new questions with different
samples of people. In one recent survey, we asked 30% of our people whether or not
they were personally committed to improving their experience working here. We weren’t
trying to influence their behavior, but they ended up being 12% more likely than their
peers to request a curated list of additional resources and tools to help them become
more engaged at Facebook — and that was true whether their original answer was yes or
no.

Smart technology and big data will continue to help us figure out what matters most to
our people. But that will make surveys more important, not less. In an age where more
employees are afraid that Big Brother is watching and companies have the tools to
observe more than ever before, running a survey can signal that Big Brother is still
human.

5 Reasons Why Surveys are Crucial in

Customer Service
Jay Fuchs
Updated: June 15, 2021
Published: July 06, 2020

If you want to serve your customers as effectively as possible, you have to keep a pulse on what
they think, how they feel, and where you might be losing them. It's a tall order — one that can be
equal parts confusing and exhausting.

→ Free Download: 5 Customer Survey Templates [Access Now]

Getting a picture of customers' collective perspective on your product or service hinges upon
your ability to gather and analyze customer feedback — the lifeblood of your customer service
operations.

It's a tricky process that has massive implications on every aspect of your business. And there's
one method to achieving it that's more viable and effective than any other: conducting surveys.
Let's take a look at why surveys are so important in the context of sales, marketing, and customer
service.

Why are surveys important?

1. They help you identify opportunities to improve specific points in the customer journey.
2. They tell you how your business compares to your competitors.
3. They help you develop brand loyalty.
4. They can prevent customers from sharing negative experiences.
5. They help you keep up with changing consumer tastes.

1. They help you identify opportunities to improve specific points in the customer
journey.

Your sales, marketing, and service processes are all carried out to facilitate customers' journeys
— to attract, engage, and delight them. Every step of those efforts serves a purpose and, in many
cases, has room for improvement. Customer feedback surveys let you identify the aspects of your
efforts that are holding you back, so you can begin to hash out how to do better.

For instance, say your company sells a B2B speech-to-text platform for recording sales calls.
You issue a customer feedback survey to all your customers who purchased in the last year to
ask about their experience with your sales team.

After conducting the survey, you notice that respondents consistently single out your team's
delayed responses to demo scheduling requests as being detrimental to the fluidity of their
experience with your sales process.

That feedback would allow you to take a more informed, objective look at your sales pipeline to
see if you're losing prospects at that stage in your sales process.

That new perspective, coupled with the actionable insight the survey provides, will give you a
firmer basis to find solutions to improve that specific point in your customer journey.

2. They tell you how your business compares to your competitors.

A customer feedback survey is, at its core, a resource for measuring customer happiness. And
there's a host of survey software that allows you to put that abstract concept of "happiness" into
quantifiable terms. Metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) track customer loyalty and
satisfaction over time.

Similar metrics include Customer Effort Score (CES) — a standard that demonstrates how easy
it is for customers to get the support they need. There's also Consumer Satisfaction (CSAT) — a
figure for measuring how satisfied customers are at different points in their customer journey.
You can use these scores as reference points to see how you stack up against other companies in
your space. Some types of feedback software maintain records of industry averages for these
kinds of measures, allowing you to easily compare your customer satisfaction with your
competitors'.

3. They help you develop brand loyalty.

Brand loyalty isn't easy to cultivate. It takes effort, compassion, accommodation, and excellent
service. Loyal customers have to have some personal stake in your company, and being heard
can contribute to that. That's always something to bear in mind.

A survey is one of the better, more straightforward ways to let customers know you value their
input and business. Let them praise and criticize you as they see fit. Give them the opportunity to
contribute to your company's direction. Doing so lets them know you care about them, and if you
can convey that effectively, they'll care about you back.

That being said, there's a caveat to this point. Gathering customer feedback in the interest of
building brand loyalty doesn't mean much if you don't do anything with it.

You don't have to move mountains or entirely revamp your business strategy for each individual
respondent. But if you notice pervasive trends across a significant portion of your customer base,
take a thorough look at the problem they're referencing.

In terms of personal accommodation, see if you can reach out to negative respondents and
remedy their individual issues with excellent customer service.

One way or another, let them know their issues and concerns matter to you. If you can get that
message across, your customers will be more likely to stay on board with and potentially
promote your brand.

4. They can prevent customers from sharing negative experiences.

One of the best ways to avoid negative reviews is to get ahead of them — to preemptively
understand the problems customers might air out online. Customer surveys afford you the
necessary insight to identify those issues and reach out to the customers that might be having
them.

In doing so, you're both demonstrating a commitment to excellent customer service and offering
those customers the assistance necessary to figure out their issues on their own. Both of those
actions make for positive experiences with your product or service and, in turn, less fodder for
negative reviews.

5. They help you keep up with changing consumer tastes.

Your business can't be stagnant. You need to consistently evolve to keep pace with industry
trends and customer expectations. But that process isn't always self-explanatory. How can you
know what consumers want out of businesses like yours?

Well, customer surveys provide one of the better starting points. You can hear it directly from
the people you're looking to appeal to. They'll provide some of the most valuable insight you'll
be able to find.

If they're particularly receptive to practices and processes your competitors are employing, you
might want to look into incorporating those tactics into your business model.

Consumers don't have definitive preferences that never budge. They change with the times, and
as a salesperson, you probably understand that. It's a given that your practices will have to shift
as new technologies, strategies, economic conditions, and social circumstances emerge.

The key isn't determining that you have to change — it's determining how you have to change.
Sourcing consumer insight through surveys gives you that kind of perspective.

Benefits of Surveying Your Customers

 March 12, 2020
 7 min read
 Survey

o Twelve benefits of customer satisfaction surveys

o Gain valuable feedback
o Give customers a voice
o Determine company priorities
o Retain more customers
o Gain an edge over competitors
o Maintain loyal customers
o A better understanding of customers’ perspectives
o Track feedback about changes
o Increase word-of-mouth advertising
o Maintain a positive reputation
o Identify trends
o Determine company success
 Utilize customer surveys benefits with
SurveyPlanet

Without customers, you wouldn’t have a business. It’s important to check in with them every
once in a while to ensure their needs are being met and that they’re having a positive experience.
The easiest way to do this is with a customer satisfaction survey. Regardless of how large a
company is, the insight gained from a customer satisfaction survey can be the key to its
continued growth.
Twelve benefits of customer satisfaction surveys
Customer satisfaction surveys are often perceived as critical to assessing the general customer
experience and there are many benefits to using them. Here are the top 12 benefits of customer
satisfaction surveys:

1. Gain valuable feedback.

2. Give your customers a voice.
3. Determine your company’s priorities.
4. Retain more customers.
5. Gain an advantage over competitors.
6. Maintain loyal customers.
7. Better understand your customer’s perspective.
8. Track feedback about changes.
9. Establish more word-of-mouth advertising.
10. Maintain a positive reputation.
11. Identify trends.
12. Determine the company’s success.

Conducting customer surveys is a great way to gain an understanding of consumers’ needs and
improve the customer service you provide. There are multiple advantages of customer
satisfaction surveys and asking customers their opinions can benefit everyone They can provide
valuable insights into how customers view the products and services you provide. Encouraging
customer participation through surveys helps establish a relationship between your company and
its customers, which encourages customer loyalty.

Let’s dive into more details about the advantages of customer surveys.

Gain valuable feedback

It should be no surprise that gaining valuable feedback is the first of the many benefits of
customer feedback surveys.

A customer satisfaction survey allows customers of all types to be asked pertinent questions.
You can receive feedback about every area of a business, ranging from specific products to
customer service. By including open-ended questions in your survey, customers have an
opportunity to dive deeper and share detailed opinions or experiences they’ve had with your
company.

The answers that come back through a customer satisfaction survey might expose operational
problems or product and service issues that you didn’t know existed. You might also discover
aspects of your business that are doing well that can be capitalized upon.

It’s important to gauge the importance of specific customer feedback. Not every customer will
have the same experience or opinion. Some may offer great suggestions, while others are just
getting the opportunity to vent to pass the time. Feedback surveys provide valuable information
—as long as you use it to your company’s advantage. Customers will appreciate the effort as
long as it is shown that you’re listening to their concerns.

Give customers a voice

Every customer wants to feel heard—especially if they’ve had a bad experience. If you believe
the customer is always right, a customer satisfaction survey will help them feel special by
providing them a way to be heard—and that is one of the greatest benefits of customer feedback
surveys that you can utilize.

If a customer has a bad experience, then providing them an opportunity to air their grievances
may prevent them from making their opinion known publicly. Voicing their frustrations through
a private customer satisfaction survey instead of on social media or a review website can help
save your company’s reputation. Simply asking customers for feedback shows how much you
care about their experience and how willing you are to improve it in the future.

Determine company priorities

Results and insights from a customer satisfaction survey can help you discover which aspects of
your business need to be prioritized—that is one of the greatest advantages of customer surveys.
Find out how well customer service, certain products, billing practices, order processing, your
website, and other issues are from customers’ perspectives.

To discover areas of the business that need attention, include questions that ask customers to rate
their satisfaction level regarding specific areas on a scale. Once you pinpoint particular areas,
send a follow-up customer satisfaction survey that asks more specific questions to help
determine the specific problems that need to be addressed.

A customer satisfaction survey can also ask such scale-rating questions individually.
Use question branching so that, if a respondent answers with a low number to a question, follow-
up inquiries can be made about the specific area to gain deeper insight. Learn exactly what your
company needs to prioritize in order to keep customers happy.

Retain more customers

The more satisfied customers feel with services and products, the more likely they will come
back for more. Customer satisfaction surveys are the perfect way to pinpoint what customers
love about your business and what needs to be improved. They also help gauge customer
satisfaction progression over time.

If you send out a survey every quarter, the results can be compared to see if the changes that
were made based on previous feedback are paying off. The happier you can make customers, the
more likely they remain customers. High customer retention is the key to a successful business—
and one way to achieve it is to understand the benefits of customer satisfaction surveys.
Gain an edge over competitors
Do you know how your company compares to its competitors? A customer satisfaction survey
can give you insight into where it excels—or falls short—when compared to others in your
industry. If customers like the competition’s price point better, use this insight to reexamine your
pricing structure. Asking the right questions about competitors can help determine the best ways
to win over your competitor’s customers.

Maintain loyal customers

Customer loyalty goes much further than just repeat business. Satisfied customers usually praise
a company to everyone they know. Word-of-mouth marketing helps companies grow and thrive
far more efficiently than paid online ads. With a customer satisfaction survey, inspire customers
to stay loyal by listening to their feedback and making improvements to your company. And as
loyal customers see these changes implemented, they will continue showing their loyalty.

Want to conduct a deeper examination of customer loyalty? With some help from SurveyPlanet’s
customer/brand loyalty survey examples and templates, you can conduct an effective survey that
will provide access to the honest feelings of customers about the products and services you offer.

A better understanding of customers’ perspectives

It’s easy to get tunnel vision when running a business, failing to see the business as consumers
do. Use a customer satisfaction survey to understand what your company looks like from the
perspective of customers. Open-ended questions can be extremely beneficial in this context.
Although multiple-choice questions are easier to analyze in bulk, open-ended questions provide
important insight into the real experiences of actual customers. Make sure not to ask too many of
them to avoid respondents becoming frustrated or bored.

Track feedback about changes

When your company makes changes to products or services, a customer satisfaction survey
makes it easy to track the response of customers. Asking survey questions about recent updates
will tell you if those changes were beneficial to the customer experience. Without such feedback,
there’s no way to tell if the changes were beneficial to the company or not. Continue to use
customer satisfaction surveys to improve decision-making.

Increase word-of-mouth advertising

When a consumer loves a product, they usually want the whole world to hear about it. By
sending out a customer satisfaction survey, you can find out just how many customers are happy
and out there spreading the word about your products. They might do this through reviews, posts
on social media, or when conversing with friends and family. Word-of-mouth marketing is one
of the most effective ways to spread brand awareness and gain new customers.
Maintain a positive reputation
Just as customer satisfaction surveys give customers an outlet to express themselves, it also
demonstrates that you care. When a company shows that they take the customer experience
seriously, consumers take notice and have a deeper appreciation and devotion to the brand. This
builds a positive reputation.

Identify trends
Customer satisfaction surveys are not a once-in-a-lifetime idea. Use them regularly to check in
with customers and learn how their needs and preferences are changing over time. Whether you
stay on top of trends in your industry or not, competitors will, making it more likely that you lose
customers over the long run. Learning about current trends can help a company develop new
products and establish new goals.

Determine company success

When a company is ignorant of how satisfied its customers are, there’s no way to gauge how
successful the company will be down the line. Regularly sending our customer satisfaction
surveys is a good way to ensure your company’s future success by staying in tune with
customers’ needs and getting regular feedback. It’s safe to say your company will have a more
positive outlook by doing so.

Utilize customer surveys benefits with SurveyPlanet

If you’re not already sending customer satisfaction surveys regularly to customers, it’s time to
begin. With all the benefits, you don’t want to fall behind competitors. Fortunately, SurveyPlanet
makes it easy to create your first customer satisfaction survey with a pre-written survey that will
help you get started. Learn what customers really think of your business by sending out a first
survey today. Sign up for a free account here to get started.

Photo by Adam Jang on Unsplash