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Banish Standard Performance Reviews

August 18, 2017

Har­vard Busi­ness Review pub­lished a fan­tas­tic piece called, Rein­vent­ing Per­for­mance Reviews, that I con­sid­er a must-read for CEOs everywhere.

It’s about Deloitte’s ini­tia­tive to ban­ish the typ­i­cal per­for­mance review in favour of some­thing ‘…square­ly focused on fuelling per­for­mance in the future rather than assess­ing it in the past.’

Final­ly!

Deloitte is toss­ing some old stan­dards out the win­dow. No more annu­al reviews. No more 360 peer reviews.

They’re going sim­ple and lean.

Here’s an exam­ple. They’ve devel­oped a rapid method to get lead­ers to iden­ti­fy their most valu­able employ­ees. For each team mem­ber, imme­di­ate team lead­ers ask themselves:

  1. Giv­en what I know about this person’s per­for­mance and if it were my own mon­ey, would I award this per­son the high­est com­pen­sa­tion and bonus?
  2. Giv­en what I know about this person’s per­for­mance and if it were my own mon­ey, would I always want this per­son on my team?
  3. Is this per­son at risk for low performance?
  4. Is this per­son ready for pro­mo­tion today?

I high­ly rec­om­mend you take the time to peruse the full arti­cle in detail. It will like­ly cause you to recon­sid­er your entire approach to per­for­mance reviews.

About Lawrence & Co.
Lawrence & Co. is a growth strategy and leadership advisory firm that helps mid-market companies achieve lasting, reliable growth. Our Growth Management System turns 30 years of experience into practical steps that drive clarity, alignment, and performance—so leaders can grow faster, with less friction, and greater confidence.

About Kevin Lawrence
Kevin Lawrence has spent three decades helping companies scale from tens of millions to hundreds of millions in revenue. He works side-by-side with CEOs and leadership teams across North America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Europe, bringing real-world insights from hands-on experience. Kevin is the author of Your Oxygen Mask First, a book of 17 habits to help high-performing leaders grow sustainably while protecting their mental health and resilience. He also contributed to Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0). Based in Vancouver, he leads Lawrence & Co, a boutique firm of growth advisors.