HR Myth #10: “Annual appraisals are enough”

September 17, 2025

Here’s a classic line I hear from bosses.

Yesterday we talked about the need for Performance Reviews, which led to today’s, how much is enough?

Employer's Perspective

“We review staff performance once a year during appraisal. That’s enough.”

Not entirely correct.
Annual reviews are outdated especially for small, fast-moving teams.

Employee's Perspective

“I really don’t know what’s going on, I’m flying in pitch darkness”

Let's Be Honest

How much can you accurately recall from 11 months ago?
How useful is delayed feedback to your staff?
If there is underperformance since March but only hears about it in December, you’ve lost 9 months of progress.
Worst is, it can be construed as condonation to take action, which can also be ingrained as an accepted practice.

Why annual reviews don't work anymore

– Feedback comes too late to correct anything
– Employees feel anxious
– Surprises lead to demotivation
– No regular tracking of goals or growth
– It becomes a tick-box exercise, not a conversation

What businesses should do instead

Move to a continuous feedback culture.
This doesn’t mean adding more paperwork or systems.
It means creating regular touchpoints to check in, realign and support your people.

💥Here’s what you can try

1️⃣ Monthly 1-on-1 check-ins; just 20–30 minutes per team member
“What’s going well? What’s not? How can I support you?”

2️⃣ Quarterly reviews; Focus on results, behavior & development
Shorter and more specific than the year-end review

3️⃣ Real-time feedback; Praise good work on the spot
Give gentle correction when mistakes happen

4️⃣ Set & review short-term goals; Break big KPIs into monthly or quarterly chunks
Keep everyone aligned and accountable

Real story:
An operations exec kept getting a “3/5” in the annual appraisal.
Thought it meant OK.
Boss thought barely acceptable.
No one said anything all year. Result?
Staff unmotivated
Boss frustrated

Eventually the ops exec left, felt unvalued; this could’ve been avoided with monthly check-ins and mid-year conversations.

💥Benefits of regular feedback

🚀Faster performance improvement
🤝Better manager-employee relationships
💬Higher engagement and job satisfaction
🔍Early detection of problems before they grow

Remember, Feedback doesn’t have to be formal. It has to be frequent, focused, fair and documented.

A quick WhatsApp note saying, “Great job with the proposal today it was clear and well-structured,” can do wonders.

Annual reviews are a summary, not the main show.

Don’t make your staff wait 12 months to know how they’re doing.
Help them grow every week, every month, every quarter.

That’s how you build a high-performing team.