Employee Perspective
“Am I doing ok or failing silently?”
“I’ve been working here for over a year, show up early, stay back when needed, take initiative.”
“But never had a formal review, the occasional ‘good job’ messages yes, where I stand?”
“My colleague got promoted, what about me? Am I not good enough?”
“Don’t know what my KPI is, don’t know how my boss measures success, don’t know if I’m underperforming or just being overlooked.”
I want to grow but I’m flying blind.
Employer Perspective
“We don’t believe in rigid reviews.”
“We give feedback daily why do we need formal reviews?”
“I don’t want people to be scared of appraisals.’”
“We’re a lean team no time for forms and ratings.”
💥𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆
Casual feedback ≠ performance management.
When there’s no structure, these tend to & can happen
🌀Employees don’t know where they stand
📉Good performance goes unacknowledged
😤Poor performance is left unchecked until it explodes
🧭No direction = no growth
HR will always be busy attending to legal challenges when things are unclear.
The truth ?
Even a basic review system brings clarity, fairness, focus.
It’s not about paperwork, it’s about conversations with purpose.
✅ What businesses can do instead of rigid “corporate” appraisals
1️⃣ Set 6-month or annual review check-ins
Keep it light but consistent
Make it about development, not just evaluation
2️⃣ Define a few key goals
Role-specific KPIs (not too many 3 to 5 is enough)
Behavioral expectations (teamwork, attitude, etc.)
3️⃣ Use the 3-question method
What’s going well?
What’s not working?
What do you want to improve or learn?
4️⃣ Document outcomes
Even a simple summary by email helps track growth and ensures accountability.
Some swore by using MOMs to manage this, depends, not all workplace culture can do this.
A Real Example
A business owner I worked with was frustrated by a team lead’s inconsistency.
The truth to it, they had no record of expectations or past feedback.
Once we started quarterly reviews, 1-to-1 coaching and engagement on monthly basis
⭐The team lead improved focus
👥Communication with the boss & team improved
🤟A promotion path became clearer based on real growth
𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁
Informal feedback is great but it can’t replace structured reflection, employees want to be “seen”
They want to know:
“Am I doing well?”
“What’s next for me here?”
“How can I grow?”
A simple review process answers all of that + builds a TRUST culture.
People stay where they’re developed, not just tolerated.
I am Kevin Goh, Empowering People & Businesses | Building Modern HR for the Evolving Workplace
#HRMythBusters #Leadership #FutureOfWork
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn by Kevin Goh – Director. You can read the full post here. Adapted and shared with permission.
