Why Managers Shouldn’t Have the Final Say in Performance Reviews

Performance evaluation systems are critical for evaluating, motivating, and rewarding employees, but companies are hard-pressed to find a system that achieves these goals and promotes fair evaluations. Inconsistencies and biases in the evaluation process can leave employees dissatisfied and demotivated. One way to address this is with calibration committees, where senior leaders review batches of performance ratings and decide whether to adjust them. A recent study of this practice found that the committees produce more-consistent ratings, generally by correcting for inflated ratings of employee performance.