Should Performance Reviews Be Scrapped?

The Pie: An Economics Podcast

Many of us react to the term “performance review” with a shudder. It’s that awkward periodic conversation in which we have to hear feedback, share our assessments of each other, and, occasionally, clash with our colleagues. But do performance reviews have to be like that? We hear from Chicago Booth's Stacey Kole. Does she think that performance reviews are worth saving, and if so, how can they be revamped?

--

Today we’re bringing you a special episode from our podcast colleagues here at the University of Chicago. Now, if you’ve ever held a job – almost any job – you’ve probably experienced the performance evaluation. The annual review. The quarterly goal setting update. That moment when you’re asked… or told… how you’ve been doing in your job. Sometimes it comes as a surprise email over a weekend telling you to list five things you did last week or be fired. But more often, it’s part of a regular process in your workplace. So here’s the question: how valuable are those moments? What good do they do? Are they worth the time and energy put into them? I have many thoughts – but will keep them to myself and instead hand the microphone over to our friends at the Chicago Booth Review podcast, and my fellow U Chicago podcasthost Hal Weitzman. Here’s Hal getting answers to those questions and more – while I go fill out my performance review. Perfection! Five stars! Right?

More description

Many of us react to the term “performance review” with a shudder. It’s that awkward periodic conversation in which we have to hear feedback, share our assessments of each other, and, occasionally, clash with our colleagues. But do performance reviews have to be like that? We hear from Chicago Booth's Stacey Kole. Does she think that performance reviews are worth saving, and if so, how can they be revamped?

--

Today we’re bringing you a special episode from our podcast colleagues here at the University of Chicago. Now, if you’ve ever held a job – almost any job – you’ve probably experienced the performance evaluation. The annual review. The quarterly goal setting update. That moment when you’re asked… or told… how you’ve been doing in your job. Sometimes it comes as a surprise email over a weekend telling you to list five things you did last week or be fired. But more often, it’s part of a regular process in your workplace. So here’s the question: how valuable are those moments? What good do they do? Are they worth the time and energy put into them? I have many thoughts – but will keep them to myself and instead hand the microphone over to our friends at the Chicago Booth Review podcast, and my fellow U Chicago podcasthost Hal Weitzman. Here’s Hal getting answers to those questions and more – while I go fill out my performance review. Perfection! Five stars! Right?

2025-03-14 27 min
Listen elsewhere

Available Results

Generated results are saved to your library for reuse and search.

No generated results are available for this episode yet.

Transcript

No transcript is available for this episode yet.
Sign in to generate a transcript for review.
Sign in

Chapters

No chapters available.