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Performance Reviews

7 Review Software Rules to Write Down Before You Demo

Seven requirements to write down before a review software demo when there is no HR ops team: fast setup, no second login, year-round feedback, and more.
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Performance Reviews

AI Drafts Performance Reviews. A Human Still Makes the Call

AI can draft a performance review from a year of feedback, but a named human should make the call. What CA, IL and CO rules mean for small teams.
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Performance Reviews

Best AI Performance Review Tools for Teams of 50 to 300

How to evaluate AI performance review tools for 50 to 300 people: where feedback is collected, what drafts are built from, and how fast you go live.
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Performance Reviews

Recency Bias Is Quietly Deciding Your Promotions — Here's the Fix

Recency bias skews promotions and comp when reviews run on Q4 memory. See why continuous, twelve-month data — not bias awareness — is the real fix.
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Performance Reviews

Lattice vs 15Five: Which One Fits a Team That Wants Reviews to Write Themselves

Not a neutral feature comparison. Lattice vs 15Five evaluated on time-to-complete-a-review and the adoption problem both share.
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Performance Reviews

Continuous Performance Management Software: What It Actually Replaces

Not a feature list. What continuous performance management software actually replaces, and where the hours really go without it.
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Performance Reviews

Why Your Annual Review Cycle Is Broken (And What to Do Instead)

Annual reviews take 3-5 hours, 85% spent on research. Why the cycle is broken by design, and how continuous tracking fixes it.
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Performance Reviews

Giving Your COO a Real-Time View of Performance Across the Company

Quarterly spreadsheets from each manager aren't real visibility. How to give leadership a live, company-wide view of performance trends.
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Performance Reviews

AI Performance Review Software: What It Actually Does for Managers

AI performance review software doesn't write your reviews for you. It turns a year of scattered feedback into an evidence-based first draft.
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Performance Reviews

Culture Amp Alternative: When Continuous Feedback Beats Survey-First Platforms

Looking for a Culture Amp alternative? See when continuous feedback beats survey-first platforms and how WorkStory fits.
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Performance Reviews

The 9-Box Grid for Performance and Potential: A Practical Guide

The 9-box grid plots performance against potential to guide succession and development decisions. How to build one without overcomplicating it.
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Performance Reviews

What Is Performance Review Calibration (and Do You Need It)?

Calibration is how you stop one manager's "exceeds expectations" from being another's "meets expectations." How it works and when to run it.
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Performance Reviews

AI and Performance Reviews: A Practical Guide

What AI is actually good at in performance reviews, where it falls short, and how to use it without losing manager judgment.
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Performance Reviews

The Evolution of Performance Management Part Two

Part two of Tracie Sponenberg's series: how technology reshaped performance management in the 2000s, and why digital wasn't always better.
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Performance Reviews

The Evolution of Performance Management Part One

Part one of Tracie Sponenberg's series: performance management from industrial-era systems to compliance-driven 1990s practices.
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Performance Reviews

Arguments For & Against Pay Increases Based on Performance

Should raises be tied to performance reviews? Explore the pros, cons, and modern alternatives HR leaders are considering.
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Performance Reviews

Performance Review Dos and Don’ts

Discover the essential dos and don’ts of performance reviews to build trust, improve fairness, and turn evaluations into growth opportunities.
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Performance Reviews

How Often Should Your Team Do Performance Reviews?

Annual, quarterly, or continuous? Find the right performance review frequency for your team’s size, role type, and growth stage.
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Performance Reviews

Performance Review Rating Scales—Should You Use Them?

Are rating scales still useful in performance reviews? Explore the pros, cons, and alternatives HR leaders are adopting.
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Performance Reviews

Performance Review and Merit Increases

Explore how performance reviews shape merit increases, the risks of tying pay to reviews, and fairer approaches HR leaders can use.
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Performance Reviews

Perceptions of Performance Reviews: They Matter More Than You Think

Explore how employees perceive performance reviews, common pitfalls, and how HR leaders can modernize reviews with continuous feedback and fairness.
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Performance Reviews

Five Signs Your Performance Review Process Is Outdated

If reviews feel like a dreaded yearly formality, something's broken. Five signs it's time to rethink your process.
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Performance Reviews

5 Ways to Kickstart Your Performance Review Process for 2025

A fresh start doesn't need a new year. Five practical ways to make reviews about growth and engagement instead of dread.
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Performance Reviews

Performance Reviews Reinvented: Leveraging Microsoft Teams with WorkStory

How WorkStory in Microsoft Teams makes performance reviews faster, more accurate and easier to keep improving all year.
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Performance Reviews

Revolutionize Your Performance Reviews with Just One Click

Run performance reviews in one click: less admin time for managers, more time for real development conversations.
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Performance Reviews

Communicating the Benefits: How to Introduce a Continuous Performance Evaluation Culture to Your Team

How to introduce continuous performance evaluation and win employee buy-in by communicating the benefits clearly.
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Performance Reviews

Unveiling the Hidden Cost of Traditional Performance Reviews

Managers spend 210 hours a year on reviews, and most HR leaders say they're not worth it. The real cost — and the fix.
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Performance Reviews

Shifting the Paradigm in Performance Management: WorkStory vs. Traditional Software

Most performance software just digitizes the same annual review. Here's how WorkStory's continuous feedback model is different.
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Performance Reviews

Transforming a Flawed Process: Getting Real Value from Your Annual Performance Review

Annual performance reviews are often met with skepticism and dread. Here's how to fix the process and actually get value from it.
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Performance Reviews

Jack Dorsey: No More Annual Reviews at Block

Jack Dorsey ended annual performance reviews at Block. What his approach signals about where performance management is headed.
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Performance Reviews

The Problem with Spreadsheet-Based Performance Reviews

Spreadsheet reviews are manual, error-prone, and breed distrust. Here's why they fail — and what to use instead.
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Performance Reviews

Preventing Surprises in Employee Performance Reviews

Surprise feedback in annual reviews tanks engagement and drives turnover. Here's how continuous feedback prevents that.
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Performance Reviews

Getting Ready for Annual Reviews: A Guide to Preparing for Effective Performance Evaluations

Annual review season doesn't have to be chaos. A manager's checklist for scheduling, prep, and gathering real feedback.
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Performance Reviews

The Evolution of Performance Reviews: How Continuous Feedback Replaced Annual Reviews

Where the annual review came from, why it's ripe for disruption, and how continuous feedback is replacing it.
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Performance Reviews

Kickstart Your Reviews With Our Performance Review Templates

We are excited to introduce our extensive library of performance review templates, carefully crafted to suit various industries and roles.
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Performance Reviews

Tips to Help You Improve Your 1:1 Meetings

It's time to revolutionize the way we conduct these meetings, transforming them from mere status updates to strategic growth sessions.
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Performance Reviews

What People Get Wrong with Performance Reviews

Reviews can drive growth, but common pitfalls undermine them. What people get wrong with performance reviews and how to fix it.
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Performance Reviews

How to Conduct a 360 Review: A Comprehensive Guide

What a 360 review (360-degree review) is, who gives feedback, and a step-by-step process to run one and turn feedback into an action plan.
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Performance Reviews

Getting Your SMB Started with 360 Reviews

360 reviews give small and medium-sized businesses a fuller view of performance than a top-down review. How to get started and what to avoid.
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Performance Reviews

The Psychology Behind Effective Performance Reviews

Performance reviews are rooted in psychology. How understanding it helps leaders run more effective, impactful reviews.
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Performance Reviews

A Guide for SMBs: Upgrading from Paper to Digital Performance Reviews

Paper reviews are slow, error-prone and hard to store. A guide for SMBs on moving performance reviews to digital.
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Performance Reviews

Transforming Employee Evaluation With AI and Automation

How AI and automation can streamline performance reviews, improve objectivity and drive more meaningful outcomes.
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Performance Reviews

Why People Hate Employee Performance Reviews

Why people dislike employee performance reviews, and what leaders can change to make them better.
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Performance Reviews

Getting on the Same Page: How Managers and Employees Become Misaligned in Performance Reviews

Infrequent manager-employee conversations lead to misaligned expectations. How continuous performance reviews close the gap.
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Performance Reviews

The Go-To Guide for Continuous Performance Reviews

Continuous feedback replaces once-a-year reviews. How a continuous feedback model works and how to run continuous performance reviews.
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Performance Reviews

Collaborating with Employees to Create a Performance Review Process That Works

Involve employees in designing the review process and reviews become a conversation instead of a one-sided exercise.
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Performance Reviews

Introducing WorkStory AI Assist

WorkStory AI Assist turns a year of Slack, Teams, and Webex feedback into real-time performance insights — see how it works.
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Performance Reviews

5 Tips for Effective Remote Performance Reviews

Five tips for effective remote performance reviews when a face-to-face meeting isn't an option.
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Performance Reviews

Choosing Performance Review Software for Marketing and Creative Agencies

Creative and marketing agencies need review software that fits project-based work. How to choose the best one for your team.
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Performance Reviews

Forced Ranking: How to Learn and Improve Upon Them

Forced ranking can hurt motivation, morale and productivity. How it works, why it backfires and how to improve on it.
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Performance Reviews

How to Handle an Unfair Employee Performance Review

Got a performance review that feels off? How to respond respectfully, advocate for yourself, and get it corrected if needed.
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Performance Reviews

Why Performance Reviews Matter for PR, Marketing, and Creative Agencies

Many PR, marketing and creative agencies skip formal reviews. Here's why that costs you and how to get a review process started.
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Performance Reviews

Why Annual Performance Reviews are a Waste of Time (and What You Can Do Instead)

Annual reviews are slow, dreaded, and often ineffective. Why continuous evaluation works better for engagement and results.
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Performance Reviews

Breaking the Cycle: It's Time to Ditch Traditional Annual Performance Reviews

Annual reviews are too infrequent and too subjective. Why more companies are moving to continuous feedback instead.
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Performance Reviews

Performance Reviews for Marketing and PR Agencies

Fast-paced, task-based agency work needs a different review process. How performance reviews should work for marketing and PR teams.
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Manager presenting performance review questions to two employees
Performance Reviews

12 Employee Performance Review Question Examples

12 performance review questions to guide stronger conversations about outcomes, collaboration, development, and goals.
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Performance Reviews

Effective Performance Review Phrases

Struggling to phrase review feedback? Real example phrases for performance overviews, strengths, growth areas, and assessments.
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Performance Reviews

Avoiding Common Mistakes in Employee Performance Reviews

The most common pitfalls in employee performance reviews and how to avoid them.
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Performance Reviews

How to Implement Performance Reviews at Your Company

Starting performance reviews from scratch? How to get going, overcome resistance and make the process a success.
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Microsoft Teams app listing displayed in Office 365
Performance Reviews

Employee Review Software That Works in Microsoft Teams

Looking for employee review software that integrates with Microsoft Teams? See how WorkStory runs feedback, reviews, and 360s inside Teams.
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Performance Reviews

Empowering Your Team with 360 Reviews: A Guide for HR Managers

A 360 review gathers feedback from managers, peers, and reports. How HR can prepare, run, and act on one.
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Performance Reviews

How to Master the Self-Review Process

Self-reviews are hard to write objectively. Concrete before/after examples for describing your wins and making the case for a raise.
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Performance Reviews

Separating Performance and Pay: A New Approach

Tying reviews to raises and bonuses causes confusion and frustration. A new approach to separating performance and pay.
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Performance Reviews

Breaking the Link Between Annual Reviews and Compensation

When annual reviews are tied to raises and bonuses, culture suffers. How to break the link between reviews and compensation.
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Performance Reviews

Why Regular Check-ins Are Key to Effective Performance Management

Annual reviews arrive too late to help. Why regular, consistent check-ins keep performance management on track.
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Performance Reviews

Navigating Difficult Conversations: Tips for Giving Negative Feedback in a Performance Review

Giving negative feedback in a review is hard. How to stay specific, fair, and constructive without making it personal.
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Performance Reviews

How to Handle End of Year Performance Reviews

While the performance review conversation should never be a surprise, it never hurts to be prepared to put your best foot forward.
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Performance Reviews

10 Tips for Giving Constructive Feedback

Vague praise and blunt criticism both fail. 10 concrete tips for feedback that's timely, specific, and actually gets heard.
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Performance Reviews

How to Write Effective Performance Review Comments

With regards to performance review comments, it helps to be as specific and actionable as possible.
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Performance Reviews

Tweeting About Performance Reviews

We took a cursory glance at Twitter to see what the crowd thinks of year-end performance reviews. The results were not unexpected...
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Performance Reviews

We All Hate Performance Reviews

Performance reviews don't have to be dreaded. Make them relevant and give them real time, and they can change how your team works.
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Performance Reviews

Avoid Central Tendency Bias

Rate anything from one to five and most people pick a three or four. What central tendency bias is and how to avoid it.
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Performance Reviews

Involve More People in Performance Reviews

The one-on-one review is outdated and subjective. Why involving more people gives a fuller, fairer picture of performance.
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Performance Reviews

Keep Looking Forward

A performance review looks back, but its real purpose is forward. Why the name misleads and how to refocus the conversation.
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