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The employee review process is an integral part of HR’s mantle, yet more and more often we are hearing of how the process itself needs a revitalising overhaul.
Global retailer Amazon could be the next major company to restructure their employee review system. According to Business Insider, Amazon’s previous “Hunger Games”-style review system, whereby managers ranked employees against each other, could be changing.
A spokesperson from Amazon told Geekwire’s Taylor Soper and Todd Bishop that it planned to “overhaul the worst part of the review process” –Business Insider reports – though no more details were offered.
A further spokesperson from Amazon confirmed the change, saying: “We're launching a new annual review process next year that is radically simplified and focuses on our employees' strengths, not the absence of weaknesses.
“We will continue to iterate and build on the program based on what we learn from our employees.”
These “Battle Royale”-style reviews have garnered a lot of criticism over the years, most notably from Amazonian employees themselves. An employee review, lifted from Glassdoor in 2013, detailed everything that they felt was wrong with the review process.
The Software Development Manager wrote: “Amazon is built, quite deliberately, to be Darwinian. The strong survive and the weak perish (metaphorically speaking) and the 'bar' is constantly increasing.
“The level of performance that would have been acceptable five [years] ago will get you canned today. It's a kind of crucible that'll help you develop a harder edge, if you can survive, that can serve you well in your career and in life, but it's often not a pleasant experience.”
