Key Terms
Done well
Reviews improve performance, align expectations, and accelerate careers. Done poorly: they accelerate departures.
Core premise
The single most important thing a manager can do is provide guidance.
Vertical axis
Caring Personally (the "give a damn" axis) Horizontal axis: Challenging Directly
Core finding
A review that surfaces multiple development areas is not inherently demotivating. What makes it land is the clarity of f
Most important element
PREPARATION. Rachitsky's standard: If you cannot find a dozen hours to focus on a direct report's career throughout the
Four things that distinguish effective appraisal
1. Ongoing feedback so nothing at the formal review is new 2.
Performance Management
Ongoing process of feedback, goal-setting, coaching, and formal appraisal designed to align employee performance with or
Engagement (Gallup definition)
Employees who are psychologically invested in their job and motivated to be highly productive. Currently 15% globally.
Leniency Error
Inflating all ratings to avoid conflict. Central
Tendency Error
Clustering all ratings in the middle. Recency Error: Over-weighting recent events in the evaluation.
Radical Candor
Kim Scott's framework; caring personally + challenging directly. HHIPP: Humble, Helpful, Immediate, In person, Private/P
Ruinous Empathy
High care, low challenge; feels kind but withholds necessary feedback.
SMART Goals
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Used in step 4 of the appraisal presentation process.
Start/Continue/Stop
Rachitsky's peer feedback framework. Three questions, anonymous responses, used to build development documentation.
Self-Evaluation
Optional but recommended pre-meeting step where the employee reflects on their own performance before the formal apprais