Why Performance Reviews Make Companies Worse (And What Actually Works)...

Performance management systems: the corporate treadmill to nowhere. Organisations preach the gospel of improvement, then build systems so convoluted they’d make Kafka weep. Ratings are political, feedback is a weapon, and calibration meetings resemble gladiatorial combat. The result? A process so dark and detached from reality it should be a corporate snuff movie.

Jimmy Barber and James Lawther aren’t here to sugarcoat it. They’re here to dissect why these systems fail: it’s because they’re designed by “Human Resource Professionals” who don’t understand humans. The hosts pull no punches: from the absurdity of ranking employees like livestock to the farce of annual reviews that demotivate 95% of the workforce. But they don’t just rant. They offer a lifeline. What actually improves performance? Regular, honest conversations. Clarity on purpose. Psychological safety. And, a radical idea, treating people like adults.

The episode tackles two critical questions: If you could redesign performance management from scratch, what would you do? And if you’re stuck with a broken system, how do you survive it without losing your mind (or your soul)? The answer involves less process, more humanity, and a healthy dose of cynicism.

Key points:

• Performance systems are built for control, not improvement.
• The best performers often just look good, which isn’t the same as being good.
• Focus on systems, not people, to lock in performance.
• Regular feedback beats annual reviews every time.
• If you can’t change the system, learn to play it.

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