The Annual Performance review day is here. YAY! In the next hour meeting we are going to:

Review your performance from the last 12 months

Review last year’s goals

Set new goals for the next 12 months

Handle any problems you might have had in the last year

Fill out this loooong form required by HR

Get your totally open and honest feedback to my leadership

All of us we’ve been there. And it’s painful for both parties. CEB research has found that more than 9 in 10 managers are dissatisfied with how their companies conduct annual performance reviews. And almost 9 in 10 HR leaders say the process doesn’t yield accurate information. Even GE had to kill its annual performance reviews after more than three decades.

Giving feedback to your team is absolutely necessary, but should this process only take place once a year?

Why Annual performance reviews are useless

Reason #1: They are conducted annually.

These reviews can be time-consuming and paperwork-rich, so once a year seems efficient. But so much happens in the course of a year — by the time review dates roll around, most of it has been forgotten.

Reason #2: No one says what they really think

Managers can hold back from offering negative feedback because they fear conflict. Employees often don’t offer honest criticism of managers and workplaces out of a fear it will affect your salary.

Reason #3: They take a LOT of time

Everybody’s busy these days. And, on top of your regular tasks, once a year you have to find time to prepare, execute and follow up performance reviews. This means that rather than doing it right, many people focus on doing it fast and getting it over with, making the whole process worse than useless.

Reason #4: They become a crutch for bad managers

If you’re not capable of giving your employees regular, specific, timely and relevant feedback (good and bad), you should not be a manager at all. And formal performance reviews are not the solution! The Manager’s most important job is help and coach their team members in a frequent way. Thanks to this, the company will achieve the business goals.

Frequent One on One meetings are important for you and your team. From Steer

What to do instead

The best kind of performance review is the one that never ends. An ongoing review provides employees with constant feedback on a weekly basis. It lets them know right away whether they are doing something wrong or not so the actions can be made instantly, rather than spend months down the line when it has become habitual. Continual feedback helps employees track goals and objectives while providing an updated basis for making improvements.

28% of my time is on 1:1s given that I am a manager, 1:1s are a critical time for me to help provide support for the people on my team as well as get context on what’s happening and how they’re feeling.

Julie Zhuo, Product design VP @ Facebook