It’s performance review time of the year for many organizations that still operate on an annual people development cycle. Managers and team leads are scrambling to schedule 1:1s, searching for meaningful feedback to document, and sitting down with their teams to discuss performance, promotions, and rewards.

These conversations matter. Butl et’s be honest: how often do they result in clear, actionable next steps?

The Reality – They Often Fall Short

To get a pulse on this, I recently ran a LinkedIn poll asking: Doyou leave talent & rewards talks with clear goals?

Here’s what people had to say:

• 25%: Yes, very clear!
• 50%: Somewhat, could be better.
• 19%: Not really, unclear steps.
• 6%: No, only past work discussed.

That means for 75% of employees, the conversation could be clearer, more actionable, or more forward-looking. This highlights a significant problem in how organizations conduct performance reviews:

• Too much focus on past performance, too little on future growth
• Strategy and business objectives missing from the conversations and personal goals
• Decisions based on fragmented feedback rather than skills data
• Goals are set but progress is not measured nor visited

Why the Annual Cycle No Longer Works

I’ve never been a fan of the once-a-year approach to performance management and I’ve written a few blogs on it already (Alternative to Performance Reviews, Employee Driven Development). Trying to wrap 250+ workdays into a single 45-minute conversation never made sense to me. And based on my conversations with others, I know I’m not alone in this.

Annual reviews come with two major problems:

1. ‍They are time-consuming. Research from CEB (now Gartner) shows that managers spend an average of 210 hours per year on performance evaluations. That’s a huge investment for a process that often lacks impact.‍
2. They rely too heavily on subjective feedback. Without real-time data and skills tracking, promotion and reward decisions are made without a full picture of an employee’s actual capabilities, strengths, and growth areas.

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From Annual Snapshots to Continuous Growth

The real issue? Most organizations only gather performance data once or twice a year. This data is based on memory, often subjective, and rarely linked to a broader talent strategy.

What if performance data was captured and visualized in real time, when it actually happens?

A skills-based and continuous approach ensures that data is collected throughout the year, via:

• Regular 1:1s between team leads and team members
• Peer and customer feedback
• Recognitions and project retrospectives

By tracking key moments, when an employee masters a skill, finishes a project, or navigates a challenge, organizations can visualize and summarize progress in real time. This removes the end/beginning-of-years cramble and creates a continuous, data-driven talent development process that is effective and time-efficient.

From Passive to Active Development

Traditional performance reviews tend to be passive. They document what has already happened where as the data-and skills-driven approach shifts this mindset.

• Employees don’t just receive feedback; they receive a personalized growth roadmap that can connect to the strategy
• Development is tied to strategic and business needs, making it more impactful and creating better purpose
• Employees actively contribute to both their own success and the company’s goals

And data on progress is gathered, visualized and discussed when it happens.

Think of it this way: Finance, Marketing, and Sales all operate on continuous cycles, gathering data at regular intervals to adjust strategies and optimize performance. So why is people development treated differently?

It’s time to make performance management as structured and strategic as any other business process.

Getting Started: You Don’t Need a Huge Investment

1. ‍Start with what you already have. Check your HRIS. Does it support real-time talent tracking? If not, use simple tools like Excel, Word, or Notion to start tracking 1:1 conversations, setting goals, and measuring progress.
2. Define skills expectations for each role. Identify, what skills are needed for each job and compare them to employees’ current abilities. You can with as little as 10 most critical skills. The gaps you find? That’s where targeted development starts.‍
3. Use goal-setting frameworks. The OKR framework works perfectly for people development. Define:
   1. WHAT needs to be done (outcome-oriented goals)
   2. HOW success will be measured (skills mastery, project impact, etc.)‍
4. Leverage skills-focused platforms like Talbit. With tools like Talbit, employees can create personalized growth plans that include:
   1. Targeted skill-building goals
   2. Milestones for progress tracking
   3. Regular feedback from peers and managers

This makes development tangible, structured, and measurable, rather than something employees are left to figure out on their own.

The Power of Data in Identifying Future Potential

Too often, decisions about promotions, leadership potential, and career growth are based on gut feelings. We assume we know what “good” looks like but without data, this is just bias indisguise.

When "what good looks like" is defined using data and examples and performance data is gathered continuously, leaders can and will make better decisions.

Instead of making assumptions about who’s “high potential”, organizations can use the real-time skills assessments, work progress and peer feedback to:

• Identify employees who are consistentlydeveloping new skills
• See how peers and teams rate eachother’s contributions
• Spot hidden talent that might otherwisego unnoticed.

Now, imagine being able to invite employees into performance reviews where they can actually see their progress, visualized in real-time data. Imagine a process where managers don’t just provide feedback but back it up with clear, objective insights.

That’s the future of talent and rewards conversations.

Keeping Growth on the Radar, All Year Long

With real-time skills tracking, managers don’t have to wait until the end of the year to decide who’s ready for the next challenge. They can proactively tag employees for new opportunities throughout the year.

This leads to:

• Faster career acceleration for highperformers
• Better succession planning, based onactual skill readiness
• A workforce that continuously evolves tomeet business needs

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The New Standard for Talent& Rewards Conversations

You've most likely come to the same conclusion as I: It’s time to let go of the annual performance review as we know it. Instead, let’s build a more:

• Data-driven approach to peopledevelopment
• Skills-based framework for career growth
• Continuous process that supports bothemployees and the business

When performance reviews, promotions, and rewards are backed by real data, they become more transparent, fair, and meaningful, for everyone involved.

So as you sit down for your next talent conversation, ask yourself:

• Are you making decisions based on memoryand gut feeling?
• Or are you leveraging real-time data onskills, strengths, and future potential?

Let’s start making skills-powered talent decisions because growth doesn’t happen once a year. It happens every day.

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