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Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

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Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#81

Post by kohnke »

davidvanleeuwen wrote: post #8

Although we try to stay away from "creating a process" for everything, we've gradually implemented a way for people to give feedback more organically. The thing is, it's not the tool, form or questions you hand out - it's how people use them and think about them. Over a period of time we started using Impraise (impraise.com), although it's not the best tool - it helps people to force to take the time and leave there…

Hi David, interesting to read your post. My name is Bas Kohnke, co-founder/CEO of Impraise (YC Summer 14). We are always looking for new ways to improve our product, so please feel free to reach me at bas@impraise.com if you are willing to share your experience and ideas. Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#82

Post by deepaksurti »

rootlocus wrote: post #6

My company uses quarterly reviews. Here are the metrics my company uses to review each developer: 1. We have an in-house developed tool that tracks git and mercurial commits and calculates the test coverage and code quality for each individual developer. 2. We use jira to track the number of points each developer burns (points are shared between developer, reviewer and QA). We also track the number of bugs each devel…

>> The management (including the team lead which is otherwise a great leader and an awesome person) didn't want to assume any blame for this.

Not assuming any blame is a trait neither of a great leader or an awesome person. But given the hell hole of a review process, I am not surprised the company has most likely imposter great leaders!

Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#84

Post by occamrazor »

kzisme wrote: post #73
sawmurai wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't really tell as I have only been on the team for about a year now, but I have been told that you get raises if you ask for them and have enough arguments to justify a raise. What about costs of living? We're based in Zurich, CH.

Normally (maybe it isn't the norm) employers give a percentage raise annually or bi-annually for to accommodate for the "cost of living going up"

Inflation in Switzerland has been negative for the last two years. Most companies did mot apply any cost of living adjustment, but I know some that have reduced base salaries in accordance to inflation.

Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#85

Post by [deleted] »

kzisme wrote: post #73
sawmurai wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't really tell as I have only been on the team for about a year now, but I have been told that you get raises if you ask for them and have enough arguments to justify a raise. What about costs of living? We're based in Zurich, CH.

Normally (maybe it isn't the norm) employers give a percentage raise annually or bi-annually for to accommodate for the "cost of living going up"

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#86

Post by cnp »

humanrebar wrote: post #50
cnp wrote: post #38

We do a 1-5 point based system bi-yearly, but I'm actually wondering how people respond to under performing coworkers. I feel weighed down a bit because a review is coming up and I can't imagine giving said person more than a 2, but he is also a nice guy and tries very hard while simultaneously making a mess of most things. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. We're typically asked to discuss negative feedback…

If a person is congenial and dependable there's usually a suitable niche in any large enough org. The sweet spot is where things are stable and include domain knowledge but aren't automatable yet. Good team players that will get along with people and keep things running are very worthwhile in my opinion. Not everyone need to be able to invent their own crypto currency from scratch. If the problem is more severe, like…

Thank you -- this is great advice and I'm going to try to formulate it in my response.

Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#87

Post by giobox »

rorykoehler wrote: post #41
tboyd47 wrote: post #34

We are a remote team, so metrics are very important for judging performance. Some of the most important metrics are: time online (huge one), PRs opened, PRs reviewed. There is a formal review process to give employees time to improve performance before an action is taken. I find that even with all these formalities, actions tend to be totally up to the subjective judgment of management, just like any other company. C…

Why is time online big (assuming more means better)? I do remote too and I would never consider that to be important as long as the work gets done.

My pet hate is folks working from home who can't be contacted in a timely manner during the working day. I've personally no issue with remote working, but if my colleagues do it, I expect to be able to reach them as easily as I might if I could just walk to their desk in the office.

Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#88

Post by random098756 »

At Microsoft, (so the throwaway account). In theory: peer review + manager comment on : your work, how you help others, how you reuse work done by other. The reality: peer review is quite useless (that can help manager to give examples feedback but nothing more). Manager's opinion on your work is the only thing. So a big theorical system with bunch of HR documentation but a terrible / useless process at the end.

Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#89

Post by marssaxman »

ikurei wrote: post #2

A related question: Should you do them? They don't seem useful in tiny companies, where you can just see how everyone is doing, apart from informal "What is worrying you" conversations. How big a company you have to be for them to be useful/necessary?

I have found that the existence of a formal performance review program is a good proxy for a company's structure having grown and/or calcified to the point that I would no longer be happy to work there. If the startup I'm currently working for someday grows to that point, I'll take it as my cue to start looking for another startup.

Re: Ask HN: How does your company do performance reviews?

#90

Post by mvpu »

I have used this method at every startup I worked for. It will only work for companies that want to hire and keep good engineers. When you join the company, your manager will lay out your strengths and areas to improve to get to the next level (in a direction you want to go) in the very first meeting. Then, she meets with you every quarter and refines the vision for growth. Between those meetings, she'll create opportunities for you to challenge yourself, shine, and grow. That's it. All we care about is ownership, accountability, and leadership -- and your peers will keep you in check. Our job as leaders is to remove speed brakers and avoid pot holes. I can't think of a better way than this -- "performance" reviews are meaningless.
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