How did we end up with performance reviews, anyway?

Many workers have regarded performance reviews as bureaucratic tools used to justify firing people or withholding pay rises. (Image: Getty)

The Wall Street Journal

Sat, 08 Nov 2025

By Heidi MitchellAlmost all of us have gone through the ritual. The trek to the boss’s office, the tense stares across the desk, the awkward mix of praise and criticism – and the potential for a promotion or a pink slip when it is all over.Performance reviews aren’t anybody’s idea of a good time, yet they have endured for more than a century – and show no signs of going away.Over the years, the practice has evolved to fit changes in the working world, but it still faces the same essential question it did at the sta...

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