Performance reviews eat up time, frustrate employees, and often fail to improve performance. So why are so many organizations still clinging to them?

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi talks with Collette Revere, CEO of Open 360, about why traditional performance management is overdue for the trash heap. Collette explains how the model many organizations still use dates back to World War I. It made sense in a more rigid, hierarchical era, but work has changed.

Cindi and Collette unpack why performance reviews are often backward-looking, demotivating, and better at catching low performers than helping good people get better. Collette brings three simple shifts leaders can implement to improve performance management right now, even if their organization is not ready for a full system overhaul.

If you’ve ever sat through a review and thought, “What exactly is this helping?” this one’s for you.

Episode Highlights:

Why traditional performance reviews often fail to improve performance
The hidden time cost of performance reviews for leaders
Why past-focused feedback can demotivate instead of drive improvement
How better communication can improve employee performance
Three practical ways to improve performance management right now
What better performance conversations should actually focus on

About Collette Revere:

Collette Revere is the Founder and CEO of Open360™, a psychology-based leadership and development company helping organizations strengthen trust, alignment, and performance through feedback and communication. A mental health professional, certified change management practitioner, and organizational development consultant, she has spent nearly two decades helping leaders improve performance management, navigate change, and build healthier workplace culture using practical approaches grounded in behavioral science.

Connect with Collette:

Website | Linkedin

Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QL4q6cHDWB0

Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here.

→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.

Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:

→ Sign up for our newsletter and get our FREE guide to the 6 Habits You NEED to Level Up Your Management Skills in 2026!

Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:

Buckingham, Marcus and Goodall, Ashley. “The Feedback Fallacy,” Harvard Business Review, Apr. 2019, https://hbr.org/2019/03/the-feedback-fallacy
Cappelli, Peter and Tavis, Anna. The Performance Management Revolution, Harvard Business Review Press, 1 Oct. 2016, https://store.hbr.org/product/the-performance-management-revolution/R1610D?srsltid=AfmBOoqCUszEt_FzkkBghohLl4BywwVmVSsCrO1XcgagCwntrjNNLnPJ&

Join Our Community & Follow Us: