Peer Performance Reviews

Andrea 2

I am interested in hearing from employers who have utilized peer performance reviews. The pros, the cons, a sample of the forms you used.... Thanks.

System

We have a peer review system of 6 peers all together - the manager gets to select 3 and the employee another 3. Neither the manager or employee know of each other's selection - it can be anyone within the company, but the selection is also open to outside vendors if employees/managers elect to use. It's not difficult because we do a lot of job sharing so employees get to be in each other's shoes often. I ask that the peer reviewers print the form, complete it and send it inter office without names as it's supposed to be anonymous to encourage participation. Only I know who the peer reviewers are.

Pros? This system has allowed us the opportunity to detect areas where employees shine as well as areas in need of improvement, training needs and goal setting.

Cons? Occasionally, I do come across peer reviewers who are hesitant to be honest about a particular employee when it comes to pointing out areas in need of improvent.

If you post your e-mail address, I'd be happy to share our form.

Andrea 2

Thank you for your input. My e-mail address is [email]dfalk@falk-pli.com[/email] - if you could send a copy of the form you use, that would be great.

ACU Frank

My current employer is not using peer reviews, but when I've used them before it has been similar to the system outlined above, with one addition - peers are not allowed to "reciprocate" during a three-year window. In other words, if I'm one of your peers reviewing you, then you are not allowed to review me for three years.

AJ SPHR

In a large organization, peer reviews could be valuable. However, in a small organization, the peer reviews tend to be useless. We had a peer review process but after a couple of years, we realized there was way too much "tit for tat" involved. Employers tended to collude to only provide positive input on each other. And when the department is small and you must work together every day, it does take courage to be honest and actually write negative feedback on a co-worker. It's a big responsibility and I don't believe all employees are comfortable in that role.