“I looked at this whole process, back in 2011, and thought, ‘Is this really doing anything useful for us? Why are we doing it?'” Ms. Morris said, according to a recent report in Fortune.
But it wasn’t just annual performance reviews that were troubling. Adobe’s “rank and yank” system, which forces managers to fire their least productive employees, was causing so much anger that employees were leaving the company.
That’s why, in 2012, Ms. Morris and her team replaced annual evaluations with a system called Check In. Employees and managers set specific goals at the beginning of each fiscal year. Every eight weeks, employees “check in” with their bosses to assess their progress. Rewards Check-Ins occur annually, and bosses give out raises based on how well each employee has met their goals.
Although this new system has required extra training for managers, it has caused a number of unforeseen benefits. Fewer workers are leaving, managers are having more frequent discussions with underperforming employees and overall productivity has increased. It also doesn’t hurt that Adobe’s stock price has risen from $30 to over $80 since Check In began.
“People who have turned down other offers tell us it’s partly because Check In makes them feel like we’re helping them succeed,” Ms. Morris said.
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