Even though most workers would like to know how they’re performing from time to time, companies are gradually doing away with the annual employee review.

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It turns out these yearly chats have never really been loved by the employers who offer them, and a lot goes into reviews that a regular employee may not realize.

“For the most part, over the years, they’ve tended to be plagued with a lot of issues,” said Jessica Methot with the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University. “They’re always pretty costly; they’re pretty time-consuming; we don’t always know that they’re actually driving the type of performance that we want them to be driving in terms of leveraging employees’ strengths.”

A recent analysis from Deloitte determined their review-related duties were consuming 2 million hours per year.

And, Methot said, reviews are typically relayed by managers who aren’t trained in providing feedback to employees, making for some negative experiences when the critique is handed down.

Still, employees, for the most part, would like to know how they’re doing, given the information is relayed respectfully and politely.

Methot cited a shift in the way employees are searching for feedback and how that feedback is delivered.

“Millennials are entering the workplace, and millennials are known for wanting more frequent and faster, more efficient feedback about the work they’re doing,” Methot said. “One of the things that some of these companies are doing is allowing employees to submit feedback requests at any time.”

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