It’s time to revamp performance reviews for older employees

Published 2 Min Read

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Performance reviews don’t end when an employee reaches a certain age. However, it can be challenging for managers to give constructive feedback to older employees whose priorities are different than they were early on in their careers. 

Evaluating employees is a broad pain point for leadership: Gallup reported that 95% of managers are unhappy with their organization’s review system, and only one in four companies say their performance review systems are effective, according to Willis Towers Watson. Meanwhile, in a new survey by AARP, 72% of employees between the ages of 40-49 said they were reprioritizing the role their job plays in their overall life, and 70% said they were spending more time thinking about career goals. But what these goals are may look different from those of younger employees, as 77% also said they were taking more time to focus on personal goals and half said they were thinking about relocating in order to be closer to family. 

Regardless of their career stage, older workers still want to learn new skills and grow, according to AARP’s survey, and Teillard sees a growing trend of focusing on these aspects during the review process.  

“People are prioritizing growth over evaluation in performance reviews; they’re more about trying to find a win-win where you can grow but also that grows our business results,” she says. “That new cadence around reviews is really powerful because in the end, it’s an innate human need to desire to grow. The older you get, because you’re not as accepting as you were when you were young, you come to the world with a really healthy lens — trying to tap into that and not writing people off because they’re five years from retirement is great for an organization.”

Lee Hafner
Editor

Lee joined the EBN team in 2022, and covers areas including caregiving, employee health and wellness, healthcare innovation, and company culture. She created EBN's popular Benefits in Action and … Read full bio


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