Why Continuous Performance Management Beats the Annual Review (Every Time)

For decades, the annual performance review was the gold standard, a once-a-year sit-down designed to measure progress, give feedback, and plan development.

In theory, it made sense.

In practice? It’s outdated, ineffective, and doing more harm than good.

Here’s why leading companies are ditching the once-a-year review in favour of continuous performance management and seeing better results across the board.

1. Annual reviews create anxiety and delays.

When feedback is saved up for a single meeting, it becomes high-stakes. Employees spend weeks wondering what will be said. Managers scramble to remember what happened six months ago.

Instead of meaningful conversations, you get stress, surprises, and sometimes… silence.

Performance isn’t annual. Feedback shouldn’t be either.

2. Ongoing check-ins build trust and clarity.

Continuous performance management replaces the “event” of the annual review with regular, lightweight check-ins.

This creates:

• More frequent feedback that’s timely and actionable

• Stronger relationships between managers and their teams

• Clearer direction with regular goal updates and progress reviews

It’s less pressure. More progress.

3. Real-time performance drives real results.

When performance conversations happen regularly, people are more likely to:

• Stay engaged — because they feel seen and supported

• Grow faster — because they know what’s working (and what’s not)

• Perform better — because expectations stay clear and aligned

Companies that move to continuous performance see improved retention, better culture, and higher productivity — and it’s no surprise.

Why wait 12 months to fix what you could address today?

The annual review isn’t just old-school, it’s broken. If you want a high-performing team, you need more than a calendar reminder.

You need a rhythm. You need visibility. You need performance to be part of how you work not something you do once a year.

That’s what continuous performance management delivers. And that’s exactly what Frankli is built for.

Don’t let performance drift for 12 months at a time.

Let’s build a system that supports growth every day.