How is a one-on-one different from a performance review?
Dongyoung Kim, CPO
A performance review examines results over a set period, while a one-on-one happens more regularly and focuses on managing the process and supporting growth. Reviews usually take place twice a year or once a year to deliver an evaluation; one-on-ones take place every week to month, so that leaders and team members understand each other's context and agree on next actions together.
Side-by-side comparison
Performance reviews and one-on-ones are both one-to-one meetings between a leader and a team member, so they are easy to confuse. But their purpose, cadence, and time frame differ.
| Performance review | One-on-one | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Review performance over a period and deliver an evaluation | Manage the process and agree on growth and next actions |
| Cadence | Twice a year or once a year | Every one week to one month |
| Flow of the conversation | The leader delivers the evaluation | A scheduled meeting that covers what the team member raises and the support they need |
| Time focus | Results from the period that has passed | Work in progress and what comes next |
| Style | Much of the time goes to explaining the evaluation | Two-way conversation between leader and team member |
| Center of the conversation | Evaluation criteria and results | The team member's situation and the support they need |
| What remains | A rating and feedback | Notes from the conversation and each person's action items |
Performance reviewtwice a year or once a year
One-on-oneevery one week to one month (here: every two weeks)
Why aren't performance reviews enough?
As the table shows, a review looks at a period that is already over. It comes too late to correct difficulties or differences in direction that built up in the meantime, and team members tend to hear feedback for the first time at the review.
Long gaps also blur the reviewer's memory. Last month feels more vivid than six months ago, and a single standout event can set the impression of the whole person. With thin evidence, it is also tempting to play it safe and cluster everyone in the middle. Recording goals, progress, and feedback in one-on-ones as you go means you can look at records instead of memory at review time.
Adobe dropped its annual review and stack ranking in favor of "Check-in" conversations every quarter between managers and employees. In 2014, an Adobe HR executive said voluntary attrition had fallen 25% over two years (Chief Learning Officer, 2014). But that figure comes from the company itself and other factors may have contributed, so it cannot be credited to the change in review process alone.
Does a one-on-one replace the performance review?
So should one-on-ones replace performance reviews? That depends on your organization's evaluation and pay system. If you keep formal reviews, one-on-ones manage the process leading up to them; if you change the system, regular conversations fill that role. Either way, they share one thing: they do not wait for the evaluation date and talk on a short cycle.
Gallup also found that employees whose managers hold regular meetings with them were almost three times as likely to be engaged as those whose managers do not, though this is a correlation (Gallup, 2015).
How to run both together
Most organizations keep their review system and run one-on-ones alongside it. To keep the two from undermining each other, follow these five practices.
- We recommend not discussing ratings or scores in one-on-ones. Once evaluation enters the room, team members find it harder to bring up honest concerns.
- Use one-on-one notes as evidence in the review. When goals, commitments, and progress agreed along the way are on record, team members find it easier to accept the evaluation.
- Keep one-on-ones as a separate meeting even during review season, so they do not turn into reviews.
- Align on direction in one-on-ones before the review, so the evaluation is never news to the team member.
- In the review itself, do not deliver the result only out loud; leave it in writing with the evidence. Explaining in advance how the result feeds into pay also prevents misunderstanding.
Further reading
Cases of companies that changed their review systems, and the limits of traditional reviews, are covered in more depth on the Orblit blog (in Korean).
- Why Microsoft and Adobe abolished the year-end review (Korean)
- The problems with annual KPI-based reviews, as HBR warns (Korean)
- Continuous performance management instead of year-end reviews (Korean)
Running reviews and one-on-ones together requires records of your conversations. Orblit 1on1 has AI help with notes, summaries, and action items. Learn more at Orblit 1on1.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q.Is it OK to talk about evaluation in a one-on-one?
- We do not recommend it. Once ratings or scores enter the conversation, team members find it harder to raise honest concerns. Talk about goals, progress, and feedback instead, so the review holds no surprises.
- Q.Can one-on-one notes be used in performance reviews?
- It depends on your organization's evaluation policy. If you do, tell team members in advance and rely on factual records such as the progress of agreed goals and commitments. This is Orblit's suggestion.
- Q.If reviews go away, are one-on-ones enough?
- Adobe dropped its annual review in favor of quarterly check-ins, and some managers fold them into weekly or monthly one-on-ones (Chief Learning Officer, 2014). What fits depends on your organization's evaluation and pay system.
Sources
- Adobe Checks In With Performance Conversations · Chief Learning Officer · 2014-08-22
- Employees Want a Lot More From Their Managers · Gallup (Jim Harter, Amy Adkins) · 2015-04-08