An engagement problem that turned out to be an appraisal problem

The challenge

Attrition was rising among two-to-four year employees. The leadership team assumed the answer was more team activities and a better festival calendar.

What we did

An anonymous engagement survey first. The data pointed almost entirely at the appraisal process — employees believed ratings were decided before the conversation. We published the rating criteria at the start of the cycle, separated the feedback conversation from the increment decision, and trained the five managers conducting most of the reviews.

The outcome

The following survey showed a clear improvement in perceived fairness of reviews, and the planned spend on team activities was redirected to manager training.