Currently 81% of U.S. businesses use or plan to use continuous performance management, which includes ongoing feedback and regular check-ins between managers and employees. In the past 12 months, one-third of companies have eliminated rankings and ratings, and over half have begun to implement a more frequent goal-setting process. Yet of the 99% of HR executives who have committed to changing their performance management process, 58% have yet to start those changes.

"There has been a growing movement for organizations to abandon the annual review process, which quickly created the disillusion that better, more frequent systems were already up and running," said Kris Duggan, CEO of BetterWorks. "We launched our survey to determine where the majority of companies stand in their performance management overhaul journey. It's clear that while the industry is moving in the right direction, there is more work to be done."

As HR leaders overhaul their organizations' performance management processes, they strengthen the employee experience. The survey pointed to several top trends happening simultaneously across today's workforce, including:

• INCREASED SPENDING FOR PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. 79% of HR executives plan to increase their spending on performance management processes in 2018—and 43% expect to increase their budget by 10% or more.
• HR EXECUTIVES FIND FLAWS WITH ANNUAL REVIEWS. When asked about the biggest flaws of the annual review process, the top response was that they cause too much tension and anxiety for employees and managers—and 41% believe they fail to actually improve employee performance at all.
• CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMS LEGACY HR. At organizations that have a CPM system in place, 85% of managers provide employees feedback quarterly or monthly. HR executives are using continuous performance management to transition from a legacy performance management process to an ongoing experience.
• ONGOING FEEDBACK IS BEST PRACTICE FOR MANAGING YOUNGER GENERATION. 83% of respondents believe feedback that is provided regularly throughout an employee's tenure is more important for younger generation employees than older generation employees. Similarly, most HR executives (90%) say that leveraging technology in the feedback and check-in process is crucial for successfully managing younger generation employees.
• GROWING EMPHASIS ON REWARDING FOR PERFORMANCE. 47% of HR executives plan to increase spot bonuses, or bonuses given for exceptional work. As performance management becomes more continuous, managers gain visibility into who is performing beyond expectations and can recognize them accordingly.

"The survey results revealed a connection between the switch to regular, ongoing feedback and the movement many organizations are making to operationalize their workforce," said Duggan. "The two go hand-in-hand. Performance management is surfacing important information—including performance data—allowing businesses to stay agile and make informed decisions to optimize employee recognition and performance."