Performance Reviews Are a Corporate Scam (And You’re the Target)

Let’s stop pretending performance reviews are useful. They’re not about growth. They’re not about recognising your hard work. And they definitely aren’t about fairness.

What they are — is a slow, calculated performance for the company’s benefit. A nice little HR ritual designed to keep control, justify pay freezes, and keep you just insecure enough to stay compliant.

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You’re Not Being Reviewed. You’re Being Controlled.

You spend months working late, fixing other people’s mess, carrying projects over the finish line, mentoring teammates, and doing more than your role ever demanded. Then performance review season rolls around, and suddenly none of that matters.

You’re told you “met expectations.”

Or worse — you get vague feedback about needing to “improve communication” or “take more ownership,” despite the fact you’ve been leading half the company by accident while your boss attended LinkedIn webinars.

It’s insulting. And it’s intentional.

Because once you exceed expectations consistently, they have to either promote you or pay you more. So they shift the goalposts. They downplay your wins. They tell you it’s “about development.” What they don’t say is that the real development is in gaslighting you into working harder for the same paycheck.

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Performance Ratings Are Just Corporate Spin

You know those little boxes on the form — “meets expectations,” “exceeds expectations,” “areas for growth.” They look objective, don’t they? Like your work can be broken into tidy categories and assessed fairly.

But let’s be honest — they’re vague on purpose. They leave room for interpretation, spin, and narrative control.

Because what’s really being judged isn’t your work — it’s your likeability. Your compliance. Whether you make management feel comfortable. Whether you smile in meetings and don’t question strategy.

I’ve seen brilliant people crushed under a “needs improvement” label because they didn’t play the game.
And I’ve seen smooth talkers who barely delivered coasting through with glowing reviews — because they “brought good energy.”

Performance reviews don’t reward competence. They reward convenience.

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What They Really Use Reviews For

Let’s drop the corporate fluff and say it plainly. Reviews are used to:

• Deny your raise while pretending it’s for your own growth
• Build a paper trail in case they need to fire you
• Avoid promoting you while stringing you along with empty promises
• Tick the HR compliance box for “employee engagement” without actually engaging anyone

They’re not measuring your value. They’re protecting the company from you asking for more.

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The Moral: Stop Giving the Review More Respect Than It Deserves

If your review feels like it’s been written by someone who watched your work from 100 metres away through frosted glass, you’re not imagining things.

This isn’t about fairness. This isn’t about your effort. This is a system built to make sure you keep grinding, stay quiet, and never ask too many questions.

So here’s what to do:

• Document your own wins. Keep receipts. Build your own narrative.
• Push back on vague feedback. Ask for specifics. Make them work for the criticism.
• Use the review as leverage — or ignore it entirely.
• If it’s all theatre, treat it like theatre. Smile, nod, and plan your exit.

Because while they’re busy handing out participation trophies and “growth areas,” you’re the one doing the real work — and if they won’t recognise that, someone else will.