We write ours in March and actually give the reviews in May - usually just days before the raises go into effect.
Our CIO has pretty much said that there is no way that anyone is perfect and there should be at least 3 suggestions for how to improve.
Our company did a survey of workplace satisfaction end of last year. The average nationwide is 71. The company came in around 67 and our IT dept came in at 61. So, there's a big push to make improvements in our management style. So, the executive managers (Group VP's and CEO) have put it on us middle level managers to fix things. How do you get 25 busy people in a room to figure it out? We've all pretty much agreed that the issue is that everything is driven by the project plan, which is never accurate because of all the various demands that are introduced throughout the year. That pressure comes from the top and the CEO doesn't recognize that is the leading factor in being unable to make it a happier place. Another thing we all agree on is that each group is not administered consistently. In my group, we tell people if you want training, look for it and we'll try to get it approved if the cost, timing and value is available. We also allow people to take any in-house classes as long as nothing pressing is occurring. The other groups aren't even allowed to take in-house courses and are not encouraged to look for other venues. With the exception of one or 2 people, I think people like being in our group - it's definitely less political and we make efforts not to finger point when things go wrong, unlike the other areas.
Anyway, YES, I hate writing reviews and doing my self-evaluation.
