Performance Reviews with Rekog

Why Traditional Performance Reviews Fall Short

Let’s face it: most performance review processes are broken. They’re often guided by rigid quarterly or annual cycles, rely heavily on subjective self-assessments and manager impressions, and rarely take into account all the small wins (and misses) that happen day-to-day. As a result, employees often feel that their work is only evaluated by what happened in the last few weeks of the review cycle, while managers juggle writing pages of feedback with limited insight into each person’s detailed contributions.

The result? A flawed process that frustrates employees and doesn’t provide the clarity or motivation organizations need to move forward.

Introducing Rekog's Performance Reviews

With Rekog’s new Performance Reviews feature—powered by data from your team’s real work—you can move beyond gut feelings and outdated review cycles. Our platform is already well-known for AI-curated skill profiles, gleaned from integrated sources like Slack, GitHub, and Stack Overflow. Now, we’ve taken this foundation and built a robust, continuous feedback loop that simplifies and enriches performance evaluations.

Key Differentiators

1. Objective, AI-Driven Data
   Rekog gathers evidence of skills and contributions as they happen—be it merging a complicated Pull Request, solving a tough technical question on Stack Overflow, or offering stellar feedback on Slack. There’s no second-guessing if the review is accurate; it’s right there in your activity history.

2. Continuous Micro-Feedback
   Rather than waiting for a quarterly or annual review, managers and peers can leave micro-feedback in the moment. This means employees can see a timeline of how they’ve performed over time—not just their most recent accomplishments.

3. Manager’s Copilot
   Rekog’s built-in intelligence, known as the Manager’s Copilot, interprets these contributions, highlights key milestones, and surfaces any potential issues. This helps managers quickly pinpoint who might need extra support, who’s ready for a promotion, and where the team stands in terms of skill coverage.

4. Dynamic Skill Assessments
   Skills are never static. As an employee’s responsibilities change, or as they pick up new skills at hackathons or open-source projects, Rekog updates their profile automatically. Performance Reviews tap into this evolving skill data to provide a holistic, up-to-date perspective.

How Performance Reviews Work in Rekog

1. Integrations at the Core
   Rekog continuously pulls data from Slack, GitHub, and more to update employees’ skill profiles. Each relevant contribution gets flagged as a new “skill fact,” feeding into their performance review. With the Manager’s Copilot, you can also integrate third-party sources—like project management tasks or specialized tools—to broaden your view of each employee’s performance.

2. Real-Time Summaries
   Instead of rummaging through old emails or sprint reports, managers can open an employee’s Rekog profile and immediately see AI-curated highlights:

   • Skills with the highest growth over the last review period
   • Recognitions from peers or helpful code reviews
   • Links to any milestone achievements (e.g., “Completed 5 pull requests on Kubernetes Operators”)

3. Periodic or On-Demand Reviews
   You decide when to run a formal review. Rekog compiles all recent contributions and feedback into a structured summary. If your organization still needs to do quarterly reviews, you can; but if you prefer a rolling approach that fosters ongoing growth, Rekog is flexible enough to handle that.

4. Actionable Feedback, Not Just Scores
   Employees get more than just a rating. They see exactly what they did that earned praise—down to the Slack thread or GitHub commit—along with suggestions on how to keep growing. For managers, this means less guesswork about how to help employees improve.

5. Manager’s Copilot Insights
   For managers overseeing large teams, the Copilot surfaces patterns you might miss manually. For example, it can detect if an engineer’s contributions have dipped below their own historical average and nudge you to check in with them, or highlight employees consistently going above and beyond in leadership or mentorship roles—making it easier to recognize and reward hidden talent.

Why It Matters

For Employees

• Clarity on Strengths and Opportunities: With AI-curated profiles, your work speaks for itself. You can pinpoint exactly where you shine and where you could improve, backed by real data rather than guesswork.
• Reduced Stress: You’re not waiting months to learn how you’re doing. Quick, continuous feedback shows you if you’re on track or if you need help before it’s too late.

For Managers

• Data-Driven Decisions: No more “I think you did well.” You have proof—GitHub commits, Slack contributions, feedback from peers. This fosters transparency and fairness.
• Time Savings: The Manager’s Copilot helps you surface the most important insights in seconds. That means less time combing through spreadsheets and more time guiding your team.
• Proactive Coaching: The system highlights early warning signs—like skill gaps or declining motivation—so you can intervene faster and keep employees engaged.

For Organizations

• Efficient Talent Allocation: Identify who’s actually skilled at what, then allocate resources accordingly. Spot skill gaps before they become major issues.
• Better Retention and Engagement: Employees who feel seen and valued are far more likely to stick around. Rekog fosters a culture of recognition, growth, and transparent feedback.

Getting Started

If you’re already a Rekog user, you’ll notice the new Direct Reports & Performance Reviews menu under your Organization sidebar.

As a manager, you must Start Performance Review for your Direct Reports so Rekog can gather all relevant info for your organization’s employees.

Once you do, Performance Summaries begin appearing automatically in each person’s profile, blending AI-driven data with peer recognition.

Meanwhile, each user can fill out their personal assessment:

Managers then review and provide their own assessments:

Finally, managers can schedule any follow-up conversations as needed, then Finalize the review with the user:

Employees can also view an overview of their performance reviews across the organization:

Outro

Rekog’s Performance Reviews were built to give teams the insights, fairness, and focus they deserve—without the overhead of traditional processes. By combining AI-driven data with human touchpoints, these reviews help employees showcase their skills, managers make better decisions, and organizations consistently foster growth.

Ready to transform your performance reviews? Log in to Rekog or sign up today to see how continuous feedback can drive your team to new levels of clarity, development, and success.