The How and Why of Performance Review Calibration

This practical guide explains performance review calibration as the process of standardizing employee performance ratings across related teams to mitigate bias, create consistency, and ensure fairness across different managers and departments. The article details two primary calibration approaches: one-on-one conversations between HR and managers for smaller organizations, and calibration committees for larger organizations where managers collaboratively review and reach consensus on ratings. Engineering leaders will learn how to implement clear rating scales, define precise performance criteria, establish expected performance distributions, and separate performance discussions from compensation conversations to create objective, fair, and consistent review processes.