When to Use 1-on-1s Versus Reviews 

In this article:

• Overview
• About Reviews
• About 1-on-1s
• Cultural Aspects Needed
• Decision Points
• Use Cases for 1-on-1s vs. Reviews

Overview

Designing or redesigning your organization’s approach to performance management includes many decisions. One of those may be whether to use frequent 1-on-1 conversations or more traditional performance reviews as the basis for performance management and enablement. This guide is designed to help you think though the which tool is most aligned with your organization’s culture. 

Reviews 

Ideal for: 

• Competency-Driven Conversations: Mid-year and/or annual performance conversations centered around competencies or skills. 

• Rating Usage: Need for ratings to support compensation or job pathing decisions. 

• Complex Templates: Using multiple scales on the template (e.g., competence rating scale and performance rating scale). 

 

1-on-1s 

Ideal for: 

• Continuous Development: Supporting ongoing learning and skill growth rather than just evaluating past performance. 

• Agile Environments: Providing real-time feedback, frequent course-correcting, and developmental guidance in high-growth or agile environments. 

• Coaching Culture: Promoting trust, dialogue, and employee ownership of performance and development through regular coaching conversations. Frequent conversations cover immediate and long-term projects, priorities, development, and growth. 

• Matrixed Work: Ensuring timely and relevant feedback in collaborative, matrixed, or project-based work settings where employees may be coached by multiple leaders. 

• Manager Capability: Leveraging the skills and time of trained managers to have impactful, informal conversations. 

• Clear Performance Metrics: Using goal progress, 360-feedback, cross-functional feedback, and 1-on-1s to align on performance without relying on formal reviews. 

Cultural Aspects Needed: 

• Psychological Safety: Encouraging open sharing of concerns, asking for help, and admitting mistakes without repercussions. 

• Growth Mindset: Valuing learning, seeing mistakes as opportunities, and rewarding improvement over perfection. 

• Feedback Culture: Normalizing timely, specific, and two-way feedback. 

• Strong Manager Capability: Ensuring managers are trained to have meaningful 1-on-1s, ask good questions, listen well, and support development. 

• Clear Expectations and Accountability: Ensuring employees understand their goals, how they tie to team or company strategy, and what good performance means. Holding employees to clear standards and addressing performance issues proactively and fairly. 

• Leadership Modeling: Leaders regularly coach their teams, participate in 1-on-1s, and are transparent about their own growth and feedback. 

 

Decision Points 

Reviews: 

• Mid-year and/or annual performance conversations heavily driven by competencies or skills. 

• Need to utilize ratings as part of the performance review. 

• Use of multiple rating scales on the template. 

• Desire to leverage "Summary Assistant" for complex review forms. 

• Desire to use "Answer Assistant" to help managers write effective reviews. 

• Traditional approach to performance management with a journey towards continuous conversations. 

 

1-on-1s: 

• Mid-year and/or annual performance conversations include straightforward and simple performance ratings. 

• Continuous performance approach with dynamic and agile conversations about performance and development throughout the year. 

• Performance is discussed regularly, such as on a quarterly basis, in addition to mid-year or end-of-year conversations. 

• Potentially combined with Talent Reviews  

Use Cases for Reviews Versus 1-on-1s:

	Reviews	1-on-1s
Complexity	Heavy usage of competencies and/or skills	Simple, straight forward conversations
Ratings	Use of multiple rating scales on one template	Simple or no ratings
Frequency	Biannual or annual cycles driven by HR	Regular (weekly, monthly or quarterly), driven by managers and employees
Other tools used	May be using goals, feedback, recognition, 1-on-1s (between reviews) and Talent Reviews	Likely leveraging regular goal updates, feedback, recognition and Talent Reviews
Organizational Goals	Performance Management: Risk mitigation, reflective	Performance Enablement: Employee driven and leader supported growth, development and performance to support high performing, agile teams.