I wish HR was like happy hour

HR Happy Hour episode 59 features Professor Samuel from UCLA who wrote a book about the stupidity of performance reviews. I was pretty surprised to hear him say that there is not one positive thing connected to performance reviews and that it leads to poor management. Management by objectives in Professor Sam's opinion is silly because it tells managers to set objectives at the beginning of the review period and then sit back and wait for employees to perform. I agree that is not a good management practice, but if you use a performance review along with continuous conversations and feedback on performance, it can be useful. If you use software like Success Factors for performance reviews, it is a good way to track performance throughout the year. Performance reviews are not objective in his opinion, so they are a waste of time. He says objectives are the same for sales people and accountants, but they really aren't always. Companies often have different goals for different positions. He says that bosses give good reviews to employees who suck up to them, but he is not suggesting any good alternatives to performance reviews. Whether the manager is writing a review or giving constant feedback throughout the year in another way, the content will still be subject to their opinions. He suggests creating a setting where employees can talk openly and honestly with managers. I don't see why you can't create that environment and have performance reviews.