Performance Management (PM) has long been one of the most disliked processes in organizations. Employees dread it, managers see it as a time sink, and HR often struggles to make it fair and useful. But what if generative AI (GenAI) could help?
A recent academic summit brought together leading scholars to discuss how GenAI could transform performance management. Here’s a quick overview of what they shared, and what it means for practitioners.
Where GenAI Can Make a Difference
Researchers identified several practical ways GenAI is already being explored in PM:
1. Setting Goals and Writing Reviews
AI can help specify performance objectives based on past data, and even generate draft performance reviews — freeing up manager time and making the process more consistent.
2. Pulling Together Multiple Sources of Feedback
GenAI can integrate peer reviews, customer feedback, and productivity metrics into one picture, providing more real-time, comprehensive insights.
3. Automating Feedback and Coaching
Chatbots and AI assistants can provide immediate feedback and suggestions — even offering development tips between formal reviews.
4. Creating Tools and Templates
PM templates, evaluation rubrics, and dashboards can all be AI-generated and updated, helping standardize the process without starting from scratch each time.
5. Supporting Decision-Making
AI can recommend ratings, flag high-potential employees, and help plan development paths — offering a more objective view backed by data.
6. Saving Time and Money
Especially for smaller organizations, GenAI can reduce administrative burdens on HR teams and make PM processes more scalable.
But It’s Not All Smooth Sailing
While the opportunities are compelling, scholars are also urging caution. Here are some of the top concerns they raised:
- Loss of Human Touch: Can AI-generated coaching ever replace a meaningful conversation with a manager?
- Bias and Oversights: AI systems might miss context or reinforce existing biases if not carefully trained and audited.
- Accountability Gaps: If a manager follows an AI’s recommendation, who’s responsible if things go wrong?
- Cultural Fit: AI tools must be aligned with the organization’s values, not just imported off the shelf.
- Over-Reliance on Automation: Efficiency is good — but not if it comes at the expense of fairness or employee trust.
What Researchers Want to Explore Next
To help companies navigate this new terrain, researchers are now digging into critical questions like:
- How do employees and managers feel about AI in PM?
- Can AI really provide better coaching than human managers?
- What happens to managers’ judgment skills over time if AI takes over more decisions?
- How do we balance efficiency with accuracy, fairness, and emotional impact?
What This Means for You
If you’re in HR, people operations, or leadership, this research gives you both a green light and a yellow caution sign:
- Green Light: Start experimenting with GenAI for tasks like review summaries, goal tracking, or feedback prompts.
- Yellow Light: Be mindful of what you automate. Keep humans in the loop — especially for decisions that affect careers, emotions, and trust.
Final Thought
GenAI is opening new doors in performance management — automating the tedious, surfacing the meaningful, and giving us richer ways to understand contribution.
But let’s be clear: performance isn’t just data. It’s human. It’s relational. It’s emotional.
At Libra, we believe the future isn’t about removing people from performance conversations. It’s about giving them better tools — to reflect more honestly, recognize more fairly, and lead more humanly.
As this field evolves, the most successful organizations will be those that combine AI efficiency with human insight — and keep asking the hard questions along the way.
Want to learn more about this paper? https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01492063251325188
Want to learn more about Libra? https://makegreatworkvisible.com/introducing-libra/