I was young, a not-so-experienced HR lead in a mid-sized company that had just been taken into private ownership. The Managing Director was open to innovation, and I was eager to bring in what I had learned earlier.
The process of “performance review” was one of the big topics in my degree. So I did everything by the book:
- Thoroughly reviewed all job descriptions
- Carefully mapped roles across the organization
- Built a superb and well-structured competency matrix
- Set clear and fair KPIs to assess roles objectively
- Sent out comprehensive assessment forms
- Scheduled meaningful 1:1 review discussions
Then the new Owner of the company – a seasoned businessman with a formidable presence – called me on my phone: “Georgina, what is this whole performance review circus about?”
I explained him what it was for and where we were in the process. He listened and then said: “There’s a lot of noise around this. People don’t want it. If they don’t want it, why are we forcing it?”
There were words I should have picked up on: “don’t want it”, “forcing it”, “why”.
But back then, in a small industrial town in northern Hungary, we didn’t consider preparing people for change. We didn’t care about their buy-in. We didn’t define roles in the change process… At that time, we only cared about the Managing Director’s requests – and about who dared to push back.
Now, watch the world – and me – changing…!
What I missed back then
I thought the process itself was the value. But employees didn’t care about job maps or skill matrix, and performance reports – they cared about what this new performance review process would mean for them.
- Would it affect their pay?
- Would they get less or more bonus?
- Was it to highlight their weaknesses?
- Would they lose their job?
Because we probably never answered those questions the way they believed us, people saw the performance review as an imposed control mechanism, not as a tool for development. That’s why it created resistance instead of engagement.
What buy-in really means
Looking back, I realize that buy-in is not about convincing people to accept a process. It’s about showing them a benefit they can connect to.
In performance reviews, those benefits can be:
- Finally getting clear goals and expectations.
- Having structured time to talk about development.
- Identifying strengths that were never recognized before.
- Access to training or new opportunities.
If these benefits aren’t visible, the process feels like paperwork. If they are visible, people start to own it.
What I would do differently today
If I were to lead that project now, I would do things very differently:
- Start with listening. I’d ask what people need before I tell them what’s coming.
- Make the “why” visible. Not in abstract terms but in daily realities.
- Get leaders to own it. Not just approve it, but model it. Show that it’s worth doing.
- Talk about benefit, not process. No one gets excited about assessment forms or 1o1s. However, they do care about clarity, growth, and recognition.
Change doesn’t succeed when the process is well-designed and correct. It succeeds when people believe in it.
Belief only comes when the benefit is visible and personal.
If people see clarity, growth, or recognition, they lean in. If they don’t, the best-designed process will still feel like control.
Here’s what this taught me about change…
I thought resistance was about people being difficult. Now I know: resistance was the clearest feedback I could have received.
They weren’t rejecting the idea. They were rejecting the way it was introduced. They didn’t say no to development. They said no to doing something they didn’t understand or trust.
The annual review process was rolled out, and months later people did acknowledge its benefits. However, it would have been much easier if I had taken a different approach.
👉 Question for you: How do you make the benefits of change visible so that real buy-in can happen?
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