In this article John Herlihey of Google explains the company's view of the importance of performance reviews and 360 Degree Feedback:
"We measure people every 90 days. We get 360-degree feedback on people every 180 days and that feedback is published to the whole company. People want reality. Ninety per cent of the rewards end up going to 10pc of the people".
3 monthly reviews and 6 monthly 360 Feedback is certainly tough and takes a lot of effort and commitment from the company the staff.
Critically, What it does do is keep people really focused on what the key things they need to do, on what they learn and how to put that learning into practice.
Google's focus on constant review, feedback and action is probably one of the reasons for its success.