We are tempted to use AI to write our quarterly performance reviews and evaluate whether employees GWC their seats based on digital activity metrics. How do we ensure our employee review process remains strictly human to preserve trust while still utilizing objective AI data?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Using AI to measure keystrokes or automatically write performance feedback is a fast track to destroying employee trust and killing your culture. Performance management is a core leadership function that cannot be outsourced to software.

Use digital metrics and AI reports strictly as objective inputs, never as the final evaluator. AI can track technical outputs, such as average ticket resolution times or completed tasks. Use this data as one point of reference to inform your quarterly conversations.

Evaluating whether an employee gets it, wants it, and has the capacity to do the job is a human judgment call. It requires understanding their attitude, their alignment with your core values, and their relationship with the rest of the team. A machine cannot measure a person's alignment with your company culture.

When conducting quarterly reviews, use your face-to-face conversations to build trust and alignment. Review the AI-generated operational metrics together with the employee to identify training opportunities or process bottlenecks. Use the data to solve problems, not to issue cold, automated verdicts.

By keeping the evaluation process strictly human, you show your team that you respect them. This maintains your organization's alignment with your core charter of trust and open communication, ensuring your people feel supported rather than monitored by an algorithm.