Run Your Employee Performance Reviews Like Meta (With Step-by-Step Guidance)

You don’t just build a billion-dollar empire without a high-performing team.

Facebook (now Meta) is famously known for connecting people worldwide and fundamentally inventing the “social network” we know today. Along the way, it has acquired giants like Instagram and WhatsApp, upended traditional social media, and adapted to regional languages to expand its geographical footprint.

None of this growth would have been possible without a team of driven individuals or a carefully crafted performance review system that is structured, unbiased, and tailored to individual and company interests.

Since much of Meta’s proprietary tech is based on a rating algorithm (likes and impressions decide who gets featured on top of your feed!), you would be right to expect Meta to have a robust, data-backed, ratings-based performance review system.

So, how is Meta making this happen? And how can you quickly implement the key learnings from Meta? This article will break it down for you.

How does Meta run performance reviews?

Meta has been conducting the performance review bi-annually, at the start of the year, in January, and in the middle, in July. While Meta tried to shift to yearly reviews, they quickly reverted to the twice-yearly performance review process for providing frequent feedback.

Meta currently runs 360-degree performance reviews, where employees get feedback from peers, managers, and direct reports.

The Performance Summary Cycle is a two-week long process that kick-starts the review process for both managers and employees, and it has the following structure:

1. Self-reviews

Employees are first encouraged to send in a thorough self-assessment. The following vital questions drive the underlying narrative of the review:

1. What was your contribution this year?
2. How can you increase this contribution?

Employee sharing tips for the self-review at Meta | Source: LinkedIn

2. Peer reviews

After the self-assessment, all employees need to nominate peers to send in a review. The peers should be people who have closely worked with them on projects in the last review cycle.

3. Upward and downward feedback

Every employee writes feedback for their manager to avoid feedback that is only downward or at a similar level. Managers can also see how they can better help employees by reading their feedback. Managers also write reviews for their direct reports upon closely examining their respective self and peer reviews.

Employee insights into 360-degree feedback at Meta | Source: LinkedIn

4. Performance assessment and calibration

Performance calibration is another two-week process. Managers sit together and discuss their reports based on data collected from self and peer reviews. They present a case for employees reporting to them in this calibration meeting. At the end of the calibration meeting, ratings for all employees are finalized.

Here are the seven rating levels from highest to lowest:

1. Redefine: As the name suggests, the employees falling under this category redefine expectations by not just exceeding them but also doing things way beyond the purview of their role. Less than 5% of employees receive this grade
2. Greatly exceeds expectations: About 10% of the employees with a stellar track record receive this rating
3. Exceeds expectations: These are employees that lie in the top 35 percentile
4. Meets all expectations: These are employees that lie in the top 35 to 40 percentile
5. Meets most expectations: This rating is considered a low one, making one’s future with Meta bleak. Meeting most, but not all, expectations is a sign that employees must introspect and improve their performance over the coming months
6. Meets some expectations: Such grades are scarce. They are a strong indication of employees on the verge of getting fired
7. Does not meet: The last level is even rarer, as employees would be fired or asked to improve much before they would reach this point

A rating curve plots all employees on a graph showcasing the maxima and minima and the entire spectrum of performance that lies in between.

This rating system effectively creates a high-performance culture. All the employees would want to be part of the top 5%.

Performance calibration at Meta | Source: LinkedIn

5. Compensation

The performance assessments and the resulting ratings directly impact base pay, bonuses, and promotions. Employees’ compensation is matched to their rating using a predetermined formula.

Managers then discuss the assessment with employees in a 1:1 meeting. Finally, employees receive a compensation letter with all the details, including revised salaries and bonuses.

This structured way of conducting reviews, calibrating them, and providing transparent ratings ensures clarity and transparency. Bonuses and raises result from careful deliberation, so there is no “grey area.”

Reasons behind Meta’s current performance review system

Meta currently sticks to its biannual 360-degree reviews with performance ratings for the following reasons:

1. Actively reducing biases

Meta brought in peer reviews to avoid biases in feedback. So, performance ratings for any employee aren’t fully dependent on their relationship with the manager or if their manager is a hard grader.

2. Strongly believing in ratings

At Meta, performance reviews are highly structured and based on a rich input of quantitative data. The best part is that even employees believe in it.

3. Encouraging frequent feedback

While Meta tried to shift to annual reviews, the frequency of feedback employees received decreased. For this reason, Meta quickly returned to conducting two reviews a year.

Under the new system, managers will return to conducting two reviews each year. However, the mid-review will become less demanding, with managers rating employees only across three possible ratings and discussing the results with fewer peers under calibration meetings. The mid-year review will not have an impact on compensation.

Why Meta’s current performance review system works so well for the company

Let’s explore the key reasons why Meta’s performance review system is strongly endorsed by its employees and also referenced in multiple HR discussions.

1. Exhaustive 360-degree feedback

Meta democratizes reviews by involving all moving parts of the wheel: self, peers, manager, and direct reports. Such feedback is more well-rounded and more actionable.

2. Fairer data-driven reviews

Before deciding on the performance rating, managers can access employee self-evaluation and peer reviw. When a manager sits for a calibration meeting, they have adequate data to discuss and decide the rating.

3. Strong focus on performance

McKinsey reports that companies focusing on their people’s performance are 4.2 times more likely to outperform their peers. They realize an average of 30% higher revenue growth and experience 5% lower attrition than their peers. Meta’s entire performance-driven approach builds more trust in employees and contributes to the company’s bottom line.

Run exhaustive performance reviews like Meta

Deel Engage’s performance management module helps you set 360-degree reviews with self, peer, upward, and downward reviews.

Here is how you set up a new 360-degree feedback cycle from scratch: 

1) Name your cycle and briefly describe it

Chose a clear name so all your stakeholders understand its purpose, e.g., Annual 360 performance review. 

2) Select the appropriate feedback types

You can choose:

• Self-review
• Downward feedback
• Upward feedback
• Peer feedback

When configuring the peer feedback survey, define how many peers can participate per employee and the rules for peer selection. Additionally, consider whether the reviewee or the manager should nominate the peers.

3) Create questions for each feedback type and define rating scales

You can create all questions yourself or choose some from our available guides:

1. Essential Employee Peer Review Questions
2. 60+ Performance Review Questions for Your Next Evaluation
3. Essential Employee Self-Evaluation Questions

Meta uses a seven-scale from does not meet expectations to redefine expectations. Set up the questions with the appropriate rating scale.

4) Enable performance calibration

At Meta, calibration is an essential step of the performance evaluation process. Manager ratings are only confirmed after discusions that take place during the calibration meeting.

With Deel Engage, manages will be able to edit their ratings for each team member during the calibration phase. The employees will only see the final calibrated result.

5) Add instructions for your reviewers

You can add instructions on how to give feedback. In case of using rating scales, you can explain the scale. You can also add specific prompts for peers, or the employees themselves to consider when evaluating their own performance.

6) Design the reviewer experience

What would you like your reviewers to see while writing and submitting feedback? 

• Will your employees be able to see who will see their responses?
• Should they see whether their answers are anonymous?

7) Select the participants for your review cycle

Who will be under review? You could select specific departments, teams, or specific employees.

You could also choose everyone in the company with a single click. Simply select "All employees."

You also have the option to define workflows that automatically add employees to 360 feedback cycles, depending on their job start date, or being added to specific groups.

8) Define the timeline

Set the deadlines for all the steps of the feedback cycle you configured. 

Here are some examples of deadlines to consider for a 360 cycle:

1. For employees submitting their self-reviews
2. For employees nominating their peers
3. For managers approving the peer nominations
4. For managers submitting downward feedback
5. For reviewing and calibrating the preliminary results
6. For sharing and discussions: When will the employees access feedback from peers and managers?

9) Your feedback is ready to go live

Double-check all the details and activate the cycle.

Recently, Deel also acquired compensation management software, Assemble, which you can use to run compensation reviews smoothly on the platform. You’ll be able to link performance ratings with compensation increases for a data-driven process, like Meta's.

Features that make Deel Engage truly stand out

• With a highly customizable 360° feedback builder, it is intuitive for you to set up and build the feedback system of your dreams
• Soon you'll be able to use survey templates created by our L&D consultants—these will accelerate process creation, preventing bias and collecting high-quality data
• With the advanced anonymity settings, you can decide which feedback should be anonymous and which should not
• Moreover, feedback is directly linked with other features, like career paths, goal management, and development plans, to make it a more holistic and actionable experience for your employees

Automate workforce development and feedback with Deel Engage

Deel Engage is not just a performance review software. We help you at every stage of the worker lifecycle:

• Onboarding new hires with automated workflows
• Defining transparent career paths for all departments and creating employee development plans
• Providing regular training that helps your people move to the next level in their careers
• Running recurring surveys for measuring engagement as well as job satisfaction