Meet Jamie Resker, Founder and Practice Leader of Employee Performance Solutions

Performance Management Frustrations & Fix
Jamie’s Journey to a New Approach
01: Improving Performance Reviews, Again and Again...
Endless Tweaks, Same Frustrations
In HR, we’re all too familiar with the cycle of tweaking performance management—adjusting ratings, redefining competencies, redesigning forms, testing new tools—each time, hoping this will be the solution. Jamie spent years on this carousel. One small (and slightly optimistic) example? Changing “Meets Expectations” to “Solid Performer”—hoping managers might embrace this middle ground instead of jumping to “Exceeds” or “Outstanding.” But as Jamie quickly discovered, when ratings are tied to pay, no manager wants to ding someone’s earnings. And so, the cycle continued, with Jamie tweaking, adjusting, and still searching for a way to get it just right.

02. The Give Feedback Early and Often Frustration...
Why Don't Managers Speak Up?
One of Jamie’s biggest frustrations in HR—and one familiar to every HR pro—was constantly reminding managers to “give feedback early and often.” It sounds simple enough—“when you see something, say something.” Yet, managers often skipped these crucial conversations, coming to HR only when issues had escalated. Too often, Jamie found they hadn’t even discussed the problem with the employee. Instead of starting a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), she’d send them back to have that overdue conversation. It felt unfair to the employee, left in the dark about issues they could have corrected if only they’d known.

03. The Shock of Being on the Other Side
Jamie’s Struggle with Feedback and Reviews as a First-Time Manager
Jamie’s real wake-up call came when she managed her own team. As Head of HR for a fast-growing tech company, she went from a solo HR role to leading a team of ten.
Giving Feedback is a Major Challenge
Suddenly, she was in the manager’s shoes, hesitating to give feedback—it felt awkward and uncomfortable. What should she say? How would they respond? This discomfort, especially around behavior-based issues, showed her just how hard it was to follow the same advice she’d given others.
The Eye-Opening Reality of Jamie's “Perfect” Annual Review Process
For the first time, Jamie had to write and deliver annual reviews for ten team members—a process she had designed and believed was ideal. But it quickly became clear this was far from a good experience. Her insight into why managers dreaded them became crystal clear. What she once saw as a valuable tool was a repetitive, backward-looking process that didn’t move the needle.

04. Time for a Whole New System:
No more adjusting forms, ratings, and reminding managers to give feedback
Now, with a whole new perspective—not just as an HR leader, but as a manager—Jamie ditched the idea of endlessly reworking annual reviews. She knew that they'd ultimately fall short no matter how many adjustments. She also had a clearer understanding of managers' challenges when simply told to “give feedback early and often.” There had to be a better way.

The 3 Steps to Fixing Performance Management
Ditch Annual Reviews, Assess Performance Without Ratings, & Provide Performance Feedback Training
Step #1: Drop Annual Reviews (*if you can)
One High-Stake Meeting for a Year’s Worth of Feedback
Annual Reviews are often packaged as “development conversations,” but in reality, they’re mostly about pay and ratings. In HR, we say, “At least there’s one documented conversation.” But let’s be real—this low bar doesn’t serve anyone, squeezing a year’s feedback into one conversation and leaving employees without ongoing support.
*Sometimes, in HR, we're stuck with annual reviews. It's perfectly ok to have an annual review process. But, you can ensure smaller, forward-looking manager-team member conversations focusing on what's working now and how you can be even more effective moving forward.

Step #2: Assess Performance Without Ratings
The Creation of the Employee Performance Continuum
Single-rating categories were outdated and missed the mark in capturing true performance, but Jamie knew tracking performance was essential. HR and managers needed real-time insight into each team member's effectiveness to spark forward-focused conversations.
Jamie’s solution? The Employee Performance Continuum is a visual model she developed to help managers clearly assess performance through work results and observed behaviors/actions. Unlike backward-looking reviews, it provides a real-time view, guiding managers to lead specific, growth-oriented conversations beyond task-based one-to-ones.
This tool became a game-changer in simplifying and more fairly and holistically understanding performance.
To drive the right conversations, performance must still be assessed, but not with annual reviews and ratings.

Step #3: Acknowledge That Giving Feedback Isn’t Instinctive
Jamie's Pathway to Developing Immediately Applicable Feedback Tools and Training
In most organizations, performance management training focuses on the process, such as steps, due dates, online tools, etc. What's missing is supporting managers in knowing what to say to share impactful performance feedback regularly. Jamie searched for a vendor, but most training was for delivering constructive criticism or topics that felt generic and not applicable.
Recognizing a gap in the countless traditional performance feedback training programs, Jamie began developing what turned into the Root Cause Analysis Process to clarify performance issues, and the Turnaround Method, to create wording not focused on past performance, but future expectations.
Learn, Try, and Apply Tools & Training
Jamie’s approach centers on immediate application. In her "learn, try, and apply" training, participants aren’t just given concepts—they walk away with conversation techniques they can use right away, making each interaction count toward growth and improvement.

Impact and Recognition
The impact was clear. With positive feedback from employees, managers, and leadership alike, Jamie knew she was onto something. This success led to invitations to speak at conferences and ultimately to founding Employee Performance Solutions, where she partners with organizations eager to transform their performance management.
Jamie’s journey reflects her passion for helping teams build meaningful, regular conversations that move beyond the limits of traditional performance reviews.
