Performance Reviews Are Broken—and Costing You Talent. Acorn’s AI Has a Fix
In a blow to decades of HR orthodoxy, Acorn’s latest “2025 Corporate Performance and Learning Survey” lays bare a brutal truth: performance reviews aren’t just ineffective—they’re actively harming your workforce.
According to the study, nearly 80% of senior leaders admit employees must leave their companies to earn promotions or better pay. Worse still, only 29% of employees trust how their performance is evaluated. If that sounds like a credibility crisis in the making, it is—and Acorn, a capability-driven AI performance platform, thinks it has the remedy.
“Most organizations are flying blind,” said Blake Proberts, CEO of Acorn. “They’re missing a capability layer—something that actually shows what good looks like in a role, so you can develop people with real data, not gut feelings.”
Disconnect at the Top
One of the most damning findings from the 1,200+ respondent survey is the trust gap between executives and employees. While 66% of executives express confidence in their performance tools and frameworks, only 19% of individual contributors feel the same.
That disconnect is more than a perception issue—it’s a retention problem. When performance feels arbitrary or misaligned with reality, employees disengage or leave. And they are. Acorn’s data shows performance reviews often leave people feeling stressed, uninspired, and undervalued. One in four employees even said reviews made them question their worth to the company.
Capability Is the New Currency
The solution, says Acorn, lies in capability-based systems—technology that maps what employees are actually capable of, what they need to learn, and how that aligns with business objectives. Their new product, Capabilities AI, uses this framework to automatically generate personalized development plans and align job roles with meaningful career paths.
And companies are listening.
-
89% of leaders are open to AI-powered performance systems
-
92% support a capability index as a foundation for fair performance conversations
-
95% of employees say two-way reviews are essential
Clearly, the appetite for change is real—because the status quo is exhausting.
The High Cost of Getting It Wrong
Despite wide acknowledgment that performance reviews are broken, companies are still spending heavily on tools and processes that don’t work. A staggering 36% invest between $250,000 and $1 million+ per year on performance management—and are still flying blind.
As Keith Metcalfe, President of Acorn, puts it:
“The industry has spent decades and millions trying to fix the wrong problem. We don’t need another HR process—we need a system that rewards real capability.”
Why It Matters Now
In a talent market defined by high turnover, remote work, and generational shifts in employee expectations, organizations can’t afford to cling to outdated performance rituals. AI may not be the silver bullet, but Capabilities AI represents a more honest attempt to fix performance management than slapping new dashboards on old problems.
Join thousands of HR leaders who rely on HRTechEdge for the latest in workforce technology, AI-driven HR solutions, and strategic insights.
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure. Public relations, investor relations, public policy and marketing professionals rely on Business Wire for secure and accurate distribution of market-moving news and multimedia. Founded in 1961, Business Wire is a trusted source for news organizations, journalists, investment professionals and regulatory authorities, delivering news directly into editorial systems and leading online news sources via its multi-patented NX network. Business Wire’s global newsrooms are available to meet the needs of communications professionals and news media worldwide.
