The Heart of Performance Report

A data-backed look at how performance really shows up at work.

Performance management is meant to help people grow.
But how does it actually feel day to day?

We asked professionals across roles and industries how performance shows up in real work… through goals, feedback, and conversations.

No hypotheticals.
Just lived experience.

Some signals are encouraging.
Others show where performance quietly drifts off track.

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Four uncomfortable truths from the data

Truth 01

37%

"Performance" already feels stressful

the word triggers pressure or anxiety first… not motivation.

Before any review starts, the tone is already working against you.

Truth 02

56%

Many people don't actually know what "good" looks like

aren't clearly confident about what doing a good job means.

If people don't know how to win, they stop trying to stand out.

Truth 03

~50%

Feedback often arrives after the damage is done

say feedback shows up mainly when something goes wrong.

That's not coaching. That's a post-mortem.

Truth 04

1 in 4

Performance doesn't feel like support

clearly experience performance as supportive.

For everyone else, it feels like tracking, mixed signals, or quiet judgment.

When performance feels like surveillance, people perform for optics… not growth.

The voices in this report

Respondent Breakdown

HR Professionals

41%

Individual Contributors

25%

Senior Leaders

24%

Managers & Team Leads

10%

A mix of perspectives from people experiencing performance and shaping it.

Years of Experience

10+ yrs

66%

6–10 yrs

17%

3–5 yrs

14%

0–2 yrs

Most respondents have seen multiple approaches to performance over their careers. Their answers come from experience, not theory.

Industries Represented

Technology

Financial Services

Healthcare

Professional Services

Manufacturing

Retail & Consumer

Telecom

These reflect the most represented industries in our responses, not the full list. Because performance conversations don't belong to one sector. They show up anywhere people work.

Want the full picture?

The full report goes deeper.‍
‍More data, more patterns, more "oh wow, that explains a lot."

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If performance feels harder than it should, this will help you see why.

Sarika Lamont

Chief People Officer, Vidyard

Most platforms only record the past. Klaar is built for what’s next - its AI predicts outcomes, guides fair calibrations, and frees HR from manual work. It turns performance from admin overhead into a growth lever.

Time to

Gain a unified view of performance. Create equitable reviews in seconds. Weave brilliant insights into every working day. It’s time to make performance management your biggest driver of success – with Klaar.

More on Klaar’s frequently asked questions page about our system and processes.

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