Review season guide for founders and senior leaders

The review cycle is as much for you as for your team. This guide walks founders and senior leaders through running a review season that is fair, consistent, and actually useful — instead of the usual scramble of last-minute debates and confused people walking away.

What good looks like

Reviews happen for the whole company at once, on shared criteria, with calibration built in — not on scattered individual start dates where one person's "strong performer" is another's "meets expectations".

How to make reviews worth it

• Assume people will use AI — design the process around it rather than against it.
• Keep feedback and reviews separate so neither gets diluted.
• Run the cycle for the whole company at once, not person by person.
• Build and communicate shared criteria before the cycle starts.

A simple cadence

• Collect self-reflections and feedback summaries.
• Run a calibration discussion, including key leaders.
• Prepare final growth memos.

Don't want to run review season alone?

Meet Ron, the AI Talent Manager who runs it with you: check-ins and reviews on a real cadence, 1:1 prep and agendas, peer feedback and growth plans — built by Polar Bear around your processes and values, for teams of 20 to 200.