March: “Exceeds expectations.” Specific praise. Strong trajectory. Recommended for development.
October: “Performance concerns.” New language. New framing. Same person. Same work.
Nothing changed except the plan. Someone decided between March and October that this person’s story was going to end. The March review was an honest assessment. The October review was a construction project.
Performance reviews don’t document performance. They document strategy. And when the strategy changes, the reviews change retroactively — not literally, but in tone, in emphasis, in what suddenly “matters.”
The March review is filed. The October review is cited. Nobody puts them side by side.