In a significant shift to its annual appraisal system, e-commerce behemoth Amazon has formally instructed its corporate employees to compile and submit a list of three to five key accomplishments as part of the Forte performance review process. This move, detailed in an internal guideline and reported by Business Insider, marks a more formal and results-oriented approach to evaluating staff.
What Amazon's New Forte Guidelines Demand
The internal directive requires employees to provide specific examples of projects, goals, initiatives, or process improvements that demonstrate the tangible impact of their work. The guidelines encourage staff to consider situations where you took risks or innovated, even if it didn't lead to the results you hoped for. Beyond past achievements, employees must also outline actionable plans for their continued growth within the company.
This development is notable as it represents the first time Amazon has explicitly structured the Forte review around a formal list of individual accomplishments. Previously, the self-assessment component involved broader questions about employees' super powers, areas of interest, and contributions.
How Forte Impacts Salary and the Bigger Picture
The Forte review plays a crucial role in determining employee remuneration. Managers synthesize the listed accomplishments with peer feedback, adherence to Amazon's Leadership Principles, and job-specific skills to assign an Overall Value rating, which directly influences annual compensation and pay decisions.
This revised initiative underscores CEO Andy Jassy's ongoing strategy to foster a more disciplined and performance-driven corporate culture. Since taking the helm, Jassy has implemented a full return-to-office mandate, streamlined management layers, and overhauled compensation structures to primarily reward top performers.
A Wider Industry Shift Towards Accountability
Amazon's policy change reflects a broader transformation in the tech industry's approach to workforce management. The sector has become increasingly demanding, with a focus on measurable output. This trend was notably initiated by Elon Musk at Twitter (now X) in 2022, who required weekly achievement reports. Meta's Mark Zuckerberg subsequently declared a year of increased intensity, and even Google has adopted stricter performance metrics.
Interestingly, some teams at Amazon, including advertising and IMDb TV, had already begun piloting a similar accomplishment-focused question in their Forte reviews earlier. Paul Kotas, head of advertising, had informed his team that highlighting specific achievements helps facilitate more productive discussions with managers.
The formalisation of this process across the corporate workforce signals a new era of accountability and results-oriented evaluation at one of the world's largest employers.
