Why do we love to look at performance?

Written by: Nienke Sinnaeve, Community Manager at Rvdb, May 2025

LinkedIn is full of successes, dashboards are bulging with KPIs, and even running we share via Strava. Performance is visible, measurable and shareable. But how people-oriented is it really to judge someone on visible performance alone? At a time when the job market is tight, talent scarce and careers more erratic than ever, it is time for a fundamental question:

What does an achievement actually say about a person?

For HR professionals, this question is more than theoretical. After all, you use performance every day to make choices. Who gets a promotion? Who stands out in talent reviews? Who gets a development budget? But what if performance is just the tip of the iceberg?

Three insights that help see through performance

Performance seems objective. You see them on the resume, in evaluations, in targets and outputs. But behind every performance is a story. These three insights from social psychology will help you better understand those stories – and make better HR decisions.

1. We overestimate the individual – and underestimate the context

Suppose you see a colleague who achieves remarkably good results. Chances are you think: that person is just good at what he or she does. This seems logical, but according to social psychologists, this is exactly the fallacy we often make. This is called the fundamental attribution error : we are quick to attribute behavior to a person’s personality or talent, while underestimating the influence of context.

In practice:

• An employee who shines in a high-functioning team might struggle elsewhere.
• Someone with mediocre grades may have achieved top performance under tough conditions.

For HR, this means: don’t let achievements go, but put them in perspective. Ask questions like:

• In what kind of environment were these results achieved?
• What support or barriers were there?
• How much autonomy did a person have in his or her work?

2. Performance is not the same as potential

It seems logical: those who perform well have potential. But this is far from always true. In fact, precisely if you take talent development seriously, you need performance do not see as a direct reflection of potential.

Why. Potential is situational. It is about growth opportunity , not about what someone is already able to do. An employee who is now o nder the radar, may flourish in another role – with better guidance or more space.

Consider this difference:

For HR, this means: dare to look beyond the “usual suspects” in talent pools. Look for signals of learning ability, motivation and agility – not just results achieved.

3. Visibility is unevenly distributed

Not everyone has an equal opportunity to make their achievements visible. This has to do with culture, personality, network and even gender or ethnicity. For example, research shows that women and people from immigrant backgrounds are often less likely to be recognized for their achievements – even if they are equal to others. Similarly, introverted employees or those with a modest style of communication are less likely to come out on top in performance-based environments. The risk? You miss out on talent that is not screaming for attention but is definitely there.

For HR, this means: design your processes so that not only the loudest or most visible voices are heard. Consider:

• 360 degree feedback
• Objectified talent criteria
• Actively naming context and obstacles

What can you do as an HR professional?

Working human-centered also means: recognizing that performance does not come naturally. These three actions will help you to better interpret performance – and to really utilize potential:

1. Always ask the context question

Make it a reflex: Under what circumstances were these results achieved? Discuss that question actively in performance reviews, development plans and talent discussions.

2. Gather multiple perspectives

Use feedback from colleagues, supervisors and other sources to get a richer picture. That way you avoid being led by chance or visibility.

3. Don’t just look back – look forward

Don’t let performance be the only basis for development opportunities. Look at willingness to learn, resilience and motivation. Design your assessments and development interviews with the future in mind.

In conclusion, performance is important – but not enough

Performance is a valuable source of information. But as an HR professional, you can do more: you can make context visible, recognize potential and distribute opportunities more fairly. Especially in a performance society, you have the opportunity – and responsibility – to see the person behind the result. Or in other words, HX in action.