HR/recruiting people: is this kosher?

[v]

For once, a question that isn't about me!  But my husband told me this yesterday and it seemed really odd to me, so I'm curious...

Husband's friend is currently at an accounting firm, and is about to get an offer from a private equity firm.  As part of the recruiting/vetting process, the PE firm asked for copies of friend's reviews over the last year at the accounting firm.  Apparently friend has easy access to his evaluation forms and can print them out from the firm intranet or what-have-you.

But still -- these seem like something that would be confidential, no?  Is this a typical request?  Would this fly at your company?

[oreos]

I work for an accounting firm and that does not sound kosher to me.

I'm pretty sure some of my performance evaluations include client names (discussions of my performance on significant engagements) so releasing those would be a no-no.

[flygirl22]

We would be allowed to provide our own reviews (sounds like that's what's happening), but HR or management couldn't provide someone else's for hiring purposes. I've heard of it being asked here for internal applicants.

[Susie]

Wow, no, my firm would never ask for those re: a new hire or share them. I have copies of my own, but I'd be a little skeeved if a prospective employer asked for them, even though I have nothing to hide in them.

[arterr0]

I work in insurance, and was asked for two years of performance evals by my current employer early during the interview process. I had been self employed for 18 months prior to applying for this position, and no longer had access to my old reviews. I told them as much, and offered to provide additional references. They did not push the issue, but I understand this is their standard practice.

[halfpint]

Not typical in my experience, and I've worked in the financial industry. I've only worked for larger, corporate employers, though, and I think they tend to be a little more careful about these things. I'm trying to think of how this could be a liability...and I'm sure it falls along the same lines as companies who will not provide any information beyond verification of employment dates and maybe title/salary.

While I have nothing to hide from past performance reviews, this still would make me feel a little uncomfortable. Not quite on the same level as asking for access to my Facebook page, but still uncomfortable.

[L]

I once saw this on the list of required application documents for a federal job.  And I'm pretty sure H has been asked for this in the past when applying for jobs at private companies.

It would be hilarious for me to turn in my most recent performance evaluation.  My position's "performance criteria" have very little to do with what I actually do.  I'm not sure that "meets expectations" in "complete expense reports in a timely manner" would add much to making a competent hiring decision, lol.

[AAM2012]

Our reviews have a "must not be shared without management approval" on every page....so I would be hesitant to do it. If he doesn't have some kind of approval requirement then I see no reason not to provide.

[Deleted]

My company would definitely not approve of giving those out.

[Deleted]

I think as long as it doesn't include company confidential information (i.e. specifics about clients, fiancial details, etc) and as long as the employee is ok with sharing it, it's probably "kosher" to share them. It would not be ok for an employer to share them without explicit permission from the employee, I wouldn't think.

That said, I don't think this is unheard of but certainly not common. I also don't think it's likely a great source of information. Like someone else said, it would be easy to tamper with them and in many cases I bet they are not unbiased. I'd hate for someone to leave because they had a crappy supervisor and then have to use that supervisor's opinion to get the next job, KWIM?

[rubytue]

FWIW, in the fed world, you often have to include your most recent performance review with your application. But we all know fed world is its own works.

[aak0517]

If the employee has access to it and wants to (by their own choosing) to share it, no problem.

But as an HR team we would never share that externally to anyone that inquires.

Seems like an odd request- but, companies are asking for weird stuff all the time these days.

[aak0517]

Oct 22, 2014 9:58:24 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

I think as long as it doesn't include company confidential information (i.e. specifics about clients, fiancial details, etc) and as long as the employee is ok with sharing it, it's probably "kosher" to share them. It would not be ok for an employer to share them without explicit permission from the employee, I wouldn't think.

Also, this.

[FishChicks]

As a practice, we always recommend that a hiring manager check two years of reviews for internal applicants. We tell the manager they're welcome to ask that of external applicants, but they shouldn't expect anything in response. Performance reviews are usually BS anyhow, in my cynical opinion, so they really only serve as a very gross gauge of skill.

At both companies I've worked for recently, the review is part of the employee's file and is theirs to share as they choose, assuming no protected information is contained within.

So, my vote is unusual, but not entirely freakish!

[jwright]

I was asked to provide my most recent performance evaluation when I applied for a job a couple of years ago. I was pretty taken aback, but they were adamant so I provided it. I always kept my own signed copy of my review for my records so I didn't have to go through anyone in my firm to provide it though.

[laurensmomma]

They can certainly ask for it, but that doesn't mean he has to provide it necessarily. Your husband could redact any information that the new company doesn't need to have access to. Also, I don't think the company could use his refusal to send the performance appraisal as grounds for not hiring him, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't take it into consideration.

Plus, everyone should have a copy of his or her own performance appraisal for their own records that they can access. I would seriously side-eye any company that didn't allow their employees to have copies.

ETA: I agree, HR would never release the appraisals to a company requesting it; it would have to be given freely from the applicant.

[Deleted]

I don't know about people asking for them but my company gives me a copy of my review every year so it doesn't seem all that odd that he would have easy access to them.

[lishie]

I'm in government, so things are probably different here, but we're always given copies of our evaluations, and when applying within the government for another position, you're expected to provide one or two of your most recent appraisals.