Can the Annual Review Be Replaced By an App? More companies are turning to apps that offer real-time feedback from bosses, peers and subordinates alike. But do they work?

There are few workplace institutions so widely reviled as the annual performance review. Managers dread them because they're time-­consuming to prepare and nerve-racking to deliver. Employees see the review process as upsetting and outdated. In a recent study conducted by the software company Adobe, 59 percent of office workers said reviews had no impact on the way they approached their work, and 37 percent said they had reacted to a review by looking for a new job.

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When it comes to providing companies with solid appraisals of their people, performance reviews disappoint there, too. The management research firm CEB Global reports that nearly nine in 10 human resources leaders don't think annual performance reviews yield accurate information. It's no wonder that leading companies like GE, Accenture, IBM, Adobe and Gap have all made headlines in recent years for abandoning the annual appraisal process altogether.