Executives at some major companies have delivered a clear message to managers this summer: Identify the underperformers and show them the exit. Companies took an approach of benign neglect to monitoring employee performance during Covid-19—such as dropping formal evaluations and goal-setting conversations. It hardly seemed fair, the thinking went, to grade someone who had to juggle work with increased responsibilities at home. Skipping reviews also gave managers time to devote to other crises, for instance, filling talent gaps as millions of U.S. workers jumped jobs.

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