Amazon has quietly but decisively changed how it rates its employees, which means that the company’s internal culture is getting more demanding. After a year of big layoffs and changes to the company’s structure, employees are now being asked to write down three to five specific things they did well in the past year as part of the yearly performance evaluation process. The message is clear: performance, influence, and accountability are more important than ever.
The new method works with Amazon’s internal review system, which is called Forte. Employees must go beyond general descriptions of their work or attitude and instead focus on specific projects, initiatives, goals, or process changes that show measurable results. In addition to these achievements, personnel must also be able to explain how they aim to keep advancing in the organisation. This change shows that people are making a conscious effort to move away from abstract self-reflection and towards concrete confirmation of value.
This is a big change in the culture for a lot of long-time workers. In the past, Forte reviews often included open-ended questions about a person’s abilities or “super powers” and how they helped them do their best work. Those parts made people more aware of themselves, but they also provided room for personal interpretation. The new structure sets clearer expectations, which makes it tougher to use generic stories without proof to back them up.
But what strikes out is that Amazon isn’t only giving accolades to perfect results. Internal guidance gives employees the freedom to talk about the risks they took, the experiments they did, and the new ideas they tried, even if the results weren’t always good. The focus is on learning and moving forward, not just being flawless. The guideline itself says that “accomplishments are specific projects, goals, initiatives, or process improvements that show the effect of your work.” The corporation seems to be walking a tight line between being responsible and its long-standing culture of innovation by openly including experimenting.
This change in performance reviews is important because Forte is a big part of deciding how much people should be paid. Managers look at an employee’s recorded accomplishments, input from coworkers, how well they follow Amazon’s leadership values, and their skills for the job to come up with an Overall Value rating. That evaluation has a direct effect on judgements about yearly salary, which means that the quality and clarity of these documented accomplishments are more important than ever.
From a leadership point of view, the adjustment fits in well with CEO Andy Jassy’s larger goal of instilling discipline throughout the company. In the last year, Amazon has required employees to return to the office, cut back on management levels, and changed several parts of its pay structure. After a time of tremendous growth, each of these steps leads to a tighter operational model that puts efficiency and clearer lines of responsibility first.
This change also has an effect on people. After thousands of job layoffs, many of the staff who are still there are working in an environment that is full of uncertainty and increased scrutiny. Some people feel empowered when they are asked to explicitly explain their worth, while others find it stressful. The new framework gives high achievers a chance to illustrate how their work has made a difference. People whose job is less visible or more collaborative may need to think about their function in a different way in order to turn contributions into measurable results.
Amazon’s move isn’t happening in a vacuum. In the tech industry, performance management methods are being changed to better reflect the current state of the economy. Companies are responding to the drive for long-term profits by making their definitions and rewards for productivity more precise. After taking over Twitter, Elon Musk famously asked employees for weekly updates on their work, which set a tone of constant measurement of production. Mark Zuckerberg publicly declared a “year of intensity” at Meta, which raised expectations for performance and focus. As Google looks at its goals again, it has also raised the bar for internal evaluations.
People who watch the industry say that these changes are part of a bigger trend away from the softer, more employee-friendly appraisal models that were popular for most of the last decade. Those systems put more emphasis on culture, well-being, and long-term potential than on short-term success. The changes that are happening right now seem to be more of a recalibration than a dramatic reversal. Companies are trying to find a balance between being accountable and being innovative.
Structured accomplishment-based reviews can help organisations see things more clearly. They make expectations clear, cut down on confusion, and help people work towards the same goals as the organisation. When done right, they also make workers think about their work and how it affects the company in a strategic way. But there are dangers. Putting too much focus on measurable results can make fundamental work that helps teams or systems seem less important, even when it doesn’t necessarily lead to big successes.
The effectiveness of Amazon’s new Forte process will probably depend on how managers use it in real life. If leaders see both obvious wins and important contributions that go behind the scenes, the approach could help keep things fair and keep people motivated. If not, it could make people compete with each other or feel anxious, especially in a place where layoffs and restructuring have already happened.
For now, the change makes it clear where Amazon wants to go. As the organisation goes through a slower period of growth, it is focusing on clarity, ownership, and showing value. Employees are being required to do more than just work hard; they are also being asked to illustrate exactly how their job helps the company.
