After laying off 14,000 employees last year, e-commerce major Amazon has now introduced a sharper question for its corporate workforce. As reported by Business Insider, Amazon has now asked its employees to list three to five accomplishments from the past year. As part of the annual performance review process, internally known as Forte, the employees will now have to provide specific examples of projects, goals or initiatives that demonstrate their impact. Along with this, the employees will also have to outline the actions they plan to take in order to continue growing at the company. According to internal guidelines obtained by Business Insider, this marks the first time Amazon has explicitly formalised Forte around individual accomplishments. Earlier the reviews were focused on broader self-assessments asking the employees about their super powers’ or how they contribute when at their best. This new approach of Amazon stresses of measurable outcomes and the company is also encouraging the staff to highlight the risks or innovations that didn’t fully succeed.“Accomplishments are specific projects, goals, initiatives, or process improvements that show the impact of your work,” the internal guideline states. “Consider situations where you took risks or innovated, even if it didn’t lead to the results you hoped for.”

Why this change at Amazon matters

At Amazon, Forte is the key driver of compensation. Managers weigh employee accomplishments alongside peer feedback, adhere to Amazon’s leadership Principles and job-specific skills to assign an “Overall Value” rating, which determines annual pay. This new shift at Amazon reflects CEO Andy Jassy’s push for discipline and accountability, following last year’s return‑to‑office mandate, management cuts, and pay model overhaul.This move by Amazon mirrors the tougher stance across Silicon Valley. Recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also demanded weekly accomplishment reports at Witter in 2022. On the other hand, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared a “year of intensity.” Tech giant Google also tightened its perforce expectations from employees recently. This change in the review process of companies marks the departure of a softer and employee‑friendly review process.