Team lead quits on the spot after upper management reprimands him for giving employees 5 out of 5 on their performance reviews: 'You quite literally will never be good enough in their eyes, by design'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 23, 2026 8:00 AM EST

Performance reviews can be unfair for many employees, but this manager learned just how unfair they actually were, thereby leading to his unplanned resignation.

This team lead had been recently promoted to a managerial position after the person directly above him quit on the spot. Unfortunately, that seemed to be a frequent occurrence at this international organization with more than 6000 employees at the company. Still, because this guy was essentially thrown into this new role with little to no training, he was anxious about the upcoming round of performance reviews he had to conduct.

This would be the first time that this employee would find himself on the other side of a performance review. He was used to answering a series of questions about his own abilities and achievements. He was used to the format his company used for these annual meetings, where employees ranked their performance per category on a scale on 1 to 5 (with 5 being considered "excellent"). 

However, for the first time, he would be ranking the performance of others. For many folks in his position, this would be an exciting opportunity to show the people on your team how proud you are of their hard work while giving honest feedback about any room for improvement. Yet just before these reviews started, the team lead learned some new information from upper management about how he was expected to rank the performance of his employees. Let's just say that this was not exactly the kind of news any proud manager wants to hear…

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  • The team lead learned that he was not allowed to give anyone a perfect score of 5 in any category, regardless of who they were. It did not matter if they were going above and beyond. It did not matter if they were exceeding all expectations and then some. The company refused to allow anyone to get a 5 presumably so that they could use these reports as ways to defend their choices when they denied raises and promotions to team members down the road. 

    Thankfully, this author knew immediately that this was not the type of company he wanted to work for anymore. Now that he had a greater understanding of how the sausage is made, so to speak, he refused to enable this mentality and remain a part of the company. Honestly, we cannot help but applaud him for sticking to his moral backbone.

  • Business professionals sit in a formal meeting.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "Impossible to receive a 5 out of 5 on any aspect of your annual review."

    I quit my desk job of ten years with no notice last year. International company with about 6000 employees.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Dropped my equipment off after hours, sent an "I quit" email, and blocked everyone. But I'm still bothered by something I learned after I got promoted to Team Lead.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Now, I was double promoted and skipped a role (senior coordinator) after someone else quit with no notice (imagine that).
    via 4oclocksundew
  • I was given no additonal training, and was expected in office every day even though my manager was always home, which meant that I essentially functioned as a manager, and had to deal with issues far above my knowledge, people skills, and pay grade.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • I was mental breakdown city before I went to HR and told them I had to go back down to my normal role.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • But I digress. This post is about the one and only time I had to do my team's annual reviews.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • It consisted of 30 or so questions that you had to answer about your performance, and you would also rate yourself for each question.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • 1 out of 5, 2 out of 5, etc. I'm sure most of you know the drill.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Then, your Team Lead answers the same questions about you, and also gives you the ratings.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • That was my job, and I took it seriously because it affects your pay raise, as I'm sure most of you know.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • I think this was the only thing my manager ever offered any guidance on, and it was so offensive.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • She told me that we are not allowed - never, ever allowed to give - anyone a 5 out of 5 for any part of the review.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • That was the instruction she herself was given. No 5 out 5s for anyone, even if they bent over backwards for us, exceeded expectations, whatever corporate buzzwords you want to use, no one was ever to earn a 5 out 5.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • There were obviously a million reasons for me to quit that job, but here almost a year later this is the thing that has stuck with me.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Why even put it as an option if it's never going to be chosen? I see it as so dishonest and disrespectful to the desk level employees that do their best and deliver.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • I want everyone to know, that at least at that company, there was no way for you to ever truly win.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • The game is rigged against you and you quite literally will never be good enough in their eyes, by design.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • All you'll ever get is chewed up, spat out, and maybe given a 4 out of 5 for all your effort.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Don't go out of your way to please these employers, because they will never appreciate it.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Black-and-white photograph of two employees meeting in a conference room with laptops
    via charlesdeluvio

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Randolla 1960 If your boss feels that way, then why doesn't the company just pay for her time off? Why should it be on the backs of the other employees to give up their time?
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Traditional-Dog1601 Original Poster's Reply Precisely. and why would they keep saying it is optional and they're actions do otherwise? Now I feel obligated because if I dont give in, it's like me vs the whole people at the company. This environment is looking toxic whether I donate or not..
    via 4oclocksundew
  • LogicalDifference529 You should tell your boss that "it looks bad" when a company requests PTO from other employees instead of just offering their in need employee options in an emergency.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Traditional-Dog1601 Original Poster's Reply Precisely. And if I donate, I wont feel good about it. I feel dictated. If I don't donate, all my coworkers are like turning against me. This is becoming toxic..
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Parkour82 Companies should not be asking employees to donate PTO or time off to other employees. They should supply for emergencies, not the employees.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Traditional-Dog1601 Original Poster's Reply Agreed sir. And I was really disappointed with my boss.. they keep saying it is optional but I feel obligated to do it. I'm starting to feel I am in a toxic working environment..
    via 4oclocksundew
  • ConsequenceThese4559 Because created this "option" to pass the coast onto its employees. Guard your time.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Smitten-kitten83 If it is a large company, the boss probably has no control over that, but it isn't op's problem. If FMLA won't cover it then it isn't considered medically necessary and it can wait while she accumulates some pto.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Beginning Present_24 I used to think it was cool when companies allowed this. Then I thought about it and wondered why they didn't just give the employee time off rather than ask other employees to sacrifice their time. It doesn't make sense to me.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Main_Cauliflower5479 Amy is out of line. Report her to HR.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Nearly_Pointless This. It is a ridiculous ask for an employer to get involved at all. If she is such a valuable asset, the company ought to step up and take care off her. Asking employees to pay for someone else is well beyond a step too far.
    via 4oclocksundew
  • Business professionals sit in a formal meeting.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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antiwork corporate workplace-stories toxic-manager upper management i quit performance review satisfying quitting story
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