More employees say performance reviews make no difference (11 percent) or are not very effective (14 percent), but the other three-quarters of respondents apparently believe that appraisals help them improve their work in some way.

That’s good news, since the survey showed that almost every employer engages in some type of formal appraisal process.

Fifty-two percent of HR managers said they conduct annual reviews, 15 percent do so twice a year, 12 percent do so quarterly and 16 percent only do so “as necessary.” Only 5 percent reported no formal performance review process.

The percentage of employers that report conducting reviews more than once a year jumped has nine points from 2010.

"All performance appraisals are not created equal. Companies need to determine the format and frequency of these assessments that works best for their employees," said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam. "Aside from formal reviews, regularly checking in with staff and providing feedback throughout the year can keep everyone on the same page."

In August, a prominent workforce consultant in Australia suggested that annual employee satisfaction surveys were largely ineffective because employers were only getting a temporary snapshot of employee thought processes.

A better way to keep tabs on worker opinions, suggested Jon Williams of PricewaterhouseCoopers, was to do smaller-scale but more frequent check-ups with employees.