Performance management is one of the most critical processes for law firms, and many talent leaders still struggle to gather meaningful feedback and translate evaluations into real development outcomes. To better understand what’s working, what’s broken, Christina Wells, SVP of Operations & People at Flo, shares what she’s learned from those discussions. She offers a candid look at the challenges firms face today, how leaders are thinking about AI, and what it will take to build a more effective, human-centered approach to performance management.
Q: You’ve been closely connected with talent leaders across the industry, gathering insights that have helped shape Flo’s Performance Management platform. How did those conversations come about, and what made you a natural fit to lead them?
Christina: I’ve spent my entire career, starting back in 2005, working across recruiting and talent teams in the software industry. I’ve been part of everything from early-stage startups to large global organizations, and I’ve personally run many performance review cycles. Along the way, I’ve also used more than a dozen performance management platforms.
So, when the opportunity came up to help shape Flo’s Performance Management solution, it felt like a natural fit. I’ve lived these challenges firsthand, which made it easier to connect with other talent leaders and have real, practical conversations.
When Katherine and I first started talking about this, the goal was simple: before building anything, let’s deeply understand how performance management is working for people today, including what’s broken, what’s missing, and what they wish existed.
We didn’t expect the level of response we got. People were incredibly eager to share their experiences, including many who even reached out proactively. Starting last August, we quickly had conversations with over 100 leaders across talent management and professional development. That level of engagement really validated that this is a space where people are actively looking for better solutions.
Q: What were the most common challenges you heard?
Christina: There were a few themes that came up again and again.
Across these conversations, a clear set of challenges surfaced. Leaders consistently described how difficult it is to gather candid, actionable feedback, especially when reviewers are hesitant to be fully transparent or unsure how to strike the right tone. At the same time, many performance management systems are clunky and time-consuming, which leads to low participation rates and, in some cases, pushes teams back to spreadsheets or informal processes. Integration gaps further complicate things, making it hard to bring together important data like financials or professional development insights into a single, cohesive view. Participation from senior partners, whose perspectives are often critical, can also be inconsistent due to competing demands on their time. And underlying it all is a process that is often manual and slow, creating delays between when feedback is given and when it’s delivered, reducing its impact by the time it reaches the individual.
Q: How should leaders think about AI in performance management, particularly given concerns around preserving human judgment, ensuring data security, and avoiding bias?
Christina: The core concern we heard comes down to trust. Leaders are cautious about introducing AI into a process that depends so heavily on human judgment. There are real questions around bias, data security, and whether AI could unintentionally dilute the human element of performance evaluations.
That said, the role of AI shouldn’t be to replace judgment but support it. The most valuable part of any evaluation is still the human input, even if it’s unpolished. AI can then help refine that input by organizing, summarizing, and clarifying feedback so it becomes more actionable.
At Flo, we think about AI as a tool to reduce friction in the process, making it easier for people to give meaningful feedback while ensuring that human perspective and decision-making remain at the center.
At Flo, we think about AI as a tool to reduce friction in the process, making it easier for people to give meaningful feedback while ensuring that human perspective and decision-making remain at the center.
Q: It sounds like balancing technology and the human element is an overarching goal for law firm talent teams. At the recent NALP Foundation Hiring Partner Conference you attended, evaluation goals were framed across three tiers. How can leaders use that framework to think about performance evaluations as more than just inputs into compensation and promotion decisions?
Christina: That framework really stuck with me because it expands how we think about performance management. It’s not just about reviews but about how firms support talent at every level.
That [NALP foundation] framework really stuck with me because it expands how we think about performance management. It’s not just about reviews but about how firms support talent at every level.
At the first level, evaluations are about creating structure and clarity. You need a centralized place where feedback lives, where it’s easy to access, and where professional development teams can use it. When that’s in place, you can start to see how individuals are progressing and where they need support.
The next level is where it becomes more data-driven and more sensitive. Leaders need to be able to pull reporting and insights out of the system and bring that into calibration conversations. That’s where they’re aligning with other leaders, alongside partners, to evaluate talent, compare performance, and make informed decisions. Having clear, structured data makes those conversations much more effective.
And then at the highest level, it becomes more strategic for the firm overall. You’re using that same data to think about things like how work is allocated, succession planning, and how you’re looking at the future of your teams.
When you look at it that way, performance evaluations are really a foundation for how firms develop talent and make better, more informed decisions across the board.
Q: How did these conversations influence the way you think about performance management—and your role as the people leader at Flo?
Christina: It really reinforced just how important performance management is to law firms and how much people genuinely want to get it right. Across every conversation, you could see the effort teams are putting in. They know how critical this process is to develop their people and support the long-term success of the firm.
At the same time, it also highlighted a gap. Many teams are still relying on systems and processes that feel outdated or overly manual, which makes an already important process harder than it needs to be. Hearing that firsthand made me feel even more motivated to bring modern best practices into this space and help rethink what performance management can look like.
At Flo, one of our core values is to care deeply, and that really shows up here for me. We care deeply about the people doing this work every day, and about the experience they’re having with these systems. These conversations weren’t just informative, but they were a reminder that we have a real responsibility to listen closely and build something that truly supports them.
Ultimately, it pushed me to think beyond just solving surface-level problems and focus on creating a platform that meets the goals firms are striving for but aren’t always able to achieve today.
As these conversations show, the opportunity to improve on Performance Management at law firms isn’t just to improve existing processes, but to rethink how feedback, data, and development come together to support better outcomes for both individuals and the law firms as a whole. To learn more about Performance Management at Flo, reach out.