For those that are not using the 9-box in Talent Reviews, what does your organization use instead?

We go off of the following:  

New Hire/Performance Not Yet Rated
This rating applies to all new employees hired on or after September 1

Improvement Needed
Does not consistently meet expectations of the job

Meets Expectations
Fully successful. Performance consistently meets expectations of the job

Exceeds Expectations
Outstanding and consistently exceeds expectations of the job

A prior org I worked for used a 3-box system, which inherently collapsed the 9 box into 3, such that each of the three boxes took performance and potential into account.

We use a 5 point potential for movement scale that we developed ourselves. 

25 box! (I know, wild!)

Inspired by the shared approach from Gap - development 4 squares, we are also reviewing our model and trying to move away from the 9-box grid. Check this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7q-8CDwKOE