Yeah! It's Time for Your Annual Performance Review

Raise your hand if you’re looking forward to your annual performance review this year! 

Hmmm…I think I see one hand waving at me from across the country.

Performance appraisal is a yearly rite of passage in organizations that trigger dread and apprehension for many. Here’s a straightforward piece of advice that can result in you looking forward to your annual performance review meeting with your boss.

Always provide your manager with a self-evaluation, even if doing so, is not part of your company’s annual performance review process. When doing so, follow these guidelines.

1. Be shameless. This is not the time to be humble nor is it the time to assign credit for what you’ve done to others. If you’re overseeing a team, be mindful of mentioning the word “we” too often in your self-evaluation. Here’s what I mean. Rather than writing, “We reduced the number of customer complaints,” instead say, “Under my direction, customer complaints were down twenty percent this year.”
2. Wherever possible, monetize your accomplishments. Using the example above, consider the average cost of a customer complaint. Use that number and write the following, “Under my direction, customer complaints were down twenty percent this year, resulting in an annual savings of $1M.” This statement is a heck of a lot more impressive than when you merely state that customer complaints are on the decline.
3. Deliver your self-evaluation to your boss at least 14 days before your review (30 days is even better.) Some people will send their boss their self-evaluation the night before their review. This is way too late when you consider that your boss has completed your review and has most likely gone through the process of having your pay raise (if there is one) approved. You’ll find that it will be harder to change your boss’s mind regarding your review if everything has been signed off on by those who need to give their approval.

Speaking of self-evaluations…This time of year is ideal for you to reflect on your own happiness. Did you accomplish what you hoped to achieve this year? Are you looking forward to doing more of the same in 2021? And lastly, if you’ve had your end-of-year review, did things go as well as you hoped?

Special Announcement: I’m launching a group coaching program for 2021 and am taking on a handful of private coaching clients. If you’re interested in elevating your career in 2021, write to me and tell me something you’d like to achieve in the next 90-days. In the subject line, write either “private coaching” or “group coaching.”