Your Performance Review Is Coming? Here's What You Should Do

There are few things comparable to how much anxiety that performance reviews could give you. 

Like there's something about being with your supervisor or manager that really gets your pulse racing, talking about what you've accomplished and what you haven't so far.

It is not how it is intended, however, that is commonly the vision that rushes through our minds the moment a performance review is scheduled on the calendar. 

Seriously, despite the fact that we've been receiving reviews for the better part of our career journeys, they consistently induce mild panic attacks.

Yet, it still is undeniable that it is a significant source of feedback and evaluation about how you are faring so far in your current role, as well as how close you are with your career goals — that could be promotion or salary increase.

Why Performance Reviews Could Be Scary

The primary reason why people usually fear it because of uncertain “bombs” that may drop on them, and commonly followed by thinking of worrying self-appraisals such as:

• "Is my boss expecting me to give myself a high or low rating?"
• "Is the evaluation focusing solely on the duties and responsibilities I have on my job description, or do other factors come into play?"
• "To what extent does this job performance appraisal really apply to my work, and how can I be sure that I am living up to expectations, surpassing expectations, or that I even require improvement?"

Moreover, people avert performance reviews because they are also concerned with the “rating bias”, where there could be misaligned objectives in the evaluation. 

Experts refer to this when nonperformance factors such as ethnicity, gender, or age are included in the evaluation, as well as conflicts in personal relationships (liking or disliking), or simply by being in the unknown “mood” of your manager. These add another source of frustration to the process and its outcomes, where the contaminated appraisal ratings result in perceived and genuine unfairness.

What To Prepare For Your Performance Review

1. Get in the right mind ahead of time

Performance reviews frequently include a self-evaluation component. Allow ample time in advance to prepare and get in the right frame of mind for evaluating your own strengths, weaknesses, and accomplishments, as well as areas for improvement. This is important so you don't have to scramble at the last minute to find information, which makes your entire experience feel less good. 

Also, this lessens your nerve-racking anxiety because you are helping yourself have an objective mindset and perspective on how the evaluation will proceed. Therefore, do not skimp on details or rush through these, as your own perceptions and insight into your performance and abilities are just as important as the evaluators'.

2.Inquire about obtaining a copy of your written evaluation.

Obtain a copy of your written evaluation in advance to ensure that you understand the direction of the conversation and can address critical issues. Furthermore, if you go in knowing what will be discussed, you won’t be surprised if any possible “bombs” may drop on you, and there will be less room for the understandable defensiveness that can occur when someone offers criticism or suggestions for improvement. 

3. Prepare your "yay me" file

Always remember that tangible facts and proof are materials that can give you strong support. That is why you should ideally keep a running list of accomplishments (your “yay me” file) that you can refer to in order to help steer the conversation. This will bring statistics and hard numbers to define your worth, as well as examples of your hard skills, responsibilities, and soft skills.

These could be:

• “Achieved a XX margin of error in all software developed.”
• “Drove $XX revenue increase by closing software suite deals to ABC and XYZ companies.”
• “Assisted in the growth of membership from XX to XX in one year through involvement in ABC project.”
• “When I first started, I updated company XX software, and by the end of the year reflected XX% increase in system efficiency.”

How To Be Confident During Your Performance Review

1. Avoid becoming defensive.

The likelihood of issues and weaknesses being brought up in a review and catching you off guard is greater in an organisation that conducts annual performance evaluations. Take such information in stride and avoid becoming defensive. Be mindful when trying to say some phrases such as the following:

• “That wasn’t my fault...”
• “You said/you did…”
• “But…”
• “It was a team effort...”
• “I’m not good at... ”

Though it is understandable that it will be difficult to avoid becoming defensive over incidents that occurred months ago in an organisation, where reviews occur only once a year. So bear in mind that your boss or manager is invested in your success, and this is all part of the process of improving your performance.

2. Prepare questions in advance.

A performance review meeting should be collaborative, with you and your manager discussing your strengths, accomplishments, weaknesses, and skill gaps. Assemble questions for your boss and consider how you can strategically contribute to the conversation. This is another reason to request a copy of your written evaluation in advance, as this will allow you sufficient time to prepare responses to your questions.

This is also an opportunity to receive additional feedback, identify areas for improvement, and show that you’re looking for long term opportunities within the company — indicating commitment and loyalty. As a result, you'll be able to pursue a new objective.

There are numerous performance review questions that an employee can ask, including the following:

• "Is there potential for expansion within our department?"
• "Which skills should I improve or strengthen in order to add more value to my role and the company?"
• "Are there any professional development opportunities?"
• "Which of my qualities are most valued by the company?"
• "Which of my weaknesses/flaws could I turn as among my strengths?"
• "What role would I be possibly able to partake in the future?"

3. Concentrate on your advantages over your disadvantages.

Historically and traditionally, performance reviews are focused on areas for improvement. This can have a bit of a detrimental effect on people with differing expectations and sensitivities. 

So focus on your strengths, or perhaps choose the top three from your “yay me” file, and keep that as your strongest support to leverage your strengths to advance your career and the organisation. Also, this helps in maintaining your positive outlook towards the process and with the evaluator — your boss.

What To Do After Your Performance Review

1. Create Your New Career Development Plan

After going through the process, your primary goal should be to create an action plan based on the feedback you just had. If you have derived a larger goal to accomplish, break it down into smaller steps, with milestones that must be met to monitor progress. It is important to set SMART goals for those milestones, and as you perform reviews on a regular basis. Then, decide on your objectives and focus on adhering to your career development plans.

Also, set regular check-in meetings with your supervisor or manager to gauge progress, too. The greater the accountability and ownership, the better your career development plan works. Take note that the accountability and ownership do not refer to direct liability of your boss, but rather as facilitated and supported progress with your personal accountability.

2. Establish the three main components.

While planning and monitoring are critical for your next steps, you must also identify areas where additional resources or support are required. Thus, to give it a more pleasant and smoother experience, you should set the three elements — your needs, goals, and scheduled milestones. This is to leverage your affirmed career strengths and will help you impact the overall organisation better.

3. Align your goals with the company’s bigger goals

While organisations may lack the budget for ongoing education and training, this does not mean that you, as an employee, cannot prioritise learning and development.If you're confident in the business strategy's greater communication or public speaking needs, and you're talented at it, you've found an alignment.

Consider the role and the organisation as you find items for your career development plan. Seeing your own progress contributes to the bigger goal of the company is incredibly empowering.

When it comes to performance reviews, sometimes you should be humble but at other times you should show your success and achievements.

In order to positively convey it and impact the organisation, recognize the skills you still need to improve and offer suggestions for how to close any skill gaps.

While career development is an integral part of any performance review, these discussions may take on a new shape this year. Promotions and raises may be out of the question for businesses battling the pandemic. In that case, you must consider alternative methods of investing in your professional development. This could include enrolling in an online class, taking assignments or high-profile projects, or even finding a mentor. 

Finally, keep in mind the big picture and the trajectory of your career journey as a whole. This is where a well-defined development plan can assist in charting your career path both within and outside your organisation.

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This article is part of The Clear Sight series. If you like this article, feel free to share, comment or tag people whom you think can benefit from this.

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