HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Is your annual performance review coming up and you are anxious about it?

You are not alone my friend.

Annual performance reviews are a source of much stress for many people. Whether your year was full of achievements or there were some mishaps along the way; it causes great anxiety.

Do you know why most people are anxious about it? Because they don’t know what to expect!

Many people assume that the annual review is a one-way process. The manager gives feedback, and the employee accepts it, sometimes disgruntled. If the review process is not handled well, it can lead to demotivation and impact productivity. However, if conducted well, it can be a source of growth, invaluable feedback and a chance to deepen the relationship.

Hence, by being prepared and owning the process with your manager, you can go to the meeting with a partnership mindset, positively impacting your review and its outcome! You do have the power to remove some ambiguity around your performance review. YES, YOU DO.

Now, many of you have one coming up with the calendar year coming to a close soon, while for some it will be in Q1 and for others sometime next year. HOWEVER, what I share here can be applied to your monthly/quarterly 1:1 with your manager as well.

So read away!

As you know, I am passionate about leadership and I mainly focus on coaching clients on leadership including self-leadership. As part of this, a few of my clients have expressed anxiety over their annual review coming up. This made me think back to the times when I use to go through the annual review process in Q1 in my corporate job and how stressful that was. Hence, I thought let me share some quick tips that might be useful to you.

So here goes…

1) Send questions to your manager in advance. This helps your manager understand your expectations from the meeting, frames the annual review in a positive light, and most importantly, you have control over how the conversation goes. Additionally, you are holding your manager accountable for proper feedback and a partner in your growth as well. Examples of questions you can send in advance are:

In your view, what has been my top contribution in the last year?
What’s my most significant achievement you have observed since the last review?
What should I keep doing?
If I had to improve in 1 area to ensure I keep progressing, what would it be?
What can come in my way of growing in this organisation?
What do I need to do in the next 6 months to ensure I progress to the next role/ get a promotion?
What does my growth look like to you in the team and overall in the company in the next 2 years?
How do senior people view me? (I know many of you might cringe at asking this question, but believe me, you will get golden nuggets from this, and it will help you understand whether you will continue to grow or not)

2) Be prepared. Here are some areas you must prepare for before you go to the meeting:

If you have regular 1:1 with your manager throughout the year, go back to your notes. Summarise them, look at key themes discussed, and the progress you’ve made on key areas of feedback.
Back pocket items. Have specific examples of your achievements ready. You should also carefully think about mistakes made and how you overcame them. Better yet, if you have an example of how you implemented that learning, that will be fantastic as it negates the mistake very quickly. Think about any feedback that you received during the year and how you made it work for you. Having this handy will help you to support your conversation and input.

3) Take control of the conversation. Instead of waiting for your manager to give you feedback and ask questions, you drive the conversation by going in with an agenda. Follow these steps to showcase a positive mindset and a person who is prepared and wants to grow. This is key to setting a good example. Here are the steps to follow:

Thank the manager for their time and outline what you would like to cover in the review
Go through the objectives set at the beginning of the year one by one, including all the examples you’ve included
After each goal/objective, ask him for his feedback, including areas of improvement for next year
When the rating is agreed, ask, ‘What would it take to score higher next year?’
Finally, ask him how you can support him in the upcoming year to achieve his and team’s objectives, e.g. What should I keep doing to make your and the team’s lives easier?

There is soooooo much to cover on this topic and I will write back next week and share more on how to take control of your annual review process and get the outcome you are looking for. Watch this space :)

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Love,

Tasneem

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Categories: : Leadership, Management