4 Things You Need to Do for a Good Performance Review

Image Credit | Ekaterina Bolovtsova | Pexels

Most companies have an annual performance review process. They set aside time every year for the management team to look back at the performance of each employee and grade them on some type of internally developed scale. These scales usually look like something like performing below expectations, at expectations, and above expectations. Every employee wants to be rated at performing above expectations because that is usually what is required for the best raises and potential promotions. 

For many, the performance review process can be very stressful. The employee is worried about what their review will look like and if they will get a good raise. For other employees there is no stress at all, they are aware of what their performance was and are confident in the outcome of the review process. It's definitely better to go in with confidence and excitement than stress. The good news is that it's not hard. Here are the 4 things you need to do for a good performance review. 

Prepare All Year

You should be preparing for your review all year. The most obvious part is, of course, to do an excellent job. That's not what I'm talking about. What I mean is that you should have regular connections with your boss throughout the year. You don't want to wait for the end of the year to suddenly start connecting with your boss about how you've been doing. Instead, regularly connect with them and seek feedback on your performance. Look to identify what is working and what can improve, so that you have plenty of time to course-correct and achieve your best performance.

Keep Track

I have a folder in my inbox called praise. Anytime that I do something good and get a thank you note or recognition from my boss, peers, or others I reply and thank them, and then file that email away in that folder. At the end of the year, I can review it and speak to all of the people that appreciated the work I've done. I also keep a digital note where I write down all of my accomplishments throughout the year. I write what the project was, why I did it, what the outcome was and what the positive impacts to the business were. In this way, I have a record of both, everyone that was excited about my performance enough to write me about it and a list of every single positive achievement throughout the past year. 

Make it Easy

You can make things easy or hard for your manager. I have found in my career it's always better to make it easy for them. The easier you make their life the better your review. This applies to writing your review as well. I know what time our annual reviews occur each year and I begin to prepare. I take a look at all of my achievements and rank them in order of value. I also look through my praise folder and sort and tally up the praise by how important the person giving the praise was and how many times I got them. For example, 12 recognition emails from Vice Presidents, 14 from Directors, etc. Then I take all of this and write my review from my own perspective. Once I feel I've done a good job highlighting my performance for the past year, I provide it to my manager directly. 

Be Bold

It may seem bold to provide your manager with a copy of your annual review already written, but honestly, who will be your biggest cheerleader if it's not you? Don't leave things to chance, and instead work to give yourself every chance in the review process. Managers typically only have a small bucket of money to award as raises to their entire team and your goal is to get as much of it as possible. Part of that is marketing yourself as indispensable to the team. Tell your manager exactly what you're worth by providing them that excellent review of your performance. When you do, have a conversation with them and let them know that you are really proud of the work you've done and that you deserve an excellent raise and bonus. If you've done an effective job of writing your review this will make it easy for the manager to compare your performance review against the ones they had to write themselves. It improves your chances of getting an excellent review. 

In many things in life, we leave them to chance and hope they will work out. The best outcomes usually come when we put the effort into them to get what we want. We tend to the yard and flowers every week to ensure they look beautiful. We wash our car every Saturday to ensure the paint stays shiny and bright. We take our spouses out to dinner and tell them we love them to reinforce why they're with us. We do all of these things throughout our life to improve our circumstances and chances of good feedback. The exact same thing should occur in your annual review. Be bold and take a chance to improve your outcomes.

Have you ever self-promoted at work to improve your performance review or do you leave things to chance? How has that worked out for you? I want to hear about it! Post below or contact me!