Performance reviews are an extremely useful technique for employers and employees. Employers use them as a basis for raises and to address any ongoing challenges. Meanwhile, employees can use a performance review as a guide for enhancing their career potential and productivity.
For both parties, a performance review can be an awkward, nerve-wracking experience. By using these tips, you can master your next review and make the most of the experience.
Know What to Expect
When it comes to being nervous, one of the best ways you can relax is by knowing what will actually happen. Read through the steps involved in giving a performance review. There are many different online resources that address how managers give performance reviews and what questions they will ask.
In addition, you can use your past experiences to guide you. Once you understand what will happen in the review, it is easier to relax and do your best.
Take All Feedback Seriously
If the feedback was important enough for your boss to mention during your review, you should definitely pay attention to it. This is especially true for negative feedback.
Your boss is telling you the ways you need to improve if you want to keep your job or get a promotion. If you do not act on this feedback, it will end up causing problems for you later on.
While you may hear some unexpected criticism, try to understand the situation from your manager’s perspective. In the end, listening to your manager will pay huge dividends.
Be Humble About Negative Feedback
No one ever likes to hear negative feedback. Most people put a lot of effort into their work and take pride in what they do. Very few employees actively try to do a bad job at work. Because of this, getting negative feedback can come as a surprise.
When you hear negative feedback, try not to become defensive. Take the feedback with grace as you try to understand your manager’s perspective. In addition to helping you improve, this will help you earn the respect of your manager.
There are many examples of positive feedback that are easy to respond to, the hard part is knowing how to accept negative feedback with grace. Instead of being defensive or making excuses, try asking your employer what steps you should take to change.
If it is truly difficult to sit still and listen to the feedback, try pretending that you are discussing a different co-worker with your boss instead of talking about yourself. Sometimes, you have to give yourself the cognitive space to hear the feedback without responding to it emotionally.
Remind Yourself of Your Best Projects
Performance reviews are a chance to learn from your mistakes and highlight your achievements. Your manager uses performance reviews to determine raises, promotions, and layoffs. Because of this, it is an important time to highlight some of your best work.
Before the day of your review, take some time to go over your biggest accomplishments in the last year. A year is a long time, so it is easy to forget some of your achievements from earlier in the year. By reviewing these accomplishments, you can make sure you have them fresh in your mind when you begin your review.
Ask for the Feedback That You Want
Another thing you can do during your review is to ask your boss for feedback. Many managers want to encourage their employees. Unless something is an issue, they may ignore minor criticisms if you are generally doing a good job.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to increase employee development and improve your skills if you do not know what you are doing wrong. Because of this, you have to be proactive. Ask your boss to recommend improvements so that you can move forward in your career.
Or, if there is a specific issue you were wondering about and it’s not mentioned, don’t be afraid to ask. Asking is much better than neglecting to bring it up and wondering if you’re on the right track or not.
In addition to helping you improve as an employee, this will also show your boss that you are committed to your work and want to achieve the next step in your career path.
Set Goals
Goal setting is something employees and employers should do all of the time. Studies show that setting goals make you more likely to accomplish things in your life. A goal gives you something to work toward, and smaller milestones help you break up major objectives.
Setting goals is also something your manager should do with each team member. During each performance review, managers should look at appropriate goals for the employee for the upcoming year. They should also take time to review how well they have done at achieving their previous goals.
Get Regular Updates
Performance reviews exist to encourage employees and provide them with a sense of direction. Whether you want a promotion or just want to keep your position, you should check in with your boss throughout the year.
Ideally, your performance review should not include anything that comes as a surprise to you. If you are regularly asking your boss for feedback, you will already know what the negative criticism is and how you should already be working on it.
Don’t Fear the Review
While many people are afraid of getting a performance review, they serve a useful purpose. A performance review helps bosses provide ongoing support and training for each employee. For the employee, this review is also a chance to learn how you can improve your skills, attitude, and abilities in the workplace.
