‘Tis The Season For The Performance Review

It’s review season and you know what that means, right? Sheer panic! Your manager is going to tell you all of the horrible things that they have thought about you all year, your performance is terrible and they want to put you on a probationary period or worse yet, fire you. Right?....Wrong!!!!

So you may wonder, where does this come from? Even high performing employees worry that their manager is going to come out and suddenly tell them that they are not performing well.  The fact is that by the time you have your performance review there should be no surprises. You and your manager should have already had conversations throughout the year. Unfortunately, self doubt is pretty normal which is more about your fears than it is about what your manager thinks of you.

I was one of the unusual people that really looked forward to this time of year. Not because I was a stellar employee and wanted to hear my manager tell me great things, but because I wanted to hear what I could be doing better and what he was able to see that I wasn’t. Here are a few tips to reframe your thinking coming into what can be a very stressful time:

Ask the question, “What can I be doing better?” ~ Initially there will be discussion around your goals, if they have been met and how well you were able to meet them. Regardless if you are the shining star in the department, there is always something that can be learned, changed or done better. Your manager is the perfect person to see this because they are not as close to the work as you are and can generally be relatively objective.  Don’t see this an attack on your personal character. See it as an opportunity to be much better at what you are doing.

Understand the impact of your work ~ Sometimes when employees are at the administrative level, they don’t think that their work has any impact on the company. It really does and so that you can better understand this, ask your manager how they feel that your work has helped them or others to achieve their objectives. You might be pleasantly surprised.  Knowing this might also help to shape some of your objectives for the coming year.

What are the concerns at the senior level? ~ Your manager will be involved in or privy to many meetings and conversations with people at the more senior level so they tend to be aware of what is working and what can be done better. Ask them what they are hearing and how you might be able to help. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to step up to the plate, show what you are made of and shine in the coming year. Always think about how you can be a part of the solution.

View this time as constructive and an opportunity for you to contribute more to the success of the company. The higher up you go in the company, the more busy your manager is so you must take ownership of your career path. Try to understand the bigger picture and come to your boss with solutions. They will appreciate it, I promise.

Always remember that there are no failures, only opportunities to grow.