How To Be Review Ready
Many workers approach performance reviews with apprehension. But handled right, they can be a positive force for your career development.
“This is your most important hour of the year, because it’s the only one that’s all about you,” says Paul Falcone, a senior human resources executive in Los Angeles and the author of “2600 Phrases for Setting Effective Performance Goals” (AMACOM, 2011).
You can get ready throughout the year by keeping a file of your achievements. And before you enter the review, do a self-evaluation – even if you work for a company that doesn’t require one.
Falcone recommends focusing both on your accomplishments and on how you executed in three main areas. “And those three main areas I always recommend would be teamwork, communication and leadership,” Falcone says.
The review can also be an opportunity to teach your manager what you need to grow and develop. If a manager has supervised several people, they’ll likely welcome this input. Think about the bullet points you’d like to add to your resume and gently suggest goals to your manager that can help you reach them.
During the meeting itself, Falcone urges workers to avoid reacting too heavily to negative feedback. “The reason is that managers who are giving bad news for the first time in a performance review know they’ve screwed up,” Falcone says. As a result, they may be nervous and on edge – and likely to respond defensively.
Instead, Falcone recommends that you accept the feedback in the moment. If you disagree with it, ask your supervisor if you can schedule a follow-up meeting where you can collect your thoughts and share some of your perceptions. “It’s better to do that in a separate meeting where you’ve had time to collect your thoughts and put your ideas across a little more factually,” Falcone says.
If that doesn’t work, you can always write a rebuttal to your review and ask that it be added to your file. According to Falcone, companies will generally not rebut your rebuttal, letting you have the final word. “What’s important there is that you can’t come across as angry. You have to come across as very objective. Because someone is going to look at this document three years from now in that company when you’re applying for an internal transfer,” Falcone says.
At the end of your annual review, if you feel comfortable doing so, ask your supervisor if you can have a 20- to 30-minute meeting every quarter to make sure you’re on track and meeting expectations. This can help you avoid any surprises in your next review, and also help turn your boss into an ally and career coach.
“It think it’s a brilliant idea and I think that shows a really strong employee who’s thinking about their career management,” Falcone says. “But not everyone will bite. Certain managers just don’t like managing. And if that’s the case, you’ve got to back off.”