Do you hear the words “annual review” and fill with dread? For many employees, the annual review process can be a source of stress and uncertainty. It’s the time when employers assess your performance, determine salary adjustments, discuss progression opportunities, and potentially unveil bonuses. If you’ve got ambitions of progression, be prepared.
To help, we’ve created the twelve steps to acing your annual review. We’ll explore effective strategies on how to navigate your annual review successfully, ensuring it becomes an opportunity for growth, recognition, and strategic planning for the year ahead.
What is an annual review?
Also known as an annual performance appraisal or performance review, they’re an opportunity for managers and team members to meet to discuss and review performance.
A lot of employers benchmark using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which are quantifiable measures of performance. Some KPI examples include: revenue per month, new customers per quarter, reach of social media accounts, percentage of on-time completion, and cash flow.
During your review, your employer will review your KPIs, set you a new set of KPIs, and discuss routes for progression.
You won’t usually find out if you’ve got a bonus, pay rise, or promotion during these meetings, but they are an opportunity for you to discuss what you would like.
What are the ideal outcomes of an annual review?
An annual review shouldn’t feel like it’s just focused on you, you should also have the opportunity to review your team, your manager, and the organisation you work for.
Some outcomes include:
- A promotion
- A roadmap to progression
- Changes to the scope of your role
- Increases to your salary and package based on performance
- A set of achievable goals for the next 12 months
- A better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses
- KPIs
After the meeting, there should be a follow-up that clearly explains the next steps and any outcomes that have been agreed. Usually, this is written in the form of a document or email.
How to ace your annual review
Step 1: Create a record of achievement
Throughout the year, keep a record of all your wins in the workplace. This could be anything from hiring and training a new teammate to public speaking to simply getting ahead of your task list.
Where possible, review these against your KPIs. You can also review them against your job description if KPIs have not been set.
Where wins fall outside of your job description, for example, you’re managing more teammates, keep a note of this too. Any successes that fall outside of your job description could be particularly useful if you want to secure a promotion or work towards a new job title.
If you’re regularly getting praise via email or on a channel like Slack or Teams, keep a record of these. They’ll help you to showcase your impact.
Step 2: Review your job description
What in your job description fills you with dread, and what do you particularly enjoy? Your annual review should be the perfect time to align your expectations of your job with the expectations of your boss.
If you’re pushing for a promotion, review the job description of what the next rung of the ladder is too. How far off are you? Are you already operating at that level? This information can be really powerful.
Step 3: Revisit your goals and KPIs from last year
Let’s face it, most of these goals and KPIs will be long forgotten. Make sure you know what you’ve achieved, what you haven’t and why, and how last year’s plan compared to this year’s reality.
If you don’t have any goals in writing, or you’re new in your role then creating some should be on the agenda for your annual review.
Step 4: Choose your top three achievements
Choose wisely, focusing on what is important to you and important to your boss too. Back up these achievements with both quantitative and qualitative data if you can. The more specific you can be about your achievements, the better.
Step 5: Identify three goals for the next year
Perhaps your review of the job description for the job above has highlighted some areas where your knowledge and experience are lacking, or there’s just a career goal you’d like to achieve. Bring some goals to your review.
This could be anything from new responsibilities, leading on a project, or learning and development. As well as keeping you engaged at work, this also shows your manager that you’ve put thought into your review and that you’re an employee who is thinking ahead.
Step 6: Gather feedback
Your boss will probably do this too, but why not get some feedback yourself? Ask your colleagues and peers but also ask clients too. If you’ve built up a good rapport with some particular clients, ask them if they’d be happy to give you a short paragraph of feedback. You’ll find more people are happy to.
Bringing this feedback with you to a review meeting (as long as it’s positive) will show that you’ve been objective and make your asks a lot easier.
Step 7: Write your performance review
Being as prepared as possible is essential. Pull together all the information you’ve gathered into a concise and structured format ready to review. This could be a document or presentation or simply notes that you bring with you into the meeting.
By formulating this document, you’ll gain clarity in what outcomes you want from your performance review, and why you should get them.
Step 8: Recognise the strengths of your peers
Most of the time your review won’t be happening in a vacuum, you’ll be benchmarked against your peers formally or informally.
Knowing the strengths of your peers, how you’d benchmark yourself against them, and how you’d differentiate yourself will make your boss’s job easier.
Step 9: Know what you’re asking for
The most successful employees know exactly what they’re asking for. Don’t go in with a long list, instead choose a few priorities and make it clear exactly what you want, how that can be achieved, and what your employer needs to do.
Choose just a few things to focus on. For example, if you’d like a pay rise and a promotion, focus on asking for the latter as a pay rise will come with a promotion anyway. If you want to get chartered, don’t focus on small learning and development opportunities, focus on the learning and development required for that chartership.
Whatever your ask is, should be unique to you – not just what everyone else is asking for.
Step 10: Prepare, prepare, prepare
The more prepared you are, the calmer you’ll feel and the more impressed your boss will be. Make sure that you’ve blocked some time out in your calendar beforehand so that you’re not late or in a rush, prepare as much information in advance and share it digitally with your manager ahead of time, propose an agenda if your manager has not done so.
By demonstrating the time and thoughts that have gone into your review, you’re showing your boss that this is something you care about.
Step 11: Take notes
It can feel like a blur, especially if you find conversations like this hard. Make sure you take notes so you can reflect on what was said after the meeting.
If you struggle to take notes, then don’t hesitate to ask for the meeting to be recorded so you can rewatch or relisten. It may sound a bit cringe, but this is your career and it’s important.
Step 12: Don’t wait for a follow-up
The meeting’s done, you’ve made some notes, and you’re clear on what the agreed actions are, so make sure you follow up.
Send your manager an email that clearly defines your agreed goals and KPIs, what was discussed in the meeting, and any timescales for decisions. This is as much a way of showing your boss you’ve paid attention as it is something for your records.
If deadlines aren’t met, or agreed learning and development aren’t arranged, this written record can be something you can follow up with.
A final note
Remember, your annual review is as much a review of your employer as it is of you.
Article Source: Adzuna
