The truth about annual reviews is that no one necessarily loves them, but they are an essential element of every business. What we tend to forget is that they’re not solely about getting feedback about our work performance throughout the year, highlighting achievements and discussing shortcomings, but they’re also the place where you can voice your own opinion to your manager, establish your future goals, and start planning and prepping for the year to come.
We know, this all sounds nerve-wrecking, but fortunately we have some tips to help you overcome your nerves, prep like a pro, and ace your annual review this year, proving yourself a great asset to your company and starting off your next year to a spotless start.
There is nothing worse than trying to prepare for your annual review a couple of days before it’s due. It is simply not enough time to recall all your accomplishments throughout the year, and put together a comprehensive record of all the projects, initiatives and tasks you’ve successfully accomplished and which you’d like to highlight. Make sure you’re keeping tabs on your work from the beginning of the year.
No one is perfect, and having weaknesses and shortcomings is only normal. The important part is to be aware of those shortcomings, and to have a plan of action prepared, prior to the review, on how you plan to improve in the coming year. This will show your boss that you are aware, responsible, can handle criticism maturely, and won’t hide from your own mistakes but instead own up to them and fix them. This is an extremely important quality for any professional because no one wants an employee who they will be cleaning up after.
During your review, be very accurate and very specific. Try to avoid generalities such as “I was able to leverage strategic resources,” but instead say something like “I was able to increase our online presence by 17% by bartering deals with prominent online publications and introducing our brand on their websites and social media channels.” It’s important to spell out how your work is contributing to the ultimate success of the company, and show that you are in fact essential to the business as a whole.
We all have ideas, some are great, some are terrible, but none of them account to anything without having been clearly evaluated, studied and strategized. Make suggestions of new techniques, more efficient methods, or even modern tools and products that you think will be beneficial to the company, explain why you think so, and what you would need to accomplish them. Show your boss that you have the initiative and that you are invested in the company’s success as well.
Don’t overreact to criticism or a bad review. Getting angry or teary or trying to argue with your boss is one of the worst things you could do during your appraisal. Be professional about the things that upset you by remaining polite, acknowledging where you can improve and using the information to your advantage during the next year. Vent and voice your anger to a close friend instead of having an emotional outburst in front of your boss.