Managing End-of-the-Year Reviews
The time is quickly approaching…. the exciting, yet intimidating, end-of-the-year performance reviews. These review conversations tend to cover several topics, and I think we can all agree that the first two are the most enjoyable:
Praise for past performance
Key career milestones (bonuses, promotions, etc.)
Areas for improvement
This article will touch on several components of the end-of-the-year review. First, we’ll kick things off by summarizing a typical review talk, then dive into how to optimize the meeting by preparing beforehand, and lastly touch on navigating the conversation once you’re actually in it and succeeding once you’re past it. To begin, let me touch on the contents of a typical end-of-the-year review.
How do performance reviews work?
It has become commonplace for companies to have managers annually review their subordinates, and the subordinates review their own subordinates, and so on. The contents of this review change from company to company, but you can expect to see your performance rated across several dimensions, including work quality, teamwork/collaboration, and several role-specific dimensions (e.g. business development for consultants, deals closed for bankers, etc.)
These meetings tend to last for 30-60 minutes, yet managers typically only take 1/2 to 3/4 of the time allotted to discuss your performance and milestones. After your manager wraps up her piece, then you have two options:
End the call right then and there
Make use of the remaining time with your own agenda
And, I’m sure you can guess what I’d urge you to do (hint: it’s not ending the call). That remaining time is gold. Why gold you ask? Because the tone is already set; it’s a vulnerable conversation so anything and everything is on the table, hence you should feel empowered to chat through any topic adjacent to your professional development.
Before the review
Once you’re in the conversation, it can be tough to think through crucial topics of discussion on your feet. Thus, it’s important to go into the review with a game plan detailing key areas where you’d like to get your manager’s perspective. Yet, you do not need to go overkill on preparing for the review - a few high-level discussion topics will suffice. Here’s an idea of some of the topics you can touch upon:
Probing on how you can be more involved with different company initiatives/projects
Asking to work on different types of projects/tasks that closer align with your passions
Receiving mentorship on your chosen long-term career path
Inquiring which traits that will set you apart from the average employee
Bringing up concerns regarding work/life balance
Not only will touching upon some of the topics listed above be instrumental in getting answers to important questions, but your manager will also be impressed with your preparedness and willingness to learn. Trust me, it’s a good call.
During the review
Once you’re in the review, I’d urge you to put your energy into three areas:
Listen attentively
Clarify anything you may have misheard or not understood
Take detailed notes
First, it is of paramount importance to be lasered into this conversation as the topics covered are crucial to your professional development. Second, you’ll want to have a firm grasp of every topic covered in the meeting, so, if you didn’t catch or understand something, be sure to clarify it. Ensuring a crystal understanding of all the information covered in the review conversation, enables you to work with accurate information and be confident in your takeaways from the meeting. Third, take notes. The notes taken in that meeting will be the north star in helping you develop professionally over years to come.
Things won’t always work out as you hope. Let’s say you didn’t get that promotion you hoped for or that pay bump you desperately wanted. I usually ask what I would need to do next year in order to get that promotion/raise; then ask if my manager would be willing to help me achieve that goal. From my tenure in business (albeit short), I’ve learned that people want to help you succeed as long as you just ask. That being said, remember when someone asks you for help, it’s usually a good idea to pay it forward by lending a hand to those in need.
After the review
Once the review is finally over, you can breathe a sigh of relief - phew, you did it. You got through the review…now what? Well, this is where the work towards achieving your goals truly begins. Write down your goals and check-in on them periodically, ideally with your manager, to track progress. The key to success is consistency, so continue to make tangible progress towards achieving your goals; even daily, incremental steps can go a long way!
No matter how the review goes, you successfully made it through another year. Let the 2023 personal improvement grind begin!
