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These tips will help employees prepare for their performance review meeting. Ideally, they should refer to this at least a week before their review to mull over the various issues. All the questions listed here are intended to help individuals reflect on their previous year.
Your Job
- Look out your last performance agreement/personal business objectives. Review your objectives and clarify with your manager in advance if any have been superseded by legitimate business events. This will put your mind at rest and you will both go into the meeting in the full knowledge that the objectives to be reviewed are current.
- In what ways has your job changed since the last review?
Your Performance
- List your main successes and achievements since your last review.
- Make a note of data that support this, together with third-party feedback.
- List the aspects of your work that you have found the most satisfying.
- List the main challenges, frustrations or disappointments. For each, identify the steps you have taken to resolve them and/or suggestions for improvement. Be honest with yourself during the meeting to explore why an objective may not have been fully met and how this can be turned around.
- Are there changes to your job, or the way you do it, that would make you more effective or your job more interesting?
- What aspects of your role play to your strengths? Is there an opportunity to develop your role in line with these?
- What aspects of your performance need to be developed to improve your effectiveness?
Your Development
- How have you developed over the last year? Look out your Personal Development Plan. How has it progressed? Have you been able to apply your training to your job? Look through your diary to identify new pieces of work you have worked on, or responsibilities. You may be surprised – you have probably progressed more than you might initially think.
- What additional skills or knowledge would you find useful in improving your performance?
- What skills or knowledge do you have that are not used in your present job but you would wish to use?
- Be prepared to propose ideas for how you can develop in your job. If you are looking for your career to develop in a particular direction, seek guidance or support.
Upward Feedback
Ask yourself the following questions to help you think through the feedback you want to give your manager:
- What is working well? (Consider the team or organizational culture, your manager’s style, systems, procedures, etc.)
- Suggest and explore better ways of working together.
- If you can see ways of improving systems and procedures, make sure you raise this.
- What could your manager or colleagues do differently to help improve your performance? Use specific examples, if possible.
After Your Performance Review Meeting
- Ensure you get from your manager, or write yourself (depending on what has been agreed), a written summary of the discussion shortly after the meeting.
- Ensure a meeting is scheduled to firm up your objectives and development for the coming months.
- Draft your own personal development plan and research options for meeting your development needs.
