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I need advice on preparing for my first annual review at my company.
Elaine Varelas provides guidance on how to prepare for effective career conversations such as your annual review.
Q. I’m relatively new at my organization – just 10 months. My first annual review is coming up and I want to be prepared. Any suggestions on how to make it a positive and meaningful conversation?
A. Congratulations on taking responsibility for preparing for your annual review. Many people assume this is something that just happens to them, when instead you need to invest in this discussion and recognize that you play a vital part in making this a successful conversation. You want to be able to articulate all the positive things you have achieved in your role since you started at the organization 10 months ago. You want to keep track of the contributions you have made and positive comments you have received from others. This is something that you want to do on a regular basis. A mentor of mine suggested creating a “roses file” as if someone had sent you roses. And saving anything positive that colleagues or customers said about you and keeping track of that. You want to be able to share that positive feedback during your review so that others are aware of your successes and how it impacted other people throughout the organization.
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Vicky Rayel, VP, and Career Consulting Lead at Keystone Partners, recently conducted a webinar, “Empowered Career Conversations,” which focused on learning how to lead productive career discussions with managers, mentors, and advocates. As Vicky pointed out, “Annual reviews go beyond feedback—they provide a valuable opportunity for meaningful career discussions, making the conversation even more impactful. Components include getting feedback, gaining an advocate, getting coaching and skill building, and accessing future opportunities.” She provided advice on receiving feedback, including giving appreciation to the person giving feedback, being open and approachable, listening to understand, summarizing what you hear and if feedback is upsetting, waiting to give a response. Vicky explained “Career development is an ongoing process, and you should communicate what motivates you, how to manage your skills development, understanding your brand/reputation, finding opportunities and connections, and creating a plan.”
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She shared some insightful questions to ask yourself to help you frame the conversation, such as what career success would look like for you, what aspects of your work excite and interest you the most, what you want to achieve in the next 2-3 years, how well does your current work match your strengths, motivators, or values. During your annual review, you will want to discuss both your performance and opportunities. Talk about your achievements, what you want to learn, where you need to develop, etc. Vicky also shared how this conversation could be a great opportunity to talk about your brand and reputation within the organization, including how to get more visibility for your strengths and strategies to develop relationships.
Most people assume reviews are only for raises. Companies take varying approaches regarding performance reviews and their connection to compensation and annual increases. Some suggest it’s tied only to bonuses or the percentage increase that you might get. To maximize your increase, you need to document the accomplishments you have made and make note of the contribution to the financial success of the company. Did you increase income? Decrease costs? Bring in business opportunities? When an average raise is in the 2 % to 4 % range every item you can document can add to your increase and the value of any bonus.
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