Your career and the company bottom line?

As Natasha Beddingfield sang in her song, “Unwritten”,

“I am unwritten can’t read my mind, I’m undefined I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand ending unplanned. Staring at the blank page before you ….”

This is sometimes how it feels when we’re asked to write our performance objectives, KPI’s, OKRs or whatever your company calls them. Today’s topic is performance review and how performance reviews can make you shine! If you're anything like me, the thought of having to set objectives to work towards and evidencing them throughout the year is a real pain. I don't know anyone who enjoys writing their objectives. It’s just so dull! The process feels intangible, invented and sometimes impossible as we try to come up with something that is realistic and provides value to your employer and you.  

However, by using SMART,  'goal setting' becomes much less gruelling:

Specific  

Measurable 

Achievable 

Realistic

Time-bound

By using SMART you will be able to structure your goals and turn them into achievable objectives, whilst simultaneously mapping out your thoughts.

On the surface, performance objectives appear to benefit the employer rather than the employed. Let’s flip the script and see how we can make objective setting and performance review work for you! As every business thinks about their bottom line and to what extent  everyone is contributing to the company's profits, let’s begin to think of yourself as “yourself incorporated”. What can you do to think about how you can set goals that will enable you to learn, earn a bonus, gain a promotion or understand your worth at your company. 

So today, I’m here to tell you 6 reasons why you should embrace performance reviews:

1 Use your objectives as an opportunity to learn 

Creating your objectives is the perfect opportunity for you to think about your role and where you want to go with it. To consider if you want to move in a different direction, to gain a promotion, or up-skill to maintain a competitive edge or simply broaden your career horizons within your company. Set an objective that involves you learning something new that benefits you and your company. Ask if your company could pay for a course, workshop or further study. Make sure that you offer to bring your learning back and to disseminate it with others in your team. Protip: Volunteer to do a brown bag lunch where you have the opportunity to share your learning with your peers and team. 

2 Create an easy way to collect evidence of your performance

Don’t leave collecting evidence of how you’ve achieved your objectives until the end. This causes so much pain and panic! Build into your way of working an easy way to collect feedback on your objectives. Pro tip: Set up regular catch up meetings with your boss or relevant stakeholders to get the feedback you need. In addition to that create your own system for collecting praise on the work you have done. If you get a “Well Done email”, create a folder in your email called “Praise or Feedback” and file these types of emails so they are easily accessible. 

3 Lean in 360 Degree Feedback! 

Yes this is a tough one! Ask your peers and colleagues for feedback on a particular piece of work you did together. You are looking to gather where you did well, but crucially where you can improve. This tool should be used to enable personal growth and learning. This is one that you’ll need to work up to. Receiving constructive criticism is tough. Yes, I struggle with it too! However I have found it most invaluable in becoming more self aware and understanding my strengths and weaknesses. 

4 Accept support to achieve your objectives

If you are offered a support plan to help you achieve your objectives, don’t see this as failure. See this an opportunity to get resources from the company to help you achieve your objectives. Milk it! Use it to your advantage. If you’re offered mentoring, a course, regular check ins or the opportunity to shadow a colleague. DO IT! 

5 Demonstrate your innovation and your impact 

So you quietly developed a process that saved your company £500K and you don’t think to mention it! You know what I mean, don’t overlook when you created a process that improves the way that your company operates and has an impact on the bottom line. Think about how and when you have brought innovation and impact to your company. It may have been something like you created a new spreadsheet that saved x amount time, you created a new way to capture customer feedback leading to higher response rates or you even saved money when you booked the venue for the company’s annual away day. You don’t need to be in a leadership position to demonstrate impact and value to your company. Think about what you’ve done, write it down and evidence it’s impact on your company’s bottom line. 

6 Use this an opportunity to humbly brag about your achievements! 

Your performance review is your opportunity to shine. Don’t be shy or down play what you have achieved! Lean into that praise. Evidence all of your achievements with the “Well Done” email, or 360 degree feedback that said “you saved the project” or “went the extra mile”. As hard as this may be for some of you, you need to get comfortable with saying that you led, and not “you supported”, “it was a team effort” or “you assisted”. Yes, a tough one. Keep at it!