3 Important Lessons to Learn From Yearly Performance Reviews

Yearly performance reviews are commonplace in many companies and are often the main occasions when employees receive feedback from management. You may anticipate yearly reviews since this is typically when pay raises are received but you may also dread them for fear of negative feedback.

Rather than worrying about performance reviews, use your energy more effectively by planning for the meeting. The following are three ways to plan for upcoming reviews and the lessons you should take away from the meeting.

Take Criticism Constructively

Criticism from management regarding your job performance can be difficult to swallow, especially for workplace perfectionists. Rather than worrying about what a ‘meets expectations’ rating rather than an ‘exceeds expectations’ rating may mean for your future with the company, take the criticism constructively. Listen to what your manager suggests during the review and begin incorporating that advice into future work projects.

This will prove to management that you’re committed to continually improving in the workplace and that you’re open to suggestions regarding how to improve performance. These improvements more than an evaluation rating will influence how far you’ll advance within the company.

Avoid Pay Raise Gossip

Yearly performance reviews are primarily anticipated for the pay raises that often accompany them. With this employee excitement, often comes the urge to discuss pay raise percentages with coworkers. However, discussing pay raises with coworkers can be dangerous because it often leads to hurt feelings and resentment when certain employees realize they’ve received lower pay raises than others.

Avoid the urge to tell others the pay raise you received and don’t let coworkers con you into sharing the details. Rather, if you must discuss any aspect of the review, talk about your performance evaluations and devise plans with coworkers on how to improve for next year’s review.

Don’t Stress

The days leading up to performance reviews often include moments of stress either from wondering if you’ll receive a raise or if you’ll be given a negative review. Rather than stressing about the unavoidable situation, think objectively about how you’ve performed on this year’s work projects and consider how you can improve in the future. These thoughts can then be discussed during the review and will likely impress your manager.

Also, use the pre-review days to consider the raise you think you deserve and why you deserve it. This can then provide a solid argument for a higher raise if the amount offered by management doesn’t meet your expectations.

Annual performance reviews are unavoidable in most workplaces. As such, rather than stressing about the criticism you may receive, use your energy more effectively by considering how you can plan for what the meeting may bring. By doing this, you’ll take more away from the review and will be more likely to impress management in the process.