Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: We're coming into the fourth quarter of the year, and
Speaker 1: today's tip is about how to make sure your end
Speaker 1: of view review is a fabulous one. Now. I know
Speaker 1: that a number of organizations are reforming the annual review process,
Speaker 1: and for good reason, Everyone and younger workers in particular,
Speaker 1: once frequent feedback. No one should have to wait until
Speaker 1: November or December to figure out how they're doing and
Speaker 1: to have a meaningful conversation about career progress. I also
Speaker 1: have doubts about how meaningful an annual conversation can be,
Speaker 1: since people have short memories. A big wins scored in
Speaker 1: February has much less effect on an annual review than
Speaker 1: a big win or a big mistake made in October
Speaker 1: or November. In practice, an annual review is often a
Speaker 1: thirty day review masquerading as something more comprehensive. However, I
Speaker 1: know many organizations are sticking with the annual review process,
Speaker 1: and if this includes yours, then you have a great
Speaker 1: opportunity over the next few weeks to shape the narrative.
Speaker 1: Here's how you can do this. First, Remember that everyone
Speaker 1: likes numbers, even when misused. Numbers seem to make an
Speaker 1: objective case. So look back over the past year and
Speaker 1: see what numbers you can generate to show your impact.
Speaker 1: Maybe you launched a new section on your company's website
Speaker 1: and traffic is indeed up. The scientists among us might
Speaker 1: not that correlation is not causation, but for your purposes,
Speaker 1: this is a rise worth noting. Maybe in April you
Speaker 1: killed a recurring meeting that wasn't accomplishing anything. Figure out
Speaker 1: how much money this has saved your company over the year.
Speaker 1: Five highly paid people's salaries for an hour a week
Speaker 1: over seven months adds up. Maybe you've managed to keep
Speaker 1: everyone on your team working with you all a year.
Speaker 1: This annual retention rate has prevented all kinds of turnover costs,
Speaker 1: costs you might be able to quantify by looking at
Speaker 1: other teams, So highlight this too. Even people who aren't
Speaker 1: directly in charge of P and L can show numerical
Speaker 1: impact if they try second, collect testimonials and feedback. Ideally,
Speaker 1: your manager is doing this simultaneously, and she's talking with
Speaker 1: everyone you work with to see what they think you're
Speaker 1: excelling at and what you can improve upon. But no
Speaker 1: one will do us through a job as you will,
Speaker 1: and most managers aren't going to have these conversations until
Speaker 1: right before the deadline. So go ahead and talk to
Speaker 1: people now ahead of schedule and first. Candid conversations are
Speaker 1: good in general at any point made wouldn't it be
Speaker 1: great to learn that the team member who seems to
Speaker 1: never respond to your emails would much prefer to communicate
Speaker 1: via text. Well, now you know, even if this has
Speaker 1: little to do with your actual performance. But the real
Speaker 1: upside is that if you're talking with everyone before they
Speaker 1: officially provide three hundred sixty degree feedback, you can shape
Speaker 1: the narrative. The sad truth is that most of us
Speaker 1: are stuck in our own little worlds. We aren't thinking
Speaker 1: that much about other people until we're forced to cough
Speaker 1: something up. If you nudge that process along, you can
Speaker 1: remind people of what's awesome about you, or at least
Speaker 1: what you'd like the powers that be to know, third
Speaker 1: solve any glaring problems. I'd like to think we're all
Speaker 1: aware of our weaknesses, but sometimes we aren't, and sometimes
Speaker 1: we don't think these weaknesses matter as much as other
Speaker 1: people think they do, and maybe your conversations with team
Speaker 1: members will surface issues that are hindering productivity. If you
Speaker 1: think about these issues now, you can address them in
Speaker 1: the window before your annual review. Perhaps a team member
Speaker 1: mentions that your habit of starting and ending meetings late
Speaker 1: is interfering with her ability to schedule things afterwards. Not
Speaker 1: ten minutes isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme
Speaker 1: of things. But here's the thing. And generally positive performance reviews,
Speaker 1: people tend to seize on small problems just to show
Speaker 1: their being thorough. Rather than be upset about this, you
Speaker 1: can do something about any small complaints you learn about
Speaker 1: in the next few weeks. If you can show progress
Speaker 1: that you are addressing these issues, that's a much better
Speaker 1: story than just sticking your head in the sand. Finally,
Speaker 1: figure out what you'd like to ask for. While managers
Speaker 1: are supposed to be thinking about your career progress and
Speaker 1: your compensation, they can't know exactly what you'd like if
Speaker 1: you don't tell them so. If you'd like to be
Speaker 1: promoted in the next year, say so. If you'd like
Speaker 1: to get a larger raise, well, ask what you'd need
Speaker 1: to do for your manager to be comfortable with that
Speaker 1: propose some ideas. Everyone loves solutions, so make sure you
Speaker 1: have several options brainstormed ahead of time. If you do
Speaker 1: these steps, there's a good chance you'll have your best
Speaker 1: review ever. So if you're coming up on an annual review,
Speaker 1: spend some time today generating numbers, having conversations, and brainstorming
Speaker 1: future possibilities. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
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