Best Practices for Your Annual Performance Review [Employee Guide]

Performance reviews have a bad reputation. Managers and HR professionals frequently complain that the process takes up a considerable amount of time and effort and rarely results in a happier and more productive workforce.  

For employees, fear of criticism and negative consequences can trigger anxiety and dread leading up to a review. Problems also arise when the process is inconsistent, subjective, or biased. This is a particular concern among workers who are not invited to participate in the review process, as managers can then create an incomplete picture of their performance. 

According to Gallup, just 14% of employees strongly agree that their performance reviews inspire them to improve. Meanwhile, more than 9 in 10 managers are unhappy with their current annual review process, according to a study by SHRM. 

The stats are disheartening, but abolishing performance reviews altogether isn’t the answer. 

Benefits of Performance Reviews 

When conducted fairly and consistently, the performance review process offers several benefits to workers and managers, including:

• Provides Timely Support: Timely and comprehensive performance reviews are used to identify employees who are unhappy, demotivated, overworked, or struggling to meet their objectives. Early detection enables these kinds of challenges to be addressed without further escalation.  

• Boosts Employee Performance: Employees perform better when empowered to perform meaningful and interesting work. Gartner’s research found that 82% of people want to be treated as individuals and not just workers, highlighting the need to align unique employee career goals with overall business objectives. 

• Reduces Employee Turnover: Performance reviews provide the perfect opportunity to recognize and reward employee growth, which, according to Deloitte, boosts employee productivity and engagement by 14%.  

• Drives Collaboration and Innovation: Organizations with employees who are satisfied with their company’s approach to performance management are more than twice as likely to innovate. 

• Improves Transparency: In the past, organizations that abolished performance reviews continued to assess and rank their employees behind closed doors, increasing the likelihood of them being highly subjective. Establishing a transparent and collaborative performance review process enables organizations to identify high performers without assessor bias. 

As an employee, you don’t have the influence to control the process in its entirety, but you can take steps to optimize your experience. Here’s what to do before, during, and after a review. 

Before Your Performance Review 

1. Ask for Feedback Throughout the Year

Don’t let the day of your annual performance review be the first time you receive feedback from your manager; lack of preparation coupled with heightened trepidation is likely to impact the fruitfulness of the discussion. 

Be diligent in requesting feedback from your manager and peers throughout the year, whether it’s during regular one-to-one meetings or upon the completion of key pieces of work. Maintain a written record of all the feedback you’ve received, including during previous performance reviews, and the steps you take to address it. 

2. Understand Your Organization’s Performance Review Process 

Employee performance reviews feature different types of evaluation, which are typically followed up by an in-person meeting between a manager and their reportee: 

• Manager Review: Your manager completes a questionnaire to review your performance.

• Self-Review: You complete a questionnaire to review your performance.

• 360-Review: Your peers provide feedback to review your performance and/or comment on their experiences working with you.

Be sure to become knowledgeable about your employer’s performance review methods, including what you need to prepare and when, what you need to bring to your in-person meeting, and how employees are scored and ranked. 

3. Prepare Some Conversation Topics

Self-review questionnaires are usually deployed company-wide to ensure a fair and objective process. But your in-person meeting is an opportunity to ask questions, contribute ideas, set goals, and respond to feedback. 

Prepare a few topics you’d like to discuss and share them with your manager beforehand. You might like to include some suggestions for increasing your value at the company, as well as highlighting the steps you plan to take to address constructive feedback or request funding for a relevant training program. 

4. Showcase the Good and the Bad

Don’t be afraid to highlight your shortcomings. The performance review process is equally an opportunity to celebrate your accomplishments and identify areas for improvement. By providing an honest self-review, you demonstrate your willingness to learn and enable your manager to provide you with the support and resources you need to perform at your best. 

5. Gather Evidence of Your Work

Research shows that humans very often overestimate the extent to which other people notice and retain their achievements. Depending on team size, workplace culture, and in-office time, your manager might be even less likely to keep tabs on your day-to-day work.   

With this in mind, your performance review is the perfect occasion to showcase your best work. Respond to your self-review questionnaire with real-world examples and provide evidence wherever possible. In addition, familiarize yourself with your employer’s mission and vision, and then try to link your contributions with broader company objectives. This will help you to position yourself as a key organizational player.    

6. Consider Your Future Goals

As you reflect on the past 12 months, taking stock of all the things you’ve learned, achieved, enjoyed, and resented, think about what’s next. What are your career goals for the coming year, and how can your manager help you to accomplish them?

During Your Performance Review

1. Graciously Accept Criticism

Be prepared to receive some negative feedback and try not to react defensively. Listen carefully, ask questions to clarify, and, most importantly, try to understand what you can do better, either to improve your performance or avoid similar scenarios arising in the future. 

Don’t be pressured to respond in the moment. If you need some time to process the feedback and plan a reasoned response, communicate this to your manager, thank them for their feedback, and schedule a follow-up meeting. 

2. Take Notes

To avoid being overloaded with information during your performance review, note down all of the points raised and your immediate action items. These will serve as a useful guide as you forge a plan of action for the coming year and can be referred to in future meetings with your manager to track your progress. 

3. Frame Feedback Constructively

Your manager might ask for feedback on their management style and the team’s culture and ask for your suggestions on how to improve. Be prepared to respond honestly but constructively, providing a potential solution and positively framing your responses. For example:

• Don’t Say: “Our team struggles to delegate work effectively, which means some people take on additional responsibilities without the proper recognition.”

• Do Say: “I think it would be great to introduce a triage system to help us delegate work in the most efficient way possible. This will provide better visibility into everyone’s work assignments and enable us to properly celebrate their accomplishments.”

After Your Performance Review

1. Determine Next Steps

Following your performance review, carefully consult your notes and draw up a list of goals for the coming year. Your action plan should include time frames and achievable target dates. Remember, these should align with the feedback you’ve received, your career goals, and the company’s objectives. 

If your performance review has left you feeling disappointed— for example, if you didn’t secure the promotion or pay increase you were hoping for or if the feedback was more negative than you expected — consider scheduling a series of follow-up meetings with your manager, who can help you devise an appropriate performance management plan. 

2. Ask More Questions 

The discussion shouldn’t stop as your performance review meeting concludes. Continue to ask questions, seek clarification, and schedule follow-up discussions, all of which will help you respond more effectively to the feedback you’ve been given. For example, you might need more context or examples of your performance to understand how to improve.  

3. Document Your Achievements and Progress

If you take one thing away from this employee guide, let it be the importance of documenting everything: details of your historical achievements and performance reviews, the questions, comments, and suggestions you plan to raise during your upcoming review, the notes you take mid-discussion, and the progress you’re making to achieve your latest measurable objectives. 

In doing so, you demonstrate your problem-solving skills and a commitment to continuous improvement.