For some, a performance review at work is a time for worry. It is a time to face unwanted criticism or negative feedback.
For others, a performance review is a cause for celebration. It is a time to be lauded for great performance, hear about their meaningful contributions and bask in the praise.
A much healthier approach is to look at a performance view as an opportunity. It is a chance to review your happiness at work and consider ways to maximize the positives and minimize the negatives. Better yet, it’s an opportunity to score a pay increase, which can improve your financial situation and boost your budget.
The goal of your review isn’t just to rubber-stamp your performance or listen to a bunch of criticisms, but to develop a plan for both you and your supervisor to get what you both want. You want a raise. What does your boss want? Go into the review with this mindset.
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Don’t take your review personally. It is easy to fall into the trap of taking criticism personally. A criticism of your performance is easy to interpret as some kind of personal failing that you’ll never overcome, something that will constantly hold you back.
That’s rarely true. Criticism in a workplace review is often given as a tool to help guide you toward better performance. Most supervisors do not want you to fail. Your supervisor wants you to succeed because that reflects well on both of you. Criticism is meant to be a guide toward great performance.
Criticism in a performance review is rarely a personal attack. Instead, it’s a guide that’s intended to mold your good attributes into greatness — and potentially boost you up the career ladder toward a bigger paycheck.
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Ask questions. The most valuable tool you bring to a performance review is your ability to ask powerful questions about the review and understand the criticisms beyond a shallow “this is bad” level (and the compliments beyond a “this is good” level). Questions are your most valuable tool because they allow you to drill down into the specific actions under your control, which is what will make or break you as an employee.
When a criticism or compliment is offered, and you are having difficulty tying it directly to specific things you do well (or poorly) at work, ask questions. Your goal should be to connect all criticisms and compliments you hear into actions you’ve taken or chosen not to take at work. Don’t be afraid to directly ask how a reviewer’s comment connects to your personal behavior.
Focus on the criticisms, particularly the ones you can take action on. Your goal in all of those criticisms and compliments is to figure out an actionable list of changes you can enact to inspire stunningly good performance reviews in the future. Those actions will, ideally, continue to move you toward higher pay.
The most effective way to do this is by asking questions that seek to nudge your reviewer into translating criticisms and compliments into points of action you can execute. Those action points are the true list of what’s expected from you in the workplace if you’re a top performer in your position.
Use overcoming those criticisms as a goal in your work. That list of actions that you’re developing, particularly ones that you’re not achieving yet, should become a major goal in your work. You should strive to be able to check off all of the things discussed — or at least as many as possible.
Your performance review is handing you a list of goals for the coming year, ones that will lead you to better reviews and, as a result, other perks, including financial benefits such as raises and bonuses. Take advantage of that list of goals.
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Talk about a plan with your supervisor during the review. If you’re unsure how to proceed, ask. Talk to your supervisor during this review about how you can achieve your goals. What specifically can you do to overcome any criticisms?
If the criticisms are few, then ask what you can do to become a better performer. Even if you’re the best performer in the department, you can still become better.
Work out a plan of attack with your supervisor that includes specific actionable goals. Why is this plan important? Remember, the big purpose of a performance review is to establish what you need and what your boss needs. This plan establishes what your boss needs.
Use successful completion of that plan as a path toward a raise. If you have a strong plan in place to address overcoming your professional weaknesses, discuss with your supervisor whether completion of that plan will merit a raise or other form of compensatory increase.
The best approach here is to use straightforward candor. Say something like, “If I complete this plan, I am putting in a lot of extra effort that goes above and beyond in order to add value to the team. I would like to request a reasonable raise upon completion of this plan.” While this will most definitely not conclude the conversation, it will open the door to translating your workplace efforts into financial benefits. Remember, this plan is all about you stretching to provide great job performance, and if you’re willing to do that, you should be compensated.
There is a connection between good performance and good pay, and if you’re meeting and exceeding the expectations of your employer, then good pay should be coming your way.
Treat your performance review as an opportunity to put yourself in a position to become a better worker and deserve better pay and better opportunities. Your review is a financial tool — use it.
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Get the Most Financial Value From a Workplace Performance Review originally appeared on usnews.com
