How To Get Value Out of Your Next Performance Review

Performance reviews are stressful, no matter who you are.

And to make matters worse, most reviews are useless.

The purpose of a review is for you to get actionable feedback to guide your future behavior and development.

Yet according to a study by Gallup, a global analytics and advice firm for leaders:

only 14% of employees strongly agree that performance reviews inspire them to improve in their jobs.

Personally, I’ve had reviews where I got “keep doing what you’re doing” feedback and a huge bonus.

It certainly felt good, but there was no feedback to help me improve.

I’ve also had a review where my boss concluded by saying, “Well, you’ve definitely hit all of your metrics, but I just wanted to tell you that you won’t be presenting your work to the leadership team because you’re not attractive”. (Yes, that actually happened!)

That was devastating and again contained no actionable feedback.

In this newsletter, I will give you 5 strategies to ensure you not only survive the performance review, but also leave with useful information that will help you in your career.

1. (Year-round) Understand how your job fits into the big picture of the organization.

Make a direct link from your performance goals to the high-level strategy of the business. You may be making a very small contribution to the broader strategy, you may be accountable for the execution of the entire strategy, or you may be somewhere in between.

You can discover this link in two ways.

Top-down guidance from your manager. Many organizations do this for you. The top leaders create goals and “cascade” them down their organizations in a systematic way so the links are clear. If you aren’t in an organization that is proactive about aligning goals and objectives, you can ask your manager for help. At least once a quarter, have a conversation with your manager about how your goals align with the organization.
Your own analysis. Read and listen to the information being conveyed by your top leaders (annual and quarterly reports, town hall meetings, etc.) and do your best to conclude how your work contributes to those efforts. Check with your manager and trusted advisors to get feedback on your interpretations.

Also, understand how any changes that have happened in the organization or in the business context may have impacted your ability to execute your work. It is not uncommon for goals that were set in January to be irrelevant by April.

2. (Year-round) Seek regular feedback.

Seek regular feedback from the stakeholders that you work with. That will help you bring your performance review information into context. It will also give you additional data to share with your manager.

If you don’t already have a process for collecting feedback from your stakeholders, a great place to start is to conduct an informal hotwash.

A hotwash is a simplified post-activity review. It has two questions:

What went well?
What needs to be improved upon?

I suggest you ask these two questions after a project or major deliverable has been completed.

I will warn you, it will probably feel a little bit strange at first. But once you get started you are very likely to find two things:

You get useful feedback that you can take action upon.
People compliment you for doing it.

3. (Day of) Bring a summary of your accomplishments with you.

Many organizations use a system that collects detailed performance deliverables and feedback from stakeholders such as ADP, Workday, and Lattice. By all means, if a system is available, use it.

Whether there is a system or not, I recommend that you create a summary of talking points for your review.

Your points should include:

How you’ve met or exceeded your objectives.
Any major accomplishments that may not be included in the list of objectives, but things that you want to highlight.
Where you may have had some challenges.
Questions you have for your manager.
Areas where your manager can provide support.

By having these points prepared in advance, you can be proactive in the conversation. You can share what you want to share and ask what you need to ask.

4. (Day of) Take care of yourself physically and emotionally.

Facing a stressful performance review can indeed be challenging both physically and emotionally. Here are some ways people can take care of themselves before and after the review.

Before:

Practice Relaxation Techniques. Incorporate relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, or yoga to help manage stress and anxiety.
Get Adequate Sleep. Prioritize getting enough sleep in the days leading up to the review to ensure you’re well-rested and better able to handle stress.
Check-in with yourself and take care of any acute physical needs. Thirsty, hungry, need to go to the bathroom? Pause 15 minutes before your meeting and tend to any needs you may have.

After:

Practice Self-Compassion Be kind to yourself regardless of the outcome. Understand that everyone has areas for improvement, and it’s okay to make mistakes.
Celebrate Achievements. Acknowledge your accomplishments, no matter how small. Celebrate your successes to boost morale and maintain motivation.
Engage in Self-Care Activities. Engage in activities that promote relaxation and self-care, such as taking a warm bath, going for a walk in nature, or indulging in a hobby you enjoy.

Remember that a performance review is an opportunity for growth and development. By taking care of yourself physically and emotionally, you can better navigate the stress associated with this process and emerge stronger and more resilient.

5. (Day of) Focus on the Future.

Today’s performance review discussion is about what you did in the past. You can’t change that. All you can change is what you do in the future.

If you received negative feedback, don’t dwell on it. Just think about what you want to do differently and move forward.

Similarly, if you received positive feedback, don’t become complacent. Your next role is going to require different behavior. So, still focus on your development.

The single most effective way to remain future-focused is to ask this “Magic” question:

Can you give me an example of the behavior you’re referring to?
The performance review “magic question”

You can ask this question multiple times in a performance review session.

Upon receiving positive feedback. An example will ensure your clarity on exactly what actions you need to be doing more of in the future.
Upon receiving negative feedback. An example will ensure your clarity on what actions you need to be doing less of in the future.
About other people. Your supervisor can help you understand actions that are noticed and who’s doing them. You can observe individuals and inquire about their strategies (or avoid their strategies) in the future.

The “Can you give me an example?” question is so powerful. Any answer will give you guidance on what to do in the future, even if you get no answer at all!

If your supervisor gives you feedback but can’t give you an example, in the future:

➡️collect more data.

Feedback without specific examples is vague and unhelpful. You can waste a lot of time and mental energy trying to figure out what to do about it. Instead, I encourage you to put vague feedback on the shelf for now and try to collect more data over time and from a variety of stakeholders to determine if the behavior is something you need to address.

TL;DR

Performance reviews are almost always stressful, but seldom useful. You can survive the interaction and obtain actionable feedback that will help you improve your performance when you understand how your work fits into the broader goals of the organization, seek regular and ongoing feedback, bring demonstrated accomplishments, take care of yourself before and after the review and focus on the future by encouraging your manager to provide you with clear examples of positive and negative behaviors.