Ignoring the idea that management has enough issues even trying to give a performance review, my belief is that most managers and employees don’t communicate enough to know how their performance is perceived during the year.

But, I’d like to hear from you — it is now June. Do you know your performance level perception from your manager right now?

Related posts:

1. The One Performance Review Fact You Can’t Tell Your Coworkers
2. The single most important action to take on your performance review
3. Your manager’s performance review
4. Writing Reviews – Feedback
5. The Performance Review Secret

There’s a good reason performance reviews are written after the rating is submitted. It is because your manager doesn’t know your final rating until after the completion of the budget for salaries and bonuses. The early ratings are reviewed by management and budgets are applied to the ratings. The ratings – and your salary and bonus – change based on the budget. Finally, a rating is determined and agreed to by management. Only then can your manager write your performance review.

What is a Cubicle Warrior to do to influence your salary and bonus?

Know the Performance Review cutoffs in your company

Big companies can’t turn performance reviews around on a dime. They need time to settle ratings, collect them between departments and have financial impacts completed for the budget. Your last point of influence on your early rating is when initial ratings are due to the management team. Rarely do ratings go higher after this point; most of the time they stay the same or come back lowered.

If your performance review is given to you in the last two weeks in December, initial ratings are often due by the end of October. What you do in November and December is largely irrelevant to your performance rating. That is unless you work in the rare company that measures performance from “initial rating” to “initial rating.”

Update your performance for your Performance Review

A critical task of the Cubicle Warrior is to update their performance against the SMART goals of the review. By keeping current on your goal attainment, you will have ready information to provide your manager about your performance for the review. Most employees do not update their performance against their goals – or even question the goals given to them at the beginning of the year. By updating your goal attainment, you will be far ahead of your peers in showing your performance to your manager.

Write your Performance Review

Many companies ask that you write your own performance review. If you are given the opportunity, do so. Your self-review will usually be the only summary of your performance your manager has before giving your rating to management. If you write a great and honest self-review, you will provide solid documentation – usually the only documentation – that your manager has to remember your great accomplishments.

Writing your performance review is critical to influencing your rating which is why we spend time teaching you How to write your performance review.

Just because your rating is determined before you are given a performance review is no reason you can’t go and influence your rating. You need to have accomplishments, of course, but communicating your performance can make the difference between an average and an above-average rating. And salary increase. And bonus amount.

How else can you influence your rating?

Related posts:

1. The single most important action to take on your performance review
2. The One Performance Review Fact You Can’t Tell Your Coworkers
3. Write your performance review with facts
4. The Performance Review Calibration Session
5. Goals to Performance Review: Getting the rating

Since your manager is a significant source of influence on your career, it only makes sense that you do an evaluation. It is, after all, your career and income we’re talking about here.

7 manager review questions to answer

Does your manager know your accomplishments?

Without the ability to state your accomplishments for the year, your manager won’t be able to defend your performance review rating in manager meetings where budget and rankings are determined. If your manager isn’t willing to defend your realm, you’ll lose. And you did show your business accomplishments backed up by numbers when it came time for your self review, didn’t you?

Does your manager know your work history?

After having worked at my last gig for three years (out of decades of my career), I applied for a position within the management group essentially changing one manager for another higher level manager.

In the two interviews I had, both the hiring manager and their team interviews basically said, “oh, we know all about your work.”

But, no they didn’t. I went through several positions at my previous gig that directly applied to the position I was interviewing for with them. They had no idea.

Is your manager results or time oriented?

There’s a big difference in this answer. Results-only managers focus on the work and not how you spend your time. Who wants a manager who decides your performance review rating based on sitting at your desk “looking busy” when there is nothing to do? There’s a reason results count.

Rank your manager on your manager’s team

Your manager reports to some other manager. And your manager is part of that manager’s team. If your manager is one of eight people reporting to the manager two levels up from you, where do you think your manager ranks? One? Five? Eight? Why?

Is your manager plugged in?

As in, plugged into the events of the company. What is happening in the company. What’s coming up for the department and the company.

More distinctly: can you tell if your manager is plugged in and holds confidences or is your manager plugged in (or not) and gossiping in the halls about what is happening? Holding confidences as a manager is critical to success (and for employees, too). If a manager can’t keep a confidence, whatever you tell your manager will be told to the world.

Your manager’s communication performance

Does your manager consistently review your performance or just when the review comes out? Does your manager tell you and the group what the current situation is with the company and the projects being worked without revealing confidences? Does your manager excel at corporate speak or does plain language rule?

History of promotion and reward

If your manager promoted a person, was that person deserving or not? Why? Was it based on results and connections or was it simply a way to promote a buddy?

Are rewards handed out based on real work or the time spent in the office?

The review

I can’t tell you how to score the review or whether it makes sense to stay or leave based on the review. But doing a review of your manager gives you a point in the sand to evaluate performance that affects your career.

Any other points to the review? Which of these is most important to you?

Related posts:

1. The One Performance Review Fact You Can’t Tell Your Coworkers
2. The single most important action to take on your performance review
3. The Performance Review Secret
4. SMART Goals and Writing Your Performance Review
5. Do you get performance review feedback during the year?

In addition, what a person considers the simplest gift in the world – think of Barbra Streisand’s voice – is viewed by that person as a given and nothing special. Yet others see the power and strength of that quality for the person.

It’s clear we need a place to start our self-assessment. And a great place to start is Barbara Seifert’s list in “Self-Assessment is a Key Factor to Successful Career Management.” In it, she lists evaluating four areas:

1. Values
2. Interests
3. Personality
4. Talents

Of these, Values was most interesting list:

There are six values we have: theoretical, economic, aesthetic, religious, social, and political. It is important to assess what we value in each of these areas and how they impact us in our career choices. For example, if you have high social values, you would do better to work in an environment where you have people interaction, such as in customer service.

Still, I come back to “the guy thing.” It’s tough to evaluate ourselves because we are too close to what we do.

I’d take this list and work with another trusted person and together develop your self-assessment. Once completed, you’ll have a better way of evaluating choices in your career and your current work.

Scot

No related posts.