Annual Reviews: What to Expect

Welcome back, everyone! Today, I’m here to introduce you to a process that I was recently tasked with – engaging in year-end review and compensation discussions. If you’re like me, then you have very little prior experience with these conversations and were not briefed on what to expect. But, we don’t want you to feel overwhelmed! So, let us help and read below…

Year-End Review Conversations…

  • Stay Aligned with Your Goals: If you work for a corporation, you’ve liked engaged in the goal-setting process. What this means is that we use online platforms to input different types of goals (professional, cultural, behavioral, etc.) so that we can create a measure of accountability on a bi-annual basis.
  • Create a Comfortable Atmosphere: Remember, you will get out of the conversation exactly what you give! Put meaningful effort into evaluating how you’ve met goals, made progress towards goals, turned in unanticipated directions, adapted goals, or even fallen short. It’s okay to learn and to grow! Goals are fluid and not fixed, so they can change to adapt to how your role ebbs and flows throughout the year.
  • Call out Your Own Constructive Criticism: Before entering into the conversation, identify areas that you could personally see a need for growth or that you anticipate a person in leadership may call out. That way, you’ll avoid ever coming across as arrogant or unaware of yourself. I specifically measured the metrics in my goals against my performance (ex: aim for 5 meetings with various company leaders – did you have 3 meetings? 6? How do you measure up?), and in doing so, was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to seek out my own areas of improvement.
  • Say Thank You: While you should always thank someone else for taking the time to engage with you no matter what the topic, it’s especially important to thank your manager for feedback and not express any animosity depending on the result. Getting constructive criticism is a part of life, and a vital skill to success is being able to channel those types of messages with action and appreciation.

Tune in Friday to chat about… compensation!

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