Through various incentives and strategies, employers are doing their best to ensure employees are happy and engaged. Much of this is being driven by the need to attract and retain employees in the executive, managerial and professional labor market, which is largely candidate-driven across many industries.
Since successful business operations hinge on performance, employers are placing more focus on performance reviews. But many workers may not find these reviews especially useful.
Employers are aware their staff may feel this way. In fact, their workers’ dissatisfaction is part of the reason why they’ve sought to change their processes. Try as they might, these attempts have occasionally come up short due to other tasks taking precedence as well as a lack of follow through or adequate resources.
Here are a few things you can do as an employee to maximize your growth potential and get the most out of performance reviews, so everyone – your employer, your co-workers, and you – stand to benefit:
Seek out a mentor
Depending on how long you’ve been with your employer, you probably know a co-worker you can turn to, such as when you have a question about a task or need guidance. Consider this person your mentor. He or she has likely been with the company for a while and clearly has established a mindset and method of operation that’s allowed him or her to succeed. Talk to them about what they do to improve themselves so that they’re always improving in a way that is noticeable to your company.
Make a list
Performance reviews are often one-sided, but should be more of a conversation, where you and your boss discuss your overall performance throughout the year, outline areas that can be improved, and set new goals for the coming year. This is the ideal time to let your manager know about what’s been on your mind. Before your review, make a list of the things you’d like to discuss – in order of priority – and go from there. Additionally, if you would like to learn a new skill, that would not only benefit you, but also expand your team’s capabilities, discussing it during your review shows that you’re serious about wanting to improve and are actively engaged.
Seek out new projects and partnership opportunities
One way to demonstrate your growth potential and ability to collaborate is to take on new projects, especially those that provide the opportunity to partner with team members or other departments. Whether it’s a major initiative or just providing some assistance based on your skillset, make note of when you’ve offered a helping hand, so you can point back to these instances in your performance review. Working with other people can also help you identify areas where you might be able to improve. This serves as a vehicle for ongoing feedback that can help you self-reflect. Whether more regular performance reviews are already in place or not, the above tips can help you get more out of these discussions, by taking proactive measures to improve your work outcomes and ultimately your career advancement.