You have a performance review coming up, and you want to be prepared. These meetings always make you a little nervous — understandably so — but you know they’re very valuable.
Inevitably, you’ll receive feedback from your boss, chat about your future plans and maybe even discuss a raise. Since this meeting is very important, you want to be on your A-game. Here’s some advice to help you get the most from it.
Prepare for Negative Feedback
Ideally, your performance review would be filled with only glowing remarks, but at minimum, you’ll likely receive at least a bit of constructive criticism. This might hurt your ego, but it’s actually a great way to learn and grow.
If you’re like most people, you might not quite know how to respond to negative feedback. The best way to handle it is to own your mistakes and offer up a solution for improvement going forward. Your boss doesn’t expect perfection, so simply knowing you’re trying your best will make you shine bright in their eyes.
Inventory Top Achievements
You’re a very talented professional, and you’ve done a lot for the company in the past year. If you’re hoping for a raise, don’t expect it to be magically presented to you. Instead, you’ll need to prepare your case by highlighting your top accomplishments from the past year. When possible, quantify them to really drive your value home — i.e., emphasize the fact the glitch you fixed in a certain process saved the company $20,000 over the past six months.
Review Progress Made Toward Goals
If it’s been awhile since you looked over the goals you set last year, now is the time to dust them off. For goals you met, think about what you learned along the way. If there’s any you didn’t meet, try to figure out what went wrong. Use these thoughts as points of discussion with your boss. For example, if a certain road block kept you from achieving a goal, bring it up, so the two of you can work together to find a solution.
Create New Objectives
No doubt, your boss is going to ask what you want to accomplish in the year ahead. Anticipate this by creating a few goals that will help you move up the ladder. This might include learning new skills, taking on new responsibilities or improving on weaknesses currently holding you back. Walking into the meeting with this list will impress your boss and help ensure you’re on the right track to a strong start in the year ahead.
Ready to take the next step in your career? PrideStaff North Dallas wants to help you find the right fit, so contact us today to get started!
