It’s normal to feel nervous about your annual review. After all, most people don’t like receiving constructive criticism, hearing an honest performance review on several hard and soft skills, and negotiating a raise. In an ideal world, you’d get to listen to half an hour of people praising your many accomplishments and you’d automatically be given a raise and title change that’s higher than what you anticipated. In reality, people are busy focusing on their jobs and haven’t been keeping tabs on your achievements so it’s your responsibility to be prepared.
“Preparing for the review should be a year-long process of you continuously tracking and monitoring your skill development and goal achievements as they happen,” says Larissa Holmes, vice president of customer development at the Toronto-based performance review software company, WIRL. I spoke with career experts to find out the best strategies for acing your annual review.
Develop a “wins” list:
If you wait until the night before your annual review to write down all your accomplishments (or worse, try to wing it during the meeting) you’ll do yourself a disservice. Instead, experts recommend keeping track of your successes throughout the year.
Holmes notes that there are three primary benefits of having this “brag” sheet. It helps you highlight any accomplishments overlooked by management, create your case for a raise or promotion, and it will help you achieve your goals throughout the year. “It has been proven that tracking your goals helps motivate you to actually accomplish them, thus generally contributing to personal development,” says Holmes. “As an added bonus, leadership will likely be impressed by your initiative and take that into consideration in their review.”
Show how much you’ve grown:
If you want to explain why you should make more money, it’s essential to tell a story of how you’ve made money for the company and become more marketable over the year. Angelina Darrisaw, founder and CEO of the New York City-based career coaching firm, C-Suite Coach recommends telling a compelling story about how your growth has contributed to the company’s success. Before your annual review, Darrisaw says to take your “wins” list and use it to tell a story about your strengths and how you’ve exceeded expectations and contributed to the company’s bottom line.
Similarly, Jessica Holbrook Hernandez, president and CEO of the Jacksonville, Florida-based resume consultancy, Great Resumes Fast, says to create a list of professional courses, certifications, or credentials you acquired throughout the year. You’ll show that you’ve proactively invested in your career growth and performance (and that you are more of an asset to the organization).
Show that you’ve outgrown your current role:
If you’re asking for a raise or promotion it’s not enough to show that you are good at your job. You have to show that you’ve outgrown your current role and can take on additional responsibilities. (And if you’ve already taken on more responsibilities and gone above and beyond, now is the time to mention it!) “People get raises because they’ve earned them, so don’t include things like your own increased expenses or length of service. Show that you’ve added value beyond expectation and have more to offer,” says Nancy Halpern, an executive at the New York City-based executive coaching firm, KNH Associates. Halpern recommends making a list of the responsibilities you’ve taken on that are above your current title. Then look up the title and salary for the promoted role on a site like Salary.com. You’ll want to bring those stats to your meeting when it’s time to ask for a raise.
Plan for next year:
Finally, get more coffee and plan out your goals for the following year. “Create a list of the top three career goals you have for yourself in 2017, then plan out how you want to make those goals come to life,” says Darrisaw. Bring this list to your annual review and talk about it with your manager. “Make sure you walk away with a targeted plan for next year. If your manager says you need to improve on something, ask how will we measure my success and growth in that area,” she adds. “Ask questions like, how will we know if I’ve exceeded the expectations? The most important thing to do is work to ensure you and your manager have shared expectations of what success in your role looks like.”
