Three tips to help you handle year-end performance evaluations easily

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Many companies have performance evaluations, once a year or twice a year. As the year comes to an end, performance evaluations in various organizations have also begun one after another. So, how should one prepare for performance evaluations? 　　 Is your performance review just around the corner? There’s no need to panic – but now would be a good time to prepare. Is your performance evaluation about to take place? There’s no need to panic—but it’s time to start preparing now. 　　Experts offer these tips for making your review go more smoothly: Here are the suggestions provided by experts to help make your assessment proceed more smoothly: 　　 * Assess what you already know. Evaluate what you already understand. 　　 Ideally, you should check in regularly with your boss to ensure that you’re doing what’s expected of you. Ideally, it’s necessary to keep in regular contact with your boss to confirm that you’re fulfilling the expectations set by them. 　　 "The performance evaluation process should start on the day you’re hired,” said Janet Scarborough Civitelli, founder and president of Bridgeway Career Development. “There should be no big surprises during the actual review.” Janet Scarborough Civitelli, founder of Bridgeway Career Development, said, “Performance evaluations should begin on the first day you start working. There should be no need for excessive fuss during the assessment period. ” 　　 Perhaps you’re especially diligent when answering customer calls. You might think you’re on track for an excellent performance review – but your boss could be wondering why each call takes you so long. To avoid such misunderstandings, make sure you know what the goals are for your job and how your boss measures success. Maybe you handle customer calls with great care. You might think your performance evaluations will be excellent—but your boss might wonder why each phone call takes you so long. To avoid such misunderstandings, one must ensure they know the goals of the work and how the boss evaluates success. 　　 If you haven’t talked to your boss about this yet, it’s not too late. Even in a few weeks, you may be able to improve in some areas if necessary. If you’ve never discussed these matters with your boss, it’s still not too late to do so now. Even if there are only a few weeks left until the assessment, you can perhaps make some improvements in certain areas if necessary. 　　 * Dig out your previous review. Bring up the last performance assessment. If you had a performance review at this company a year ago, it probably contained a list of goals. Ideally, you have been working on these goals this year. If there was a performance assessment last year, then a set of goals was likely established. Ideally, you have been working toward these goals all year. 　　 Often, however, you’ll realize that something has changed. Perhaps a new boss has given you a new direction, or the project you were supposed to focus on has been delayed. Richard Phillips, a career coach and owner of Advantage Career Solutions, recommends keeping documentation of such changes, in case there are questions during reviews. However, you’ll often find that things have already changed. Perhaps the new boss will give you a new direction for your work, or the project you were supposed to work on will be delayed. Richard Phillips, the owner and career coach at Advantage Career Solutions, advises people to keep a record of these changes to avoid any questions during assessments. 　　 What if your boss never officially told you that your goals had changed, but instead just kept piling on more work so that you weren’t able to start the projects you discussed at your last review? It would have been best to bring this up with your boss when it happened. What if your boss didn’t formally inform you that your goals had changed, and instead just increased your workload, preventing you from starting the projects outlined during your last performance review? It would be best to raise this issue back then (when the boss assigned other tasks). 　　 If you didn’t, however, it’s important to frame your actions the right way. “Say at review time, ‘I made a strategic decision that this needed more of my attention than that,’” Phillips said. “Don’t make it sound like you just forgot or you blew it off.” If that’s not the case, then it’s important to explain how you handled your work. Phillips suggests: “When evaluating, you can say, ‘I made a strategic decision that this task requires more attention than that one.’” Don’t make it sound like you forgot or messed up. ” 　　 * Find out how your company operates. Understand the way business is conducted in your company. In some companies, negative comments in performance reviews are rare; therefore, anything that isn’t positive is a cause for concern. Other companies identify areas for improvement for each employee. In such companies, negative evaluations are not common in performance reviews, so you should pay attention to any feedback that isn’t positive. Other companies give every employee room for improvement. 　　 "You definitely need to know how the process works at your company,” said Civitelli. But you need to gather your information in an “emotionally intelligent” way. Don’t keep pressing your boss about whether a certain action will give you a 5 instead of a 4 on your review – it makes you seem more concerned about your evaluation than about helping the company. Civitelli said, “You must understand the company’s workflow. However, you need to collect information “smartly”. Don’t keep asking your boss whether a certain action will result in a ‘5’ or a ‘4’ on your evaluation – this makes it seem as though you’re more concerned with performance ratings than with helping the company improve. 　　 * Present your case in writing. Prepare a written document. Often, you will be asked to complete a self-assessment before your evaluation. Even if this is not part of your company’s procedures, it’s still a good idea to write a summary of your achievements for your boss before the evaluation. In many cases, companies require employees to fill out self-assessments before conducting evaluations. If this is not part of your company’s processes, writing a performance summary report before the year-end evaluation is also a good option. 　　 "There’s an art to doing that,” Civitelli said. “You don’t want to be too apologetic, but you also don’t want it to appear that you’ve never thought about anything to improve on.” Civitelli said, “It’s an art. You don’t want to appear too modest ； But I also don’t want it to seem as though no improvements were ever considered. ” 　　 Phillips suggests that whenever you mention a weakness, “say what you are doing about it.” Phillips advises that whenever a weakness is mentioned, one should state what actions are being taken to address it. ” Reposted from Hai Ci Happy English, for sharing among Hai friends