Recently I was talking to a young lady who just started her career, and she was super frustrated by the way her manager tackled her annual performance review, and lately, I had a similar conversation within my women's circle and again, I received the same feedback. Whether we have 1 year or 15 years of experience, many professionals, especially women, struggle to get the most out of these conversations. Many of them still believe that they don’t have to sell themselves as their work and experience will speak for themselves, or even worse, they don’t even see the need to ask for something, believing that the decision is already taken. How to tackle your Talent or Annual Performance review? To help you prepare for this very important conversation, I listed 5 mains tips to get the most out of it
To help you prepare for this very important conversation, I listed 5 mains tips to get the most out of it
Self-responsibility:
Let’s be clear, it’s not your manager’s job to work on your career advancement, don’t expect your manager to come up with an action plan describing all the steps and actions you will have to take to get what you want. You have to know what you want because there is no one better than you who knows what’s best for you! So, do you know what you want?
Clarity is Key:
You need to know what you want and be crystal clear about the reasons why you want it. The best way to do that is to envision yourself three years from now. Where do you want to be? What do you want to do? Once you know what you want, start to list all steps that will take you there. We tend to overestimate what we can do in 1 year and underestimate what we can do in 3 years. One of my favourite tools that I use when it comes to creating my future is visualization! Close your eyes and visualize what you really want to create!
Make sure to list your main achievements:
Please don’t think that your best achievement speaks for themselves!! It’s not! You have to speak about them! You have to describe the results you are producing very clearly, list all things you are the proudest of, and say it OUT LOUD. Most of the time, when I ask this question to my clients, they have to think for a long time before being able to answer. Do the work and prepare in advance, list them!
Be ready to tackle objections:
“You are not ready yet” or "we don't have the budget this year" how would you answer? You cannot accept feedback without further explanations, you MUST challenge the feedback! It’s OK not to be ready for the role, but you must know what is missing to be able to dress for the role. The answer will help you to identify the actions that you will have to take !
Be clear about your boundaries:
I have the privilege to coach amazing women, holding senior positions, and even with their extensive experience, they still struggle to say NO. They find themselves with more and more things to do without putting boundaries. So if the NO is still difficult, start to negotiate! Instead of taking more and more, start to challenge people, ask them what is the priority and tell them that you will have to put aside the other stuff, therefore you need to know what is the top priority.
I hope these tips will help you ace this conversation! Remember, "don't always do the same thing and expect a different result ".