Performance Review Tips: In-House Edition
If you have an opportunity to submit a self-evaluation or assessment, here are a few tips for you to consider.
If your employer operates on a fiscal year, which ends March 31, then performance review season is upon us! While performance reviews are handled differently by company and leader, if you have an opportunity to submit a self-evaluation or assessment, here are a few tips for you to consider.
Get Over The Awkward
I totally get that it’s hard to switch your mindset from humble servant leader to tooting your own horn, but you have to get over it. Think of it this way: it’s not hubris if true and not excessive. Plus, if you can’t confidently articulate what you have contributed to your clients, the team, and the company — how can you expect someone else to? Importantly, think of your self-evaluation as a way to help your manager, who you know is super-busy. Consider the fact that they probably have to evaluate more than just you. Finally, let me put it this way — if I were your manager, I confess that I don’t remember what I did yesterday, much less remember all the excellent work you’ve done over the year, so yeah, help me out, won’t you?
Collect Your Data
Now that you have committed to advocating for yourself, let’s review your work. If you haven’t been keeping a “done” list all year, then you may want to consider setting aside some time to review your calendar from April 1, 2022, until now. Have a scratch sheet of paper handy so you can jot down litigation, projects, and clients. The purpose of this is to create a “junk drawer” of work that you later can sort through and organize to demonstrate your value and impact to the company. It may amaze you how much you’ve done and how much you have forgotten what you’ve done. By the way, going forward, you may want to keep a “done” list that you add to weekly or monthly so this isn’t so time-consuming next year.
Analyze The Impact
Once you have the “universe” of your work for the year, you may see that the items fall into natural categories that you can group together and talk about. Depending on your manager and their style or their ask, you may want to pick three things that you’re most proud of and focus on those and explain why instead of regurgitating your list. Importantly, try to choose things that objectively made the most impact, even if they may not have been your favorite projects. Consider how resolving a legal matter early potentially saved the company a lot of money or protected the brand. Maybe you contributed to a project that led to a new innovation or product line. It may help to get out of “lawyer” mode and think more broadly on how your work connects to the business and the bottom line. Another strategy to consider is to choose to highlight accomplishments that showcase your strengths or that set you apart. Maybe everyone litigates and settles cases, but you’re the one who clients call for crisis control. If you have a unique value proposition, then by all means, share it.
Write Concisely And Earnestly
Once you know what you want to highlight and share with your manager, invest time into articulating your value concisely and candidly. Stay away from superlatives and hyperbole. Practice third-person writing if you can to stay objective. Consider your audience — would a short paragraph be helpful or bullet points? Finally, don’t forget to save your work in a file that you can reference next year.
Meyling “Mey” Ly Ortiz is in-house at Toyota Motor North America. Her passions include mentoring, championing belonging, and a personal blog: TheMeybe.com. At home, you can find her doing her best to be a “fun” mom to a toddler and preschooler and chasing her best self on her Peloton. You can follow her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/meybe/). And you knew this was coming: her opinions are hers alone.
