Get the best from your annual appraisal: there should be no surprises

There’s no question that annual appraisals are pivotal moments as you build your career, get paid, get promoted and increase your ability to add value in a way that opens up future career opportunities. There are quite a number of things to consider - I’ll break them into five chunks in this short read, but to put it in a nutshell, it’s all about clarity of communication, managing expectations, and delivery.

Prepare for the meeting 

Look back at the year since your last appraisal, and ensure that you are very clear about how you:

• delivered (or exceeded) on the agreed objectives set both at the start of the year and any additional goals that might have been added

• adapted to changes in the needs of the team and changes that followed

• overcame setbacks and challenges

• contributed to the team and showed your team player attitude and how you made meaningful contributions to the firm more broadly - e.g. being active on various internal initiatives and committees.

When you’re gathering your evidence, pay attention to facts and figures, names and dates, etc. These will be handy to add weight to the conversation.

In addition, it’s very important to be ready to discuss future objectives, including achievements for the team and career development. 

In the appraisal meeting: looking back

Set a positive and enthusiastic tone, where you’re keen to learn, gain clarity and communicate how you’ve added value with precision. 

With that in mind, here are some further points to consider:

• Listen carefully and take notes.

• Be prepared to add information and detail where needed. Remember - it’s an opportunity to showcase your successes!

• If some items of feedback from your appraiser are unclear, not specific or actionable, ask for clarity. For example: in response to ‘your presentations to clients could be better’, you can ask ‘In what specific way could I improve my client presentations? What would you like to see and hear? What should I not say or do?’. Without accurate coaching, it’s difficult to make those improvements based solely on your guesswork.

In the appraisal meeting: looking forward

In the same meeting or possibly in a follow-up meeting, you want to be able to look forward, use and continue what you’ve been doing well, and learn from the lessons of the past year:

• Discuss your ideas for goals for next year. Agree measurable targets and the timeline for achievement.

• If appropriate, agree that you’ll circle back with a plan for achieving those targets.

• Ensure that all objectives are aligned with both what your manager and your firm needs and wants. Nothing should be done in a vacuum and it must be aligned with what the department and firm is driving towards.

• Check-in on less specific culture, behaviour and communication issues. What are the softer things that you’re doing well and are there any areas for improvement?

Change in manager during the year

If your current manager moves on and you’re given a new one to report to, then this is definitely a reset moment. 

In this circumstance, it’s imperative that you:

• Establish a positive working relationship with the incoming manager and create a great first impression.

• Understand what objectives they'‘ve set and agree, review or adjust your target agreed with the previous leader.

• Understand the culture and team spirit that this new manager wants to establish (these must be aligned with the firm’s values) and what part you can take in supporting that.

Taking what’s been agreed into the future - there should be no surprises

Setting up a system and feedback loop of continual review is critical going forward:

• There’s not much point in working really hard, overcoming challenges and achieving goals, if they’re the wrong goals and if no one knows about your triumphs. There may be times during the following year where you’re drifting off course and there’s a need for corrective action. You won’t know that unless you have regular communication with your supervisor. This might be weekly or monthly, but perhaps quarterly is too big a gap in time.

• Follow up with a summary of your notes after each meeting. This will add to the crystal clear communication and they can be referred to in future meetings. 

• Equally, it’s important that your achievements are seen and acknowledged, not only by your direct report, but also by the leadership team, both in the moment and at appropriate times later. This will create more impact than just waiting to explain what you’ve done in a bundle later. This leans into your internal marketing and networking campaign. 

• Have regular meetings with your manager, communicate clearly, and course correct when necessary. By the time that you get to your next annual appraisal, there will be no surprises. You’ll have a much higher chance of  getting the ‘meets’ or ’exceeds expectations’ mark that you’ve been aiming for. Also, you’ll have made life very easy for your manager!

I hope you find those five ideas useful. If you have any further ideas to add to this then, please put them in the comments below. Did I miss anything? 

Also, if you’d like to have a chat about your career progression, job search or other related issues, then get in touch to arrange a call.