By Dilip Saraf

I have many clients who come to me during their Annual Performance Review (APR) cycle to ascertain what they can do to secure a high (translation: deserved) APR rating and a good review. Most of these discussions happen about a month before their actual APR timeline. At this time it is almost too late for my clients to influence the outcome of their APR, other than to just prepare for what might end up being a series of unpleasant surprises despite their confidence in the great work they did throughout the APR cycle during the previous year.

Why does this happen?

There are many reasons why APR sessions disappoint employees. For one, most managers see this as a burden than a boon (which it can be if done right!) to their leadership platform. Second, these APRs are done on a timetable with all of them coming at once. So, to many managers this creates a major problem in managing their workload, as all the routine work (endless firefighting) continues unabated. Additionally, most organizations treat this as a ‘nice-to-have,’ rather than as a requirement for any manager who has direct reports. So, the penalty for doing a poor review or for treating this in a cavalier manner is small to none, so most managers treat it that way. The consequence is that those reporting to such a manger get disenchanted—even demoralized—because there is little or no differentiation between mediocrity and excellence.

In the cases where managers do take APRs seriously a hardworking employee, who has delivered excellent results is not guaranteed to have a commensurate review to reflect their contributions. So, when these concerned clients come to me they go through great lengths to explain to me all the outstanding work that they have done and how much they have contributed to their workgroup’s and team’s success. Yet when they receive their final review and rating during the APR process they are often disappointed.

So, what are some of the countermeasures one can take to have your great work result in an equally great APR? Here are my suggestions:

1. At the beginning of the APR cycle make sure that you have a solid agreement of goals and roles with your manager. Make sure that they are quantified, measurable, and agreed-to (SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time bound).
2. Prioritize these goals and agree to these priorities with your boss. In other words agree that if #4 goal is partially met because of a vendor delay you will ratchet-up you #2 goal by 10% (or whatever you agree to).
3. Be aware of what is important to your boss. In the APR plan your boss may agree to these priorities and SMART goals, yet from their “political” lens other putative priorities may be even more important, but they cannot always be listed in your APR plan. For example, your boss may be striving to get visibility as a good performer in front of their superiors and they see this translated into presentations and demos to bosses in their peer group and to their higher ups, etc. (“managing the optics”). In such cases have a discussion with your boss and ask them what is important to them that is NOT in your APR plan. Flesh it out with some in-depth discussion. If your manager is not forthcoming on this suggest some ideas and present plans until their face lights up. Then figure out how to showcase that aspect of your contribution to your manager’s success.
4. During your ongoing meetings with your boss bring up the progress on the SMART goals in addition to the ones you do for the “optics.” This will enhance your boss’ view of your “true contributions” (making them look good).
5. If you do not have opportunities readily available to make visible your work to the higher-ups ask for help from your boss and others to open avenues for this to happen for you. If that, too, comes short then learn how to write great emails about your successes that reach the higher-ups without making them look gratuitous, repetitive, or boastful.
6. Do a semi-annual waypoint check on your progress and have a discussion with your boss about where you are on some of the key SMART goals you signed up for and if you are going to meet the targets based on your rate of progress at that point. Make adjustments as required (both up or down) and document them in a message to the manager and to your file. This is now your revised APR baseline
7. A month or so before the APR timeline remind your manager of the progress and show results of your work so that there is clear understanding of how you have performed throughout the year. Do not forget to bring in items that went “above and beyond.”
8. If you see any surprises looming on this front have a discussion also with your HR representative and ask for guidance on what can be done to get what you deserve on your APR rating.
9. When you sit down with your manager for your APR discussion make sure that you are prepared to openly listen to what is delivered to you without too much resistance, objection, or interruption. Let the manager present their view and then, depending on the outcome, decide to respond in that meeting or ask for another meeting after having a chance to reflect on the proceedings. The latter is a much better strategy if there are too many surprises in the APR.

• Before you sign-off on your APR make sure that you agree to what is written in that document and ignore any oral promises your boss may make to get you to sign because of the time pressure. Some managers sweet-talk their employees with oral promises of changes and they remain just that. To protect against such possibilities if a promise is made that is outside the write-up being signed send an immediate email to your boss stating what was promised to you and how that is going to be carried out.

Too many employees deal with the APRs in a passive way and do not take enough proactive measures to protect their career and how they advance in their organizations, as a result. Often they are left hanging (a’ la that cat above) in suspense. If you employ some of the suggestions here you may protect your APR rating and how you advance in your career.

Good luck!