It’s everyone’s favourite time of year, performance review season! The performance review process can be a bit stressful at times. However, adequate planning and preparation will help employees feel ready for the meeting, and managers will make it a meaningful experience. Let’s take a look at some essential preparation tips for both employees and managers.

Preparing for a Performance Review as an Employee

Some employees enjoy performance reviews, while others may dread them, feeling a bit nervous about the process. Still, it is perfectly normal to want to get a sense of how your performance is and where you can grow. 

Many organizations will have employees fill out a self-assessment as part of the process where they reflect upon what they have done over the past year. For many, this not only helps them to think critically about their roles but also provides a tool to provide managers with their thoughts on what they did well and where they can grow. However, even if your organization doesn’t require a self-evaluation, you can take some time to reflect on your annual highlights and goals before the meeting to prepare. 

During a performance review meeting, you should get in-depth information about your performance. However, you can always ask these questions to ensure you get a full sense of your performance:

• Which of my skills are the most valuable to the team? 
• When have you noticed that I make impactful contributions to the team? 
• Are there any behaviours you’ve noticed that may be getting in the way of future advancement? 
• Are there any strengths I have that can work against me at times?
• How can I better support our team? 

In fact, you don’t have to wait until your performance review to ask these questions. You can ask them at any time during the year in order to get feedback. Consistent feedback is always a good thing. 

Preparing for a Performance Review as a Manager

On the other hand, if you are a manager, it can be pretty easy to fall into the trap of seeing the performance review process as a routine. Many people accidentally start seeing it as simply another checkmark on their to-do list. However, this attitude deprives your employees of a valuable process that can help them strengthen their development. 

Instead, I encourage you to view the performance review process as a great opportunity to provide support to your team in their career development. After all, this marks a time when you can inform employees about what areas they excel in and their goals for growth. When done well, it can mark a fruitful discussion that leads to active goal setting and creating plans for employees to strengthen their abilities. Successful performance review sessions can also make employees feel valued, respected, and invested in. 

It is essential that these meetings be a two-way process. With this in mind, here are some critical questions that you can ask employees to help them focus and to begin discussions of future goal setting:

• What do you enjoy most about the work you do?
• What experience, project, or action are you most proud of since the last review?
• What is your biggest professional achievement in the past 12 months?
• What skills would you like to develop?
• What work are you currently doing that is most in line with your long-term goals? 

These are great questions to ask to help create a framework for the overall conversation. They can also help lead into discussions about goal setting for the future and opportunities for the organization to support the employee’s career development.