The simple tool you need to make your upcoming midyear review work for you
Ah, yes — the mid-year review. That time in the corporate denizen’s annual cycle that makes her pause, take a deep long sigh, and ask the age-old question: Can I really do this for another year, or should I start sending out resumes now?
Well, whether you’re staying or going, the midyear is always a good time to ask for more money or another role you want. At a minimum, it gives your manager what she needs to advocate for you.
Three reasons to have the midyear
Here are a few scenarios where it’s useful:
1) You had a blowout year. Woohoo!!! The problem is, only you seem to know that. This means you need to advocate for yourself regularly, starting with your next performance meeting.
2) Your year went to hell in a handbasket, and back, exacerbated by the coronavirus. This means it’s past time to adjust your goals and show how you went above and beyond to keep your team afloat.
3) An auto-generated calendar invite is the first time you hear about goals. Ouch! This means you especially have a lot of work to do.
No matter which scenario fits you, the midyear, like all performance review checkpoints, is a great tool to show everyone that you take your career seriously and that they should too.
Don’t let the midyear slip away, untapped
So yes, if you have a midyear on your calendar, take advantage of it.
Even if it’s an automated invite that HR plopped on your calendar, go with it and make it work for you.
Even if you and your manager both know this meeting will be rescheduled and then rescheduled before it happens, have it anyway. Even it doesn’t happen until October.
Even if you’re thinking, “It’s budget season, my manager won’t care.” Or maybe, “With coronavirus, I’m lucky to even have a job, why bother?” Or this one that crosses my mind, honestly, “I’m so over 2020, let’s just let it be.” Have it anyway.
Whenever you are ready, midyear or year-end, make yourself a rock star cheat-sheet. It’ll show YOU how amazing you are. And, if you do decide to leave, you would’ve generated ready-made bullets for your resume.
Bring out your inner rock star, starting with this cheat sheet
Start with a simple 2-column document that shows what you were supposed to do (tasks and responsibilities), plus the 3,000 more things you actually did that are not in your job description.
I’ve used this document to prep for performance conversations, both as a manager and as the “managed.” It’s made the difference so many times for me in adding extra digits.
I’ve used it or a variation of it since my first consulting job, when an ally (now friend) showed me what he uses for his performance evaluation conversations. Ever since, I haven’t walked into a job conversation without it.
The beauty of this template is its simplicity. It’s two columns — and that’s all you need.
On the left, you put your goals. Those SMART goals, hopefully, that you and your manager agreed on and that went into a system to keep you both accountable.
Put your technical must-haves in that column. Be sure to add your stretch goals, the extra work you have to do to show how ready and eager you are for the next role up. And don’t forget the goals that are important to making your particular manager or team look good. Put them all on the left.
Now over on the right, in a simple corresponding column, put in your achievements or progress so far against each goal. Leave no line empty! Even if you didn’t reach the goal (yet), drop in what progress you’ve made toward it.
If you did a bunch of “stuff” that was not in your goals, find a place to put them in these accomplishments. DO NOT LEAVE THEM OFF just because they’re not in your job description. This is VERY important.
Bring it all together
Your cheat sheet should look something like this.
Keep it to one page. If you find yourself going over, you’re probably focusing too much on day-to-day tasks and not enough on accomplishments. Look at it again and only keep 10 things max.
You can share this one-pager with your manager if you want. However, its main purpose is for you to feel good going into that meeting. And, in case you do decide to leave, to update your resume.
Either way, best of luck! And look out soon for a script you can use in a “give me the money I deserve” conversation.
Want more on-the-job communications tips to advance your career? Email mac@commsmaven.com with “Comms Tips” in the subject line.
