Scale Up Strategies: The Business Podcast for Coaches, Consultants, and Speakers
Taking the Lead: How to Excel in Your Performance Reviews
Nov 27, 2023
Laura Bashore and Mary Fain Brandt
Ready to conquer your next performance evaluation and show your boss what you're really capable of? We've got you covered!
In this episode, we transform our past experiences into practical advice and strategies that will equip you to excel in your performance reviews. My co-host Mary and I dig into the grading criteria, the importance of timing, and tactics to achieve that coveted 'exceed expectations' rating.
It gets better! This journey doesn't end at understanding evaluations; we also guide you on how to prepare for them. We underline the role of social proof in showcasing your accomplishments and the need to take the initiative in regularly reviewing your progress with your manager.
Listen in as we reveal how to diversify your achievements and even influence company culture positively. This episode is your golden ticket to taking charge of your career and navigating performance evaluations with ease and confidence.
BuzzSprout Thinking about starting your own podcast or leveling up by switching hosts? Use our code: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=2110162 Receive $20 through BuzzSprout's Refer a Friend Program
Ready to conquer your next performance evaluation and show your boss what you're really capable of? We've got you covered!
In this episode, we transform our past experiences into practical advice and strategies that will equip you to excel in your performance reviews. My co-host Mary and I dig into the grading criteria, the importance of timing, and tactics to achieve that coveted 'exceed expectations' rating.
It gets better! This journey doesn't end at understanding evaluations; we also guide you on how to prepare for them. We underline the role of social proof in showcasing your accomplishments and the need to take the initiative in regularly reviewing your progress with your manager.
Listen in as we reveal how to diversify your achievements and even influence company culture positively. This episode is your golden ticket to taking charge of your career and navigating performance evaluations with ease and confidence.
BuzzSprout Thinking about starting your own podcast or leveling up by switching hosts? Use our code: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=2110162 Receive $20 through BuzzSprout's Refer a Friend Program
Mary Fain Brandt:
Welcome to the Rdefine Your Career Journey Podcast, where we help career minded professionals like you become the CEO of your career. I'm Laura.
Laura Bashore:
Bashore, and I'm here with my co-host, Mary Fain Brandt. Together, we have over 25 years of experience in career development and coaching.
Mary Fain Brandt:
We're thrilled to share our insights and expertise with you on this podcast To grab your favorite cup of coffee, tune in and let's start the show. Laura, do we need this one for this year? Don't we have enough to finish out 2023?
Laura Bashore:
Okay, yeah, yeah, no, no, you're right, because we, yeah, we don't have to do this one.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Oh no, girlfriend, we're here, we're dressed with makeup and our hair. I think that we should just record this. We got this. We know this inside and out. So, yeah, we're already dressed.
Laura Bashore:
All right. Well, when are we going to air this one? Then you have the spreadsheet. Well, I guess we could always add in one more.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Or you can add in one more for the holidays. I don't think that we should. No, we could just save it.
Laura Bashore:
So the 11th.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Do we have anything the week of the 11th? No, oh, we could add one there. Okay, so you want to add this one? This actually makes sense. We actually do. Oh, we do need to record it, because this is about performance reviews. Okay, you ready, I'm going to.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Oh, we are recording. So I'm going to clap and you're going to kick it off, and then okay, ready.
Laura Bashore:
You know, mary, the end of the year is full of excitement and anxiety, so between wrapping up work and preparing for the holidays, we can get stuck in survival mode. But I cannot think of one topic that combines fears and hopes quite like the looming performance evaluation Right.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Amen to that. This is one area that every client I work with really struggles, no matter how high up. We have such a lively discussion to have today, laura, about performance evaluations, no-transcript. But before we do that, laura, what kind of coffee are you drinking today?
Laura Bashore:
I have a latte. They make a really great latte at the office I'm at, so I don't have to add anything to it. I just press the little button. The machine makes it all as good. So I am ready with my coffee and notes. And how about you?
Mary Fain Brandt:
Well, this is my second cup of coffee, because it's a very busy day all the podcast recordings, client meetings and a chamber event so, yeah, second cup. Two of these are already gone. I've already drank two of these, so I am water. Right, that's water, but I am ready. I think that today, this episode about performance reviews or evaluations, whatever your company calls them I think it's a topic that's really not talked about a lot. I don't hear a lot of other people talking about this. We talk about getting hired, we talk about resumes, we talk about LinkedIn, we talked about interviewing, but I don't recall hearing something about performance evaluations, do you?
Laura Bashore:
No, I feel like we only hear about it after the fact, and most of the time it's when it didn't go the way that someone expected it to.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Oh, do you have a story to share with us on a performance evaluation that went south?
Laura Bashore:
Yeah, I do. I'm actually going to talk about one that went south for me. So, yeah, I'm the expert right, but it wasn't always so. Sometimes things take trial and error. So I was going into a performance evaluation where I was already the site manager or director for the organization and I thought this was going to go great. I turned around a lot of things when I took over. We were even on probation for not hitting numbers. So I turned it around and we started being one of the top performers out of six other agencies in the county, and so you could imagine I thought I'm good, this is going to be a great.
Laura Bashore:
So I went in there and my boss sits down with me and we start going over things and I keep seeing that I'm getting a lot of threes, a lot of meets expectations, and by the time we get to the end of it I start wondering in my head am I just a meets expectations? Am I just doing what I should be doing? And I did ask my manager. I said, well, can you tell me what would be exceeding, exceed expectations? And she laid it out for me. I could see her points. But that conversation changed things for me because I realized oh, asking in the evaluation is not the time to make changes. It's already done for you. That's what you don't know.
Mary Fain Brandt:
And this is what this topic, this discussion, is going to be about, is preparing for your performance review. And right there, laura, that is a great story, because I think you need to understand how someone grades you before you even go to that meeting. Because meets expectations might be great, that is the highest they give.
Mary Fain Brandt:
You have to understand, because I did have a performance evaluation one time. Similar situation. I was going above and beyond. Everything was coming out roses. So I didn't understand why I was getting meets expectations, because that is how they grade At that company meets expectations. You're typically only going to get exceed on maybe one thing. So that was internal how they handled their performance evaluations and I think it's important that you understand from day one how often your performance evaluations are. Are they annual? I know that nowadays they're not tied to raises. Back when I was going through, it was performance evaluation and your salary increase and I know at Amazon where my husband works, they're two totally different things.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Which they should be. But you have to understand when is that performance evaluation? How do they typically rank people? What do you need to do to get, exceed expectations? So those are all things that you need to be having these conversations pretty much right after you start, wouldn't you say?
Laura Bashore:
so, and to your point, honestly, mary is the time that I was referencing at the end of it, when she laid out for me why it was only meets. She's like well, if you exceed expectations, then you would be doing my job, and I was like, oh, I was like I just don't know.
Mary Fain Brandt:
So you have to understand. You know in their mind, how are they using the performance evaluation? Well, that's the new one. I haven't heard that. Couldn't you exceed in your current job but not be able? So was she threatened.
Laura Bashore:
Well, that's a whole different conversation. But yeah, objectively and looking back, I would think absolutely, and I just had no idea because, yeah, I just really had no idea. I thought I was just being helpful. You know, I didn't know that it was my job. I had after corporate, you know, and then I went back into an environment that was not corporate. So you know what that does. You're kind of running circles around people and so you're trying to be helpful, but sometimes it's seen as like oh, you're coming after my job and it's like I just wanted money, but whatever, it's fine.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Well, we're gonna dive into some ways that you can be better prepared for your performance review so that you can get the review that you deserve. So let's dive in. So number one and these are kind of out of order, I'm gonna start here. Number one from the day you start that new job or that new position, you should be like a squirrel, okay, gathering stuff for the end of the year. So I want you to gather, you know, thank you notes and emails that say great job, anything that you can have for proof that you assisted the client, the vendor, you met the year end goals, your sales exceeded, exceeded, exceeded expectations, exceeded expectations. You need to get thank you notes, emails, awards, certificates. Create a kudos folder, digitally or paper, I don't care that are about others that are singing your praises, because this is gonna help you out and be more prepared when you enter or when you have that performance review.
Mary Fain Brandt:
We call that social proof in the business world. It's the same thing. It's social proof of others saying Mary did a great job. We were understaffed and Mary stepped in and saved the day. Laura stepped in and ran that event like it was her own. If she wasn't here, we wouldn't have been able to put it on. You want the praises that were you're the hero. Does that make sense?
Laura Bashore:
Yeah, it does. And I would just add if you're gonna do it electronically, do it outside of your work computer or your work email, because what if that goes away? You want to keep all of these things because at some point in your career they're gonna be beneficial.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Yeah, not just for the performance review where you're working, but for that next job, when you're reflecting on what did I do really well, when was I the hero at the job? When did I save the day? We can't remember three years back, let alone five years, right, or 10 years. So you just keep that kudos folder, as we call it and that's a great point, laura to keep it outside of work. I love that one.
Mary Fain Brandt:
The next thing that I think I want to have a conversation about is meetings. You need to take control of your career. We want to enable you to learn how to become the CEO of your career. One of the ways that you can do that is to have the initiative and tell your manager, your boss, your director hey, I'm excited to be in this role. As the sales director or the VP of IT, whatever it is, I wanna make sure that I am meeting the goals, I understand the right challenges and I prioritize them. I'd like to have a monthly meeting. That's up to you to do that, and if they put you off, that doesn't mean you stop trying and then you just keep a record.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Well, I tried to meet with you. I brought this to your attention. You did not reply, but you wanna have these meetings and then you wanna have a list that you review, like what was accomplished in the last 30 days. Did I improve the KPIs or did I move the KPI needle? Did I improve the culture or the team engagement? Did I impact revenue? Did I help with onboarding for new hires? Is that, did I improve something? Did I make it more efficient and did I save the company money right?
Laura Bashore:
Yes, great points, absolutely, and I like how you're giving examples of different things, because so many times people will just say the same the same accomplishment, but for different aspects, or like for a different client. Let's say, you need to be showing the different sides of what you do. Not just only I do one thing really well.
Mary Fain Brandt:
It's like a financial portfolio you want to diversify. Think of it that way. So I think now I'm going to call it your accomplishment portfolio and I want you to diversify, are you?
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Mary Fain Brandt:
Diversify, diversify, diversify, diversify. Are you saving money? Are you helping in communication? Have you streamlined? Did you make something more efficient? Did you improve team engagement? Like that's huge for me. Wherever I've been, I've created or been part of a staff development committee Because I'm all about the staff having a voice and being seen and heard in the educational. So when I was in education, I was on the administrative side and we would get overlooked many times, and so I created the staff development committee, sdc, and we had fun days and we had a big award that you were voted on from your peers and this trophy went to your desk and we did that once a month, and so I helped culture, I helped team development. I created a program that definitely had an impact on the morale in the company.
Laura Bashore:
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Mary Fain Brandt:
So what else should someone do, laura, in preparing for their annual performance review?
Laura Bashore:
I think you know you have everything gathered, but you really want to also acknowledge areas where you might struggle. This is something that people are like. Why would I talk about that? Why don't I want to say that I'm a big fan of?
Mary Fain Brandt:
something bad. Why am I going to bring that to light? What? Would someone do that, Laura.
Laura Bashore:
Well, it's just the same as when you're interviewing for a new position. You know, when I'm working with my clients on that end, I'm going to say look at your resume to find out where you should highlight and where you have gaps. It's the same thing when you're looking at your performance evaluation. Now that I've had more experience with you, I know that there are a lot of people that have had to do plenty of employees in my career. I know that what I'm looking for is self-awareness. Does the person I'm bringing in for their evaluation know that there are some areas to improve, because there always will be? A good manager should help you find those places. So it's important to approach these discussions proactively, you know, using evidence as to. I mean, how do you get those people to know that you're being a part of the team, and I think that's a great opportunity to move forward in the future. I'd like to get some assistance from you, too. What are some things that we will partner on to improve this?
Mary Fain Brandt:
for my next evaluation.
Mary Fain Brandt:
And that lets them know that you're being forward-thinking and never place blame. It's like well, we didn't meet our numbers because Tom didn't meet our numbers. I'm just going to go to the next slide, I'll show you how to do it. So I'm going to start with taking that initiative, like hey, laura, you know I do want to address the elephant in the room. You know we have that event and the turnout was low and in hindsight I realized that I should have been promoting it two weeks earlier. So it really was an opportunity for me to learn that we need to promote six weeks out and not four weeks, and or make it into a learning opportunity. And I think that shifts the mindset that Mary made a mistake to Mary learn something and look what she's going to do now.
Laura Bashore:
Yeah, it really checks the box of are you open to critical feedback? Right, if you're wondering what they mean by that, it's exactly the point that you're making here at Mary yeah.
Mary Fain Brandt:
And and more about the performance reviews. So we talked about what went well, we talked about what didn't go well. We talked about how you prepare monthly meetings, quarterly meetings, hold your boss to that right Document. All of that because sometimes bosses will just throw it under the rug and you need to say I want to have these meetings because I want to make sure I'm on track to get a promotion, I'm on track to move to a different department, I'm on track, right.
Mary Fain Brandt:
I think one of the biggest things that I teach my careers and family and friends is that you have to take the initiative and you have to strategize your career. Showing up every day, doing a good job, isn't enough anymore. Yeah right, you need to have a plan. So tell your boss, have that conversation. This is my game plan this year. I'm expecting to do this by next year. I'm going to be assistant director, and year three my goal is to be director, or year four, whatever that is right. And then have that conversation so you have that person on your side helping you create that plan and then in your performance reviews, what's the next year look like? I think that's the other thing, like in your performance review what went well? What didn't go well? What are the goals? What's my next year goals? And how is your boss supporting you? Because they're supposed to be supporting you and mentoring you, right.
Laura Bashore:
Exactly. You know, the first client that I brought on for my own business as a career coach came from a client I was working with who had me doing resume LinkedIn, but then asked me hey, do you happen to do any career coaching? And in my head I was like, well, yeah, it's in my plan, but I hadn't really put it out there yet and she asked. She said well, I have a performance evaluation coming up and I know it's not going to go well. I'd like to talk to somebody about it, see what's going on.
Laura Bashore:
And so this was an executive at Google, so of course I did not turn it down.
Laura Bashore:
I said, yeah, we'll figure it out, but exactly to your point that's what I helped her realize is that so we need to go in there and have what's our next year look like, what are you already planning here, so they can see your commitment and your engagement, and so that they will want to help you and want to help you be successful, instead of just going in there and being like, well, I know it's not going to go well, and so everything that we're talking about here, mary, is something that's good for us to remind our audiences that if you want somebody on your side.
Laura Bashore:
We're sharing a bunch of great information, but you just feel like I don't know how I would execute this. That's why we rolled out our new caffeinated career packages, where you get two coaches for the price of one, and guess what? Those two coaches are Mary and myself, and so we are going to help you wherever you're at. We have a DIY option, we have a do it with you option and we have a do it for you option. So if you're thinking that one of your goals coming up is to partner with an advocate to help you get to that next level of your career, hello, we are here and we've dropped that information in the show notes so you can reach out to us and schedule a consult and let's see how we can help.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Yeah, see which one of our caffeinated career packages fits you, your budget and where you're at in your career, because we did want to make sure we had something to meet the expectations and the needs for job seekers, career professionals, wherever they're at, from that mid level to the executive, to maybe someone that's just like I just need a little refresher. That's the do it yourself. So, yes, we're so excited to be offering the caffeinated career packages to our audience this is just to our listeners of our podcast. It's not out anywhere else. So go ahead, get a consultation. Let's talk to you and see where you're at and how we can help you, because Laura and I are the type of coaches Like, if we can't help you, we'll say you know what. That's not our specialty, that's not our expertise, but let's find you someone who is. I feel like we're very upfront and authentic on that level and that's all I have to say about that, laura.
Laura Bashore:
What movie is that? Or do you think that's all I have to say about that? Oh, it's Warris Gump. It's Warris Gump, where is it? And that's all I have to say about that.
Mary Fain Brandt:
But anyways, you guys, be thinking about your performance review, not just the day before. Think about it all year long. Create a plan. Everything needs to have a strategy and plan in your career so that you can become the CEO of your career and really have the career that you want. If you enjoyed the podcast, show us some love. Please rate, review and subscribe to our podcast and if you have any feedback, go ahead and share that with us, Because we want to hear from you. And don't forget to visit our website.
Laura Bashore:
You need to find your career journey that can help you take the next step in your career. Woohoo, we'll see you next week with another episode to help you redefine your career journey.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Until then, stay focused, stay motivated and stay caffeinated.