Performance Reviews

Now that the new year is upon us, this is an excellent time to look back and quantify last year's accomplishments (if you haven't done so already). Ask yourself the following questions:

What is different at your company, school, volunteer organization, etc. because you were there?

What happened as a result of your involvement that would never have happened had you not been there?


In order to get people to understand and acknowledge your contributions, you have to tell a memorable, compelling, and, of course, factually correct story about what you did. One of the best ways to achieve this is by creating a clear picture of the before/after. In other words, what was the situation before? What, specifically, did you do to make improvements? How is the situation better now?

Before we get to performance reviews specifically, let's take a step back and look at change and how it can impact us.

TWO TYPES OF CHANGE

In general, there are two primary types of change: gradual and radical. Depending on the situation, our ability to perceive the change--or remember what the situation was like before--is not as keen as you might think. As a result, people have a tendency to take improvements for granted.

Gradual Change
A few years back, I bought a convertible with a vinyl rear window. At the time, I could see through it perfectly. As the years went by, harsh Chicago winters gradually reduced the visibility to zero. However, the transformation was so gradual, I didn't notice what was happening until I had the window replaced a few weeks ago. Now, it is so amazing to be able to see out of the new window that it feels like a completely different car.

Radical Change
Replacing the window was certainly a radical change, but it was also an expected one. Although I am quite conscious of what the situation was immediately before the window was replaced, I am already having trouble remembering how difficult it was to see through the old window.

Now, consider what happens when there is radical, unexpected change. If you are in any way emotionally attached to the way things once were, you will definitely be impacted by unexpected change. Layoffs are a great example of this.

The more interesting case, however, is change that doesn't impact us emotionally. In other words, the situation isn't necessarily better or worse, just different. One of the best examples is the scenario many of us experience when we walk down a familiar street and encounter a huge vacant lot where a building once stood. It's amazing how often we can stare at the wide open space and be unable to picture what stood there before--unless it is our house that unexpectedly disappeared.

A similar phenomenon takes place in the corporate world when situations improve. Whether the change is gradual or radical, people have a tendency to quickly forget the pain or inefficiency that once existed. That is why it is especially important to quantify your accomplishments on an on-going basis. Strangely enough, the person most likely to take the accomplishment for granted is the person who initiated the improvement. Don't let this happen to you.

Let's say you are due for your annual performance review and you want management to recognize your accomplishments last February when you streamlined operations and instituted a program that saved the company $5,000 per month. If the first full month of savings was March, that means 10 months have passed during which the company has had a chance to get used to lower monthly expenses. As a result, the pain of spending the extra $5,000 per month ($50,000 last year) has probably long since been forgotten. Likewise, your involvement in solving that problem has also been forgotten.

To make sure people don't take your accomplishments for granted, bring them to life using the STARs formula.

Situation/Task: What was the situation or problem you were attempting to solve?

Action: What did you do? How long did it take?

Results: What happened? What, specifically, is better? What would have happened if you had NOT taken this action?


This three-part process is one of the easiest ways to tell your story in a compelling way because it highlights the contrast between the current situation and the way it was before. At the same time, the story is completely factual so it won't come across like bragging--especially if you are genuinely excited about your involvement in the project. That's where the magic is.

Take the time to apply this process on an ongoing basis and you will be able to transform performance reviews into something you actually look forward to.

If you have a success story you'd like to share, send it to rob@careercraftsman.com