How can you turn a positive performance review into a stepping stone for career growth? This article explores strategies to find that path for growth and prepare a follow-up plan to pursue raises, promotions, and new opportunities.
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist
You’ve just concluded your performance review with your supervisor, and the feedback was good. Before celebrating your accomplishments, however, consider how you can leverage your positive performance review to pursue your professional ambitions. Whether it’s a raise, promotion, new project, or a different role altogether, the period right after your review is an excellent time to clarify your career goals, seek guidance on your desired direction and demonstrate why you’re worthy of advancement. Let’s look at five strategies to optimize this long-term career growth opportunity.
The Purpose of Performance Reviews
Employers use performance reviews to evaluate their employees’ overall work performance. Communication should flow in both directions, allowing supervisors to learn more about their employees’ strengths and weaknesses while offering feedback and assistance with goal setting. These formal examinations help supervisors and other stakeholders identify who consistently meets and exceeds expectations and should be considered for career advancement opportunities versus who needs professional development or further evaluation. A performance review provides employees with an accurate, actionable assessment of their overall job performance and greater insight into the “why” behind their work. It should foster mutual understanding and alignment between employees, teams and management.
Clarify Career Goals & Aspirations
Use the feedback after your positive performance review to gain a broader perspective of your career, not just your current position. Catalog your strengths and identify areas that need improvement within your current role and as they relate to your long-term career goals. Ask yourself: What are my strengths, and how can I leverage them? What new skills or knowledge might my current role require in a year? What do I need to do to gain those skills and knowledge? Is there another position I would rather have in my organization or at another company? If so, what steps can I take toward that goal without reneging on my current role?
After clarifying your goals and aspirations, pinpoint gaps in knowledge, skills or technical capabilities that you can improve through continuing education. In addition, review the past year and inventory the professional achievements you were most proud of. Did you assume additional responsibilities, acquire new skills or knowledge or manage a unique project? Did you volunteer for an initiative or implement process improvements that improved people’s jobs and lives? Recording your work’s tangible and intangible effects on your team and organization will support your request for advancement when you discuss your career goals with your supervisor.
Finally, create an action plan by taking some of your larger goals and breaking them down into manageable, achievable steps. A career development plan can help you plot a course from where you are now to where you aspire to be, inside and outside your organization.
Communicate with Your Supervisor
Schedule regular meetings with your supervisor to ensure your career development plan becomes a shared goal with increased ownership and accountability. These check-ins are a great way to keep the conversation going, measure progress and celebrate milestones. Be prepared to use your performance review feedback to highlight how you see yourself contributing to the organization’s success and identify areas in which you may need extra resources or support.
Hopefully, your supervisor fully supports your plan and the steps necessary to help you progress toward your professional goals. If you have an unsupportive manager, you may need to seek alternative support through colleagues with similar professional aspirations, coworkers from other departments or people outside the organization. These relationships can offer valuable insights and new perspectives on alternative career paths and opportunities.
Seek Regular Feedback
After completing projects or significant tasks, gather regular, constructive feedback from colleagues, supervisors, clients and other key stakeholders about areas where you succeeded and those needing improvement. Avoid generic, open-ended questions like, “Do you have any feedback for me?” Instead, frame your feedback requests more specifically to collect precise information you can use to set benchmarks for improvement. For example, “I’m looking to enhance my project management skills. After our recent collaboration, are there any particular areas I should focus on to develop my skills further?”
Do Your Research
Depending on your specific career goals, you’ll need to gather relevant data to support your request for a raise, promotion or a new project. Begin by researching compensation data to understand your role’s current market rate. Try websites like Salary.com, SalaryExpert, Payscale, Glassdoor and Indeed to track wage-related data and compensation trends. You can also ask other people with similar positions in your field about their salaries and compensation packages.
Remember to track down your organization’s raise and budget cycles to determine the best time to have this conversation with your supervisor. Be brief but informative as you demonstrate why you’ve earned your particular request using your compensation research and specific examples of your most successful and influential contributions.
Prepare a Follow-Up Plan
Finally, have realistic expectations. Your supervisor may need to wait to grant your request. Typically, supervisors require approval from their manager or human resources (HR) to award raises and promotions, which usually takes time. If your supervisor responds with a “maybe,” clarify when you can follow up to discuss the matter again. While you may be discouraged if the answer is “no,” take the opportunity to ask your supervisor if there are specific areas of improvement or actions you can take to change the situation. A good manager will help you devise a plan and set clear goals to help you progress.
While some performance review follow-ups will be in person, email is another great way to check in with your supervisor. Using email to document your conversation and restate your expectations helps you and your supervisor align on initiatives and holds you accountable with tangible, readily accessible plans.
Just like a poor review is a chance to improve your performance, and an average review is your opportunity to sync up with your supervisor, a positive review is also rife with possibilities. Now that you’ve assumed control of your professional destiny, it’s time to celebrate!
Anne Evenson is a native Austinite and a proud Veteran’s spouse with over 20 years of marketing, communications and program coordination experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She is also a sculptor, jeweler and all-around dabbler in the arts and loves to help military-connected individuals discover their inner creativity.
Learning and professional growth go hand in hand. For regular career insights and information on continuing education programs offered by UT’s Center for Professional Education, subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, It’s Your Career.
