• Clarify your career goals.What are your aspirations at the present job or career? Perform a personal career “check-up” – is this the job or career you want to be in? Are you using your skills effectively and to your satisfaction? Does the present job / career inspire you? What can you do to enhance your career? Do you aspire for more success and contentment at work? Would you work better in a different work environment? Ask yourself such questions and answer honestly to correctly analyze your present career health. Take charge of your career – it is you and only you who can make the required changes to help yourself to an accelerated success and growth.

• Analyze your current skill set.What other skills can take you ahead of the crowd. Make a list and see how you can acquire these skills by either taking courses or learning on the job. Learning new skills should be on your list all the year through. Most of the companies reimburse you for your work related courses and certifications, utilize them. As values are to a personality so are skill set to your career growth and health. Invest and grow them as much as you can whenever you can to ensure constant career advancement.

• Networking is an ongoing process.Network and aim to diversify the group you interact with. You will learn a lot more from people from different business sectors or even different business divisions within your company and who knows you might discover your dream career that you thought never existed.

• Document your successes.Whatever project you work on today, keep on writing and updating about your accomplishments in a separate detailed “resume” or call it your portfolio. Thinking on how you increased your company’s revenue 3 to 5 years down the road might be difficult if you have not documented your accomplishments and testimonials from customers / colleagues anywhere now.

• You don’t really need that MBA.A higher degree in education or an MBA does not necessarily mean that it will make you smarter. Take initiatives and prove to be a leader at your workplace, experience teaches a lot more than what a degree can. Making yourself competitive to a position does not always call for a higher degree, your previous and present work will say a lot more. But if a certification or a degree makes you get ahead on the corporate ladder and you feel the need – go for it.

• Be a team player; build a supportive relationship with co-workers.Good interaction amongst your own group will help in generating good vibes and a good team to work with makes a great place to work in. Offer taking up project responsibilities for your colleagues / co-workers who wish to go on vacation. Being a team player and a good colleague has its value and who knows when you have to take a vacation or a break and then you might not need to even ask for a cover-up, the offer will come before you can ask. What goes around comes around.

• Avoid office politics.It never helps anyone, if you do your job well and right, there is nothing else you should spend your time at in office. There is a wonderful life outside of the cubicle – use your energy there rather than on useless politics.

• Learn to say NO.If you feel you cannot manage everything under the present project responsibilities, learn to say no to what you cannot accomplish in the given timeframe, it is better to get this clear upfront than be confronted later on for not getting the tasks done.

• When feeling frazzled with the workload – learn to prioritize. 

  At times the work load seems impossible to handle and the confusion ensues, learn to prioritize your work or work with your manager to help you identify the key issues to work on first. Delegating would help as well. Prioritize your work based on due date of an impending project, length or intensity of a task or the mere simplicity but do prioritize, it helps you get the tasks of your mind and desk one by one. It says a lot about your organization skills as well.

• Soft skills – communication skills.The importance of communication skills should never be underestimated. With good communication skills you can land a better job, pay raises, presenting great presentations at your industry’s expo gets you brilliant testimonials and client appreciation or just better communication with your colleagues and manager improves your daily work-life. Work towards polishing these skills. Interpersonal skills will help you better in negotiations, being a good leader and working in a culturally diverse workplace.

• Don’t be on phone, messenger or Email for too long. 

  Though it depends on an individual company policy, the time you spend on “other” activities may be monitored. Emails can be immensely distracting when concentrating on a particular task, practice accessing Emails only a couple of times a day when the workload demands more focus.

• Be Assertive when it calls for. Make yourself visible. 

  Make your manager aware on the list of tasks accomplished by initiating regular meetings or weekly work reports. If the manager is too busy to traveling to have these regular meetings mark on your calendar to send via Email a weekly report either at the end of the week or the beginning of the week. By doing so you are making yourself visible and marketing yourself as a reliable and accountable worker. Market yourself; the corporate world is a lot about how well you market yourself.

• Don’t be shocked or feel paralyzed when or if you are in a layoff. Take Action.If you are prepared and have taken time to keep your career healthy all the year long, the layoff could offer you with the best of opportunities. And if you are prepared be sure to negotiate a severance or a suitable package as soon as you can. You can only do so if you plan this now – ahead of the axe falling and you feeling too numb to take an action. Preparedness is the key to getting what you want. And taking charge of your career now is the essence of it all. There are many articles on Satisfying Career – Happier Life which will guide you through the layoff and towards new employment opportunities.

• Research Salary Structures and Promotion opportunities in different companies. 

  Research and read about the salary structures in other states or business sector close to yours. Prepare ahead of a yearly review on how and why you deserve a salary hike. You get what you ask for.

• Is there an entrepreneur in you? 

  If you have entrepreneurial skills, dive in early to launch a start-up or partner to do so. Procrastination might only show you that someone else had your idea and launched a cool start-up – the one you only thought about or the market plunges while you were sitting on the idea and having your legs in two different boats. You can also implement your entrepreneurial ideas to your present job if you think hard about it and of course take on the initiative to present to higher management. That can be considered a valuable contribution to your present career. It also gives you hands on experience and tools and advice that you could take perhaps years to gain on your own.

• Don’t skip jobs just because the other company pays you better.You will not find satisfaction if your job description does not inspire you or you want more creativity in your work. Take time to decide on a company and a career, even if it might mean being out of job for some time or taking a slight salary hit. You can find yourself going up the promotional ladder much faster in a company that supports multi-directional promotions than that with a flat management hierarchy.

• Always keep abreast of news on companies within your business area. 

  Read and keep abreast on their market rankings in your area of interest. Read trade magazines and newspaper research on the hiring trends and market value of some new companies that you feel can be a good company to work for, for better growth and salary. Keeping pace with the changing marketplace is the key to sustainable survival in the job market. Job market and the way people work is changing fast learn to adapt well and you will be in control.

• Prepare well ahead of your performance review.Send a copy of your accomplishments and work record well ahead of time to your manager. Take notes during the review and discuss in details with your manager on a future road-map to further training / improvement or setting new goals. Schedule a follow-up meeting if you did not agree with the assessment in the given time-frame, substantiate your feedback with evidence of your performance as perceived and testified by customers or colleagues you have worked with.

• Don’t be in a job burnout.Practice work-life balance and that would keep you more focused and provide a satisfying career. Talk to your manager about flextime working or telecommuting if you think it helps you get some stress out of daily routine. Managing your time and leading a balanced life is a key to your career and personal health. Excessive stress and tension at work breeds a health risk and tends to affect your social life as well. Only a healthy you can help steer your career to a better place. Always make health a priority.

• Don’t eat alone.Again it is an emphasis to the networking topic we talked about earlier, but it is work taking it in again. Don’t skip the lunch hour or eat alone at your desk, this is a perfect time to make new contacts or in other words – networking. As stated before, networking is an ongoing process – it happens everywhere anytime. Also take walks or just move away from your desk at times, creative ideas and solutions pop-up mostly when you are not staring continuously at the computer screen. Getting away from a known and comfortable spot enables the mind to see the situation in a new light.

• Learn to separate work life and personal life.Don’t take work home if you can. The more you let yourself work from home in non-working hours, the more the habit reigns. There is something on the back of your mind always that you have to check the Email or get the work done. If you are not trying to meet an urgent deadline, don’t bring work home. Try to get work wrapped up in the office hours, always remember that work would never be “done with” even if you worked two hours extra every night. Work procreates!

• Challenge yourself. Create new opportunities.
  
  Attend your company expos and learn new skills at work to enhance your career. Create a career opportunity if you do not see any. If you have some special skills that your company can use, discuss with upper management how and if a new position could be created to use your full potential. Present a fictional case study or provide solutions to a current problem that your company now faces to showcase your abilities. Get out of your comfort zone and do something new – be it your career or your personal life. Life energizes with challenges, be an active participant to new challenges within your company.

• Find a mentor.An effective career strategy involves seeking out more experienced people in one’s field, and learning new skills from these mentors. You learn from their experience and mistakes as well. Learning from people who have already been there will help you get over the obstacles you face or the fears and anticipation you have for a particular task – faster than with your stumbles and experiments alone. Advisors help accelerate your learning.

• Career coaching – “Coaching is to performance what leadership is to an organization”. 

  Are you fully satisfied with where you are in your work and career? Do you feel that something is not completely right and find your present career uninspiring? Maybe it’s time for a coach, an ally who can help you sort through where you are and where you want to go. A coach helps you succeed and you could reach your peak performance or land your dream career with some guidance and help.

• Create a personal career growth plan.Create short-term and long-term plans for your career path. Use this plan as a tool to discuss with your manager during or before the performance planning or as a benchmark for your own reference. Periodically check on your achievements and update on new goals to achieve for the short-term or the long-term. Be realistic and consult with others if you feel the goals to be too daunting to be achieved or have not accomplished what you feel you should have.

That’s perhaps how I would define Performance Management!

Be it the year end review or the beginning of the year goal setting meeting, you feel as if it is just another meeting to get done with. Well, think again your performance management and reviews impact you in different ways. It could mean a higher raise, a promotion and even protecting you from a possible layoff further down the year.
Consider it an opportunity to enhance your career and an essential step towards your professional development.

DEFINE GOALS

• On Setting Goals: What were the goals defined at the beginning of the year? Did they change over time? Ensure that the goals set for you are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time bound).

Read more about goal setting in the book, Managing for Dummies by Bob Nelson and Peter Economy.
An excerpt from this book
Specific: When goals are specific, they tell employees exactly what is expected, when, and how much.

Measurable: If your goals are not measurable, you never know whether your employees are making progress toward their successful completion.

Attainable: Goals must be realistic and attainable by average employees. Goals that are set too high or too low become meaningless, and employees naturally come to ignore them.

Relevant: Goals must be an important tool in the grand scheme of reaching your company’s vision and mission.

Time-bound: Goals must have starting points, ending points, and fixed durations. Goals without deadlines or schedules for completion tend to be overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise in an organization.

 

GETTING READY TO MEET THE BOSS

• Get your Documents in place: If you have been proactive towards your career development you would have documented the tasks and projects you were assigned during the year. If not, well try to document them right now, you must have in writing what you want to present in the meeting.

DURING THE MEETING

• During the Meeting: Be clear and comprehensive in understanding the expectations from the management towards your role in the company. Communicate effectively and rephrase and understand the tasks assigned to you during this meeting.

• Your growth plan for the year: what are the set objectives, do you and your boss agree with them? This is the time to carefully evaluate what the expectations are from both sides and negotiate on your terms if possible.

• Be proactive and ask for a mid year review to re-evaluate your goals and discuss new challenges that you might possibly undertake during the year. And don’t just plan on a tentative meeting mid year or in a couple of month – act now and set a date and time to meet next. These things if postpone for a later decison remain postponed forever.

• At the end of the meeting: Ask for constructive feedback and request if your manager can provide you this feedback in writing – it is most essential to document your accomplishments and receive as many testimonials as you can.

POST MEETING

• Post meeting: If you are interested in a new assignment or responsibility do not wait until the next round of review. Interact and communicate well to your boss – rise above the rest by taking the initiative of professional growth, every company and management admires such a move.

WHAT NEXT

• During the months till your next performance review, visit online your performance management system and keep in regular touch with your boss on any updates to your tasks. Keep your visibility high and you will never fall under the radar.

• Although you might consider it an overpreparation but actually there is no such word. It is a good idea to role-play the entire meeting either with someone or just with yourself in isolation before you actually meet your manager in person.

This is one of those articles to which I can say “I wish I knew then what I know now.”
Your performance management is your responsibility and the results affect you in every way, like it or not, you better take charge now.

What has been your experience in being proactive toward your performance review?

Whether you had a great or a bad performance review for the last year, now is the time to ensure a more positive one for this year. Plan and prepare to meet with your boss on goal planning for the current year. Most of us just chuck it under the carpet or roll our eyes, wanting our best to delay as much as possible, either the goal setting meeting with your boss or discussing your performance review before it happens. But taking charge of your career is in your hands and you better be diligent and proactive about it. If you don’t take control now no one would and the outcome may not be to your liking.

Eric Jackson in an interesting article in Forbes says:

“…most employees don’t know what they’ll be doing in 5 years. In our experience, about less than 5% of people could tell you if you asked. However, everyone wants to have a discussion with you about their future. Most bosses never engage with their employees about where they want to go in their careers — even the top talent. This represents a huge opportunity for you and your organization if you do bring it up.”

Performance management is as much your responsibility as your manager’s, well in fact more of yours. Your company’s performance management system may be a real sucker or even one that changes every now and then (a personal experience – when a previous year’s performance appraisal was very conveniently ‘lost’ by the system. I ignored it then, with the “who-cares” attitude; but now realize the importance of what it truly means to be better informed of the performance management reports and what it means to visit them often to be on top of personal career development).

Not tomorrow nor later – today is the time to take initiate: if you have never had a goal setting meeting or performance review (whether new to the company or have been there for ‘don’t-know-how-long’) – now is the time. Managing your performance review and setting career goals with your boss strengthens your communication with upper management and brings forward your work and achievements within the company. You have to market yourself continuously to be visible as a valuable contributor to the organization, if you do not toot your horn no one else will – so take charge now.

Setting up a Meeting with your Manager

Initiate a meeting to discuss on goal setting plans for this year.
When? Ensure that you and your boss are not in a hurry to join another meeting or a Friday evening when all you have in mind is to be out of the office as soon as you can shake off that last task.
Email request: Send a meeting request email or just walk in and talk to him/her about it. (Though it should very well come from your manager but why wait if that has not happened since long – when you initiate you display abilities to lead and take charge of the situation).

Start your Email or conversation on these lines (after the ‘usual’ polite greetings and salutations):

“I want to meet with you to discuss the career goals for this year and to explore further growth opportunities within the company. During this meeting I propose that we take time to assess each other expectations on my current projects and also I shall have the opportunity to get clarifications on future prospects of my career development.”

Ask your boss for a convenient date and time for this meeting. Try to adhere to his timelines.

Such a conversation or communication enables the management to see “what’s it in for them” though rightfully they should be more concerned about how to develop the employee, but yet again if you are not in that set of environment – it is important to realize that keeping on top of your career growth is your responsibility and in a way recession-proofs your career as well.

What and How to discuss with your Boss in this Meeting

• Discuss in depth the expectations from the present and planned projects and keep the task measurable.

• Draft a process for continued communication or seek suggestions on how your manager plans on keeping track of the tasks and deadlines assigned to you. Don’t be shy to communicate if the expectations do not match and/or you have a proposal to work on some other tasks within the team.

• Ask your manager on how the feedback system would work – on the task accountability and appraisals going forward.

• The goal setting discussions should not be just one-a-year-discussion, take time to find out through your company policies if mid-year reviews are supported and ask your manager if he endorses multiple reviews (twice or quarterly) in a year.

Tip: Use good communication skills during this discussion and be a good listener.

Post-Meeting Action Items

• Document what has been discussed in the meeting. Prepare a concise outline and send your manager for approval, from here on it should be the manager’s responsibility to follow-up with HR to get your goals well placed in the performance management system of the company. But do not hesitate to follow-up a few days or a week later to find out how the process finally shaped up and if there are some action items on your plate now.

• Document again the final goals set and visit your performance management system if and when the need arises to update tasks on their status or add new ones.

• Further during the year your tasks and responsibilities may change, make sure that you edit it on the review system as well in your personal documentation.

Take charge of your career, manage your career well and reap the benefits of growth every year!

Question: What has been your experience talking to your boss about your career goals? Please share in comments below.