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.But you must remember: the performance appraisal is a critical learning tool.It allows you to be proactive, to tell your own story, to make sure you’re treated fairly and can move ahead—in status and salary.You can understand how your supervisor views you and your work, and it allows you to be clear about what’s expected of you.A performance review—and the groundwork leading up to it—is very useful in identifying, understanding, and leveraging your strengths and contributions.It’s also an opportunity for you to detail the quality of your work, how you’ve succeeded, and where you need to stretch and grow.And finally, if you’re laid off, a positive performance evaluation can help open the door to your next position.Given what’s at stake, you must learn to make your performance review work for you.THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW SURVIVAL GUIDEI asked two of my most trusted advisors and colleagues to provide some practical strategies for getting the most out of the review process.Dr.Stella Nkomo, professor of management at the University of South Africa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership and coauthor of my first book, Our Separate Ways, and Dr.Laura Morgan Roberts, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, offer this advice.Lay the groundwork.Most women (most men, too) skip the vital ingredient for getting a thorough and fair review: laying the groundwork.It’s surprising how many employees have no idea that this is necessary and even less of a clue of how to do it.Here’s the secret: at least a year before your first review—generally when you’re first hired—you must find out what’s expected of you, how success is measured, what your goals are, and what resources you’ll have to accomplish them.You must get this clearly spelled out and agreed upon.This is your performance plan.It’s also crucial that you find out how your boss defines excellence.Don’t assume you know! And don’t assume your manager is going to lay this out for you.You may have to draft your plan and then get him or her to approve it.For instance, if you’re responsible for a sales function, you need to know what your benchmark is.What’s expected in terms of numbers for the next quarters? If you’re in R & D, what’s expected of you in the area of innovation? You, your supervisor, and the other members of the team must be clear about the targets, the time frame, and the metrics—how performance is measured.Then, when your review rolls around, it’ll be there in black and white.No drama, just the facts: This is what we agreed that I would do, this is how I planned to do it, this is what I did, and here are the results.Either you succeeded and got results or you didn’t.Of course, make sure you are performing! If you’re more junior, you need to be clear that you’re not doing anything to get in the way of either your team’s or your manager’s success.You must be meeting your deadlines, gathering the correct data, doing analysis in a crisp, clear way, bringing new ideas to the team, and communicating them clearly and coherently.Always consider ways to learn, grow, and stretch.Keep in mind where you want your career to go and the key assignments that will move you ahead.If you’re more senior, you should be setting the tone for your group and creating a vision for your team.Think big picture.Be clear that the goals you set for yourself are valued by the organization.This is important to think about as you lay the groundwork.In the past, the annual review compared what you did with the duties spelled out in your job description.But the era of the job description is over.The new business environment is dynamic, competitive, and volatile, which makes a job description too static.Most companies—something like 60 percent—use a balanced scorecard system to align business activities with the vision and strategy of the organization.In this process, your performance is tied to a giant scorecard that encompasses the company’s own goals.What exactly does this mean for you? You must make sure that what you do is in line with what your company wants to achieve in the next year.You have to be making a contribution to the broader goals of the organization, not just getting your job done.Too often you may be working very hard, trying to prove yourself, and even feeling proud of your accomplishments.Yet what you’re doing isn’t valued or adding value.First and foremost, you must know what the company’s strategic plan is.This isn’t deep: it’s in your company’s annual report and/or its website.Ask someone, a colleague or your manager.Then sit down with your manager and figure out the specific thing or things you’re going to do to contribute to the broader picture, to the company’s success.This is also a good discussion to have with your allies and mentors.These colleagues can help you and give you the information, clarification, and support that you need.Document, document, document.In most cases, it’s on you to prove that your performance has made a difference.Managers can’t be expected to remember everything, and they tend to recall the extremes—extremely good, extremely poor.And research shows they remember the negative best! So during the year, keep track of everything you do—your results, your accomplishments, and your achievements.Be as specific as you can.Your journal will come in handy here.If you have documentation, you can sit down with your “evidence” and reach the conclusion that you did a really great job on building customer relations, for example.Do a self-review first.In many cases, this is a requirement.The manager will put the ball in your court, so you should be ready
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