Top tips for a positive performance review.
Performance reviews can often be the source of frustration and disappointment for many administration professionals.
It can feel difficult to quantify or measure the impact of the work an assistant performs when for the most part, it isn't like a project with a start, end and directly obvious outcomes. The work can feel invisible and therefore overlooked or misunderstood.
This can be disheartening for a profession whose function exists to support the success of others.
There's an art to guiding a conversation and helping an executive see beyond core responsibilities and through to the strategic and impactful work that is very often under the radar. Entering into an executive mindset is the key to a positive review season, and here are some tips to help.
Crafting your written self-review:
Be succinct, articulate and use the language of your executive and organisation.
This isn't the time to be humble - highlight your achievements.
Call out where you went above and beyond and share the examples they might not have visibility of.
Proactively seek feedback from multiple stakeholders and include their insights.
If you couldn't meet a set goal, explain why and where your focus was directed instead and the impact that had. Business priorities can shift so always remember to adjust your goals throughout the year when they no longer make sense so there are no surprises in your review conversation.
Watch the language you use - talk about what you do in the most elevated way. Don't unintentionally dilute your contribution through using basic language to describe the way you perform your duties.
Link your work back to:
Your executive's KPIs
Your organisation's strategy
The business plan
The burning platforms in the organisation and how you helped solve pain points around this
Be clear on your facts, data and metrics and bring them in
For example: it can be difficult to explain how diary management supported an organisation strategy. Talking about how you influence focus, create space or remove friction points demonstrates how you created a runway for this to occur. Laser focus = saved time = saved money. Be explicit about this so it cannot be overlooked.
The conversation
Prepare as an executive would.
What outcome do you want from the conversation?
Have your data to support it.
Prepare for the best outcomes and disappointing outcomes: how will you handle it if the conversation doesn't meet your expectations?
Focus on mindset leading into the conversation. Visualisation techniques help.
Remember, executives are accustomed to having to hold their ground in a conversation, articulate their worth and back themselves in the moment. It's important you feel confident and empowered to do the same. Being able to do this is an inside job - understand where your thoughts aren't supporting this and change the narrative.
Set an intention for how you want to show up, your own executive presence.
If you are seeking a salary review or bonus, have market research and benchmarking data to support the conversation. Have it available in writing also as very often executives need to make a business case for approval - the decision isn’t always theirs.
I hope these tips are helpful to support you to show up as your best self this performance review season.
If you’d like to go a little deeper there are a few ways we can work together to help you get the outcomes you desire.
Articulating your worth is part art and part science - here is an on-demand masterclass to help.
Get in touch to enquire about full team career or wellbeing workshops and visit the EA Development page to see current courses and programs where we can work together to support you with this.
I love hearing from the community, get in touch at hello@rachaelbonetti.com to share your thoughts and good luck with your review season!
