How to have a productive end-of-year review with your boss

Performance reviews are an important part of moving forward in your career. However, many people don't take advantage of the opportunity to chat about the ups and downs of their job with their boss. In fact, while 70% of companies still conduct bi-annual or annual performance reviews with employees, over half of the workforce agrees that the process is outdated and unhelpful for a variety of reasons.

Depending on the company you work for, your employer might not have a clear picture of the positive impact you're making. Therefore it's your job to show them.

So if you have an end-of-year review with your boss coming up, here are a couple tips to get the most out of the meeting:

Set goals for the upcoming year

If you've been trying to get promoted recently, now is the time to bring that up. After all, your boss will be the one approving any changes to your responsibilities or increases to your salary. But don't just walk into their office and demand a raise. Instead, let them know what your career goals are. Tell them how you'd like your role to change in the next year and why you'd be a good fit for a higher up position.

You should treat this meeting almost as if it's a job interview. The day after the meeting, send your boss an email thanking them for meeting with you. Then, summarize the points you made during the conversation so they have something in writing that they can refer to later.

Show your worth

How much money did you make for the company last year? How does your performance compare to other employees? These are important points to bring up. If you're a star at the company, don't be afraid to show it, especially if your performance is only reviewed annually. Present your boss with data that shows your worth and tell them stories about the times you worked extra hard to fix a problem.

Be self-critical

Nobody is perfect at their job, so don't be afraid to address your weaknesses too. Your boss will respect the fact that you're open about issues with your performance and offer advice to help you improve. Let them know that these are things you're constantly working to get better at. When you go back to work, make sure you actually implement their advice into your day-to-day. When your performance improves, send them an email to let them know, reminding them that you take their opinion seriously.

"I've learned that having honest and open communication with my boss in my performance review has been crucial to my career growth," says Corryne Cross, Corporate Recruiter for Beacon Hill's Corporate Recruiting Division. "During my performance reviews I've been able to set challenging yet achievable goals for myself together with my manager that make me feel like my work is seen and valued. I think it's important to openly discuss where I can use improvement in my own role while also noting the areas I excelled to really understand how my manager views my performance and set expectations for the following year. Through the candid conversations I've had performance reviews I've left feeling empowered and excited to take on new challenges in the following year."

Refer back to your job description

Let's say you work in account management and you currently manage five different clients. But when you accepted the job, the expectation was that you'd only manage three. Don't let that go unnoticed. Make sure your boss knows that you're going above and beyond your job description. They'll keep that in mind when you ask them for a promotion or raise.

If your upcoming performance review has you thinking about a bigger career move, get in touch with the expert recruiters at Beacon Hill Staffing Group today.

This content is brought to you by the Marketing Team at Beacon Hill Staffing Group.