how to ask for a formal review

How To Ask For A Performance Review To Facilitate Growth At Your Company

Rising in the ranks at your job can be a lot more difficult than originally perceived, no matter what company you join and at what point in your career. Whether you choose to work for a company because the team you work within has great rapport, the work/life balance is acceptable for your lifestyle, the pay and benefits are great, or a host of other reasons, ensuring that you experience a growth at a pace that aligns with your contributions is not always guaranteed. Even in the most wholesome work environments, managers don’t often just volunteer raises or title changes to their subordinates. You have to be proactive. You have to ask.

Reviews are crucial to your performance within the company. Keeping your manager abreast of your hard work and dedication to the team and the growth of the department or company is key to ensuring that you are seen as an indisposable part of your work community. Receiving feedback also allows you to create practical next steps on how to pivot your work and grow toward new opportunities and advancement.

So, when is it time to approach your manager about a performance review?

When to ask for a performance review

People ask for reviews so they can personally highlight some of their work that has perhaps gone unnoticed. This is especially true if your boss isn’t involved in your day-to-day activity at work. A review forces some quality time into the schedule to sit down and communicate the efforts and innovations within your team to someone who may not be around as often. People asking for a review will want to demonstrate their commitment to the team and improve their standing, perhaps, within their work community.

Some people simply desire important feedback that will help them along the road with continuing education and get them more involved with the company as a whole. Often, reviews are simply to set the stage for a raise or promotion. Either way, it is incredibly helpful to approach a review opportunity with a mind that is open to critical feedback and suggestions.

If you’re considering whether it’s time to discuss upward movement within the company, you will want to ensure that your contributions–especially as of late–are noteworthy. The goal is to impress your manager so that they will be more likely to work with you on your personal goals within the company. If you are reading this and realizing you’d like to track a couple of projects over the next few days or weeks to provide specific examples to your manager for your review, consider some of these goal creating and tracking options.

Asking for a performance review

Have a list of reasons why you would be perfect for some upward movement? Maybe it’s time to talk!

Schedule some sit-down time

Whenever you feel ready for the discussion, it still probably isn’t the time. Approach your boss strategically about scheduling a sit-down meeting with them. Ensure they are in a good mood and do not approach them impulsively or as a rash decision.

Approach management respectfully

Many people opt to email management about scheduling some time so that they can get to it when it aligns with their energy. If you have a more casual rapport with management, bring it up over lunch or via your company’s messaging system. Make sure they know you are not cornering them into a conversation right now. Since it is a personal matter, try not to bring it up in front of other coworkers or while addressing other matters.

Preparing for a performance review

Preparing for a performance review isn’t always rainbows and butterflies. Yes, you are there to discuss how integral you are to the team and innovative you are in your role, but you want to keep it brief.

Have an outline in mind

It is important to go in with 3-4 succinct points. You will want to put some time into prep since you have asked management for a window of time and want to respect it on behalf of both of you. Keep things simple and digestible, and give them a specific and narrow list to focus on. Remember: if you wander off-topic together, that is okay. Here are some things to keep in your back pocket as options to say if you get to the negotiating stage.

Back up your claims

Where applicable, provide statistics on growth patterns and the way the company has benefitted from your work. Sometimes–especially when the evidence isn’t as simple as numbers and analytics – you may want to approach coworkers to give feedback or provide reviews on your work ethic and collaboration tactics. This will better serve as evidence of your character, especially if your company uses a hybrid or remote work setting.

Be open to feedback

Management will have specific questions regarding your points, even when presented with statistics and feedback you may have gathered from your peers. Be open to notes they may give you, as they can often see your career trajectory from a different perspective and may be able to help improve your chances of success. But be sure to have some notes of your own as well! Working for a company should be mutually beneficial, and good management will ask for constructive feedback.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t come out of the meeting with a new title or a raise. These things can take time. What you do want to come out of the meeting with–at the very least – are measurable items to help you reach your goals. Plus, if your manager didn’t realize you were looking for more opportunities, they do now! You may have positioned yourself to be top of mind in consideration for advancement, and that’s a win any day.