HOW TO PREPARE FOR A PERFORMANCE REVIEW
The end of the financial year is fast approaching, and with that, performance reviews are looming.
Let’s be frank, negotiating a higher salary or promotion is rarely easy. We may want or even need more money, but I don’t know anyone who gets excited about having to ask or plan for it.
Below are some tips to help you prepare for your performance reviews and any possible salary negotiations:
Before you start:
Understand the exact dollar amount of your current salary and the overall package
Know your current job description inside and out, know what expectations are required for your role and understand where you are over and maybe underachieving.
Evaluate the previous 12 months. From here, you can build a case of why you are looking for a salary increase or a promotion. Add a mix of both tangible and intangible examples.
What is the value of the business you have brought to your company? This might be a direct impact on your performance or referred business. You will need to be specific about actual dollar values and what you did to achieve it.
What have you done to save or impact operational or project costs? What changes did you make, and what was your approach? Again, make sure you have your figures.
Our industry is very relationship-focused. Where have you overachieved in this area? Have you reignited a client relationship that was going south, or did you bring on a different subcontractor that positively affected the overall business performance?
Where have you overachieved, over-delivered, and gone above and beyond? What have you done outside standard work hours that have contributed to the business? What was it, and what was the return on investment?
Once you have collated the detail and made sure your facts and figures are correct, you will need to research market salaries. There is no point naming a figure and being well over or under what the current market is paying. Ask around, so you don’t do yourself a disservice.
Preparation is key. You will feel more confident in yourself and will likely be taken seriously when you are prepared and have a proposal based on facts and figures.
