How to prepare for an appraisal

The Dreaded Appraisals! These are the measure of the achievement of your tasks and how efficient you were in the process. Most career employees look forward to this stage of their ‘business year’ since it is an opportunity to showcase what you have been able to accomplish as well as the implication of a green flag toward a promotion or a raise in remuneration (Of course, where opportunity allows).

Truth be told, sometimes, when you are behind on your tasks, or your results betray you, most employees do not look forward to an appraisal, focusing on the possible resultthat the employer/appraisermay not be as quiet as you would desirewhen displaying their abilities of how good they are at keeping record of your “fails” across the appraisal period.

Snapping back to reality, and on a more serious note, appraisals frequently mean a review of your past performance (achievements) within a specified period and providing you feedback for your improvements. So, if there’s been little or no performance, the same shall be reflected as little or no appraisal in your salary and position.

Appraisals vary from company tocompany. The most frequent appraisal is 12 months in my experience but some organizations have one in every three to six months, particularly if your employment is performance based. There are some with reviews that are monthly which build into the annual appraisal.

Some appraisal cycles are defined bythe completion of tasks, for example a project-based workload’sachievement can be reviewed at the completion of the project. This sometimes defies defined timelines, meaning that the project could be completed before the expected completion-time or even after the expected completed time or along with the usual organization review cycle of six months or a year.

A fundamental thing that some of us might discount is that appraisals are as much about your future performance as they are about your past performance.

During your appraisal, your past performance is evaluated and the roadmap for the coming months is prepared. Take note and be keen on how your roadmap for the coming months is being decided, for this often defines your future and all the leaps you might make in your professional life.

Of course this is just my experience as a team manager, Your experiences or questions can be of valuable help to me and other process managers to improve the appraisal process.