Mid year appraisal time - get what you want

Firstly, is anyone seeing their year fly past as quickly as I am?! Crazy pace.

Secondly, none of us particularly enjoy appraisals, but they provide such a great opportunity it’s absolutely worth putting in the effort twice a year. If your company doesn’t require this, I’d suggest you book a mid year check in with your boss anyway.

Why are appraisals important? Because they’re an opportunity to celebrate success, re-set and GET WHAT YOU WANT.

The main things you want to cover in an appraisal meeting are:
1) how are you doing against your objectives - draw out the successes
2) get clarity from your boss on where you are performance wise (usually numerical or alphabetical grades) - if you want to challenge this, with evidence, you can
3) tell your boss what you want to achieve in H2 and how they can help

I appreciate that the appraisal is with your boss, so they're in charge of the agenda and how they run the meeting. That doesn't mean you can't influence it.

Here's how to get the most out of this conversation, and it won't surprise you to know it's all about the prep:
- collect evidence of your hard work ahead of the meeting. The best (most impressive) evidence is your numbers (e.g. I'm x% over ABC target) and client feedback, ideally verbatim comments. Having your facts together means you can support a positive conversation, or if your boss has a different impression, you can show them what you've delivered

- reflect on how you feel about your role. Are you starting to get the sense you want to move on to something different internally or externally? Is it in the next 6 months? If yes, time to start working on getting your next job (it becomes easy when you have time - stressful when you hate your job and are desperate to move)

- now that you've got your facts and you're clear on your next career move (just the staying or leaving within 6 months part) work out what you want to ask your boss for. How about company funded training in a specific specialism relevant to your current or future role, shadowing someone in a different division, an introduction to a couple of people who work in a field you're interested in, a pay rise, more coaching from them...etc etc.

There are loads of ways your boss can support you so make it easy for them by telling them what you want.

If you sit through these meetings purely as the 'recipient' of the appraisal, you've missed an opportunity. So dial up your energy, do the prep and make this process work for you.

Drop me a line if you want any input specific to your situation. And I'd love to hear how your mid-year conversations go.