How to review your own performance

Too Shy or High

It’s the time of year when you may be asked to write a review of your performance. Most people are concerned about being boastful or appearing to take all the credit, while a small handful give themselves top marks at everything. You either come across as too shy or high.

The issue is that your boss will not remember the details of what you did. If you list out the projects you worked on and what they achieved, but don’t detail your contribution, you invite them to take the easy decision and score you as average.

This means you don’t get the credit when you outperform, which leaves you feeling undervalued when the promotions and pay rises are handed out.

If on the other hand, you are someone who give themselves 5 stars for everything, you will be marked down possibly below the level of your actual achievement. I’ve marked down many times when people lack self awareness, because they are not team players and I am not too concerned should they leave.

This year, rather than writing a few paragraphs on what you worked on, treat your self review as a case study and follow best practice for making it impactful.

The Standard Story Structure

Case studies are stories and must have emotional appeal. This is done by presenting a classic three-act story structure.

Start by reminding your boss of the problem and why it was painful. It is easy to forget how bad things were after they are solved. Insert the knife and give a sharp twist as a reminder.

Then detail how the problem was being addressed and why that did not work. This is important in highlighting the value that you and your team contributed. The contrast between what’s effective and what isn’t, is the transformation in the story.

The firm is the hero and your role is the guru who helps the hero to see the light. Gurus appear in Act Two of the standard story structure, which is why it is only now that you introduce your contribution to the solution. The early scene setting whets the appetite to be reminded of how the problem was solved.

The final act is the resolution and how the hero wins. You detail the metrics that demonstrate your solution works and the value it creates. This second step, emphasising the value, is where promotions and pay rises are won and lost.

Pay and Conditions

I ran research teams at various investment banks earlier in my career. I remember one year an Italian analyst stormed from his review screaming that I should tell the head of research where to stick his bonus offer. The team performed well, but the “star” trader at the bank had lost a fortune, bringing everyone’s bonus down.

The analyst detailed how many reports he wrote, highlighting where he had been right, but he’d forgotten the important fact of how that helped the firm make money. As a result, he did not make the priority payment list.

The same year a younger analyst detailed the work he’d done standardising our database, emphasising the previous inconsistency and how clients rated his work in reviews we conducted with them. This analyst received a full bonus and I gave him a glowing recommendation when he was headhunted by a bigger bank.

5-Step Summary

Write your year-end self review as a story in which there is:

1. a problem

2. the resulting pain

3. the struggle to ease the pain

4. your contribution to the solution, and

5. how the firm benefited, including evidence.

Include as many problems, solutions and consequences as you have space to provide. These five-steps are how to write a case study, wrap up a presentation, compose a review and even present a newsletter. To be valued and feel valued at work you must make it easy for people to understand your contribution to the firm.

Questions to Ask and Answer

1. Do you keep a record of the metrics that measure your goals?

2. Do you write regular reports during the year to record your projects?

3. Do you understand why previous attempts to solve problems failed?

Whenever you are ready there are three ways I can help you:

1. The Profit Through Process Planner: My flagship course on how to design and invigorate a business that scales. I share 30 years of experience of researching, investing in and running companies, intermingled with the science and stories of business.

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