Talk about your experience in the workplace and mention any questions or concerns you may have about day-to-day tasks. Employers often appreciate insight into individual employee experiences so they can adjust their expectations and goals to better fit their needs.
Do I need to bring anything to a performance review?
3. Bring examples and information – Bring along your own notes and documentation of successful projects, accomplishments and achievements so you can identify and review them with your supervisor, Jones says. “You should, ideally, have an ongoing achievements list you can look over so you can help steer the conversation.
Do you ask HR or your boss for a raise?
SHRM President and Chief Executive Officer Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is answering HR questions as part of a series for USA Today, Do you have an HR or work-related question you’d like him to answer? Submit it here. I’ve seen a multitude of people take advantage of today’s competitive job market to procure better positions, benefits and salaries and even to relocate.
- I actually love my current position and company but wonder if I’m selling myself short in terms of compensation in today’s market.
- How can I get a more competitive wage without leaving my current position? —Seth Johnny C.
- Taylor, Jr,: While employees are jumping ship for better positions, benefits and salaries, loving your position and organization is priceless.
But there also should be room to enjoy your work experience and receive equitable compensation for your work without leaving your current position. You will need to be thoroughly prepared to lay out your case for a more competitive wage. First, do your research.
Examine general salary data and assess how it compares with your own pay. Be sure to factor in variables such as your experience, job duties and education. Review your organization’s job postings for any starting or comparable salary information and perks or bonuses being used to attract talent in a tight labor market.
Understand your organization’s compensation philosophy and pay increase practices, including any pay or merit increase policies. If you have questions, HR can help you better understand the pay philosophy and decisions behind merit increases. Be prepared to confidently justify your request for higher pay.
For example, has your workload doubled due to staffing shortages? Have you taken on additional assignments or roles? Learned new skills or technology? Quantify, if possible, the value you have added to the business. Next, schedule a meeting with your manager, provide the reason for the meeting and a brief agenda to stay on track.
Have your talking points in writing for the meeting. Select a time and date when your work is not overly demanding. Be sure to communicate your satisfaction with the job and the organization. Be open to feedback and ask for a follow-up meeting to discuss the final decision.
Your manager will most likely need to consult with HR or their manager before making any pay adjustment decisions. Keep in mind, your employer may not be able to accommodate your request due to budget or other factors. If it is unable to increase your pay, ask if there are considerations for getting a raise in the future.
Be prepared with alternative suggestions, such as the company supporting you in learning a new skill or taking on stretch assignments. Be creative. Regardless of the outcome, be flexible and open to ideas different from your own. You can also consider alternative perks, benefits or variable compensation in lieu of a base pay increase.
I wish you the best! In the past year, I switched jobs twice and was recently approached by another company about a position. I worry about how future prospective employers will view me down the line. At what point will employers see my frequent career movement as a negative? —Rebecca Johnny C. Taylor, Jr,: This is an excellent and timely question, as many workers are facing a similar dilemma.
In 2021, nearly half of employers (49 percent) reported their organization had experienced much higher turnover than usual in the past six months. The Great Resignation does not appear to be slowing down in 2022. Thankfully, employees are no longer expected to stay with the same employer for the bulk of their career, and employers are more open to hiring candidates with frequent career movement.
Career mobility is a hallmark of this era, and employers do not automatically see it as a negative. Today, employers assess candidates more on the reasoning for changing jobs rather than how long they worked for one employer. The quality and depth of the experience are much larger determinants in hiring.
Employers are looking to see if you have demonstrated a measurable impact with your work. It also depends on the type of jobs you are seeking, as well as the industry you are in. And if you change jobs every few months, employers may be concerned if it appears you didn’t have time to be fully trained or adjust to your new position.
Write a cover letter. Explain your job movement and keep it positive. Be transparent, but don’t bad-mouth past employers.Focus on transferable skills. Pivot potentially negative feelings an employer may have about your career moves to focus on the positive; highlight key strengths such as being highly adaptable and a quick learner.Focus on the job you are applying for. Share why you are interested in this job and how you plan to add value to the organization if you are hired.
I hope this puts your mind at ease and helps you prepare for future job opportunities.
What are the 2 obstacles to performance reviews?
Problems with Performance Appraisals – A number of problems can be identified that pose a threat to the value of appraisal techniques. Most of these problems deal with the related issues of the validity and reliability of the instruments or techniques themselves.
Validity is the extent to which an instrument actually measures what it intends to measure, whereas reliability is the extent to which the instrument consistently yields the same results each time it is used. Ideally, a good performance appraisal system will exhibit high levels of both validity and reliability.
If not, serious questions must be raised concerning the utility (and possibly the legality) of the system. It is possible to identify several common sources of error in performance appraisal systems. These include: (1) central tendency error, (2) strictness or leniency error, (3) halo effect, (4) recency error, and (5) personal biases.
- Central Tendency Error.
- It has often been found that supervisors rate most of their employees within a narrow range.
- Regardless of how people actually perform, the rater fails to distinguish significant differences among group members and lumps everyone together in an “average” category.
- This is called central tendency error and is shown in Exhibit 8.3,
In short, the central tendency error is the failure to recognize either very good or very poor performers. Exhibit 8.3 Examples of Strictness, Central Tendency, and Leniency Errors (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license) Strictness or Leniency Error. A related rating problem exists when a supervisor is overly strict or overly lenient in evaluations (see Exhibit 8.3 ).
In college classrooms, we hear of professors who are “tough graders” or, conversely, “easy A’s.” Similar situations exist in the workplace, where some supervisors see most subordinates as not measuring up to their high standards, whereas other supervisors see most subordinates as deserving of a high rating.
As with central tendency error, strictness error and leniency error fail to distinguish adequately between good and bad performers and instead relegate almost everyone to the same or related categories. Halo Effect. The halo effect exists where a supervisor assigns the same rating to each factor being evaluated for an individual.
- For example, an employee rated above average on quantity of performance may also be rated above average on quality of performance, interpersonal competence, attendance, and promotion readiness.
- In other words, the supervisor cannot effectively differentiate between relatively discrete categories and instead gives a global rating.
These types of bias are based on our perceptions of others. The halo effect occurs when managers have an overly positive view of a particular employee. This can impact the objectivity of reviews, with managers consistently giving an employee high ratings and failing to recognize areas for improvement.
- Whether positive or negative, we also have a natural tendency to confirm our preconceived beliefs about people in the way we interpret or recall performance, which is known as confirmatory bias.
- For example, a manager may have a preconception that her male report is more assertive.
- This could cause her to recall instances more easily in which her report asserted his position during a meeting.
On the other hand, she may perceive her female report to be less assertive, predisposing her to forget when the report suggested an effective strategy or was successful in a tough negotiation. The halo effect is often a consequence of people having a similarity bias for certain types of people.
We naturally tend to favor and trust people who are similar to us. Whether it’s people who also have a penchant for golf or people who remind us of a younger version of ourselves, favoritism that results from a similarity bias can give certain employees an unfair advantage over others. This can impact a team to the point that those employees may receive more coaching, better reviews and, as a result, more opportunities for advancement.3 Recency Error.
Oftentimes evaluators focus on an employee’s most recent behavior in the evaluation process. This is known as the recency error, That is, in an annual evaluation, a supervisor may give undue emphasis to performance during the past months—or even weeks—and ignore performance levels prior to this.
This practice, if known to employees, leads to a situation where employees may “float” for the initial months of the evaluation period and then overexert themselves in the last few months or weeks prior to evaluation. This practice leads to uneven performance and contributes to the attitude of “playing the game.” Personal Biases.
Finally, it is not uncommon to find situations in which supervisors allow their own personal biases to influence their appraisals. Such biases include like or dislike for someone, as well as racial and sexual biases. Personal biases can interfere with the fairness and accuracy of an evaluation and are illegal in many situations.
What are three 3 things that are important when participating in a performance review?
2. Have questions prepared – “A performance review meeting should be 50-50; a two-way conversation between your manager and you about strengths, successes, weaknesses and skill gaps. Make sure you’re prepared with questions for your supervisor, too, and think strategically about how you can contribute to the conversation,” Jones says.