Our Annual Performance Review or annual performance evaluation results are not as expected. Feelings of discouragement, disappointment, and dissatisfaction (with the boss) will follow. When the results are like this, what should we do next?
This issue is a common one, so let’s take a look at a real-life example story from a young person who sent it through the Inbox channel of the New Generation Salaryman page.
Last year, our company was also affected by the COVID situation, resulting in many employees being laid off. At that time, I thought I was lucky that the company still had work for me. Maybe because I had always done a good job, my boss wanted to keep me. In that situation, if I were to be laid off, it would be difficult to find a new job that was stable and had a good income like this one.
But at the beginning of this year, after I learned the results of my annual performance evaluation, the results were not as I had expected. My performance was evaluated as being below the standard, which is 70% (here the standard is 80%). As a result, this year’s salary adjustment was very small, around 2% compared to those who got the standard of 5%. As for the bonus, I only got 1 month, while most of my friends got 1.5-2 months.
I feel really bad now because I worked really hard for the company last year, but now that I’ve seen this evaluation, I’m no longer motivated to continue working. What did we work so hard for?
This kind of incident, the problem caused by Annual Performance Review, occurs in many cases in many organizations, especially at the beginning of the year or when the results of the annual performance evaluation are announced. There are people who are satisfied and happy with the results, but there are also many people who are not satisfied with this matter.
From the questions or issues that he sent in, if we look at the overall picture first, we need to understand the system or process for evaluating employee performance (Performance Review). What is it like?
For example,
In the first case, if the company has a one-time evaluation method, that is, before considering a salary adjustment or a bonus increase.
That is, this process is considered risky for employees like us or this person because the boss may not remember what good work we did at the beginning or the middle of the previous year. The boss may choose to evaluate based on the situation at that time. If we or this person’s work is not impressive before the evaluation, the overall evaluation result may not be good.
For this reason, we often see many employees rushing to create an image and create results in the last two months before the evaluation because they want their boss to see their results during this period.
In the second case, if the company has an evaluation method that is done multiple times (every 3 months or every 6 months)
This is a good opportunity for both the boss and the employees because we will be able to know where our work is at, what needs to be fixed or improved. Both the boss and the employees will have the opportunity to talk about their work. For the boss, it is also beneficial for them to have the opportunity to give feedback to their team to lead to development, improvement and making it better. As for the subordinates, they will have the opportunity to ask questions or ask for advice on various issues or present what they want.
If this is the case, the evaluation results will usually not be a surprise, but that does not mean that everyone will have a happy ending. Even if the company has a good process or procedure for evaluating employee performance, it does not mean that there will be no problems later.
In the third case, the problem is caused by the boss.
No matter what evaluation methods the company uses, if the boss does not understand the principles of employee evaluation, does not set clear goals for employees, does not give employees the opportunity to present their work, or never gives employees feedback on these matters, the chances of encountering a performance evaluation based on feelings are very high, and the chances of being judged biased are also very high.
We can see this in many workplaces where some employees who are not very productive get very good evaluations because they may be liked by their bosses. Meanwhile, employees who are good at their work and have good results get lower evaluations. In this case, it is truly pitiful for those who are diligent and productive.
In the fourth case, the problem is caused by the employees themselves.
Sometimes, there are many points and issues that we ourselves have a part in causing our evaluation results to not be as expected, such as:
“I work without knowing what factors my boss uses to measure my performance or what goals I have to achieve.”
Working according to orders continuously has risks because we may be able to do well what our boss orders us to do, but it turns out that the work that we really need to do according to the goals that he set (but we don’t know or don’t care about) is not done well. Regarding goals and performance evaluation methods, we, as employees, need to be clear. We need to know clearly what principles our boss uses (not “I”) and whether they are acceptable principles. If we wait for our boss to tell us, it will be difficult. If we don’t dare to ask and don’t protect our own interests, we will continue to face dissatisfaction with the evaluation.
“We may assume that we work hard, do well, and have good results. But that work is not the work that our bosses use to evaluate us.”
This issue can happen often because we ourselves do not understand the goal, or do not even know what the real goal is, or do not know what the boss is using to evaluate us. It is like doing good work for free, but not getting results.
“We never, or rarely, find time to update or present our own work to our boss.”
This makes the boss not know what we have done or how far we have come. Don’t think that updating or presenting your own work means that you have to save face or flatter others. Think that you have the legitimate right to present your work. The results of your work will be better than talking about other people or using other people’s work as your own. This is what is called saving face and flattery.
“We never or rarely find time to ask for advice or help with work from our boss.”
We also have to accept that we are not good at everything. If there is something we do not know or are not sure about, we must dare to go to our boss to ask for his opinion. Do not think that asking for help or advice is a way to reveal our incompetence. On the contrary, we should think that if we receive the right advice, we will have fewer mistakes in our work and we will be able to improve faster than before. Another important thing is that it is an opportunity for our boss to understand and get to know us better. We will also be able to understand our boss and work with him more easily.
However, if the matter we ask for advice, but the boss may not have expertise or knowledge, he may recommend someone else to help us. Therefore, do not rush to judge the boss without trying to ask for help first. If it really doesn’t work, try using other methods.
“We wait until the evaluation results come out. When the results are not out, it is too late. There is no time to fix and improve.”
Performance appraisal is not like a lucky draw or buying a lottery ticket. Don’t just keep working and hope for the results. In this case, it is an expensive lesson if our work keeps coming out badly in their eyes (even though it’s not bad at all in reality). Because they only evaluated us once and we never talked about our work regularly, the result is that our image will be stereotyped by the boss as someone who is only so-so, or who doesn’t produce much work, or someone who is not attractive.
Advice: Remember that your boss doesn’t only have you as his subordinate. So don’t be quiet and don’t wait until the last minute. Our work must be continuously acknowledged. What are we doing? And where do we need the boss to advise or help?
If the results of the Annual Performance Review are not as expected, what should we do next?
Accepting and moving on is the best way because the results are out. Even though we feel it is unfair, we still have a bright future waiting for us. At least the good news is that we still have a job. Even though the salary increase is small, it is still better than millions of workers who have had their salaries reduced or are unemployed.
But that depends on what we do in the present situation. Because the present that we are choosing will affect our future as well.
“I was angry, disappointed, and dissatisfied, so I chose to just work day to day, just to get by.”
If we choose this path, it means that we accept that what he evaluates is our true self, and we do not want to do anything better than before. Therefore, we choose to use the evaluation results from last year that our boss gave us, saying that we were a person with lower-than-standard performance, as the standard for our lives. And we should not compare ourselves with others.
The result is that we are harming ourselves. This kind of action will make us become a person who thinks too much, finds faults, and complains about almost everything at work, does not want to talk, does not want to meet the boss or coworkers, becomes a person who gets bored easily, gives up easily, and eventually becomes a person who loses confidence.
“What methods do we have? Or what points do we need to fix? Or how can we develop ourselves to make it even better?”
If we choose this path, even though for some people, their boss may be biased towards us, lowering their evaluation scores, or may not be biased towards us, we must ignore these issues because they cannot control the boss’s thoughts towards us.
But we will turn to look at ourselves, look for points that need to be fixed, improved, look for points that we need to develop, add new skills to make ourselves a better person than last year. We need to maintain a good attitude and work standards, including our own professionalism.
“Don’t end your fate and future just because of one bad evaluation.”
Because the truth is, another important thing is that this workplace may not be our last workplace. If we are people with a growth mindset, always develop ourselves, and are professional, even if our current place does not see our value, there are always other places that are better than here.
For more articles about Growth Mindset, please visit:
9 Ways to Build and Develop a Growth Mindset for Working People
