Over the years, I have read a great deal of guidance about employee reviews. Many HR professionals have discussed the pros and cons of doing annual reviews versus periodic reviews. Periodic reviews occur throughout the year and provide both the supervisor and the employer with an opportunity to discuss performance on an ongoing basis. Let’s assume that a supervisor considers an employee’s performance to be substandard in the first half of the year, but does not discuss it until the annual review at year’s end. The employee might be surprised to hear this, or even have a hard time remembering his or her behavior from nine months ago. Periodic reviews, conducted professionally, can effectively highlight differences of opinion that may have been unknown to the other person.
The benefit of periodic “check-ins,” however, is not only limited to external communication with others. In fact, the one area of communication that is most often overlooked is communication with ourselves. How often do we take the time to perform an internal, periodic review?
Who am I working for?
I propose that this is a bigger question than just the name of your organization. Are you truly working for yourself — meaning are you working to advance the true goals you have for yourself, your family, or your future?
What are you working toward?
Have you taken the time to engage in real short-term and long-term goal setting? And even more than that, have you mapped out a path to goal getting?
How?
What steps do you need to take on this day, in this week, or through this month to move you closer to achieving those goals?
When?
Have you made a timeline? We all have daily external deadlines to meet in our jobs, and we sacrifice our own personal goals and plans to meet them. It’s just as important to keep the promises we make to ourselves. A goal without a deadline is just a dream.
Where?
When interviewing job candidates, a common question is: “Where do you see yourself in five years years?” Have you asked yourself this question lately? Where do YOU want to be in five years?
Why?
This is perhaps the MOST important of all the questions. In 2009, Simon Sinek wrote Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. Your “WHY” is the one question you probably need to ask yourself most often. Understanding our purpose, and what motivates us, fuels the action needed to achieve what we want. Achieving any goal effectively starts with clarity. And clarity begins with the ability to define your WHY.
As we are all engaged in a career that keep us inherently focused in ongoing firefighting, planning, executing, rescuing, and salvaging operations for other people; I think that we as a profession spend too little time in introspection and self-care. Does the following script sound familiar?
We will get more sleep tomorrow.
We will change our diet next month.
We will get caught up after this one project.
Tomorrow we will do this better.
In another month, the media will be evaluating the first 100 days of the new presidential administration of the United States. It seems like a good time to reflect on your own first 100 days of the year — to internally ask and review questions that help you to excavate what truly matters to you personally and review what you are doing to make it happen.
Some author recommended resources to help you set and get goals:
