How this 1 practice ends the agony of annual reviews (and fuels career growth, even in an uncertain market)

What if you could flip the agony of the annual review into a way to fuel growth and help prepare for an uncertain future?

Most annual review programs don’t deliver useful feedback for career growth.

Instead, they create anxiety and waste time for leaders and their teams. Unsure what to write or what to focus on, the process gets reduced to justifying promotions, bonuses, and raises — or explaining why they didn’t happen.

The solution: keep a regular log (or a journal) of your journey.

Help each member of your team to do the same to set them up for success, and offer them 3 benefits:

1. Less agony, more useful annual reviews

It’s a lot easier to cut-and-paste than figuring out what to write.

Plus, capturing your growth, contribution, and recognition regularly makes it easier to see and show your value.

This places focus on the best next step for career progression.

2. Self awareness fuels career growth

Regular reflection builds self-awareness and identifies opportunities for growth.

Recording the characters, conflicts, and resolutions of our story fosters a deeper connection to our value, building the confidence to solve more complex problems, resulting in more growth.

3. Bonus: prepared to get a new job in a hurry

Security isn’t immune to layoffs, and losing your job creates a big fear spike.

Instead of spinning your wheels, turn to your journal to pull forth examples to show your value and contribution.