This article was first published in the August 2020 issue of Professional Paraplanner.
The answer to this question is a simple one: By preparing.
We cannot stress enough how important is it for you to prepare for your next performance and development, or any review meeting that is coming up.
When taken seriously and prepared for, this will be a massive gain for you just as much as it will be for your manager and employer.
Maybe you are managing a team or stepping into a leadership role where you would like some structure around your review meetings. Make it easy, make it enjoyable and most of all make sure there is an agreed outcome.
What is a review for?
Your manager will be taking this time to ask you how you currently feel about being an employee of the company and how you generally feel about work. They will also take this time to review your current performance or your performance over a certain time period.
When used correctly and with a structure, they will be trying to find out how they can help you be even better and enjoy your role even more.
The outcome of any review should be to agree some goals and development opportunities. Use this time to the best of your advantage.
What you need to do?
Make sure the review meeting is agreed in advance and use that time leading up to prepare as much as you can. Review your job spec, does it reflect what you do? Think about the following:
What do you enjoy about the role? What’s going well for you?
What’s important to you?
Have you experienced any problems? Any concerns? What’s not going as well as you had hoped?
What else do you need from your manager or the business to succeed?
Do you have any development needs to help you do an even better job?
Do you have any skills that are not being used that you feel could be?
Has the role changed? Is it still what you expect it to be?
What and where do you want to get to?
Even if your reviews have no real structure to them and are more along the lines of a conversation, that should not stop you from being prepared.
One of the biggest reasons why paraplanners were moving in 2019 was for a clear learning and development plan (see our previous article). If a prepared and structured review is in place you can get so much more form your current employer, or if you’re in a leadership role to understand and to get more out of your own team is a win-win situation.
If you would like to receive a full copy of our performance and development review document, please feel free to make contact and we will happily email you a copy.
