What Should Employees Document Throughout the Year?

Throughout the Performance Review year, how do employees communicate their results toward Performance Objectives to their managers?  Each employee, with his/her manager, can enter results—as achieved— into the Performance Appraisal or Performance Agreement form. As appropriate, team Status Reports or Excel spreadsheets can be set up to match how results will appear in the Performance Appraisal form.

Many managers encourage employees to keep a book on themselves—that is, to keep their own electronic and printed copies of peer and customer commendations, their results toward objectives and examples of how they demonstrate the Core Values, training certificates, performance documentation, etc. As appropriate, managers can remind employees that the organization is a dynamic environment where re-assignments and promotions happen quickly. So employees need to position themselves to be ready to ‘sell’ themselves, with supporting details about accomplishments, when opportunities for promotion occur. Employees should also be ready to share with a new manager their contributions to their team if a previous manager didn’t pass on complete records to the new manager.

Throughout the Performance Review period, how do employees collect their Additional Accomplishments—their contributions beyond their results toward performance objectives?  Many managers have their direct reports submit Additional Accomplishments regularly—ideally at least monthly— showing results toward objectives. This approach keeps employees focused on priorities and gives the manager a complete list of the employee’s contributions. To gather Accomplishments from employees throughout the year, create and have employees use a template, such as shown below, for their Accomplishments. Each month have employees add to and email you their growing list of Accomplishments:

ADDITIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • Success Stories, sharing Best Practices
  • Exemplary Levels of Achievement such as ‘Best Overall Team Statistics’
  • Organization, Team, or Customer Recognition, Commendations, Awards
  • Examples of their Leadership
  • Process Improvements and specific impacts of those improvements
  • Roles on Special Projects and impacts of those projects
  • Training—completed or provided
  • Pertinent Courses taken outside of your organization, credentialing courses or for-credit courses reimbursed by your organization
  • Credentials, pertinent Degrees Earned
  • Recognition as Subject Matter Expert (SME)
  • Selection as Point of Contact in manager’s place or for other role indicating leadership or otherwise requiring increased responsibility
  • Promotions
  • Organization-endorsed Community Service and specific roles and impacts of that service
  • Contributions to the Team

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