Mid-Year Reviews

The workplace is evolving today more quickly than it ever has. One area that is of particular focus is the employee experience. If they have not already, Employers are going to need to figure out what makes their company one that employees want to work for. That includes how they support their employee’s development and growth and how they conduct performance reviews.

Performance reviews are no longer 5-page novels of every accomplishment and success you had through-out the year. Many companies have moved to a much more streamlined review process over the past several years. Most Mid-Year and Year-End reviews are now one page and include only three to four question or categories.  

Many companies are moving away from hierarchies and moving more towards an agile model (see the recent podcast by Josh Bersin The Calm Before The Storm: How The Pandemic Recovery Will Change Business – JOSHBERSIN). Thus, it is going to be extremely important that you highlight the skills you have that make you successful. Companies will be looking at skillset and strengths and will be moving people around more quickly than they used to in the past, based on their changing priorities and needs.  While this is going to be an evolution, it is already happening in the larger companies and in many smaller organizations as well.  

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Preparing for your Mid-Year Review:

The purpose of Mid-Year reviews is to assess if you are on target to reach the agreed upon goals for the year-end.  

Whatever your Mid-Year review looks like, you still must prepare for that conversation with your leader. If you are like me, you keep track of your accomplishments through-out the year. If you do not, I would strongly recommend starting.

    - Track the problem/situation

     - How you solved for it and why,

     - What skills you used to achieve your success

     - What was the impact to the organization/team?  

Thus, when performance reviews come around you can look at your accomplishments, assess what you are doing well and, look at what you need to accomplish and potentially change in the 2ndhalf of the year.    

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Mid-Year Summary:

1. Your biggest accomplishment overall:

      a. What it was

      b. The skills you have that contributed to your success

      c. The impact/outcome to the organization.  

Be sure to quantify if you can, with revenue growth, profit, etc. If you cannot quantify in numbers, there are other ways to quantify your success (i.e., client satisfaction, employee satisfaction, contributing to diversity goals, or other organizational goals).  

2. What did not work? Or what mistakes were made? What could you have done better?

3. What did you learn?

4. What will you do differently in the 2nd half of the year?

It is important for your dialog with your leader to encompass what you have achieved so far, but also what you need to do the remaining half of the year to ensure success. And, what you need from your leader to do that.

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Setting goals for the 2nd half of the year:

Now that you have completed your Mid-Year review and you have an idea of what you need to do, you can start setting goals for yourself for the remainder of the year.  

1. Think about what you need to accomplish by year-end. It does not have to be complex, just a few points. I would recommend3-4 points (see link to sample year-ends below). When I write my goals down on paper, I am more accountable and tend to achieve more.  

2. Next, map out how you plan on reaching those goals. Keep in mind that things can and most likely will change, but it is important to have an initial plan.

3. Be sure to give yourself milestones and deadlines:

For example:

      a. Reach ½ of revenue goal by October X

      b. Ensure 5 marketing campaigns per month, get mailed by planned dates

      c. Track and review call center data daily, to ensure strong customer service

Remember, the purpose of Mid-Year reviews is to assess if you are on target to reach the agreed upon goals for the year-end. And, identifying what you will need to do in the 2nd half of the year to reach or exceed those goals. If you are on target, why not raise the bar for yourself? If you are below target, be sure you know what you need to do to reach your target; what you need to do but also what you need from your leader and team. You have time to adjust if necessary!  

Link to performance review templates:

21 Engaging Performance Review Examples (+ Templates) (venngage.com)

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