Every employee gets a performance appraisal but is that all what you wanted?
Without knowing the basis of a review accepting the appraisal is not worth it. You don’t know why your boss put a certain opinion and you accepted it blindly. You don’t know what you need to do, what are your goals and how you can do it and you are working without understanding the factors.
To improve your performance in the workplace and develop better skills, you need to question your boss and perform on that basis to make your next performance appraisal more improved. Here are a few questions to ask your boss during performance appraisal. But before that let us first understand what is performance appraisal.
Performance Appraisal Definition:
A performance appraisal basically can also be termed as a performance review process where the employee performance is assessed through discussions, methods and performance evaluations and appraisals are fixed based on it.
This is also done with the aim of planning future growth and development ideas for the company as well as the employee and the methodologies needed for it.
Performance Appraisal Objectives:
The main objective of performance appraisal is to evaluate and measure the employee’s performance and developing growth strategies for them. This not only helps them grow but also helps the organization in turn as the employee’s abilities and skills can be put to use for the success and expansion of the organization.
Some of the common objectives of performance appraisal are
- Providing Feedback
- Providing Legal Defensibility for Personnel Decisions
- Rightsizing or Downsizing Decisions
- Determining Organizational Training and Development Needs
- Motivating Superior Performance
- Supporting Manpower Planning
- Counselling Poor Performers
- Determining Compensation Changes
- Encouraging Coaching and Mentoring
- Setting and Measuring Goals.
- Determining Individual Training and Development Needs
- Encouraging Performance Improvement
- Validating Hiring Decisions
- Facilitating Promotion Decisions
- Training Needed
- Improving Overall Organizational Performance
Types of Performance Appraisal System:
Performance appraisal systems are not only beneficial for the employees but also for the organization to analyze the overall growth and success and identifying their top performers.
- General Appraisal
- 360-Degree Appraisal
- Technological Performance Appraisal
- Employee Self-Assessment
- Manager Performance Appraisal
- Project Evaluation Review
- Sales Performance Appraisal
Questions to Ask Your Boss During Annual Performance Review:
Now if you are confused about what to ask in performance review then for your help here we have mentioned few performance review questions to ask at a performance review.
1. What’s your opinion about my performance this year?
Ask your boss about your current year’s performance. Take his suggestions and ask how you did the job and his opinion about you. This will help you improve your performance and his positive opinion will motivate and inspire you to work in the future. In case he gives a negative opinion, then you get the chance to recover it next time and take his views positively.
2. How can I improve my performance next year?
Ask him for methods to improve your performance in the future. If possible, hold a personal meeting with your boss and take his advice. Have the urge to do better next time. If you get negative feedback for your current year’s performance, accept it in a positive manner then this question will help you improve your skills.
3. How can I prove myself better inside my team?
This question will be helpful if you ask for performance feedback inside a particular section. If you are leading a team, then learn the ways to prove yourself better within it. Understand the ways to utilize your skills and educate your team members by assigning new and challenging tasks. This will prove you to be a better leader and improve your leadership skills.
4. What are the most important objectives for the upcoming year?
Most employees work without knowing the correct goal of the employer. So this question will help you understand them. If you learn about your company goals then it will be easier for you to manage your works properly and do it in the right way. Learn about your boss’s priorities and know the information. He’ll be happy to know that you are curious about the company objectives and rate your performance better next time.
5. What steps our business is going to take next year and what are the challenges?
This is one of the major questions to ask during your performance review, that employees often forget to ask. To ask this, you need proper dedication towards your job and see the company as yours.
Ask your boss about the future planning of the company and what new challenges are waiting on the way. This will help you focus in your future projects and make your road easier. Learning about the challenges will help you prepare and manage your tasks accordingly.
6. What new skills should I develop?
Learning about future challenges might require you to develop new skills and abilities. Developing new skills might give you a better position in the company and you’re likely to receive better feedback next time. Obtaining new skills will help you face greater challenges in the company and help improve your teamwork.
7. Which things should I continue to do?
Ask your boss if you shall continue working the way you do. If he is not satisfied with your performance, then you might need to change your working method. And if he gives you any positive feedback, then ask about the specific points that convinced him to give a positive review.
8. Which things should I stop doing?
In case your boss provides you negative feedback, then ask him which things went wrong. Do not get saddened over the negative remarks, instead take it positively and ask him to clarify the wrongdoings. There might be certain stages when you took the wrong decision and lost a potential client. So one wrong step led you to a negative remark, which you got the opportunity to rectify again.
9. Is there any other opportunity for me?
Ask this question if your boss provides a positive feedback on your performance. Don’t hesitate to ask your boss about your future career opportunities in the company. Most employees either to ask this question with the fear that his boss might be infuriated at him. But learning this helps you understand the to do’s and indicate your boss that you are looking for an improvement in career.
10. Are there any chances for my salary raises or promotions?
Every employee needs a salary hike. So this would be an obvious question to ask your boss so that you can learn what your boss thinks about you. You can also ask about your promotion opportunity in the company.
If your boss provides positive feedback then you can actually expect this. Asking for promotion shows that you are looking up to face the major challenges in the company and urging to work for its betterment.
11. When are you reviewing my performance next?
Learning about your next appointment for performance appraisal notifies about the duration to improve your act. You get to learn about a certain duration or time to develop new skills for better work management. It also indicates your boss that you have accepted the feedback and going to prove yourself for the better next time.
12. Ask anything else you want to know:
Apart from these basic questions to ask during a performance review, you might want to know something else that you are curious about. Without thinking over a lot, ask your boss about your preferred question. It can be something personal or related to your profession, but if you are eager to learn about it, this is the best time to ask.
13. Ask any question which is related to your job industry:
Employees of different job industries will have different queries. For example, an employee who works on a Sales and Marketing industry might want to know about his company’s required number of targeted potentials after 6 months. Or an employee working in a construction company might want to learn about the new utilities required for construction work. So the question might differ according to your job platform. You should clarify whatever doubts you have regarding your job.
14. Ask if any of your co-workers or staff members recommended you:
Some appraisals might be based upon the votes of your company co-workers and staff members. Ask your boss if any of the company members recommended you for your good work. Ask this question only if your boss provides a positive review. This will also improve your relation with the company member, as well as encourage you for a better performance next time.
15. What were the company biggest successes over the past years?
The biggest lessons can be learnt from the past successful employee who benefitted the company with their greatest performances. Ask your boss about how the previous successful employees worked for the company and what they did.
Ask him specifically about the efforts they made and what unique skills everyone had. This will help you learn about the new techniques to work for the betterment of the organization.
16. Can we schedule a meet up for further discussion on the matter?
In case your boss has less time in his hands to discuss about your appraisal at the current moment, request him to schedule a meeting at a later time.
Tell him that you appreciate his feedback, and interested for a further discussion at a scheduled time. This will signify your boss that you are interested to learn and want to know the better ways to work in the company.
17. How can I help my co-workers and team members?
Have the dedication to work for the betterment of your team and co-workers. Ask your boss about what skills you should develop to help your co-workers and your team members. Have the urge to assist your company people.
Educate the new employees with the work techniques and develop new skills in them. This will build respect for you and the new employees will consider you as a good leader.
18. Request for his recommendation in your LinkedIn profile
Being a company employee, you should have a LinkedIn account to develop better relationships with experienced and professional people. Request your boss to write a recommendation about you in your LinkedIn profile.
This will increase your changes to get delivered with better opportunities in the future and help you find new prospects. And being a professional person in this modern era, LinkedIn recommendations are given more preference by employers.
Tips to Structure a Review Form:
The performance review process differs for every organization, so does the review forms. To conduct a perfect performance appraisal, a review form must consist of few fields like
- Goal setting
- Technical Skills
- Soft Skills
- What went well?
- What could have gone better?
- Any specific needs?
Conclusion:
Employees often think that asking too much questions will irritate your boss, but it is not that true. In fact, your boss will be impressed with your curiosity to learn and your interest to work for the company. Asking more questions help you learn about your company objectives and develop a better relationship with the organization.
