How to prepare for your annual review (and get the most from it)

An annual review is a stock-take of your situation in the organisation and of the year that’s just ended. You’ll look back as objectively as possible at your successes and setbacks, and set objectives for the year ahead. It’s also the right moment to talk about your career development, your pay, and your training needs. From there, your manager can put actions in place to support you over the coming months.

A review doesn’t automatically change your position. A positive one can lead to a promotion or a pay rise, and a negative one doesn’t necessarily mean a pay cut or a demotion. 

Take the pressure off. The annual review is first and foremost a conversation with your manager. It isn’t there to hand out sanctions or settle scores, and it can be a tricky conversation for your manager too.

Find out how it will run. An informal chat with colleagues, over lunch for example, can tell you a lot. You can also ask your HR team about the format and the kinds of questions you’re likely to be asked.

Gather your evidence. Preparation starts the day your last review ends. Keep a folder of anything worth raising, and add to it as the year goes on.

Before anything else, take an honest stock of the past year. Think about what you did, what you didn’t get to, and the quality of your work, and stick to the facts. That’s what gives you confidence on the day. 

Last year’s review usually comes with a roadmap of clearly defined objectives. Use it to take stock of what you’ve delivered. Did you complete everything you set out to do? Where did you run into difficulties? Did you help the business save money, raise its profile, or win more customers? If you don’t have a previous review, go back to what was agreed when you were hired and to your job description.

A few days or weeks before the review, assess yourself in three steps.

Start with your results. If you agreed objectives with your manager, go through them and note your successes alongside your setbacks and mistakes, using metrics that fit your role. Where results are hard to measure, highlight your initiative, your approach, and your soft skills.

Next, assess your skills objectively and highlight the ones you’re proudest of.

Then look ahead. Set objectives for the coming year by listing the projects that matter most, with facts and figures where you can. If you find the self-assessment difficult, your HR team can help.

If you want to progress, in the short or longer term, tell your manager. It’s also a good way to close the review. Show that your career plan is solid and suggest ways you could grow internally, such as joining a new team, changing role or department, or taking on more responsibility.

However well you prepare, cognitive biases will probably still colour how you judge your own year. They’re natural mental shortcuts that distort the picture, and recognising them is the first step to countering them. 

Anchoring bias happens when a first impression becomes the only reference point. If you undersell yourself in your self-assessment, your manager may adopt the same view and start from a negative assumption. Being honest about your work doesn’t mean being modest about it. For HR teams, training in self-assessment or pre-built templates, such as our performance review questions, can help counter this bias. 

Recency bias leads you to base your judgement on the most recent information and lose sight of the bigger picture. To counter it, note down observations throughout the year. If your organisation uses a dedicated performance tool, that’s the natural place to keep them, and your manager may well encourage it. 

A well-prepared annual review should give meaning to your work and support your engagement over the long term. For HR teams, 360° feedback brings in the views of the colleagues each employee works with. The more perspectives a review draws on, the less any single bias shapes the outcome. To take it further across your organisation, read how to make your performance review meaningful. 

Prepare early, take an honest stock of your year, and go in ready to talk about what comes next, and your annual review can be the useful conversation it’s meant to be.