How to Get a Great Performance Appraisal at Work

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen | | 0 Comments

If you need to know how to get a great performance appraisal at work, don’t miss these career tips. They’ll not only ensure you’ll get a great appraisal, they’ll also increase your job security and improve your chances of getting a work promotion and raise.

Before the tips, a quip:

“When people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home.” ~ Betty Bender

If you’re leaving your heart at home when you go to work, then you probably don’t love your job. To increase job satisfaction, read How to Love the Job You Hate: Job Satisfaction for the 21st Century. And, here are seven career tips for increasing your job security and improving your work environment (which will ensure you get a great performance appraisal!).

7 Work Tips – How to Get a Great Performance Appraisal

These are long-term career tips that will add up to a great employee evaluation — they’re not quick-fix ways to bluff your way through a performance appraisal.

1. Work through the worst of it – without complaining or spreading negativity at work. Every business goes through ups and downs, which means you’ll sometimes have to put in extra time. To improve your job performance and security, work hard when you’re needed – whether you’re paid extra or not. Complaining about a heavier work load or your employees not only makes you more difficult to be around, it damages your reputation at work.

2. Be the employee you’d hire over and over again. I’ve worked in several office jobs, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t always the employee I’d hire. Check your productivity levels, attitude at work, involvement in company functions, and overall employee presence. Would you give yourself a great performance appraisal? Fix your weaknesses, and focus on your strengths.

3. Stop watching the clock. Great employees don’t show up exactly on time (they show up early), and they don’t leave the minute the workday officially ends (which is what made me an employee I wouldn’t hire). This career tip isn’t about working overtime all the time…it’s about focusing on doing good work – not getting home exactly on time. Focusing on the quality of your work will increase your job satisfaction, which will automatically improve your work evaluations.

4. Keep up with your company’s news. Whether you’re working in a tiny office or huge corporation – make sure you know what’s happening at work! Staff changes, future plans, a new mission statement, special events…a great way to increase your job security is to be knowledgeable about your employer.

5. Don’t criticize your company, boss, or colleagues — even if you work with difficult people. I worked at the Red Robin restaurant for several years; my favorite manager got fired because he criticized the company in front of his staff. Whether you’re a supervisor or bottom rung employee, refrain from complaining about your job – especially to your coworkers! If you work with difficult people, read 6 Tips for Negotiating Conflict at Work.

6. Attend staff functions – and behave yourself! Some people don’t realize how important this career tip is – even though it revolves around your social behavior (not your work performance). Remember that drinking too much, wearing inappropriate clothes to staff parties, and negatively affecting how your colleagues see you outside the office can affect your job security. You’re representing your company – even when you’re at a party with your coworkers. Even if your supervisors aren’t around, they may hear the water cooler gossip.

7. Invest in yourself. Would it help your professional goals, your job satisfaction, or your work life if you had another degree, diploma, class, or certification? Consider your long-term career potential; if investing in yourself increases your job security (which will help you get a better performance appraisal), then find a way to make it work!