Performance Reviews: Are You Prepared to Get a Raise?

Is it that time of year again? Are you wondering if you're going to get a raise? If so, it may be that you're unsure about what you've accomplished. You remember that there were tons of projects that you worked on. You've even put in extra hours to help those projects succeed. And, you were able to assist others with performing their jobs aside from your own heavy workload. But you just don't have record of what you actually contributed. Tada! You're invisible now.

Make Your Presence and Efforts Known

Administrative support staff is rarely recognized for valuable contributions made to the workplace. Administrative professionals' roles are ever-expanding to the point of managing their superiors' work lives - as well as their personal lives - yet they are rarely recognized for it. Often times, bosses are far from knowing all the responsibilities their assistants have and fulfill on a daily basis.

Aside from building a positive relationship with your boss, you'll need to create opportunities that make you stand out in the crowd. And when you've bailed another secretary out of a tight spot because she missed a deadline, you'll need to be able to toot your own horn without sounding like the whining office siren.

Six Ways to Warrant a Raise

Here are six ways you can justify a raise by getting your presence, efforts, and accomplishments recognized and documented year-round:

1. Attend non-mandatory meetings, participate in discussions, and make suggestions that help others do their jobs well. Follow up with an e-mail to all who attended recapping what was discussed.

2. If your company doesn't have one, suggest an "Employee of the Month" program; it can be as simple as a little box placed in the break room for anonymous entries. Offer to head up the program and nominate people you think deserve to be rewarded for their hard work. Nominate yourself.

3. If your company has an employee reward program and you've never been rewarded, ask your supervisor what you can do to be acknowledged in the program. If you have been rewarded, save all documentation.

4. Don't be a loner. Go to lunch or after-work events with other employees you like. If you should find that there are employees you don't like who are "in the know," gather with them anyway. Often times this is a good way to get the inside scoop on upcoming opportunities, changes in support needs, and new projects. But be a little coy about it.

5. Be aware of where the company is headed, upper and middle management changes, and other departments' functions. Always look to identify a need outside your area so you can offer to pitch in an hour or two per day to help other work groups with projects. Get to know other supervisors as much as you can.

6. If a customer, supervisor, or co-worker compliments your work in writing, save it in an electronic file and keep a hard copy. When you get verbal compliments for a job well done - and you will - ask for them in writing. Your goal is to collect as many "good deeds" as possible every chance you get.

Self-Appraisal and the Good Deed Process

Take control of your value by doing a self-appraisal. You will need to set quarterly goals and track them regularly. List all your accomplishments, strengths, and areas of improvement each quarter. Make sure your goals are measurable, such as "I will process 20 orders per week" or " I will obtain 3 good deeds per month."

Make a folder and label it with your name and call it Self Appraisal. On the left side of the folder, file your quarterly self appraisal with tracking notes ; on the right side put your good deeds in chronological order, most current on top. When review time comes, you can whip it out and you're ready to go.

You'd be surprised at how much supervisors are interested in your self-appraisal because it helps them to better understand your strengths and weaknesses. Often times it will be submitted to Human Resources along with your supervisor's performance evaluation.

Your Performance Review File

Your self-appraisal and good deeds make up your performance review file. Personnel files keep track of vacation time, sick time, personal information, and company-issued performance reviews. But they don't tell the whole story about what you actually do for the company everyday, unless a negative item happens to make its way from your cubicle to the Human Resources Department. That's all the more reason to maintain your own performance review file. No one will ever be able to appraise you below your true value.