The Personal, Mid-Year Review

Whether formal or informal, many employees are given a performance evaluation on an annual basis. Organizations are rapidly stepping away from the numerical, data-driven style of reviews (ranking the employee on some range indicating levels of performance) and instead are focusing on professional development and growth and setting personal goals that are mutually beneficial to both the employee and the organization.

While this more informal approach can occur at either a set time each year, or on an as-needed basis, at the end of the day the responsibility of accomplishing goals and objectives lies solely in the hands of the employee.

Halfway through your annual review period, take the time to conduct a personal, mid-year review to determine where you’re at in meeting any goals you and your supervisor have set and any modifications you may need to make to ensure success.

• Reflect back on the past six months and identify accomplishments and achievements. What did you do to that aided in your successes, and how can you implement that into meeting current and future goals?
• Identify those areas in which you’ve struggled. Reevaluate your objectives and make any necessary changes to your routines to ensure that you give yourself adequate time and resources to bounce back.
• Have your goals and objectives changed in the past six months? Do you have a new direction and focus, requiring a need to set new goals?
• After reviewing and modifying your goals, as necessary, prioritize them.

The personal, mid-year review is meant to be just that, personal. You can decide whether or not you wish to share this evaluation of your goals with your supervisor, but ultimately, the purpose is to give yourself a kickstart to progress positively into the second half of the year. A reflection of your professional (and personal, should they overlap) goals to determine how far you’ve come in recent months, where you’re at now, and what you need to do to successfully move forward.