In praise of appraisals

As we move into the final stretch of a terrible year, many employees will be facing a task made unusually difficult by the events of 2020. It goes by many names – annual appraisal, performance review, personal development discussion – but the core activity is generally the same: you talk to your line manager about your strengths and weaknesses, how this year has gone and your ambitions for next year. Plus, of course, there is the excruciating discomfort of filling out forms celebrating your own achievements.

Preparing for an appraisal can be challenging at the best of times, particularly when the outcome often translates into bonuses or performance-related pay increases. Do your achievements justify your salary? Even in companies that insist that the focus of the review is to assist your professional development, this question hovers, unspoken, around the conversation. The pressure and worry this brings is perhaps even greater currently, as few of us have achieved the goals we set at the start of this year and straitened finances are driving many companies to cut costs.