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Managing Your C

areer

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Table of Contents

Introduction ..........................................................v

Creating a Plan .................................................... 1

Lesson 1 ................................................................................................ 3

Evaluating Your Current Situation................................................. 3

Career Evaluation .........................................................................3

Your values...................................................................................3

Your interests................................................................................4

Your skills .....................................................................................4

Your desired lifestyle.....................................................................5

Lesson 2 ................................................................................................ 9

Dealing with Strengths and Weaknesses .................................... 9

Your strengths...............................................................................9

Your weaknesses........................................................................10

Lesson 3 .............................................................................................. 19

Creating a Plan for Your Career ................................................... 19

Develop a vision..........................................................................19

Create an action plan ..................................................................20

Set a time line .............................................................................21

Getting on the Right Track................................ 25

Lesson 1 .............................................................................................. 27

Career Opportunities within Your Organization ...................... 27

In-house Career Opportunities ....................................................27

Identify opportunities ...................................................................27

Seek professional development chances ....................................29

Consider a lateral move ..............................................................29

Lesson 2 .............................................................................................. 34

Making a Promotion Plan................................................................ 34

Developing a promotion plan.......................................................34

Benefits of a promotion plan........................................................34

Creating a promotion plan...........................................................35

Lesson 3 .............................................................................................. 39

Seeking Out Assignments that Advance Your Career........... 39

Career Advancement through Assignment Selection ..................39

Asking for assignments............................................................... 40

Focusing on your accomplishments............................................ 41

Demonstrating your relative worth .............................................. 41

Lesson 4 .............................................................................................. 43

Changing Careers ............................................................................. 43

Successfully Changing Careers.................................................. 43

Strategies for moving on............................................................. 43

Professional Networking Essentials ................. 47

Lesson 1 .............................................................................................. 49

Getting Your Professional Network Started ............................ 49

The importance of a business network ....................................... 49

Create networking opportunities ................................................. 50

Be caring and sincere ................................................................. 50

Keep track of your contacts ........................................................ 50

Lesson 2 .............................................................................................. 59

Building Rapport with New Business Contacts ...................... 59

Building rapport .......................................................................... 59

Strategies for conversing ............................................................ 59

Lesson 3 .............................................................................................. 65

Maintaining Your Professional Network.................................... 65

Strategies to maintain your network............................................ 65

Organize your contacts............................................................... 65

Keep in touch.............................................................................. 66

Give more than you receive ........................................................ 67

You and Your Boss ............................................ 71

Lesson 1 .............................................................................................. 73

Tips for a Healthy Relationship with Your Boss ..................... 73

Benefits ...................................................................................... 73

Building the relationship.............................................................. 74

Lesson 2 .............................................................................................. 80

Getting in Tune with Your Boss ................................................... 80

How to Get in Tune with Your Boss ............................................ 80

Assist with your boss's agenda ................................................... 80

Keep your boss informed............................................................ 81

Adapt to your boss's working style .............................................. 82

Lesson 3 .............................................................................................. 87

Providing Your Boss with Feedback........................................... 87

Providing Your Boss with Feedback ........................................... 87

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Explaining the problem................................................................87

Getting your boss's perspective ..................................................88

Determining the next step ...........................................................89

Leveraging the Performance Appraisal ............ 93

Lesson 1 .............................................................................................. 95

Preparing for an Annual Performance Appraisal..................... 95

The importance of performance appraisal ...................................95

Preparing for a performance appraisal ........................................96

Lesson 2 ............................................................................................ 102

How to Make the Most of Your Annual Performance

Appraisal ...........................................................................................102

Recognizing strategies..............................................................102

Presenting accomplishments ....................................................103

Seeking corrective input............................................................103

Lesson 3 ............................................................................................ 106

The Periodic Appraisal Strategy ................................................ 106

The periodic appraisal strategy .................................................106

Implementing periodic appraisal................................................107

Glossary............................................................................................. 112

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Introduction The Managing Your Career course consists of 5 modules as follows: Creating a Plan Getting on the Right Track Professional Networking Essentials You and Your Boss Leveraging the Performance Appraisal The first module guides you through the process of taking stock of your present situation and determining the best way ahead. It starts with taking inventory of your values, interests, skills, and needs. Then based on these findings, you can determine your strengths. This module provides examples of roles in which you could use those strengths. It also provides tips on how to deal with any weaknesses that are holding you back. Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

• identify the types of questions you should ask to evaluate your career

• determine your main strengths • recognize ways to deal with weaknesses • recognize the steps involved in developing a career

plan The second module identifies tips for successfully advancing your career, making lateral moves within an organization, and ways of successfully moving on to a different employer. This course also focuses on the benefits of having a promotion plan and the creation and implementation of an effective promotion plan. How to ask for assignments that will move your career forward is also covered. Even when

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you're on the right track, keeping your career moving forward takes work.

Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

• recognize strategies for successful in-house job changes

• sequence the steps for creating and implementing a promotion plan

• recognize the benefits of having a promotion plan • identify examples of strategies you can use to

successfully ask for assignments that will advance your career

• recognize ways to successfully move on to a different employer to keep your career on track

The third module provides you with the essential communication skills required to establish a business network and includes strategies for building rapport with new contacts during networking opportunities. It also covers best practices for maintaining your network so that business contacts can help you achieve your career goals. Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

• recognize how to employ best practices for establishing a business network

• recognize the importance of learning how to establish a business network

• use strategies for conversing with new contacts during a networking opportunity

• recognize strategies you can use to maintain your business network

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The fourth module teaches strategies for building a strong professional relationship with your boss. It explains various ways you can become aligned with your boss and even how to give your boss constructive feedback. Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

• recognize ways to build a successful relationship with your boss

• recognize ways to get in tune with your boss • give feedback to your boss

The fifth module explains the value of learning how to manage the performance appraisal process on a year-round basis and tips for using formal and informal performance appraisal to the best advantage. The course also outlines how implementing periodic appraisal strategy can be used to move your career forward. Recognizing and controlling the damage of a bad appraisal is also covered. Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

• determine whether a given employee has adequately prepared for a formal performance appraisal

• recognize strategies for maximizing the effectiveness of a formal performance appraisal

• recognize how to implement the periodic appraisal strategy appropriately

You may use this manual to review and highlight important concepts as you progress through the course.

Enjoy your course!

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Creating a Plan The first module guides you through the process of taking stock of your present situation and determining the best way ahead. It starts with taking inventory of your values, interests, skills, and needs. Then based on these findings, you can determine your strengths. This module provides examples of roles in which you could use those strengths. It also provides tips on how to deal with any weaknesses that are holding you back. The following lessons are covered in this module: Lesson 1: Evaluating Your Current Situation Lesson 2: Dealing with Strengths and Weaknesses Lesson 3: Creating a Plan for your Career

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Lesson 1

Evaluating Your Current Situation

Career Evaluation

he ideal job isn't always about money or status, and it isn't always what you think of as your "dream job." When you evaluate your current situation, you have to

engage in honest soul-searching. You'll have to answer some tough questions:

• Are you really happy doing what you're doing? • Can you make changes that will allow you to be

satisfied with your current job? • Or should you search for a new position?

Factors you need to know about yourself to answer these questions include your values, interests, skills, and desired lifestyle. Taken together, all these factors can help you determine whether your current situation is right for you, or whether you need to make some changes. Making an inventory of your own values, interests, skills, and lifestyle aspirations can help you evaluate your own situation.

Your values

our core values – your principles, beliefs, and attitudes – reflect who you are and determine how you respond to events. They are also a big part of whether you are

in the right job or not. If your job aligns with your core values, you're likely in the right job for you. However, if your job requires you to do things that go against your values, you won't be very happy.

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Core values include money, family, self-development, belonging, autonomy, and ambition, to name just a few. You can determine which values are most important to you by asking yourself questions surrounding the importance of these values. People share many of the same values, but the mix of values and priorities is unique to each individual. Asking these questions is important. It can help you discover your core values and determine if you're in the right career. If you're not, it's easier to change early rather than wait until you're invested in a career path that doesn't really suit you.

Your interests

valuating your current situation requires that you get in touch with the activities that engage you – in other words, your interests. Many things can help you

identify your interests, including activities, school subjects, jobs that seem intriguing, and industries that seem attractive. When you think about your interests, be careful not to confuse what you're interested in with what you're good at. The two aren't always the same. And don't worry if you don't have any burning or all-consuming interests. Few people do. Take the time you need to ruminate on what you enjoy, and then narrow it down to those things that truly engage you.

Your skills

n addition to values and interests, you need to identify your skills, and answer the question "What am I good at?" Skills are generally of two sorts:

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• Hard skills tend to be technical and specific to occupations.

• Soft skills are highly transferable. They're not occupation-specific.

The questions that are useful for identifying your skills have to do with your capabilities. They encompass your ability to do a variety of tasks: organize work, coordinate the efforts of others, juggle several projects at once, solve problems, and communicate well. There is another important question that can help you assess your strengths: Do you have areas of untapped potential? Many people have capabilities and strengths that they haven't fully developed yet.

Your desired lifestyle

efore making any decisions about your situation, you have to account for your lifestyle needs. Everyone needs food, clothing, and shelter, to name just the

basics. Your ability to obtain the basics, as well as any extras that you may want, depends directly on the rewards you get from your work. So even if money isn't a high priority value for you, it's always an important consideration. Simply, you need to have enough money to meet your needs. But money isn't everything. Extras, such as health insurance, life and disability insurance, a pension, and a severance package can make life bearable and may be essential to you and your family. Many organizations provide some or all of these benefits in their compensation packages. In addition to compensation and benefits, you need to think about other

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lifestyle issues, such as flexibility to schedule personal time, holidays, vacation time, travel requirements, and location. Above all, you should strive for a good balance between your work and home life, and seek a job that allows you to be flexible. Many companies offer alternative working options, like flextime, part-time employment, job sharing, and telecommuting. These options give you more control of your time and your life. However, they sometimes come with trade-offs. Know what's important to you, what you want, and what you're willing to sacrifice to get it. Then decide how to create the optimal working situation for you. When you evaluate your current situation to help determine whether you are in the right career, you begin by identifying your values, interests, skills, and lifestyle. Your values define who you are and how you act in the world. Knowing what's important to you in terms of money, belonging, helping others, and self-development, for example, is critical. You can't be happy if your current situation doesn't align with your values. To be fully productive and happy, you need to be interested in at least some of the elements of your work. Find out what engages you, and then evaluate your current situation to find out whether it contains those elements. The appropriateness of a job hinges on whether it maximizes your skills. Evaluate what your strengths and weaknesses are. Every decision that you make with respect to your current situation must be made in light of your desired lifestyle. Seek a balance between your work and home life.

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�Follow-On Activity

Evaluating Your Current Situation

Purpose: Use this follow-on activity to record your personal inventory of values, interests, skills, and lifestyle aspirations.

Your Current Situation

Factors to consider Responses

What are your five top values? Examples: Money, family, self-development, belonging, autonomy, ambition

What are your interests? Examples: Science, art, helping others, outdoor activities, intellectual activities

What skills do you have? What are your hard skills? Example: Ability to use word processing programs What are your soft skills? Example: Ability to communicate well


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Your Current Situation

Factors to consider Responses

What are your lifestyle issues? What salary and benefits do you require? What alternate working arrangements do you want or need?

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Lesson 2

Dealing with Strengths and

Weaknesses

Your strengths

t’s not enough to be good at things that you don't enjoy, or to be interested in things that you're not good at. You need to find those areas where your abilities and interests

come together. These are your strengths. When your career makes the most of your strengths, many other elements of your life – job satisfaction, motivation, and fulfillment, for instance – fall into place.

Most professionals know their strengths, and you may have a good idea of where yours lie. Informal feedback from coworkers and friends and performance appraisals from supervisors are two good sources of information. You can also learn about your strengths by using a questionnaire or survey. One of the benefits of knowing your strengths is that you're better able to choose a career path that provides you with satisfaction and fulfillment. Now, while your strengths are areas where your interests and abilities come together, it's generally your interests that will outweigh your strengths in determining what career you'll pursue.

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Your weaknesses

n addition to knowing your strengths, you need to be aware of your weaknesses. A weakness is an area that doesn't meet the minimum requirements for a job.

The benefit of knowing your weaknesses is that they won't suddenly show up to sabotage you and keep you from achieving your career goals. Several common areas of weakness are as follows:

• When you're looking to change your job or advance in your career, you're likely to be in competition with other people. Some of them will have better skills, more training, or a wider-ranging education than you do. Lack of training or education is correctable, so make sure you address this weakness.

• It's important to stay current with technology used in your field and in your organization. It's also very difficult – technology changes all the time. The good news is that it's not difficult to find training sources for technology-based skills.

• Many people shy away from conflict. Perhaps they don't want to become angry and lose control in the workplace. Perhaps they're afraid of anger itself. If you're unable to deal with conflict , certain jobs and tasks will always be difficult for you, such as working with a team, working with the public, and even working directly for a boss.

Rather than allow weaknesses to hold you back, you must deal with them head-on. This is a two-step process: identify your weaknesses and then change the ones you can.

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To identify weaknesses, you collect information from three main sources:

• You may already have a good idea of what you need to know, learn, and improve on. Look at your job description and assess how well you do each task. Review your last performance appraisal for comments about weaknesses or areas for improvement.

• Coworkers have a different perspective than you do about your weaknesses or development needs. Ask a trusted coworker to give you some feedback on this.

• The most helpful feedback on your areas of weakness may come from your boss . You can wait until your next performance appraisal to find out about these areas, or you can schedule a conversation with your boss now. Being proactive is usually better than waiting.

If you decide to meet with your boss to discuss your weaknesses, you need to prepare thoroughly for the meeting. First, schedule a time when the boss isn't stressed and allow enough time for the discussion – at least 30 minutes. Next, during the discussion, keep some helpful guidelines in mind:

• state your reasons for the discussion • clarify any statements by your boss that aren't perfectly

clear to you, and • don't get defensive

You can correct weaknesses in the areas of soft skills, such as written and verbal communication, delegation, and interpersonal skills, with classroom or online training


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courses. You can also ask coworkers to help by proofreading your reports or memos, if accuracy is a weakness. And you can correct weaknesses in areas of hard skills, such as technical capabilities, with the same kinds of training as soft skills. In addition, the Web is a particularly useful source of information about the very latest technical skills. When you think about moving on in your career, you need to be able to capitalize on your strengths. If you don't already know where your strengths lie, you can use feedback from coworkers and your boss to learn about those areas. You can also use surveys to identify areas where you have both ability and interest. When you understand your strengths, you can work toward a more satisfying career that uses those strengths. You must also know your weaknesses. If you don't, they will hold you back from meeting your career goals. Weaknesses are those areas of your job where you fail to meet minimum requirements. Sources of information about your weaknesses include your own self-evaluation, your coworkers, and your boss. When discussing weaknesses with your boss, be sure to prepare carefully for the conversation. When you know your weaknesses, you can work to correct them. If the weaknesses are uncorrectable, you can learn to compensate for them.

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�Job Aid

Putting Your Strengths to Use

Purpose: Use this job aid as a guide to the kinds of strengths required for a variety of career paths.

Instructions for use: To use this tool, examine the attributes in the "Strengths" column. If you have some of the listed strengths, you may want to investigate some careers listed in the "Possible Career Choices" column.

Strengths and Possible Career Choices

Strengths Possible Career Choices

Mechanical know-how and machinery operation, ability to build things using specific tools, problem solving, working outdoors

Architectural and civil drafter Surgical technologist Firefighter Correctional officer Machinist Automobile mechanic


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Heavy truck driver Carpenter

Math and science, technical problem solving, medicine, computer applications or programming, an inquisitive nature

Conservation scientist Chemist Financial analyst Biomedical engineer Microbiologist Food scientist Physician's assistant Veterinarian Pharmacist

Music, drama, or art; writing stories or poems; music performance; acting; creative pursuits

Commercial designer Reporter Editor Composer Writer

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Film editor Photographer Floral designer

Teaching, helping others, caring for the sick, community service, an understanding and sympathetic nature

Teacher Nurse Rehabilitation counselor Physical therapist Teaching assistant Special education counselor Paramedic Dental hygienist

A competitive spirit, influencing others, selling, motivating others, results oriented

Coach Lawyer Manager (farm, financial, sales, marketing, construction) Cosmetologist


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Real estate sales agent

Working with numbers or data, word processing or data input, statistics, detail oriented

Auditor Management analyst Air traffic controller Legal secretary Cashier Real estate appraiser Library assistant Medical records technician Receptionist

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�Learning Aid

Determining Your Strengths

Purpose: Use this learning aid to pinpoint your strengths.

Instructions for use: To use this learning aid, put checkmarks beside the activities you are interested in and then beside the ones you're good at. The rows where you get checkmarks in both "Interests" and "Abilities" are your main strengths. In the blank rows at the bottom, add any of your strengths that haven't been included in the list.

Strengths Inventory

Interests Activities Abilities

Research

Using tools

Facilitating

Teamwork

Leadership

Showing initiative

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Strengths Inventory

Interests Activities Abilities

Written presentations

Oral presentations

Administration

Mentoring and training others

Decision making

Using technology

Writing and communicating

Selling

Persuading and influencing

Organizing workload

Mechanical and machinery operation

Working outdoors

Information processing

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Lesson 3

Creating a Plan for Your Career

he career planning process involves three steps: create a vision of the future, develop an action plan, and create a time line for achieving your goals.

Develop a vision

ithout a vision, you may end up bumping along in a dead-end job or a series of jobs that are ultimately disappointing. If you have a vision though, you can

aim for specific jobs and work responsibilities, which can act like stepping stones that will get you where you want to go. Your vision becomes your overarching career goal. So when you create your vision, be sure to keep these important details in mind:

• Be true to yourself and keep in mind your values, interests, lifestyle aspirations, strengths and weaknesses, and your personal attributes.

• Don't get overly committed to a specific job or pat h. Your circumstances will change over time, and you'll change too as you live your life and experience new things.

• Don't get bogged down in details . Stay focused on larger goals and don't sweat the small stuff.

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When you think about your future, you may ask yourself some questions to stimulate your thinking:

• Is there a particular topic or activity that I enjoy? • Is there a specific job that attracts me? • Is there an industry that I'd like to investigate?

It's a good idea to do some market research to make sure your dream job actually exists. And, you want to find the industry or market where you can fulfill your vision most efficiently. Begin with your current organization and think in broad terms about which areas might have a need for your skills. Think about how your strengths fit within those areas and what kinds of problems you could help the organization resolve. Consider whether changes are coming along that might impact your vision. If you don't think you'd be able to fulfill your vision in your current market, research other markets. Use any and all resources for information. The Internet is particularly helpful. You may also have or want to get started building a network of contacts with whom you can share career information.

Create an action plan

n action plan is a detailed outline of the goals and objectives you must meet in order to achieve your overall vision. When you make your action plan, it's

much easier to break the time frame into manageable chunks, and work from the end point backwards. Nobody can plan 15 years into the future – there are too many variables to consider. But you can certainly plan for where you want to be a year from now.

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In many respects, action planning is similar to the performance appraisal process. You figure out where you want to be or what you want to be doing a year from now to be on track with your career goal. Then you establish shorter term goals and objectives that will get you there. If you don't set goals and objectives, you'll lose track of your progress. Goals and objectives enable you to check off the qualifications you need as you acquire them. You achieve a sense of progress that can sustain you over the long haul and motivate you to continue on your path. Your short-term goals and objectives are established to correct deficiencies in your skill and knowledge levels. Some deficiencies represent gaps in knowledge. The solution to knowledge deficiencies is training. Other deficiencies represent gaps in experience. You can only correct experience deficiencies with actual experience.

Set a time line

etting a time line is something you can do at the same time you make your action plan. The time line is what sets an action plan apart from a simple "to do" list.

People respond to target dates; they don't like to exceed them. So assigning dates to actions helps to ensure the actions will be attended to in the desired time. People change over time. The environment changes and priorities shift. Unless you revise your action plan to correspond with your personal changes, the plan ceases to be a useful tool and becomes a relic. To avoid this fate, you should include "Evaluate action plan" as an objective on the plan and give it an estimated time of completion.

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After you've evaluated your situation and you have a full inventory of your values, needs, strengths, and weaknesses, you need to pull it all together and develop your career plan. You can do this in three steps: develop a vision of the future, create an action plan, and establish a time line for your development plan.

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�Job Aid

Creating an Action Plan

Purpose: Use this job aid as a template for your own action plan.

Instructions for use: To use this tool, enter a goal. For each goal, enter an objective and the actions associated with the objective. Then, enter your next objective and repeat the steps. For each goal, objective, and action, enter a target date.

My Action Plan

Goal Objectives Actions Target date

Example: Be promoted to supervisor of my business unit.

Example: Take classes in leadership and effective supervision.

Example: Assist in performing team leader responsibilities.

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My Action Plan

Goal Objectives Actions Target date

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Getting on the Right

Track

The second module identifies tips for successfully advancing your career, making lateral moves within an organization, and ways of successfully moving on to a different employer. This course also focuses on the benefits of having a promotion plan and the creation and implementation of an effective promotion plan. How to ask for assignments that will move your career forward is also covered. Even when you're on the right track, keeping your career moving forward takes work. The following lessons are covered in this module: Lesson 1: Career Opportunities within Your

Organization Lesson 2: Making a Promotion Plan Lesson 3: Seeking out Assignments that Advance Your

Career Lesson 4: Changing Careers

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Lesson 1

Career Opportunities within Your

Organization

In-house Career Opportunities

etting your career on autopilot and letting it take you where it may is easy. But once you've reached your goals, it might be time to move past your comfort

zone. Sooner or later, you'll probably decide it's time to go for a promotion or take on more responsibility.

Every now and then, you should take the time to explore your career options. In today's business climate, you probably can't expect an automatic promotion – you'll have to help the process along. One of the best places to search for new job opportunities to advance your career is within your own organization.

You can seek a job change within your company in many ways, but these are the three most common:

1. Identify opportunities. 2. Seek out professional development opportunities. 3. Consider a lateral move.

Identify opportunities

he first strategy for a successful in-house job change is to identify opportunities and positions that may be available within your company. Keep in mind these

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three things when you're searching for internal opportunities:

• check internal postings – Most companies have a formal job posting program, which could be a physical bulletin board or a special online area. Find out when new jobs are posted and be sure to check the listings on those days. And don't forget to check regularly – if you miss a day, you might miss a great opportunity.

• know company rules – You must be aware of your company's rules about the job change process – both formal and informal rules. Every organization has different rules. For instance, your company may require you to wait a year before you're allowed to apply for a new job. Informal rules may exist as well; some positions might be filled based on seniority or past experience in a different department, for example.

• request information interviews – A great way to identify opportunities in your company is to request information interviews with people who would know what the position entails. If a coworker holds the position you want, you could speak with that person to find out what you would need in terms of skills and qualifications to do that job.

After checking internal job postings, becoming familiar with the rules, and interviewing several people for information about potential avenues you might explore, the next step is to use a visual representation – or map – of your company to chart out the possibilities.


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Seek professional development chances

eeking out professional development opportunities to enhance your professional skills is the second strategy for making an in-house job change. This means taking

advantage of any opportunities or resources that might increase your skill set.

Besides management training courses, certifications, and tuition assistance, your company might offer training in various software programs or leadership skills. Be sure to find out about all the different programs offered at your company and take advantage of any that interest you.

Obviously, taking courses or classes will increase your skills. But pursuing these opportunities has other benefits as well:

• taking classes demonstrates an interest in developing yourself

• taking classes shows you're interested in doing more than the minimum job requirements, and

• having invested in your development, the company will be more likely to want to recoup some of that cost by giving you more responsibility

Consider a lateral move

he final strategy for making an in-house job change is to consider a lateral move. Maybe you need a career path that plays to your strengths or satisfies your

motivators. If this is the case, a lateral move – within your department or to another department – could be a good option for you.

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You might even consider taking a demotion. Often, taking a demotion can put you in a better position to achieve your career goals by putting you on a path more aligned with your strengths and values.

You should also ask yourself a few questions. Knowing the answers to these can help you decide if a lateral move is indeed the best choice:

• Why might a lateral move be a good choice for me? – Moving to a different job with the same employer in the same pay range can help you broaden your skills and experience. This makes you a more valuable employee, potentially increasing your job security. It also leaves you more marketable, with more skills, if things don't work out with your current company.

• Will a lateral move reflect negatively on me? – A lateral move can actually reflect positively on you if you use it to further your long-range plan and learn from your experience. Moving to another department can give you new connections and show you how other parts of the business function, which are both benefits that may improve your career prospects.

• How can I stay on the right track? – Before you make a lateral move, you need to consider whether doing so will put you on the wrong track in your company. Observe the senior members of your organization. Have they obtained their seniority by spending years in one department? Or did they get there by gaining experience in many aspects of the company's functions? If the latter is the case, a lateral move probably won't keep you off the right track.


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Once you have satisfactory answers to these questions, you can examine your motivations for considering a lateral move. In other words, what are the reasons behind your decision to take this path? Whatever your motivators, identifying them will make it much easier to successfully assess any opportunities that may come your way.

Before you consider a lateral move, keep in mind a few other important things:

• your company's internal employment policies • potential growth areas, and • the chances of success and failure in your potential

new job

No matter what your career goals, taking the time to explore your options is wise, since you can't rely on being handed a promotion. One of the best places to search for new job opportunities to advance your career is within your own organization. You can seek a job change within your company in many ways, but the three most common strategies are identifying opportunities, seeking out professional development opportunities, and considering a lateral move.


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�Follow-on Activity

Pursuing Opportunities in Your Organization

Instruction: Use this follow-on as a guide to making a successful in-house job change.

One of the best places to search for new job opportunities to advance your career is within your own organization. Are there any departments you're interested in working for? Have you been thinking about applying for a certain position?

To make a successful in-house job change, you need to use an organized approach. Taking these steps can help you move from identifying an opportunity to actually pursuing it.

1. First, draw up an organizational chart of your company that includes all departments and divisions. A good place to find one is on your company's intranet site. Or, you could ask your manager to prepare one for you.

2. Circle or highlight the areas of the organizational chart that interest you. These could be departments you'd like to work for, or areas where you have particular skills.

3. Next, speak with people in other departments and check job postings to find out which positions are currently vacant or may soon become available.

4. If any of these positions are ones you want to pursue, figure out if there's any training or specific experience


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you need to be eligible for the job. Also, make arrangements to book information interviews.

Make note of anything else you learn about the job, or valuable information you gain from your information interviews. If you can think of anything else that would increase your chances of getting the job you want, note that too.


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Lesson 2

Making a Promotion Plan

Developing a Promotion Plan

f you hope to be promoted or take on more responsibility in your company, it's up to you to create a plan for how you'll keep your career on track. This is known as your

promotion plan.

Benefits of a promotion plan

reating and implementing an effective promotion plan will benefit you in several ways:

• When you have a promotion plan in place, your career won't just be the result of chance happenings . The direction it takes is up to you, and your efforts are the driving force behind your career path. Your goals will be easier to achieve when you've built in your motivators.

• A key to success is motivation , and the chances of you being successful in your career depend on how motivated you really are. Your motivators could involve taking on new challenges, being able to take pride in your achievements, achieving future success, or reaching certain goals.

• With your promotion plan guiding your career decisions, you'll have a better chance of achieving your goals when you know which assignments to request. Instead of asking for assignments that might be easy or

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personally interesting, you can choose tasks that will help you on your path.

Creating a promotion plan

reating and implementing a promotion plan typically involves four steps:

1. choose the role or position you want to hold – Creating a promotion plan means identifying actions you can take to work toward a specific goal. The best way to establish your goal is by setting your sights on the position you want.

2. find out what's required to do that role – In this step, you need to figure out what hard and soft skills you'll need. To be promotable, you'll also need personal attributes that extend beyond your current position. These include things like good business sense, flexibility, political sensitivity, and loyalty. Having these personal attributes, in addition to the skills required for the job, will help you be recognized as someone who's the "total package." To find out what's required to assume the new role, you need to draw up a list of the skills, qualifications, credentials, and experience required for the job you want.

3. create a development plan based on the identified skills that you lack – The majority of your promotion plan should be comprised of actions you need to take to get the qualifications you're lacking. Getting the qualifications you need might take anywhere from three to six months, or longer. But no matter how long it takes, continuing to work hard at your current job is

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imperative. Your goal is to be seen as someone who's professional, reliable, and a hard worker, even if you don't plan on staying in your current position.

4. when you're fully promotable, express your interest in the position to the right decision maker – When you meet with the person who can make a decision about whether you'll be promoted, you should do two things to ensure a successful meeting. First, ensure your resume outlines all your accomplishments – it shouldn't be just a list of your previous jobs. To get promoted, your resume should showcase your accomplishments, achievements, and skills. And second, you should also go over your resume with the decision maker, clarifying any unclear information and answering questions this person might have.

If you hope to be promoted or take on more responsibility, it's up to you to create a plan for how you'll keep your career on track. This is known as your promotion plan. Creating and implementing a promotion plan typically involves four steps: choosing the role or position you want, finding out what's required to do that role, creating a development plan based on the identified skills you lack, and finally, when you're fully promotable, expressing your interest in the position to the right decision maker.


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�Job Aid

Four Steps for Creating and Implementing a Promotion Plan

Instruction: Use this job aid to create and implement a promotion plan.

Step Tips for success

1.Choose the role or position you want to hold

• identify actions you can take to work toward a specific goal

• set your sights on the position you want

2.Find out what's required to do that role

• figure out what hard and soft skills you'll need by speaking to others who hold the position or checking job descriptions posted on the company intranet

• determine what personal attributes you'll require; for instance, good business sense, political sensitivity, flexibility, and loyalty


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Step Tips for success

3.Create a development plan based on the skills you lack

• the majority of your promotion plan should be comprised of actions you need to take to get the qualifications you're lacking

• no matter how long it takes to get the qualifications you need, it's imperative that you continue to work hard at your current job

4. Once you're promotable, express your interest to the right decision maker

• submit your cover letter and updated resume to the Human Resources Department

• keeps an eye on the job postings and openings that become available

• maintain a good network of contacts in the company who can keep you in the loop on possible management changes

• when you meet with the decision maker, give him a copy of your resume that outlines all your accomplishments, and go over the resume with him


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Lesson 3

Seeking Out Assignments that

Advance Your Career

Career Advancement through Assignment Selection

sking for specific assignments can help further your career better than simply doing the work you're given. Assignments can be skill-building exercises,

opportunities to gain new experiences, or even a chance to show off skills your boss doesn't normally get to see. The thing to remember is that you may be passed over for these assignments unless your boss knows you want them.

When you decide you want to take on a new assignment, you can't just march in and demand that your boss give you one. Instead, you should use certain strategies to ask for assignments:

• ask at the right time, such as immediately upon hearing about an assignment that fits your plan

• focus on your accomplishments by emphasizing what you've achieved in the past, and

• demonstrate your relative worth by proving that you're worth more in the new assignment than your current position

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Asking for assignments

major part of getting what you want is asking at the right time. As part of this strategy, you should consider several things:

• Staying aware means keeping on top of developments that might lead to new assignments that fit your goals. Identify and ask for assignments before they're finalized by management. In the early stages, you may be able to influence the details of the assignment. And be aware of any opportunities to provide something your company needs. If you can offer a new perspective on an old problem or find a way to do something more efficiently, chances are you'll get the assignment.

• Sometimes the timing is wrong to ask for an assignment. For instance, if you've just received a bad performance review that focused on your deficiencies, now isn't the time to ask. Resolve the problem first and then ask after you've made the necessary improvements.

• Acting fast means contacting the decision maker immediately if you hear of an assignment being considered that fits your plan. Express your interest and set up a meeting to talk about what you can bring to the assignment.

• Doing more often makes the difference between being noticed and blending into the background. When you take the initiative to go above and beyond what's required your boss will take notice. Another way you can do more is by taking ownership. Being the person who actually deals with a problem when others have

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passed it off can result in a grateful customer praising you to your boss.

Focusing on your accomplishments

mphasize what you've done and relate those achievements to what you propose to do in the new assignment. This means selling yourself to your boss,

perhaps by providing an updated resume. Your goal should be promoting yourself. Remember – being your company's most productive employee doesn't mean much if nobody in a position of authority knows about it.

Demonstrating your relative worth

ou complete the sale when you show the decision maker that you're more valuable doing the new assignment than doing your currently assigned work.

One way you can do this is to point out strengths that are underused in your current duties that'll come into play in the new assignment. But be careful not to sell yourself short in your current position. You have to make a strong case for where you are in case you don't get the assignment you're pursuing.

Seeking out new assignments is a great way to advance your career. If you ask at the right time, focus on your accomplishments, and demonstrate your relative worth, you're more likely to be perceived as someone who has a plan and is willing to put in the work to go after what you want.

Asking for specific assignments can help further your career better than simply doing the work you're given. But unless

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your boss knows you want them, you might be passed over for these assignments. When you decide you want to take on a new assignment, use three strategies to ask for it: ask at the right time, focus on your accomplishments when you meet with your boss, and demonstrate your relative worth. Using these strategies will help you be perceived as someone who has a plan and is willing to put in the work to go after what you want.


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Lesson 4

Changing Careers

Successfully Changing Careers

ven if you like everything about your company, it might be time to leave. If you can't reach your goals by staying there, and you've explored all possible

avenues such as promotions or lateral moves, you have to search elsewhere.

Strategies for moving on

n important strategy for successfully changing careers is to conduct your job search while you still have a job . This might seem counterproductive, but many

employers are biased against candidates who are unemployed. However, don't search while you're actually at work!

Not only should you conduct your job search while you still have a job, you should continue to do your best work at that job until you leave. For one thing, finding your next position may take a while, and you want to continue building your accomplishments. Also, some managers feel betrayed when you want to leave their department. If you let your work slide, your manager might be more apt to deal with your poor performance – you may even lose your job before you're ready to leave.

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There are a few more things to keep in mind for continuing to do your best work until you leave:

• Continue to add value to your work as you search for a new position. You should continue to build on your accomplishments and add to your resume – the extra work you do this week could make all the difference in next week's interview.

• You may think no new opportunities remain at your current employer, but you might be wrong. By continuing to do your best, a new position that meets your goals could come your way.

• Many companies have policies against giving references , but yours may not. Check with your employer – you should get a glowing report if you keep delivering quality work during your search.

Finally, when changing careers, you need to leave on friendly terms . This means avoiding burning any bridges on the way out. Even though it might feel good for a few moments to really tell off your manager, you could end up paying for it for years to come. Besides, it's just not professional. You should be positive and friendly to your boss and coworkers as you're leaving. Even if you've been miserable in your current position, leaving on a positive note will make your boss more likely to remember you positively.

Sometimes, the only way you can reach your career goals is to move on to a different company. By conducting your job search while you still have a job, continuing to do your best until you leave, and leaving on friendly terms, you'll be in a good position to successfully change jobs and keep your career on track.


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It might be time to leave your current company if you can't reach your goals by staying there, and you've explored all avenues such as promotions or lateral moves. If it's time to move on, you can use a few strategies to successfully leave your current job without burning bridges. You should conduct your job search while you still have a job, continue to do your best work until you leave, and be sure to leave on friendly terms. By using these strategies, you'll be in a good position to successfully change jobs and keep your career on track.


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�Job Aid

When is it Time to Leave?

Instruction: Use this job aid as a list of questions that can help you decide if it's time to move on.

It's highly unlikely you'll spend the rest of your career with the same employer. But leaving a job and moving to a different company can be a tough decision. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to figure out if it's time for you to move on:

• Is my job still interesting to me? • Is my job different from the one I was hired to do? • Does my organization offer any further opportunities? • Are there any development opportunities I can take

advantage of? • Am I given the support I need to pursue my career

goals? • Do I agree with my company's values or ethics? • Are there better opportunities for me elsewhere? • Does my boss or my coworkers treat me badly? • Are my grievances dealt with in a professional or helpful

manner? • Am I just too stressed out?

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Professional Networking

Essentials

This module of the course provides you with the essential communication skills required to establish a business network and includes strategies for building rapport with new contacts during networking opportunities. It also covers best practices for maintaining your network so that business contacts can help you achieve your career goals. The following lessons are covered in this module: Lesson 1: Getting Your Professional Network Started Lesson 2: Building Rapport with New Business Contac ts Lesson 3: Maintaining Your Professional Network

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Professional Networking Essentials

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Lesson 1

Getting Your Professional Network

Started

The importance of a business network

y maximizing your list of network contacts, you'll benefit in several ways:

• you'll develop a reliable source of information about companies, what jobs are available, and what the jobs are really like

• you'll produce more opportunities to find a job that you'll truly be happy in, and

• you'll find it's the best way to meet the decision makers who offer opportunities to advance your career

To develop a successful network, you need a solid plan. By following a few guidelines, you'll be able to establish an effective business network. These best practices include

• creating networking opportunities • being caring and sincere, and • keeping track of your contacts

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Create networking opportunities

ou can't meet new people if you never leave your office. Networking requires active participation, which is why you need to create networking opportunities. If

you want to connect with others, you must get out and be involved in your community.

There's no right or wrong way to meet new people, but networking typically happens at a few common places: on the job, at social gatherings, in organizations, and in your neighborhood.

Be caring and sincere

o be a successful networker, you must be caring and sincere. This doesn't mean you need to be the best schmoozer or be great at small talk. Instead, it means

you need basic people skills, and the right attitude.

Good networkers do a few things to show they're caring and sincere. Specifically, they're good at communication, they have a positive attitude, and they develop habits that are conducive to networking.

Keep track of your contacts

he most effective way to keep track of your contacts is to create a simple database with a variety of fields you can use to enter information. The first people you

should enter into your database are the ones you know from your past. Then, as you make new contacts, you can add them too.

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The type of information you put in your database can vary greatly. Typically, though, you should have your contacts' names and contact information, the services they provide, and the names of their employers. You might even include fields for their interests, family situation, and people you know in common.

When you set up a database to keep track of your contacts, you can use whatever format works best for you. For instance, you might use an old-fashioned Rolodex. Or maybe you prefer modern technology – in that case, you could use an electronic spreadsheet or a handheld PDA.

There are also some things you'll want to avoid doing because they may hinder your networking efforts:

• making promises you know you won't be able to keep • being inconsiderate • being overly persistent when someone has offered to

help you, for example by phoning every day to follow up, and

• neglecting to be appreciative when someone has done you a favor

Having a solid network can be helpful in many ways – if you're looking for a job or trying to hire a new employee, for instance. Learning how to effectively network can give you information about what jobs are available, help you find a job you'll be truly happy in, and meet the decision makers who offer opportunities to advance your career. By following a few guidelines, you'll be able to establish an effective business network. These best practices include creating networking opportunities, being caring and sincere, and keeping track of your contacts.


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�Job Aid

Creating Networking Opportunities

Instruction: Use this job aid as a reminder of the contact types to watch out for as you create new networking opportunities.

The ideal network begins with people who know you. These could include:

• family members • friends • neighbors • coworkers • business associates, and • people you've met through professional organizations

Besides the people you already know, you can network in several other common places:

• on the job – You can make valuable contacts through your job. For instance, you might volunteer for special projects where you'll meet people you don't normally interact with.

• social gatherings – Social gatherings are great places to network. Maybe there's a charity benefit coming up that people in your field of work will be attending. Or


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you could find a group that brings together people who share one of your hobbies.

• organizations – Joining a professional organization is a good way to make new contacts. You could also volunteer at a service-based organization, which would introduce you to many different people.

• your neighborhood – Don't discount networking in your own neighborhood. The people you interact with as you go about your daily life – at the supermarket or in your own yard – could prove to be valuable contacts.


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�Learning Aid

Joseph’s Networking Case Study

Instruction: Use this learning aid to answer the associated question about how Joseph used the best practices for establishing a business network.

Joseph is unhappy that his career is at a standstill. He realizes that he needs to increase his networking efforts so he can make new contacts that might be able to help him further his career. One of Joseph's coworkers tells him about a professional organization that she joined. It's a great place to meet others in their line of work, so Joseph becomes a member and starts attending meetings. He strikes up conversations with many people and adds several of them to his network. At one meeting, Joseph is speaking with Bryce, who might have a lead on a job Joseph wants. During the conversation, Joseph gets a text message from a friend, so he checks it quickly while Bryce is speaking. As Bryce is excusing himself to leave, Joseph realizes he hasn't gotten his business card and doesn't know how to contact him. Joseph asks Bryce for his card and, realizing that Bryce's office is close to his own, asks him if he goes to the gym nearby. Joseph also asks Bryce if he knows Mark,


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who also works in a nearby building. Bryce finally says he needs to go, and Joseph reluctantly says good-bye.


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�Learning Aid

Hugo’s Networking Case Study

Instruction: Use this learning aid to answer the associated question about how Hugo used the best practices for establishing a business network.

Hugo has recently moved to a new city for his job. He doesn't know many people yet, and he wants to establish a professional network. A few weeks after Hugo moves to his new city, one of his coworkers invites him to volunteer at a charity baseball game. Hugo accepts; he figures this will be a great chance to meet new people. Hugo offers to help out in any way he can, and he enthusiastically introduces himself to everyone he doesn't know. Hugo has been working on a contact database for a few weeks. When he returns from the baseball game, he takes out the business cards he gathered and enters each contact's information. This gives him the opportunity to recall the people he met and think about who might be a good contact to have in his network.


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�Learning Aid

Gina’s Networking Case Study

Instruction: Use this learning aid to answer the associated question about how Gina used the best practices for establishing a business network.

Gina has been doing the same job for a few years and feels like her lack of a strong network is holding her back. She decides it's time to get serious about creating a good professional network. Gina is quite shy, but she volunteers to be part of two committees at her company. She meets many new people and even a couple of executives who may be able to offer leads on jobs in different departments. Gina has a great memory, and when she meets new people, she tries to remember their personal and business details. A few weeks later, Gina is speaking with Lucas, who is on one of her committees. He says he has heard that a new position may soon be created in his department that Gina may be interested in. He promises to send her information when he hears more about the new position. But a few days pass, and Gina still hasn't heard from Lucas. She leaves him multiple messages and sends e-mails reminding him about his promise. Lucas finally calls her back, explaining that he


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was out of the office for a few days and says he hasn't heard anything yet. Gina hangs up the phone in disappointment.


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Lesson 2

Building Rapport with New Business

Contacts

Building rapport

o really connect with people, you need strong communication skills and the ability to build rapport. These are the backbone of effective networking.

Whether you're shy and introverted or the life of the party, your goal in networking should always be to build rapport with your contacts. When people like and respect you, they're much more likely to give you helpful information and talk about you favorably to their business associates.

Strategies for conversing

t can be difficult to know what to talk about when you meet someone new. By being prepared, you'll be more confident when you converse with a new contact. Two

strategies can help you build rapport: prepare a list of icebreakers beforehand and observe the other person for cues when you're having a conversation. When preparing a list of icebreakers , you could include:

• your interests • current events, and • local points of interest

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Also, use open-ended questions like these ones to get you started:

• Where are you from? • What line of work are you in? • What do you like most about your job? • What do you do for fun?

Observation can be a great way to find an icebreaker to get the conversation going. Watch what the other person is saying, reading, doing, or wearing. Even if a conversation seems to be going nowhere, people often give clues about common interests as they talk. Perhaps you'll uncover a charity you're both involved in, or that your children attend the same school. Pursue these topics, and you'll find the conversation flows easily. A couple of things you should not do when conversing with new acquaintances are as follows:

• avoid bringing up controversial topics that could generate antagonism, and

• avoid talking too much about yourself; people appreciate it when you draw them into a conversation and show that you're interested in hearing about them

To really connect with people, you need strong communication skills and the ability to build rapport – these are the backbone of effective networking. It can be difficult to know what to talk about when you meet someone new. But, by preparing yourself, you'll be more confident when you need to converse with a new contact. Two strategies can help you build rapport. First, prepare a list of icebreakers


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beforehand. And second, when you're having a conversation, observe the other person for cues.


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�Job Aid

Strategies for Conversing with New Contacts

Instruction: Use this job aid as a guide to the strategies for conversing with new contacts.

Knowing what to talk about when you meet someone new is often difficult. By being prepared, you'll be more confident when you need to converse with a new contact. Two strategies can help you build rapport.

Prepare a list of icebreakers

Observe the person for cues

You can discuss the purpose of the get together because you know you'll have that in common with everyone you meet there.

Observation can be a great way to find an icebreaker that will get conversation going. You could watch what the other person is reading, doing, or wearing, for instance.

Current events in the news are of interest to most people and are a good way to make small talk. However, it's best to stay away from politics and

People often give clues about common interests as they talk. Perhaps you'll uncover a charity you're both involved in or that your


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other potentially sensitive issues.

children attend the same school. By pursuing these topics, you'll find the conversation flows easily.

You can probably talk about something you're interested in with enthusiasm. Make a list of your interests – even if it's something you don't know much about, you can ask others about these topics to get the conversation going.

Every city has cultural events, such as music festivals, going on at any given time. These are great topics of conversation.

Another approach is to have a list of standard open-ended questions you can ask. When you exhaust one topic, move on to the next topic on your list. Here are a few examples of open-ended questions to get


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you started:

• Where are you from? • What line of work are

you in? • What do you like most

about your job? • What do you do for fun?


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Lesson 3

Maintaining Your Professional Network

Strategies to maintain your network

eeting new contacts is vital if you want to build a professional network. But maintaining your network is just as important, and that involves staying in

touch. If you don't commit yourself to your network, your contacts will forget that you exist. The goal of networking isn't to build the largest network possible – it's to use the network you've developed to help you advance your career. It might just help you get that promotion or job offer, or even help you find just the right person for a job you have available. You can use three key strategies to maintain your professional network:

• organize your contacts • keep in touch, and • give more than you receive

Organize your contacts

eeping track of your contacts can be an overwhelming task, especially if your network is large, so you'll find it helpful to organize your contacts. One way you can do

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this is by grouping your contacts into tiers based on their potential to help you advance your career. The top tier would be made up of business associates and friends who are professionals with their own strong networks. These are the contacts that can be most helpful in furthering your career. The lower tiers would be made up of other, less influential contacts in your network.

Keep in touch

epending on the nature of your categorization scheme, you may choose to contact the people in your top tier every month, and contact those in your

lower tiers annually. Use your discretion. Obviously, if "friends and family" make up one of your lowest tiers, you would want to contact them more often that once per year! The phone is a great way to keep in touch with people. Be sure to update your contacts' personal information whenever it changes so you'll always have their current phone numbers. A personal e-mail can also be a good way to keep in touch with contacts. And for some people, sending an attractive "thinking of you" card in the mail would be much more effective than an e-mail. Many people enjoy catching up during a face-to-face meeting. Asking a contact to meet you for a lunch hour walk or for a meal is another great way to keep in touch. A key part of keeping in touch is following up any time you interact with a contact, which you can do in several ways:

• send a note expressing gratitude for a purchase or referral

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• write an e-mail that offers information your contact may find helpful, and

• make a phone call to provide a lead or referral

Give more than you receive

f you only take favors from people in your network but never give any in return, you'll soon find that your contacts will dry up. Most people won't tolerate selfishness and

one-way relationships. The golden rule of networking is to always give more than you receive. The key thing to remember about this strategy is that even if your contacts don't return favors or seem appreciative, you shouldn't become resentful. Not only does giving more than you receive make you feel good, over time this strategy will pay off as people reciprocate the favors you've done over time. Maintaining your network is just as important as making new contacts in the first place. The goal of networking isn't to build the largest network possible – it's to use the network you've developed to help you advance your career. You can use three key strategies to maintain your network: organize your contacts into tiers based on their potential to help you advance your career, keep in touch, and remember the golden rule of networking – always give more than you receive.

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Networking Evaluation

Instruction: Use this follow-on activity to identify areas where your networking skills need improvement.

Instructions for use: To use this tool, rate yourself by noting the appropriate value on a scale of 1 through 5 (1 = poor, 5 = excellent) for each of the aspects of networking. Use the column on the right to note how you plan to improve in any deficient area.

Self-evaluation

Networking attributes How I rate (1 = poor; 5 = excellent)

Improvement plans for the future

I have established my top-tier contacts and lower-level contacts.

I have been making contacts both inside and outside my company.

When meeting with potential contacts, I ask if


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Self-evaluation



they'd like to join my network.

I aim for contacts that have the power to advance my career.

My contacts exude enthusiasm and bring out the best in me.

I have established a contact database.

My contact database includes additional information, such as dates that are important to contacts, their hobbies, and key statistics.

I get in touch with the contacts in my top tier once every month.

I follow up with new contacts by using short notes, e-mails, or phone calls.


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Self-evaluation



I give back to my contacts more than I receive.

I always end a meeting with a contact by asking "What can I do for you?"

I give freely of my expertise and help others develop themselves.

I always thank a contact for a favor and give something back in return.

I always add a personal touch to my network by remembering dates that are important to my contacts.

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You and Your Boss

This module teaches strategies for building a strong professional relationship with your boss. It explains various ways you can become aligned with your boss and even how to give your boss constructive feedback.

The following lessons are covered in this module: Lesson 1: Tips for a Healthy Relationship with Your

Boss Lesson 2: Getting in Tune with Your Boss Lesson 3: Giving Feedback to Your Boss

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You and Your Boss

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Lesson 1

Tips for a Healthy Relationship with

Your Boss

Benefits

he benefits you get from building an effective working relationship with your boss are as follows:

• You'll be more likely to enjoy your job . When you and your boss are mutually supportive, coming to work is less of a chore and more of an invigorating challenge.

• When you have a strong professional relationship, your boss will be open and honest about what you need to do and how you can get ahead. Communication is clear and direct. This means you'll know what your boss's goals are and be able to align your work goals accordingly. Clearer expectations make your job easier. And you'll be more likely to achieve your goals because you and your boss will give each other constructive and useful feedback.

• A strong relationship with your boss also gives you a better chance of advancement . Knowing your job, having the right skills, and working hard are only part of the equation for advancing your career. Working well with the person who might give you a promotion is also vital.

Realistically, your current boss is unlikely to be the last supervisor you'll ever have. So it's also important, in the event of a change in position, for your boss to be willing to put in a good word for you with other department managers.

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Building the relationship

osses appreciate the support and help of their subordinates. You can use three main ways to build a successful relationship with your boss:

• demonstrate your loyalty – You appreciate loyalty from your boss and would be dismayed if you found your boss speaking poorly of you to coworkers. And you would be disappointed if your boss didn't stand up for you when you needed it. In the same way, your boss needs to know you're not spreading rumors and that you can keep confidences.

• show your support – You may think that your boss is aware of your enthusiasm and appreciation, but it's important to regularly communicate that. Just as a good word from the boss is a powerful motivator for employees, showing how much you appreciate your boss reinforces your relationship.

• help your boss succeed – Your boss needs to know you will help him reach his goals and that you want him to succeed. To build an exceptional relationship with your boss, you need to do whatever you can to help. That may mean putting in extra effort, anticipating the boss's needs instead of simply taking orders, and giving honest feedback rather than just saying what you think your boss wants to hear.

To demonstrate your loyalty , which is the first of the three ways to build your relationship, you can employ three strategies:

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• You can take every opportunity to make your boss look good to the boss's superiors.

• You can give your boss the credit for work you've contributed to. If, on the other hand, you're always trying to let people know how much you helped your boss, you won't demonstrate loyalty and you won't build your relationship.

• You can respect the chain of command. Respect your boss's authority and wishes. For example, don't accept work assignments from other managers without asking your boss's permission first. And don't try to get around your boss by approaching superiors or asking others to intervene. This disrespects your boss's authority and makes your boss appear foolish to colleagues and superiors.

The second way to build a successful relationship with your boss is to show your support . Just as positive reinforcement from your boss is a powerful motivator for you, showing your boss some appreciation helps reinforce your relationship:

• Give a few honest compliments now and then. • Show appreciation by speaking well of your boss to

other people both inside and outside your organization. • Be sincere when offering compliments because praise

that rings false decreases trust in a relationship instead of building it.

• Praise also rings false if you wait too long to give it. Praising your boss for something that happened long ago might make it seem like you're trying too hard to find something nice to say.


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Consider that much of the communication your boss receives is in the form of complaints and problems, both from above and below. Being in charge can be a thankless task. Remembering to say thank-you once in a while is one of the simplest ways to acknowledge and support your boss. The third way to build a stronger relationship with your boss is to help your boss succeed . It's helpful to follow three tips when supporting your boss's efforts:

• When problems arise, be the kind of person your boss can count on to step up and volunteer your help . This may involve taking on a little extra work, providing support, or working after hours once in a while, for example. Don't give help when it's not needed or wanted, however.

• Be proactive and deal with problems before they arise. This may mean keeping an eye on the flow of work and anticipating delays and difficulties. Before acting, however, be sure that your help is necessary and will be welcomed.

• You support your boss when you give honest, and therefore useful, feedback . Conversely, you undermine your boss when you give bad information. If you gloss over problems or fail to discuss underlying issues, you aren't supporting your boss.

Your relationship with your boss is one of the most important factors in your work career. Building a strong relationship will make your job and your workday more enjoyable. When you have a strong work relationship, your boss will communicate expectations more openly, making it easier to do your job well and get ahead. Also, your boss is more likely to promote you or recommend you if you seek another position in the organization. Relationships are two-way streets. To improve

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your relationship with your boss, you must demonstrate your loyalty, show your support, and help your boss succeed.


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Building Your Work Relationship

Instruction: Use this follow-on activity to track and analyze your efforts to enhance your relationship with your boss.

Instructions for use: Use this worksheet as a starting point for employing the tips and techniques for improving your relationship with your boss. The questions can be used as a basis for evaluating either a current or a previous experience with a boss.

Demonstrate your loyalty

• Do you make your boss look good to superiors? • Have you ever given your boss the credit for work you'd

contributed to? • Have there been any instances where you needed to

respect the chain of command by refusing work from another superior?

Show your support

• Do you remember to thank your boss regularly? • Do you give praise in a timely fashion? • Are you sincere in your praise?

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Help your boss succeed

• Do you volunteer to help when a crisis arises at work? • Do you proactively try to head off problems and

anticipate your boss's needs? • Do you give your boss honest feedback?


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Lesson 2

Getting in Tune with Your Boss

How to Get in Tune with Your Boss

o build and maintain rapport with your boss, you need to align your goals and activities with your boss's. You can do this in three ways.

Assist with your boss's agenda

ne way to align yourself is to assist with your boss's agenda. To do this, you first need to know what your boss wants. Your job is based on your boss's stated

goals, but you should also discover and align yourself with your boss's personal agenda. To assist with your boss's agenda, start by recognizing that every boss has a public agenda, the one articulated in goals, discussed at meetings, and communicated in memos. These goals relate to the formal objectives and responsibilities established for your boss's position by the organization. But your boss most likely has unstated goals as well. Taking into account this private agenda is just as important for aligning yourself with your boss. You can also think of agenda in terms of the schedule of activities that make up your boss's day. To get in tune, consider the types of activities and tasks that make up your boss's typical day. Think about the kinds of demands and

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pressures your boss is under. By studying your boss's work life, you gain insights into how you can best align your actions and adjust your goals. After you've established your boss's stated agenda, you need to take into account your boss's informal agenda. Sometimes the only reason your boss's informal agenda remains hidden is because no one has asked about it. You may be able to ask about your boss's personal aspirations in a nonintrusive way and discover what your boss wants to accomplish. When you know what your boss truly wants, make those priorities your own and tailor your work to match.

Keep your boss informed

ou can align yourself by keeping your boss informed. You can't be on the same page as your boss if the two of you are working with different sets of information.

By ensuring you're both working with the same information, you prevent your boss from being surprised by problems. And keeping your boss up to date helps avoid missed opportunities. Don't just assume that your boss knows what you know. You need to update your boss about the important developments, rumors, problems, results, risks, and staff issues that may affect your boss's professional life. To ensure your boss has all necessary information, you can follow a couple of helpful tips:

• Inform your boss early about problems to allow time for correction. Timing is an important factor. You don't want your boss surprised by significant issues affecting the business.

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• Consider your boss's work style and preferences when reporting information. The manner in which you inform your boss is important.

• Decide how and when to speak up. Try to talk with your boss in both formal and informal situations.

Adapt to your boss's working style

lignment also comes from adapting to your boss's working style. When it comes down to it, your boss's preferences trump your own simply because you're

not the boss. Learning to adapt your style in little ways can make life easier for both of you. You need to learn about your boss's preferences and adjust your work habits to match. As time goes by, and your relationship becomes more in tune, the need for monumental changes will disappear and the process will become one of making small, hardly noticeable, adjustments. As long as neither of you has any extreme behavior that is incompatible with the other, you'll begin to work from common ground. You can't change the personality characteristics that make you different from your manager. But you can adapt to better fit with the way your boss does things. To successfully make these kinds of adjustments, you can follow these basic tips:

• don't judge • don't take it personally • find your boss's limits, and • get clarification

The starting point for adapting to your boss's style is to observe and determine what that style is. Generally

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speaking, managers fall into four categories of personality type and work style:

• People-oriented bosses place a high value on human relationships. This type of person takes a democratic approach to managing by organizing and facilitating.

• Work-oriented bosses focus on the work at hand, so they often seem authoritarian and blunt. This type of person values outcomes above all else.

• Bosses who are procedure-oriented concern themselves with details. They have a systematic management style.

• Idea-oriented bosses brainstorm a lot, challenge others' ideas, and want to know background, theory, and reasons.

Within the categories, managers can vary greatly as to work style. But understanding general differences can help you determine how and when you need to meet with your boss to discuss issues. Using the work style categories can also help you decide the level of detail you need to provide. Ask yourself how much information your boss needs or likes to have when making decisions. Getting in tune with your boss begins with figuring out your boss's agenda and considering your boss's work style and preferences. Once you've assessed these, you can adjust your goals and behaviors to align. Helping your boss meet both public and private agendas, keeping your boss informed and up to date, and adapting to your boss's work style are the three main ways to ensure you and your boss are in tune.


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�Job Aid

Tips for Getting in Tune with Your Boss

Instruction: Use this job aid as a convenient reminder of the ways to align your behavior with your boss's.

Aligning yourself with your boss

To build and maintain rapport with your boss, you need to align your goals and activities with your boss's. There are three primary ways in which you can get in tune with your boss.

Assisting with your boss's agenda

Before you can assist your boss with any agenda you need to discover what it is.

• Start by determining your boss's public agenda. • Ask yourself what types of activities and tasks make up

your boss's typical day. • Consider the kinds of demands and pressures your

boss is under. • Study your boss's work life. • Discover your boss's informal agenda. • Are there long-term career goals that are important? • Are there personal values or interests your boss

pursues alongside stated duties?

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• Consider asking your boss directly about personal aspirations in a nonintrusive way.

• When you know what your boss truly wants, tailor your work to support your boss's agenda.

Keeping your boss informed

To be on the same page as your boss, you need to ensure your boss has all the information necessary.

• Allow the nature of the information and your boss's work preferences to dictate how you provide information.

• Update your boss about important developments, rumors, problems, results, risks, and staff issues that may affect your boss's professional life.

• Don't just assume that your boss knows what you do. • Inform your boss about problems early enough to allow

time for correction. • Consider your boss's work style and preferences when

reporting information. Does your boss prefer richly detailed information or brief high-level summaries?

• In general, try to talk with your boss both in formal and informal situations.

• Involve your boss early so the two of you can work together to fix the issue.

Adapting to your boss's working style

Adapt your work style to better fit with the way your boss does things.

• Don't judge your boss's approach.


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• Remember that, for the most part, you are the one who must adapt to your boss's needs.

• Don't be offended or take it personally if your boss wants you to change your way of doing things.

• Don't automatically assume that when your boss is moody or grumpy, you're the cause.

• Remember your boss isn't worrying about adapting his behavior to you.

• Determine your boss's hot-button issues and steer clear of them.

• Think about what your own boundaries are and decide how far is too far for you to adapt.

• Get clarification if you don't understand something. Ask for guidance if you need it.

• Try to understand the rationale behind your boss's instructions so you can make better decisions about aligning yourself.

• Cut your boss some slack in pressure situations. • Observe and determine which of the four categories of

personality type and work style your manager fits best in: people-oriented, work-oriented, procedure-oriented, or idea-oriented.

• Determine how and when you need to meet with your boss to discuss issues.

• Decide the level of detail you need to provide based on how much information your boss needs or likes to have when making decisions.

• Ask yourself whether you and your boss use the same procedures and have the same level of technical training.

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Lesson 3

Providing Your Boss with Feedback

Providing Your Boss with Feedback

lthough it's one of the more stressful communication situations you'll find yourself in, giving negative feedback to your boss is a necessary action if your

boss's behavior needs to change. If you go about it wrong, there's a chance your boss won't take the feedback well and your relationship can be permanently damaged. But if you handle it well, you can actually strengthen your relationship with your boss while changing the undesired behavior. Remember, the purpose of feedback isn't to criticize your boss but rather to accomplish a change in behavior. Doing it right is a three-step process: explain the problem, ask for your boss's side of the story, and determine the next step you both will take to ensure the feedback results in tangible action.

Explaining the problem

xplaining the problem involves using appropriate language and a calm, professional tone to tell your boss how you feel or how the behavior affects you.

Remember to use "I" and "me" rather than addressing your

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boss in the more accusatory "you" form. Your boss will feel more open to what you're saying. For your boss to take your feedback well, you need to present the problem in business terms. Describe how the behavior prevents you from doing your job effectively, or how it prevents your boss from achieving professional goals. When you put feedback in these terms, you're essentially asking for your boss's help in correcting the situation. You and your boss become partners in the solution. If, instead, you make your feedback interaction about venting all the things that make you angry and all your boss's shortcomings, you can expect very little to come from the meeting.

Getting your boss's perspective

ommunication is a two-way street. Until you've allowed your boss time to think about what you've said and then listened with an open mind to the

response, you haven't really communicated. After you describe the problem and allow your boss time to absorb the information, you then should ask for your boss's side of the story. Just as with explaining the problem, you want to avoid aggressive, accusatory, or demeaning language when doing this. Asking what your boss's intention was may pave the way for the next step. Remember, you're looking for a solution, not vengeance. So avoid a sarcastic or aggressive tone.

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Determining the next step

nce your boss has accepted your criticism, you need to ensure your feedback results in the change you desire. So after you've explained the problem and

allowed time for a response, you need to determine the next step that you both will take. You want to establish an observable and measurable next step, or steps, to fix the situation. But you don't get to tell your boss how to behave. Whatever plan you jointly come up with has to come from your boss. Communication is often touted as a two-way street. When part of that communication is giving negative feedback to your boss, it can become dangerous. But you'll get through it with preparation and the use of appropriate feedback strategies. First, you must explain the problem to your boss in a neutral manner and give the business reasons why your boss should try to change it. Because your boss is in authority, the next steps in the feedback process serve to ensure your boss takes the feedback on board, and then corrects the behavior. By asking for your boss's perspective and enlisting help in determining what the next step should be, you both will ensure action is taken to correct the unwanted behavior.

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�Job Aid

Giving Your Boss Feedback

Instruction: Use this job aid as a convenient reminder of the steps and strategies involved in successfully giving feedback to your boss.

Giving feedback

To successfully give your boss feedback, you must follow three important steps. Using the appropriate strategies for each step helps ensure you enhance your relationship rather than damage it.

Explaining the problem

• Communicate the problem clearly and specifically. • Address your boss's behavior without being judgmental

or aggressive. • Tell your boss how you feel or how the offending

behavior affects you. • Describe the problem using "I" and "me" rather than

addressing your boss in the more accusatory "you" form.

• Present the problem in terms of its impact on your ability to do your job or accomplish the boss's goals.

• Ask for your boss's help in correcting the situation. • Don't use this as an opportunity to vent frustrations.

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Getting your boss's perspective

• After you explain the problem, give your boss time take the information in.

• Get your boss to explain intentions and viewpoint. • Enlist your boss in solving the problem.

Determining the next step

• Get your boss's commitment to a course of action. • Establish what the first steps toward your new future

together will be. • Prompt your boss with questions such as "Is there

anything I can do to help get things on the right track?" • Don't judge your boss's approach. • Avoid aggressive, accusatory, or demeaning language

at this point as well. • Look for a solution, not vengeance. • Avoid a sarcastic tone. • Remember who is boss.

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Leveraging the Performance

Appraisal

The fifth module explains the value of learning how to manage the performance appraisal process on a year-round basis and tips for using formal and informal performance appraisal to the best advantage. The course also outlines how implementing periodic appraisal strategy can be used to move your career forward. Recognizing and controlling the damage of a bad appraisal is also covered.

The following lessons are covered in this module: Lesson 1: Preparing for an Annual Performance

Appraisal Lesson 2: Making the Most of Your Annual Performanc e

Appraisal Lesson 3: Using the Periodic Appraisal Strategy

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Leveraging the Performance Appraisal

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Lesson 1

Preparing for an Annual Performance

Appraisal

The importance of performance appraisal

he contents of your performance appraisal can help you support your actions, justify your career advancement, and prove your worth. But your

employer can also use those contents to justify reassignment, discipline, or even dismissal. Even old performance appraisals may have influence years later when you apply for a promotion, when you request a raise, or when you apply for a new job. These are the reasons to take every opportunity to prepare for what you're going to say and do in the appraisal. Your performance appraisal is a valuable opportunity for managing your career. Often, it's the only time in the year when you have your employer's complete and undivided attention. It's important to use your appraisal time wisely. This isn't the time for socializing or discussing ideas for system-wide improvements at work. It's about you, and your career. Performance appraisals present a number of opportunities:

• performance – Measuring yourself against your appraisal's performance standards helps you

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understand your role. Objective and fair standards provide a benchmark for you to appraise and assess your performance. They also help create a clear, shared understanding of performance expectations.

• planning – In a performance appraisal, you learn how well you're meeting expectations. You compare your employer's expectations with how well you're meeting them. This is an opportunity to develop a plan of action for setting goals and making improvements.

• potential – Promotions are often based upon performance. The performance appraisal is your chance to express what you want from your career and where you see yourself in the future. By speaking with your employer, you can also find out about training and development opportunities.

Some employees choose to look at performance appraisals like a dental exam – an uncomfortable meeting where the hard evidence of neglect is pointed out to them. Others may use appraisals as a chance to complain or criticize, or to vent about coworkers. But what these employees don't realize is that performance appraisal is about improvement, not blame. Above all, it's important to your career that your performance appraisal be a positive experience for both you and your employer. A well-conducted review clears the air about the past and sets the agenda for a productive future.

Preparing for a performance appraisal

t's an unfortunate fact that many employees go into their performance appraisal meetings without adequate preparation. Keep in mind that there's no upside to being I


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unprepared. It's no fun to be blindsided by an issue you weren't expecting, or to fail to seize a golden opportunity in your appraisal. If you are unprepared to support your position or to advance your career goals, you'll be forced into either a reactive or passive position rather than a productive one. Preparing for your performance appraisal allows you to focus on the key issue – performance improvement. A number of activities will help you prepare for your performance appraisal:

• gathering evidence of good performance and accomplishments – Before your appraisal meeting, gather evidence of good performance and accomplishments so you can support a positive position. Keep in mind that your annual performance appraisal is a judgment based on your performance over the year. But all human judgments are subjective to some degree. By gathering evidence of good performance and accomplishments you can support a positive position, or counter a negative judgment. Make sure your evidence is clear, up to date, and relative to performance standards. Evidence provides objective information about your success at meeting the requirements of your job. It's also important to keep copies of your previous appraisals. This will help you show your success at achieving your goals and improving performance standards.

• preparing what you'll say about key issues – Although you will never be able to predict exactly how your annual performance appraisal will unfold, it will


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help to prepare what you'll say about key issues. Before your appraisal, try to anticipate the types of issues you think will be addressed. Think about questions or comments that your employer may have, and think carefully about appropriate responses. Be prepared to discuss how you handled any barriers or issues that impacted your job performance, and what you'd do differently to improve your performance in the future. You should be prepared to discuss issues in a number of key areas during your appraisal: your job description, accomplishments since your previous appraisal, the performance standards ratings, any areas for improvement or development, your goals for the future, and your self-assessment.

• looking forward to receiving constructive criticism – Criticism is unpleasant, but it's also inevitable. One of the most important things you can gain from a performance appraisal is knowledge about where your performance is not meeting your employer's expectations. Criticism is not necessarily a negative thing; you should look forward to receiving constructive criticism at your appraisal. It can help you understand how others perceive what you're doing. Resist the temptation to respond emotionally. By being prepared for criticism, you're more likely to respond in a positive and productive way. Even if you anticipate some negative or unfair feedback, use the opportunity to find out why you're perceived in that light, and why your performance isn't meeting expectations. Remember, when you're willing to acknowledge the validity of your employer's observations and performance ratings, it shows that you're serious about growing and developing in your position at work.


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Preparation is the key to a successful annual performance appraisal. You'll need to gather evidence of good performance and accomplishments, prepare what you'll say about key issues, and look forward to receiving constructive criticism.


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�Job Aid

Preparing for a Formal Performance Appraisal

Instruction: Use this job aid to organize evidence and key issues in preparation for your annual performance appraisal.

Name:

Job title:

Appraisal period:

Evidence of Achievements

Main duties and responsibilities:

Important achievements during the appraisal period:

Documents attached:

1.

2.

3.


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Personal goals and objectives for the next appraisa l period:

1. Goal:

Action steps:

Measures of success:

2. Goal:

Action steps:


3. Goal:

Action steps:


Training/work experience/mentoring/other support:

Additional Comments:

Signed and dated by appraisee: _________________________

Distribution of copies: _________________________________


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Lesson 2

How to Make the Most of Your Annual

Performance Appraisal

Recognizing strategies

our annual performance appraisal day is approaching. You've finished the first stage – preparation. This involved gathering evidence of your accomplishments,

planning what you'll say about key issues, and preparing yourself emotionally for criticism. Now that you've laid that foundation, it's the time to think about the next stage – presentation. This involves how to conduct yourself during the actual appraisal meeting. Performance appraisals are important to your career, so you'll need to be alert to strategies for achieving control and clarity in the actual process. Although your employer will be the one steering the meeting, you're also a partner in implementing a successful appraisal. You'll need to accomplish two main objectives during your performance appraisal meeting:

• present your accomplishments, and • seek specific corrective action

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Presenting accomplishments

he first key objective is to present your accomplishments to your employer. When you prepared for your performance appraisal, you should

have gathered evidence of the key achievements you want to highlight during the meeting. Your focus now is on how to present that information to your best advantage. Think about how you'll be perceived when you present your accomplishments to your employer at your appraisal. Keep these things in mind when presenting accomplishments:

• be clear and confident – Make your points clearly and confidently. Be careful not to sound arrogant or "full of yourself." Try not to appear nervous, flustered, or defensive. Use numbers and dates to specify how your achievements relate to your job.

• keep to the point – You're only going to have a limited amount of time, so it's critical to stay on topic – presenting your accomplishments. Don't waste time rehashing old grievances, or discussing irrelevant or redundant issues. Present the information you want known, and don't get distracted. If your employer veers off topic, gently steer back to the point.

• recognize others – Giving credit where it's due is important. Recognizing others shows you're a team player and demonstrates your leadership potential.

Seeking corrective input

ow that you've presented your accomplishments, the second key strategy in maximizing the effectiveness of your performance appraisal is to seek specific

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corrective action to improve your performance. Your performance appraisal is about assessing your past and present performance, but it's also about determining your potential and your future worth to your organization. Remember, accomplishing what your employer considers important is critical to your promotability. Think about your appraisal as an opportune time to gain insight into your perceived strengths and weaknesses at work. Seeking corrective action can give you the opportunity to advance your career, it can provide a platform for you to address performance issues, and it can make you better at your job. Negative feedback can happen for many reasons – a misunderstanding, a wrongdoing on your part, varying points of view about what's important, comparison to coworkers, or failure to meet performance standards. But no matter what the reason, the important thing is to use criticism to your advantage. You can use strategies to seek corrective action and turn negative feedback to your advantage:

• You may not agree with negative feedback, but it's important to accept that your employer has a valid reason for making that criticism. Keep in mind that employers relate the truth as they perceive it. It's to your benefit to acknowledge the validity of feedback to discover how you can improve your performance in their eyes.

• Criticism can hurt. But it's important to remain calm and non-retaliatory when you receive a poor


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appraisal. Showing you're accepting and interested in the criticism shows you're open to improvement.

• Not all employers are master communicators. You'll want to make sure you understand what your employer means when giving you feedback. When you ask for clarification of vague comments , it helps to restate the criticism, and then ask for clarification.

• Once you're clear on what needs to be improved, it's time to work with your employer to establish an improvement plan . It's important that you both agree on improvements that will have the greatest impact in terms of time, energy, and career advancement. Your improvement plan is a specific course of action that lays out what you'll do, when, and how your improvements will be measured. This plan is what you'll use over the next appraisal period to improve your performance.

The main part of your performance appraisal is a discussion of your performance. This is when you'll present your accomplishments. Be clear and confident, keep to the point, and recognize the contribution of others. Your appraisal meeting is also a time for seeking corrective input. Acknowledge the validity of the feedback, remain calm and non-retaliatory, ask for clarification of vague comments, and work with your employer to establish an improvement plan.


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Lesson 3

The Periodic Appraisal Strategy

The periodic appraisal strategy

ou may sit down for a formal appraisal once a year, but in reality, you're always getting feedback on your job performance. When customers are pleased or

unhappy, they're judging your competence. When colleagues support you or let you down, they're sending you a message. When your superiors acknowledge or ignore you, they're telling you how much you matter. You can use this feedback to continuously improve your performance. Your annual performance appraisal should be only part of a performance appraisal system. In fact, performance appraisal is most effective when it's part of an ongoing exchange of performance-related information between you and your employer. Traditionally, performance appraisal was a once-a-year meeting where employees were told where their performance was inadequate and what their targets for improvement were. But modern organizations are encouraging the concept of periodic performance appraisal – a continuous process that enables both employers and staff to make improvements on an ongoing basis. The periodic performance appraisal strategy allows you to keep your performance and your career goals in your employer's line of sight. It creates awareness of your

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productivity, achievements, and promotability on a regular basis. Regular contact with your employer allows you to identify and correct performance issues as they come up, before your career path is adversely affected. Your employer usually organizes and mandates your annual performance appraisal, and it's your employer's responsibility to schedule and carry it out. However, carrying out a periodic appraisal strategy is the employee's initiative. You'll need to let your employer know what you're planning to do, and solicit their support. Remember, this strategy is all about positive performance improvement. Your boss will feel connected to your strategy if you're clear about how supporting you links to organizational goals.

Implementing periodic appraisal

ypically, a periodic appraisal strategy is a month-to-month cycle that contains your annual appraisal, three quarterly appraisals, and eight monthly appraisals. This

makes a total of twelve monthly components that are all important for documenting how you contribute to the organization, and how you're progressing toward your goals. Twelve important documents are produced in a periodic appraisal strategy:

• Your annual appraisal takes place once a year. It's a formal meeting where your work performance is assessed and measured, and where your goals for the future are established. Your performance over the last year is summarized and rated according to predetermined performance standards.

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• Quarterly appraisals take place three times a year. These are informal opportunities to touch base with your employer in a face-to-face meeting to find out how you're progressing toward your goals, and what changes still need to be made.

• Interim monthly reviews are written self-appraisals that take place in the remaining eight months of the year.

Your boss isn't going to see, hear, or sense everything that you do at work. Your quarterly appraisals are informal opportunities to present evidence of your performance gains and of your eligibility for promotion. You should document these meetings with factual assessments of your progress over the previous three months. Create a one-page summary of the meeting, with copies to the boss and your appraisal file. The quarterly review offers a number of benefits:

• When you keep your boss informed during your appraisals, you demonstrate dedication, good communication skills, and a willingness to improve.

• When you approach your boss with new ideas, you demonstrate professionalism, enthusiasm, and ability.

• And finally, if you can anticipate issues and work on solutions to solve them, your boss will regard you as a valuable resource.

In your quarterly meetings with your employer, you should discuss both what you've done over the past quarter, and what you need to succeed in the future. You can cover various topics:


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• special achievements • your goals and the actions you've taken to achieve

them • any special recognition given to you by clients,

customers, or coworkers • training that you've taken or would like to take • your career aspirations • issues you foresee arising in the near future, and • new projects or initiatives you'd like to work on

Your monthly appraisal is also an important part of your periodic appraisal strategy. Monthly appraisals are written self-appraisals – they don't involve meeting with your employer. At the end of the month, you document your achievements by writing a work summary based on goals and objectives set during your annual and quarterly appraisals. You might summarize new accomplishments, record progress toward your goals, and note any issues that have arisen or that you foresee. These summaries can be forwarded to your employer monthly, and also used to support your quarterly appraisal documents. The periodic appraisal strategy is an efficient and effective way to turn performance review into an ongoing process and put your career on the fast track. It consists of twelve assessments – one annual appraisal, three quarterly appraisals, and eight monthly appraisals. These annual, quarterly, and monthly reports will increase your promotability by regularly highlighting your achievements, pinpointing the skills you need to build, and helping you maintain a healthy relationship with your boss.


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Periodic Appraisal Strategy

Instruction: Use this follow-on activity to organize your periodic appraisal strategy.

Periodic performance appraisal form

Information

Name

Job Title

Department

Appraisal period From: _________________________ To: _________________________

Appraisal type ___Annual ___Quarterly ___Monthly

Performance goal:

--progress

--measure of success

Performance goal:

--progress


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Periodic performance appraisal form

Information


Performance goal:

--progress


Support from colleagues

Issues arising

List of documents attached

Notes


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Glossary

A aggressive communication Communication statements that impart negative judgments and blame. Usually confrontational and dominated by "you" statements. See also assertive communication . assertive communication Communication statements with no outward signs of negativity. Typically "I" or "we" statements are used. See also aggressive communication . B bilingual Able to communicate in two languages.

burnout Psychological exhaustion as the result of stress on the job for prolonged periods of time. C career development plan A process of strategically planning a career. Career planning is ongoing and dynamic and is used to help manage a career. career updating The maintenance or developmental updating of skills and knowledge needed to stay up to date in a chosen field. conflict A state of disagreement or disharmony.


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D Delegate A person who receives an assignment. delegator A person who assigns work to another person or group. deliverable Tangible output of a work or development process completed by a specified time. E emotional intelligence The ability to handle emotions appropriately and work well with others. empathy The ability to understand another person's feelings. F formal appraisal The process of evaluating the performance or aptitude of a person in a defined and predetermined setting.

H hard skills Skills that are technical in nature and involve defined processes to practice. Hard skills are defined by their process. See also soft skills . HR Department Human Resources Department or personnel office. I informal appraisal The process of casually evaluating the performance or aptitude of an individual through passive observation, anecdotes, and the individual's self-evaluation.


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IT Department Information Technology Department; sometimes known as the Systems Department or the Information Services Department (ISD); the department consisting of the people who work with computers. L lateral move A job change that would be viewed as a sideways move on an organizational chart. leadership The process of inspiring individuals to work willingly and enthusiastically to reach organizational goals. M mitigate

1. To make less severe. 2. To alleviate.

motivation The necessary expenditure of effort required to accomplish desired results.

motivators Aspects of a work situation that motivate employees by providing positive job satisfaction. N network An organized collection of personal contacts. O organizational culture A system of shared beliefs and values that influence the behavior of people within an organization. P performance

1. The degree of accomplishment of given objectives measured against preset requirements and standards. 2. An informal measure of the quality of a specific action.

Glossary

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performance appraisal A periodic and systematic review of an individual's work and achievements during a defined period of time using predefined performance measures. See performance measure . performance measure An assessment scale for assigning a value to an attribute by comparison to a criterion. performance standard Norm-based or criteria-based rating scale that defines good versus poor performance for a specific attribute. personal development The act, process, or result of promoting the growth of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, traits, or qualities.

positive feedback An evaluative response or assessment of a process or activity intended to improve the performance or esteem of an individual. professionalism The upholding and positive practice by individuals of the principles, standards, competencies, and conventions of their profession. R rapport A relationship marked by harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity. S self-assessment The act of examining one's own personality preferences or traits and professional qualities to establish a plan for development.


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self-direction The ability of an individual to understand specific tasks and rules of behavior and then set the process in place to complete the tasks or conform to the behavior. soft skills Nontechnical abilities, talents, and traits required to communicate and interact effectively, and to understand and adapt to the culture of the workplace. Soft skills are defined by their outcome. See also hard skills . supportive listening A type of listening in which a listener is fully engaged, giving full attention, being patient, and seeking understanding.

T time management The process of planning, recording and quantifying time spent completing W work style The personal set of traits, communication styles, behavioral tendencies, and characteristics an individual utilizes to do work.


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