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Not happy with your recent performance appraisal? Do this!

We eagerly wait for the appraisal time, especially after a rough year filled with hard work and challenges. Your task tracker looks like a project sheet in itself.

But alas, you are in for a shock when that increment letter is handed to you, or you directly get the salary in your account and the numbers don’t make sense.

Usually, expectations from an annual appraisal are much higher than the reality, something like the graph below:



If you are not satisfied with your appraisal, these are few things you could possibly do (intentionally written in a sequence):

 1. Breathe, relax, and don’t let it stress you – deep breathing is an amazing way to calm down and help your brain get that oxygen for better thinking and decision making. This is just an event so let it not stress you too much.


 2. Revisit your goals and achievements – be double sure of what goals were set at the beginning of the year and how well did you do on them. This will be your arsenal in the conversation with your manager.


 3. Revisit organizations goals and achievement – sometimes individual performers may not be rewarded as the company as a whole hadn’t done well. Figure this part out as well.
4. Do not speak to your colleagues about it – be sure not to begrudge the dreaded appraisal and get carried in the usual hue and cry of how bad it was. Maintain your composure and keep it to yourself.
5. Organize a conversation with your manager – once you are ready with your numbers to get into a discussion with your manager. Walk-in with an open mind to be able to understand his/her perspective as well. Take developmental feedback if it is provided.


 6. Learn something new that will help you in your career – maybe this is the time for you to start learning a new thing or improve on your current skill set. A few suggested books are given at the end of this post.
7. Give it 1 more shot in the same setup – all hasn’t ended, and maybe giving it another shot with added effort could help you grow.
8. Explore other opportunities – if after trying everything you still feel you didn’t get what you deserved then you can start looking at other opportunities. Our recommendation – keep this as your last resort.


Performance appraisals are just one of the mechanisms of assessing and rewarding work. Of course, they are the most important ones for many salaried professionals. At the same time, let’s not be disheartened and just take it as one of the many milestones we will cross in the journey of our careers.


If you have faced any difficult situation at work or have suggestions for us please leave them in the comments below.

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