It happens to the best of us.
You have been assigned aggressive goals for the year and you’re hungry for the promotion. But X has added you as participant #23 to a weekly update call. And Y needs you to join the Quality Management working group. And Z has roped you into a project they are leading.
And all this is on top of your regular work. A real stretch.
But, come appraisal time, it’s the same story:
“Amit demonstrated effort and commitment but wasn’t able to deliver the results he was responsible for. Rating: 3 out of 5”
Like every other time.
Why are people not giving credit for all the work that you do?
Simple.
It’s only about your goals
You are being evaluated on your goals, not on all this extra stuff. So if you fell short of a stellar performance against your documented goals, you will be rated accordingly, even if you delivered solid contributions in other areas.
So don’t get seduced by how much people seem to need you.
- Drop out of unnecessary meetings
- Beg out of committees and councils
- (Nicely) redirect colleagues to those with more capacity to help
Instead, focus on your documented goals and get them done right. Or, get these additional initiatives added to your goals. Either way, make sure you spend 99% of your time on things for which you are formally responsible so you get full and formal credit for all the work you have done.
If its not in your goals, it’s not in your rating.
