The difference between a good review and a great one is evidence. These are the ten things that make managers sit up - and most take minutes to collect.
Managers sit through a lot of reviews full of "I worked really hard this year". Evidence is what separates a memorable review from a forgettable one. Here are the ten that land best.
- Numbers that moved - sales, savings, turnaround times, error rates. Anything with a before and after.
- A learning log - a dated record of courses, reading and skills built, with reflections. It shows the year, not the highlight reel.
- Feedback from others - emails, thank-you messages, survey results. Other people's words carry more weight than your own.
- Problems you solved - the issue, what you did, the outcome. Three or four of these tell a leadership story.
- Things you improved - a process, a template, a checklist. Shows you leave things better than you found them.
- Certificates and completed training - especially anything you chose to do yourself.
- Times you helped others develop - mentoring, training a colleague, writing guidance. Managers notice multipliers.
- Examples of judgement - a difficult decision you made and why. This is promotion-level evidence.
- Goals you set and hit - shows you can commit and deliver, not just react.
- A clear ask for next year - not evidence of the past, but proof you are thinking about the future.
The pattern behind all ten
None of these can be created the night before. They are all by-products of one habit: recording things as they happen. The people with the best evidence are not the best performers - they are the best recorders.
Start collecting now
A free CPD log covers numbers 2, 6 and 9 automatically, and gives you somewhere to park the rest as they happen.
Start collecting evidence today
Related reading
Add this to your CPD log
Sign in to save what you've read - we'll create a free CPD log for you.