The Trouble Spots of Meeting Job Requirements
The performance review is often known as an annual process. Employees at all levels start to think, “What will happen, what will be said, and how will it shape my future?” Meeting job requirements may be more challenging than you think.
People are quick to consider things like, “I get all of my work done.” or, “I’ve improved a lot during the past year.”
Goals or Starting Points?
Most jobs have room for stretch.
In other words, a well-crafted job description usually expresses minimums, not maximums. So there is plenty of room on the upper side, and nearly zero tolerance on the lower side.
Employees often work towards the minimums. The minimum is the anchor. It is mentally what the employee connects with, and remembers.
As the employee you may get all your work finished. Is that amount of work meeting the minimum?
It may take you eight hours to sell $1,000. It is a full-day of work. However, if the minimum expectation is $2,500, you’re short.
The same is true for your professional development. You may have improved, but are the improvements enough?
Meeting Job Requirements
When it comes to your performance review, whether it is a formal or informal snapshot, have you accomplished enough? Like beauty, it is often in the eye of the beholder. The employee typically doesn’t decide, it is up to the reviewer.
There are two trouble spots.
The first is that job requirements are typically presented as the minimum, but the employee observes them as the goal. The second is that as the employee, you don’t get to measure, the boss or other leaders provide the measurement.
Your work counts most when it is has surpassed the goal. Anything less means that the contract obligations haven’t been met.
In matters of job descriptions what is required is typically not the goal. It is the starting point.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
