Q. I haven’t had an in-person performance review in more than three years, so I became immediately suspicious when I got an Outlook calendar invitation for one next month. I became even more uneasy after seeing this week’s Wall Street Journal headline, “Performance Reviews Will Bite This Year. Be Ready.” I don’t have a subscription and the WSJ paywall kept me from reading the entire article, but I got the idea–plus my boss has been acting weird and uneasy lately. How should I prepare for what might be a tough conversation? -WL
A. You definitely got the gist of the Journal article. Now that things have settled down post pandemic, bosses are able to better assess their teams. Plus, a lot of employees are wondering about their career paths, so frank performance reviews are returning to the workplace.
As performance management rises in importance in most organizations, one firm, McKinsey, for example, recently put about 3,000 staffers on notice with unsatisfactory performance ratings. The 
Lattice 2024 State of People Strategy Report shows Performance Management and Employee Engagement are now equal priorities among HR professionals.
While you don’t know what might be bothering your boss, it is always wise to honestly assess your personal performance and be able to defend or explain any inconsistencies in what he/she might expect of you.
Key takeaway from the Journal article is to not give a knee-jerk response to what you might hear. It will only make matters worse. Instead, try saying: “This is a lot to take in. Would you mind if we stop now and have a follow-up meeting to continue this discussion once I have time to digest this?”
What definitely not to do: Blame other people, especially your boss.
Making it clear that your intention is to be an employee that tops expectations, ask for specific feedback that might help you achieve that goal.
Bad news is always tough to hear and it often is not delivered well, so help your boss keep the conversation as as positive as possible. I find that face-to-face performance reviews easier than reading impersonal written reviews that became the rule of thumb during the pandemic.
Finally, between review periods, I encourage readers to keep notes about their performance — both high points and misses. These notes are quite valuable when you think through your performance review conversation. Sometimes, you might be asked to pre-submit a written assessment of your own work. This can be eye-opening to a boss who doesn’t have the ability to keep track of everything you have achieved.
Good luck with your review. Remember they are often less terrifying than they might first appear, but listen carefully. If you detect insurmountable issues, then be prepared to move on. Just don’t do it from an emotional state. If possible, prepare to leave on your own terms. Get your options lined up before saying good-bye. Of course, I am a major advocate of trying to make it work within your current place of work rather than jumping ship over a single performance review that doesn’t directly tell you it’s time think about looking elsewhere.