When I write resumes for my clients, I gather as much information as possible about their background and accomplishments and I frequently review their past performance appraisals or letters or recommendation to gather additional information about their accomplishments. Nine times out of ten, these documents are full of fairly generic information about personal attributes and overused phrases about getting the job done or going above and beyond the call of duty. It’s frustrating to think that the person you work with day in and day out can’t seem to put together a performance review that not only gives you specific praise for a job well done, but documents the impact of your work and the value you bring to the overall well-being of the company. What’s even more frustrating is the fact that these reviews, with their marginal documentation, are directly tied to your merit increase and your ability to enhance your earning potential. I think it’s time for employees to take control of their performance reviews and be the catalyst for better documentation of their success and potentially more money to reward them for that success in 2009. Here are a few suggestions for managing your career and the performance review process within your current or future company.

• At the beginning of your review period, request a meeting with your boss to set up mutually agreed upon goals and performance expectations.
• Each month or following the conclusion of each of your projects, document your accomplishments by jotting down a few notes to yourself about the particular challenges you faced within your projects, the actions you took to address these issues, and the results of your efforts. Record any examples of how your work helped the company make money, save money, save time, grow the business, or keep the business and validate your impact using numbers, dollars, or percentages.
• Create a kudos file and save any email/letters of praise. Review the file each quarter and look for trends within the acknowledgments to uncover what others perceive to be your strengths.
• Assess your communication style once a year to better understand how you give, receive, and process information, and how you interact with others. The DISC is a great tool for this purpose. Or solicit feedback from superiors, colleagues, and peers through a 360 tool like Checkster. 
• One month prior to your performance review, begin to review all this material and write your own review. You can either present your self-assessment to your boss or leverage the information you have sourced for your self-assessment to improve the quality of the review conversation with your boss. Strong documentation may also provide the ammunition needed to increase your performance rating and/or associated merit increase and salary.