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It’s the end of the year and for many companies that means performance reviews (also known as performance appraisals or performance evaluations) are around the corner. You might be nervous because it’s your first time receiving a performance review in English, but don’t worry. Performance reviews are not as scary as they sound. They’re meant to help you and your management figure out what went well, what can be improved on and how to do so in the future. Having important meetings in your second language is not always a disadvantage, as Pierre-William Plante explains in the ACA podcast Les Bons Mots S3 E3: The Icing on the Cake. He says that people might let their guard down more easily in conversations with you, and you will most likely be better prepared than you would have been in your native language. To help you prepare, we’re going to discuss action words and adjectives in the context of performance evaluations today.
Action words are verbs that you use to describe actions. If you use action words in your performance review, it makes it easier for you to describe your tasks and objectives. The information about what exactly you have been doing in the last year will be clearer and more concise. Here are five examples of what the use of action words could look like in your performance appraisal.
- to assist = to help or support
e.g. I’ve been assisting my supervisor with the organisation of team meetings.
- to coordinate = to organize things/people for a common goal
e.g. I’ve been coordinating the latest marketing project since March.
- to exceed = to surpass
e.g. I have exceeded my targets consistently throughout the year.
- to propose = to suggest
e.g.I’m proposing the implementation of a recycling program as a future goal for our department.
- to supervise = to oversee
e.g I’ve been supervising the interns.
Participial adjectives and compound adjectives especially are often used in performance reviews. Participial adjectives are participles that are used as adjectives, e.g. amazed (past participle) vs. amazing (present participle). Compound adjectives are adjectives that consist of two hyphenated words, e.g. part-time. If you want to have a closer look at these adjectives and what else we need to pay attention to when using adjectives, you can watch Lauren’s videos on Adjectives in English – Part I and Part II. Let’s have a look at examples for participial and compound adjectives (+ a noun) that might be handy for your performance evaluation.
Participial Adjectives
- concerned vs. concerning
e.g. We are concerned about your behaviour.
e.g. The drop in sales is concerning.
- encouraged vs. encouraging
e.g. I have encouraged my team to develop their skills.
e.g. He is off to an encouraging start.
- excited vs. exciting
e.g. We are excited to have you on board this year.
e.g. We have exciting news for you.
- fulfilled vs. fulfilling
e.g. Did you feel fulfilled with the new position?
e.g. The tasks were more than fulfilling.
- pleased vs. pleasing
e.g. We are very pleased with your progress.
e.g. Those results are pleasing.
Compound Adjectives
- client-confidentiality rules = rules about the confidentiality between a client and a business
- skill-building session = a session were you learn new skills
- first-quarter results = the results of the first 3 months of the year
- quality-enhancing advantages = advantages that improve quality
- weaker-than-usual results = results that are not as good as usual
Jenni and Britta also discuss action verbs and adjectives in Les Bons Mots S3 E2 Work It! Job Interviews in English if you would like to learn more vocabulary for describing your abilities at work.
We hope this helps you with your preparation for your next performance review. Good luck! And as always, please let us know on social media or email us at lesbonsmots@lesateliers.ca, if you have any questions, suggestions or comments.