Knowing how to handle a performance review when you feel that you have already outgrown the role can be challenging. The conversation is supposed to be a forward-looking discussion about your development in the job, and you are sitting on the knowledge that the development you want is likely no longer in the role you currently hold.
If you handle this conversation poorly, then it could be a signal that you’re halfway out the door, which will likely change how you are treated for the rest of the cycle. But if you handle it well, you can use the conversation to set up either an internal move or an external one, on terms that work in your favour.
How you handle this review matters more than people think. The notes get read by other people, often HR, sometimes leadership a layer above your manager, and increasingly an internal system that aggregates ratings and comments for talent planning. What you say, and what your manager writes down, shapes how you are positioned over the next twelve months in conversations you will not be in.
If you have already decided to leave, it is tempting to treat the review as a formality, but this is actually an opportunity for you to position for yourself for what is next, either internally or externally.
In This Post
- Why the review matters even when you are leaving
- What to say and what to hold back
- How to use the conversation to position your next move
- Handling the development plan honestly
- A checklist for preparing the conversation
Why the review matters even when you are leaving
Even if you have mentally checked out, the review becomes part of your record. If you are planning an internal move, your rating and the comments are part of what the next hiring manager sees when you apply for another role inside the business. A lukewarm review is not fatal to an internal move, but it does carry weight, particularly if the hiring manager has any doubt about your commitment to the company.
If you are planning an external move, the review still matters. Executive search consultants and headhunters will ask how you are ranked, whether you are on a high-potential track, and where you sit relative to your peers. Your most recent review feeds directly into all of that, and a strong rating gives you a cleaner story to tell.
How you show up also shapes how you are treated for the rest of your time at the firm. A manager who thinks you are engaged and performing well will keep handing you the work that matters and the visibility that comes with it. A manager who senses you are coasting will start to plan around you, which usually means fewer interesting projects and less backing from senior people. When you eventually leave, less effort will go into keeping you.
What to say and what to hold back
The conversation works best when you are honest about your trajectory without disclosing the specifics of what you are planning. The honest version is that you have been doing this role at a high level for a while, you are looking for what the next stretch looks like, and you would like the review conversation to include some discussion of what comes after this role rather than only how you have performed inside it.
That framing is true regardless of whether you are planning an internal move, an external move, or staying for another cycle. It signals ambition and self-awareness without committing you to a path you may not have fully decided.
What to hold back is anything that would let your manager conclude that you have already decided to leave. Specific mention of conversations with recruiters, named alternative employers, or a timeline for your departure changes the dynamic of the conversation and is almost never useful information for them to have until you are ready to resign.
The version of this that works is one where the manager comes away with the impression that you are at a natural inflection point in your career, you are thinking carefully about what comes next, and you are giving them the chance to be part of the conversation. Whether or not they are part of the conversation in the end is something you can decide later.
How to use the conversation to position your next move
The best approach is to be honest about where you are in your career without telling your manager exactly what you are planning. You have been doing the role well for a while, you are starting to think about what comes next, and you would like the review to include that as well as how you have performed so far.
This works whether you are planning an internal move, an external move, or staying put. It tells your manager you are ambitious and thinking ahead, without committing you to anything you have not yet decided.
What to say:
- You have been performing well in the role for some time
- You are starting to think about what your next step might look like
- You want the review to include a conversation about where you go from here, not only how you have done in your current role
What to hold back:
- Any conversations you have had with recruiters or headhunters
- The names of other companies you have been talking to
- Any timeline you have set for leaving
Once your manager knows you are on the way out, the conversation changes. They stop investing in your development and start planning around you, which is rarely useful for you until you are ready to resign.
You want to ensure that the review leaves your manager thinking you are reviewing your options and that they have a chance to be part of what comes next, and that they can support potential growth within the company rather than outside of it.
Handling the development plan honestly
The development plan is often the weakest part of a review when you have already mentally moved on. The temptation is to nod along to whatever your manager suggests, agree to the plan, and forget about it for the rest of the year. A better approach is to treat the plan as a written agreement about what you will do and what the company will invest in you over the next twelve months.
If you are planning an internal move, you can shape the plan around the work and exposure that builds your case for the next role. Most managers will agree to items that involve cross-functional projects, time with senior leaders, or experience in adjacent parts of the business. All of these are useful for an internal move, and none of them looks like you are preparing to leave.
If you are planning an external move, the plan is still really important. The items you agree to are the same items you will point to in interviews as evidence of how you have progressed in the past year. A plan made up of generic competencies is weaker on a CV than one that includes the specific commercial or technical work that connects to the role you want next.
A checklist for preparing the conversation
If you have a review coming up and you have already decided you are looking for what comes next, use this preparation list:
- Write a one-page summary of what you have delivered in the cycle, with scale, impact, and cross-functional context
- List two or three specific stretch items you want to take on at the level above your current role
- Decide what you want the written record of the conversation to say about your trajectory
- Identify two areas of capability or exposure you want included in the development plan
- Prepare a non-committal version of the answer to “where do you see yourself in twelve months” that signals ambition without disclosing your plans
- If you are open to an internal move, plan to raise internal mobility as a topic without naming a specific role
- After the conversation, review the written summary your manager produces and request changes if it does not capture what was agreed
- Use The Mid-Year Career Check: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself to think deeply about what you want next
You want your manager to come away with the impression that you are engaged, ambitious, and worth investing in, and where the written record gives you something concrete to point to in any conversation about your next role, whether that conversation is inside the business or outside it.
Read Next
- Internal Promotion vs External Move: How to Make the Right Decision When you have decided it is time to move, how to work out whether the right move is up or out
- The Career Conversation You Should Be Having With Your Manager Right Now Before you look elsewhere, make sure you have had the conversation that could change what is possible where you are
- Is Your Job Worth It? The Learning vs Earning Framework A clear framework for working out whether your current role is still giving you what you need
- Building Your Board of Directors: Creating a Personal Advisory Network The relationships that will support your next move and how to build them before you need them
- The Year-End Career Audit: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself A structured way to take stock of where you are and whether it is still where you want to be
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