5 Ways to Use AI for Your Midyear Review

During the pandemic, many companies put formal performance reviews on hold. This year, however, firms have resumed evaluating their employees more formally. “Companies are getting back to business as usual when it comes to performance-review processes,” says Mark Royal, a Korn Ferry senior client partner. In 2023, nearly half of all companies have returned to their normal cadence of midyear and annual reviews.

Even experienced employees might be struggling to prepare for their midyear review after not having to do so for three years. And for many Gen Z-aged employees, this could be the first formal work review of their young careers. ChatGPT or similar AI tools could help employees prepare to discuss their accomplishments and goals with their managers, Royal says. However, there’s one caveat: keep your prompts high-level to avoid sharing your company’s proprietary information.

Here are five ways ChatGPT or similar AI-powered software can be a source of inspiration when preparing for your midyear review.

Summarize your accomplishments.

“Many employees struggle to write about themselves in a way that is succinct and complete,” says Juan Pablo González, a senior client partner and sector leader of Korn Ferry’s Professional Services practice. ChatGPT is a good tool for turning bullet points into a narrative about your successes at work.

Enter a list of your top achievements into ChatGPT and ask it to write an account of your successes, says Frances Weir, a career coach for Korn Ferry Advance. Ask it to guide you in choosing the metrics that would be the most impactful to present to your manager, based on your achievements. You also can ask ChatGPT to pull out the key themes of your successes to highlight during your review, she says.

Develop a list of questions the boss might ask.

ChatGPT can help you anticipate the questions your manager may ask during your review. Prompt it by providing the number of years you’ve been in your role, as well as any previous feedback your manager has provided in the past. Then, Weir suggests, ask it what a manager might want to discuss during your review.

AI also can help keep you from being a silent participant in your own review. Use ChatGPT or a similar program to formulate a list of topics and questions you can discuss with your boss. Input the types of projects you aspire to be doing within the year, as well as the skills you hope to acquire. Then ask the AI what questions you might pose during the conversation.

Prepare to discuss a promotion.

Prompt ChatGPT to write a summary of your accomplishments using persuasive language to encourage your manager to consider you for a promotion or title change, says Val Olson, a Korn Ferry Advance career coach. Input the full details of your work, including your current title, your job description, your accomplishments, and your current salary. Then prompt ChatGPT for a 3-point, 5-point, or 10-point strategy for asking for a promotion, Olson says.

Just don’t use what the AI gives you verbatim, experts say. “You always want to review the responses that AI generates, using your own judgment to edit, eliminate, add to, or discard them,” Olson advises. In addition, if you’re quoting industry “facts” or compensation “data” that you learned using AI, it’s a good idea to confirm the accuracy of that information, Weir says. AI programs have been known to misstate statistics, use outdated data, or even “hallucinate”—make things up completely.

Create a professional-development plan.

A midyear review often focuses on ways you can improve your performance. ChatGPT can suggest specific ways an employee can work on an essential skill, Royal says.

For instance, if the employee needs to improve his time management, the employee might ask ChatGPT, “What are some ways I can learn time management?” or “What are some tools for better time management?” Double-check those ideas for accuracy with another source besides the AI chatbot. Then absorb and share those ideas with your manager.

ChatGPT also can help you create a professional development plan based on your strengths and areas you’d like to further develop, Olson says. If you’ve taken a career or leadership assessment, input the key results and ask ChatGPT for a plan to leverage your strengths and bridge your development gaps. Be sure to include information about your job description, career aspirations, and industry. Consider asking ChatGPT to create a development plan that focuses on your top three strengths and the three areas that need the most improvement.

Brainstorm goals.

Most employees are tasked with listing their goals during a midyear review. Feed your job description and accomplishments into ChatGPT and ask for suggested goals.

You could also input job descriptions for a role you aspire to and ask the AI for a summary of the key skills you should be developing over the next year to close the gap. Then ask it for specific examples of actions you could take to help you meet these goals, Weir says.

Learn more about Korn Ferry’s career development capabilities from Korn Ferry Advance. 

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