Your Manager Can't Remember What You Did This Year

What I learned after writing 10k words of performance review feedback in one week

I just finished the performance review season. 15+ people. Around 10k words of written feedback in one week. 😅

I’ve been doing this for years, but this time, something kept bothering me as I was writing.

Some engineers on my team had a hard year. They did solid work. And yet, I found myself needing to keep them at “Meeting Expectations”, but not “Exceeding Expectations”.

Honestly, the system pushed toward this result, not their performance. And I realized that most engineers (including younger me) have no idea how performance reviews work behind the scenes.

Let me show you what I mean.

The System Most Engineers Don’t Know About

Most engineers assume their performance rating reflects how well they did their job. And that’s true. Your output matters.

But there are also two important factors:

First: your manager has to justify every rating they give

In most review processes, your manager needs to provide concrete examples for a rating. Other managers will cross-reference it against their own team members. This is called calibration. Managers align on standards across teams, and adjust ratings based on those discussions.

So, for example, what counts as "excellent" on your team might look like "normal" on another. And that is one main reason your rating could still change after your manager submits it.

Second: there are constraints on how many people can receive top ratings.

Top ratings almost always come with financial benefits: salary increases & bonuses. Because of this, companies manage how many people receive these outcomes, mostly for budget reasons. This is true across most large organizations.

What this means in practice: even on a strong team where everyone performed well, there’s a ceiling on how many people can receive top ratings.

This is also where adjustments can feel arbitrary. In one calibration meeting, I proposed an upgrade for someone. It was pushed back because that member “hasn’t been in the company long enough”. 🙄

The Problem: We’re All Busy, and Things Slip

In addition to the system, a common problem between members and their managers is misalignment. This could lead to you working through the entire year without getting the recognition you expect.

In practice, the “Exceeding Expectations” rating usually goes to the most visible people. Writing 10k words of reviews this past week made that very clear to me.

For the rest of the team, here are the common problems:

Alignment Conversations Not Happening Often Enough

I try to give feedback in real time. That’s the goal, at least. But the reality is that I’m managing a lot of people and projects at once. Things fall through the cracks. Some contributions I only learned about when the engineer mentioned them during the review conversation itself.

Most engineers have regular check-ins with their manager. Those who ended up surprised by their reviews were the ones who never had alignment conversations. They talked about projects and statuses all the time, but never aligned on whether their achievements helped them demonstrate sufficient impact in reviews.

They assumed things were fine. Their manager assumed things were fine. And neither of them caught the gap until review season.

Managers Are Busy. That’s Just Reality.

Most managers I know face the same challenge, myself included. We’re not ignoring people on purpose, but alignment conversations don’t happen naturally.

I want to be clear that managers should be doing better, including myself. However, the responsibility for your career sits with you, not your manager. That’s a hard thing to say, but waiting for your manager to surface the right feedback at the right time often doesn’t work.

Two Keys to Get a Strong Review

So what actually moves the needle when it comes to your review ranking?

In my experience, it comes down to two things.

One: Visibility

Your manager writes your review from memory. Make sure the right things are in it.

Your manager doesn’t track every contribution you make throughout the year. Make sure to bring those projects and tasks to your 1-on-1 meetings.

This doesn’t mean bragging. Think of it as weaving visibility into your regular status updates, so your delivery stays on your manager’s radar without feeling like self-promotion.

Two: Value Alignment

Performance reviews are about whether your work moved the right needle for the team (and the business). Make sure you and your manager agree on what that needle is.

This is the one most engineers overlook. You can do good work and still get a bad review if your manager doesn’t see that work as a priority.

So What to Do About It

The good news is that none of this requires a personality change. It just requires building a small habit before review season, not during it.

The obvious one: Start with a regular one-on-one meeting with your manager, if you don’t have one already. It makes visibility and alignment a lot easier if there’s a consistent touchpoint. Aim for at least once every month, and treat it as a career alignment.

And at least once a quarter, make the conversation explicitly about your performance. Keep it direct, not formal:

• What’s going well?

• What needs to change?

• Is there something new worth trying?

• Am I on track to exceed my current expectation?

• Have you seen any improvement in X since we talked about it last time?

That last one is particularly underrated. Following up on past feedback signals that you took it seriously, and it gives your manager concrete evidence to point to when writing your review or advocating for you in calibration discussions.

The goal here is to make this a regular habit throughout the year, not a one-time panic move in the weeks before review season. By the time your manager sits down to write your review, you want them to already have a clear picture of what you’ve done and where you’re headed.

Last Words: The Engineers Who Grow Fastest

Performance review systems aren’t always fair. Forced or guided distribution means that your hard work might not pay off as you expect, and you can’t fully control over that.

But here’s what you can control: whether your manager has an accurate picture of you when they write your review. That part is entirely in your hands.

Talent is one thing, but the engineers who grow fastest are the ones who actively manage their own visibility and feedback loop throughout the year. They have uncomfortable questions. They follow up. They make alignment a habit.

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If you’re not sure where you stand right now, or what questions to even ask your manager, that’s exactly what we work through together.

In a 45-minute session, we’ll look at where you are, what your manager is likely seeing, and what to do about it before your next review cycle.

See you in the next post.

Adler from Tokyo Tech Lead