Most professionals believe that a strong performance review guarantees a promotion or raise. Unfortunately, by the time you’re sitting in that meeting, most decisions about promotions and compensation have already been made.

In many organizations, calibration conversations—the discussions where managers compare and finalize employee ratings—happen weeks before your actual review. By then, your fate is largely sealed. Research from Gallup reveals that only 22% of employees strongly agree their performance reviews are fair and transparent. That means most people are preparing for the wrong moment, unaware that the real decisions happened behind closed doors.

If you’ve been waiting until review season to make your case, it’s time to rethink your strategy. The key to advancement lies in visibility and advocacy long before performance reviews begin.

Phase 1: Building Visibility Before Performance Reviews

Getting promoted starts months before the review conversation. There are two essential phases:

1. Awareness and visibility – making sure decision-makers know what you’ve achieved.

2. Power and advocacy – ensuring those people champion you when ratings and promotions are being decided.

As executive coach Valerie Gavin puts it, “Create a career rhythm, not a review ritual.” Waiting until your review to advocate for advancement is like showing up to a marathon without training—it’s too late to build endurance the night before.

If you’ve been playing catch-up, don’t panic. There’s still time to influence how your story is told before decisions are finalized.

Phase 2: The Promotion Window Is Short—Here’s How To Use It

Most companies make promotion and compensation decisions weeks before formal reviews are shared. That means the weeks leading up to year-end are your window of influence.

Research from Harvard Business School shows that managers exhibit strong recency bias—they remember the most recent achievements more vividly when rating performance. This gives you a final opportunity to shape your narrative and make sure your recent wins are visible.

Here are three moves to make before your company locks in its decisions:

1. Clarify the Calendar
   Ask your manager when promotion recommendations are due. Understanding your company’s timeline helps you target the right conversations before it’s too late.

2. Reclaim Your Mid-Year Narrative
   Reflect on your mid-year review. If you’ve grown since then, frame your progress clearly:
   “After our mid-year review, I focused on improving [specific area]. Here’s what’s changed—and here’s how it’s added value to the team or business.”
   Framing your work this way connects your achievements to organizational impact—exactly what decision-makers care about.

3. Collect Your Kudos
   Great work doesn’t speak for itself—it needs amplification. Gather positive feedback from emails, client messages, or Slack threads. These “receipts” validate your impact and make your results harder to overlook.

   As leadership expert Dr. Grace Lee explains, “The people who rise aren’t louder—they’re more deliberate in how they frame their results.”

From Visibility To Advocacy: The Real Key To Promotion

Once your achievements are visible, turn that visibility into advocacy. Identify allies—mentors, senior colleagues, or cross-functional partners—who can vouch for you when you’re not in the room.

By the time your performance review arrives, the real decision-makers should already know your value story. When that happens, your review becomes a confirmation of your impact, not a debate about your worth.

Remember: a stellar performance review won’t get you promoted if you waited too long to shape your narrative. The key is to start early, stay visible, and build champions who can speak for you when it matters most.