What published research says about reviews, pay and recognition.

If pay is tied to performance, the person with the clearest record of their performance is in the strongest position. Many people never make the case at all.

• 53%

  of Britons who have worked have never asked for a pay rise.

  Source: YouGov, 2021 · UK data

• 60%

  of employers link pay or bonuses to some form of performance assessment.

  Source: CIPD, 2022 · UK data

Reviews happen rarely and lean on what a manager observed and remembers. Bringing your own dated evidence fills the gap.

• 56%

  of employees formally review their goals once a year or less.

  Source: Gallup, 2022 · US data

• 22%

  strongly agree their performance review is fair and transparent.

  Source: Gallup, 2022 · US data

• 67%

  of employees say their performance evaluations are based on their manager's observations.

  Source: Gallup, 2022 · US data

Good work often goes unmentioned, and job titles lag behind what people actually do. A personal record captures both.

• 1 in 3

  workers strongly agree they received recognition or praise for good work in the previous seven days.

  Source: Gallup, 2023 · US data

• 70%

  of the skills used in most jobs are expected to change between 2015 and 2030.

  Source: LinkedIn, 2024 · Global data

We only quote findings we can link to. Survey figures describe the group that was surveyed, in the year stated, and some are US or global rather than UK. If a source is updated or withdrawn, we update or remove the figure. See our editorial policy for how corrections work.