Who doesn’t like a self-evaluation opportunity? It’s your chance to show off some of your skills albeit conservatively. It is also a way to show your employer some of your talents that are currently being under-utilized and also enable your employer to understand some of the challenges you may be facing at work.
If you work in a very large establishment with plenty of employees, it is easy for your employers to forget or overlook some of your accomplishments. But a self-evaluation is an opportunity to remind your employer of some of your accomplishments during the course of the year. You would also get to show your employer that you understand your flaws and that you are really working hard and taking steps to improve them.
However, writing a self-evaluation can be a very tough process with many employees being nervous and not knowing what to write especially if you have never written one before. Below, you would find a few tips that would be useful during your next performance evaluation at work.
10 Tips for Self-Evaluating your Job Performance at Work
First, you have to keep a work diary to record important activities and accomplishments so that you don’t forget anything when writing your performance review.
1. What are your job descriptions and what do you actually do?
When you were recruited, you had your job descriptions spelt out to you and you have to show your employer that you understand what you were recruited for and that you have actually been doing them. You may have to go back to your employment letter or the vacancy announcement if you do not remember what they are.
Also, you have to list some of the extra stuffs that you actually do which are not included in your job descriptions. This would show your employer that you are capable of handling higher job positions and may earn you a promotion. If you someone who assists assist your colleagues to perform some of their duties, you should include that too.
2. How was your performance during the period being reviewed?
This is your opportunity to brag about some of the things you accomplished during that period. However, you should do that in a subtle and not too obvious way. Your main aim here is to remind your employer of how valuable you are to the company.
3. What areas and skills do you need to develop?
No one expects you to be perfect. Just like every other employee, you have your own flaws but you must show that you recognize them and you are willing to do what it takes to improve. A good way to do this is to look into your last performance review by your employer and look out for some of the areas of improvement suggested. Write them down as your weaknesses and then include some of the steps you have taken to improve between that time and now.
4. What are your goals for the next period?
Show your employer that you are a forward and strategic thinker. Think about the products and services your company offers and some of the improvements needed to make the products better; then include some of them as some of the things you are willing to work on in the next period.
5. Ask your colleagues for their opinion
Your colleagues would have one or two things to say about your performance that you may not know about. You can ask some of your colleagues whom you have good relationships with and you can also trust, to write down some of the things which they consider as your strengths and weaknesses. Take out the strengths and include the in your self-evaluation form as some of your skills and then take the weaknesses and list them among the skills that need to be improved.
6. No Bargaining
Your self-evaluation form is not a bargaining chip. This is the wrong time to ask for salary increments or promotions. Stick to the purpose of the evaluation which is to highlight your performance during the course of the period being reviewed and to also suggest ways through which you can improve.
However, if you must bargain, do it in a subtle way by making your employee see how hard you have worked during the year and how some extra motivation can help you to do more.
7. Be honest
It is very important that you are completely honest in your performance review; don’t lie or try to take credit for what you didn’t do. Stick with what you did and if you feel you haven’t accomplished much, let your employer know that you are willing to improve.
8. Be diplomatic
Hey! This is not your opportunity to bash your supervisor or talk about some colleague you do not like. If you feel it’s important to highlight some of the ways another person’s performance or character is impeding your own performance, you have to do it in a diplomatic and objective way without making anything seem personal. You are supposed to be a professional, remember?
9. Use the right language
Well, it’s just a self-evaluation form but that doesn’t mean you should write with all of ‘em bad grammar and spelling errors. Take your time and write it as professionally as you can. You do not have to rush, you can write a draft first and then when you are sure that you have written it excellently, you can now fill out the original evaluation form.
10. Make suggestions for improvement
You shouldn’t complete your self-evaluation without making some suggestions for improvement of your company’s products and services.
In conclusion, I want you to bear in mind that a job performance review is not a witch-hunting process. Most of the time, it is a method used by employers to figure out ways which they can help their employees to perform better.
Therefore, you shouldn’t be afraid or nervous about writing a honest self-evaluation. Also, you shouldn’t always wait for an official self-evaluation; you should always review your own performance from time to time and continually seek ways to improve your efficiency and productivity at work.