Mastering Self Evaluation in Performance Reviews: A Step-by-Step Guide

In a study by Gallup, it was found that about 14% of employees agree that performance reviews help them improve, while about 86% of them state that it doesn’t. This is clearly not because performance reviews aren’t useful; rather, they are not becoming effective.

Mastering self-evaluation in performance reviews is a mandated need. For it tends to get overlooked. A well-drafted self-evaluation of employees can empower them, improve their performance, and make a more balanced environment for them to thrive in. 

So, this step-by-step guide will elaborate on how to effectively write a self-evaluation for a performance review.

What is an employee self-evaluation?

Employee self-evaluation is a means of personal assessment of one’s own performance as an employee at a set period of time. It is part of an annual or biannual performance review. 

It is an opportunity for reflection on challenges and other areas for improvement and growth. With such an opportunity, it enables employees the ability to assess how their work and core values align with the company goals and their job description. On how they were able to contribute to team projects and how much they have grown throughout their respective roles.

Evaluation of an employee's performance alongside other reviews to offer a more wholesome picture of how effectively an employee’s performance. This structured opportunity reflects on challenges and how it aligns with other company goals. 

The key components of this self-evaluation will include:

• Review of accomplishments

   

The employees can attempt to list out their core values and goals that they have achieved throughout the year and the accomplishments they have had, which would validate them regarding their achievements and empower them in the process.

• Assessment of Skills

   

This is also a means to assess all the skills an employee has that are relevant to their job roles, inclusive of an ability to communicate, problem-solving, leadership, reasoning, and team spirit. 

• Setting goals for the future

   

Understanding the goals and what the future holds is very reasonable and simply a key part of self-evaluation to be able to articulate a series of objectives that matter further helping set goals for the future. 

• Areas for improvement

Identifying and working on the specific areas to improve upon is simply highly important, considering actionable plans to improve in these areas. Understanding this through the constructive feedback they have received before as well.

• Employee feedback

This offers a means through which employees can offer continuous feedback, which enables a clear understanding of what they think of the management or the different resources that are available to them, the workplace conditions, and more. 

Self-evaluations promote open communication between employees and supervisors, help align individual goals with organizational objectives and encourage employees to take ownership of their professional development.

Why is self-evaluation important?

The primary reasons of importance for self-evaluation are: 

• Promotes Self-Awareness

   

Gives employees the opportunity to encourage a sense of self-awareness, their strengths, and particular areas that need improvement. This also fosters a sense of self-awareness that further leads to the development of these employees and supports their professional growth.

• Boosting Accountability

Evaluating the overall effectiveness of the employee’s performance helps them be more accountable to evaluate the growth of these employees, their wins and shortcomings. This builds a reliable amount of trust between the managers and other employees. 

• Aligning with Goals

   

Evaluating themselves helps employees align their personal goals with other organizational goals. This also enables more strategic career growth and development. 

• Fosters communication

This encourages an open dialogue between the employees and managers, as there is clarity on what the employee’s perspective ideally is. Opening up two-way effective communication and promoting a stage for self-assessment and positive attitude with alignment with the company values.

• Improving Performance Reviews

The manager can make more informed decisions with such performance reviews or performance evaluations considering they have clarity about the overall future goals of the employee using self-assessment as a reference to make important decisions on raises, promotions, and more. 

What should employees include in a self-evaluation?

The self-evaluation process is usually also structurally aligned with the key performance indicators (KPIs), which also include: 

Challenges: The most important thing is getting right to the challenges and obstacles that employees endure. They have to make it clear what is a challenge in their current role and also mention how they addressed and dealt with the issue as well and how that particular experience changed you as a person. This ensures continuous learning as well.

Achievements: Addressing the wins and highlighting them helps align everything with what the company demands in its entirety and their time management and overall job performance. Like meeting the sales targets, meeting deadlines, or even submitting way before the deadline and supporting these wins with measurable outcomes. It empowers the employees. 

Areas to Improve: The areas where the employees need to improve give them a sense of self-awareness, which will help in outlining the different steps the company takes in having these improvements made. 

Abilities and Skills: To focus on the abilities of an employee and how they contribute to the company culture and its growth and what their area of expertise, their leadership or communication skills.

Goals: Reflecting upon one's own personal growth and setting future goals is rather important. Using this chance to emphasise how ambitious the employee is and how motivated they are to get to work is also important. This promotes the collective goals of the company as well as the employees and has it aligned.

How to write a self-evaluation for a performance review

Writing a self-evaluation for a performance review needs the careful following of a few important steps:

These include: 

• Review Job Responsibilities: Reviewing job roles and responsibilities that were given is a great way to address how responsible you have been for all of these tasks that were delegated to you. This helps with their personal development as well.

• Gather Evidence: Collecting data, enough to support all the claims, from achievements, email feedback, and having everything to substantiate self-assessment is pivotal. This clarity of achievements will also encourage employee satisfaction.

• Be Honest and Objective: Being objective about where you have struggled will help gather clarity on your motivation to work, the willingness you hold as an employee to improve, and how much you have learned throughout. It should also include personal goals. 

• Clear Use of Language: A clear use of language and measurable language is important. Using the specific numbers or metrics to represent all of the contributions. Furthermore, not just stating something happened, but rather having something that can substantiate it as well. 

• Align with Company Goals: Achievements need to be aligned with the company’s mission and other objectives. This would show in an entirety the focus on contributing to a broader means of success within the company. This gives more opportunities for growth for the company and its professional development goals as well as the career path of the employee.

   

• Keep it Concise: Make sure to keep everything concise and clear in your self-evaluation, making it so much easier for a third person to be thoroughly clear on what they are seeing. This can be done through self-evaluation templates. 

Mastering Self-Evaluation in Performance Reviews: How Can CompUp Help?

To be able to write an effective self-evaluation can sometimes feel awkward, for you are unsure what to focus on. That is exactly where CompUp contributes. CompUp streamlines the whole process of self-evaluation for you, making it an absolute ease that the employees track their own individual progress. 

Here is how CompUp can assist: 

•  CompUp has a section for all the benefits that are available to the employees to have complete clarity of what the company offers in their total rewards package. 

• CompUp also enables companies to track their Total Rewards strategy and make necessary adjustments to meet the evolving needs and expectations of their employees.

• CompUp’s total rewards statement features a comprehensive dashboard that clearly outlines the breakdown of compensation and benefits in a company's total rewards plan.

• CompUp’s total rewards statement includes a section that displays an employee’s overall income growth within the company, along with future projections to assist with financial planning.

Conclusion

Mastering the art of self-evaluation with a step-by-step guide from CompUp is an essential skill for any employee looking to grow in their career. By reflecting on your achievements, challenges, strengths, and areas for improvement, you set yourself up for success during performance reviews. 

Click here to know more about the features of CompUp’s total rewards statement.